Bathhouse

The bathhouse is a central building found in all dwarven settlements from before the The Silver Rain. It is a place with hot baths where any dwarf from any clan can freely enter to take a hot bath. Frequent bathing prevents illness and thus bathhouses are a central community hotspot.

Purpose / Function

Bathhouses were created to cure the disease of blue frost. They are both a place to relax and a place of healing.

Architecture

The design of bathhouses differs greatly because they are very utilitarian. They only have 2 requirements: they need to have a place to submerge oneself in hot water fully. And they need to be able to provide this hot water as soon as possible. Because of this, the designs are often quite simple: a big tub with water. And a collection of pipes that can transport water to and from the lava rifts to heat it.

History

Since all dwarves can get blue frost by simply being exposed to cold air for a prolonged time (depending on the temperature, about a week), the need for warmth to cure this is a basic need. Thus each settlement made a central place where anyone can come freely to warm up. When the dwarves emerged from the ... dwelling days... They were not prepared for how cold the world has gotten. But their desire to explore and longing for connection drove then further and further out. First they ventured out only small distances after returning to the .. underground .. but over time they sated to venture out further. They endured the bitter cold only barely and thus settled near the heat of stable lava Rifting . Some dwarves that stayed out for longer periods returned with ... blue frost ... unable to speak or move their fingers they were sat by the fire until they healed. This could take up to several hours. Until they washed one dwarf who had gotten the illness with hot water. She healed within minutes, and had lunch less scarrs. So the settlements that explored far and wide started building hot tubs that were always kept warm. Any dwarf from any clan who visited the settlement could freely use the hot tub. Even if they did not have .. bluue frost .. . These buildings quickly became the central hall of the settlements and came to serve a community function. Some settlements started to expand this building to have bigger tubs, that multiple dwarves could use simultaneously. As they found that bathing in hot water not only cured blue frost.. but also helped prevent it it became a ritual to bath oneself in the bathhouse at least once a week

Type

Bathhouse

Parent Location

Ûnduleah