For this location, I took some inspiration from a trip we once took to Morocco, where we saw the tanneries in Fes, mixed with a more recent trip to Basque, Spain, where we saw a salt farm, with wood plank paths connecting the various platforms. I wonder if I can get a 15 year old retroactive write-off for that Morocco trip now!

My idea for this setting is that the pools are all connected via small gates, with different dyes being added and mixed in in small increments at each lower tier. As for the substance itself: pudding! Everyone knows Ithia is the pudding capital of the RUNNERS universe! Not really pudding.