Inspiration

Sometimes, you can find inspiration in the ordinary. I glanced at a wall calendar today, and was struck by the image. It is a picture of the Travertine Terraces in Pamalukke, Turkey. They are formed by the minerals in the hot springs.
This is gold! I just look at it and see potential for encounters. Seeing them in the midst of writing this adventure is perfect. With my story set in the far north around thermal springs... it is a natural fit.
They can work beautifully as stepped frozen terrain, or hot springs. The PCs arrive at the base of the terraced pools with an adversary at a cave entrance near the top or above them. They need to cross the field of pools under duress. They'd have to balance on the edges, or wade through the pools. Water and cold could make the footing more challenging. Some of the pools could be brackish or outright poisoned based on the particular minerals in them.
Another point that could be fun would be to have the minerals fed from underground as well flowing from above. That would mean underground passages, and open the encounter to a number of variables. Aquatic monsters, fragile mineral walls, deep and shallow pools, etc.
This is definitely something I'll develop into part of this adventure, but I'm not sure where to put it yet.