Well, he tells Rafa to go out then walk back through the front entrance and ask for this guy and give him this code. Rafa will be directed to the pool after a short wait.

Okay, so he does that.

As advertised there is a short wait. Then, he is taken downstairs to the pool chamber by a young cleric wearing protective gear. The ceiling is just barely high enough to allow flight, but made up of beautiful mosaics depicting various legends about the Petram god. He can spot one about Petram and Ventari creating the floating islands, and one where he teaches the art of sculpting to humans. The others are hard to guess from his angle.

There are simple wooden bridges crossing the pool and next to the bridges various cubicles inside the pool. Less than a hundred, each marked with a number, and more than two thirds are full. It's remarkably quiet, except for the bubbling that comes from flesh coming in contact with the pool water. They keep everyone's heads underwater.

The young cleric goes about the typical procedure, but he skips the part about meditative prayer (he is probably somehow aware that Rafa skipping ahead is somewhat shady). He writes Rafa's name and expected time in the pool and gives him a key to a box where he can store his belongings. The cleric is supposed to monitor Rafa getting inside the pool from a distance to avoid being splashed with the pool water.

Rafa didn't really bring any belongings with him there, so he just strips of the mage robes, stores them where indicated, and—

—gets in the pool.

There is that usual first moment where it just feels like he got his feet and legs into water. Then the burning starts and by the time it properly hurts it's too late for him to come back out.

The liquid fire almost appears alive and with the intent of digging itself deeper into his skin. Every drop is agony. The little he can feel that isn't pain is an odd sense that his skin is loose and dissolving into nothingness. The pain slowly worms its way into his flesh and keeps going like red-hot nails being pounded into every part of his being.

Eventually a minder uses a long stick to put Rafa's head underwater, just in case he starts screaming. Having the thing in his eyes, ears and lungs is hardly any pleasanter. He is drowning in liquid fire and his eyes lose any capacity of sight and instead provide only more suffering as they appear to become boiling balls of magma.

He will not, in fact, start screaming. He has felt this before, he has felt worse before, for longer, and he can endure.

And endure he shall, all alone, with the liquid fire... for days.

People often debate whether people actually fall asleep in the pools, in no small part because even the dreams hurt, but there is definitely something akin to a drift of consciousness here and there. And slowly, too slowly, time passes. The only thing that makes it at all noticeable are the little changes that happen to his new form, guided by Rafa's own ability to control them. His muscles dissolve and are then reconstructed in different ways and his skull splits open into two points that slowly form horns.

Eventually, with no warning, his cubicle is lifted from the pool. Not that he is aware enough to realize this fact. His body twists and molts off in the familiar agony of shifting.

He opens his eyes.

The client is there smirking at the naked Rafa. "You look very handsome."

"Do I, now," he says after a bit to get his bearings, mirroring the smirk. "I'm afraid I feel rather offputting after my stay there, I'll have to trust your judgment on this."

"You could use a bath," he admits. He turns to one of the clerics. "See that he gets a hot bath and a meal."

Sure, he can play along.

In that case he will be directed to first rinse off the rest of the Pool water and then to a small stone bathtub with very hot water.

He can deal with hot water after the Pool, it's downright paradisiac.

That it most certainly is. He isn't supposed to linger too much, because one is supposed to enjoy things in moderation and other religious nonsense. Nothing to do with saving water. They bring his meal to eat in a small room and give directions to where to go when he is done.

He is done swiftly and follows directions.

And here is his client's bedroom. And his client's bed. And his client.

Rafa smirks and raises an eyebrow.

"Come here, handsome," says his client.

He does, willingly.

And a while later, Rafa has fulfilled his end of the deal.

Oh good so after he says bye he shifts back to one of his more usual shapes and looks for Esdras.

He happens to meet Esdras in the town's square. "Rafa, are you alright?"

"Yeah, that was fun. Well, not the part where I spent a very long time feeling like I was melting, but the other part."

"Ah... well, good. I have been preparing the expedition."

"Great! I need to get my new shape, and then we're good."

"Sure thing. Are you going to do that now or take a day to rest?"