Bathrooms
There are two main styles of bathrooms in Olo. The older Keplan style and the more complex industrial Likemind style.
Toilets with running water have been an important thing in the Keplar Empire for as far as history goes back. With the Keplans specializing in aqueducts and technologies revolving around running water, they developed a sewer system relying on continually flowing water and gravity.
The water in Keplan toilets never stops running. The water runs horizontally with a very minimal slope. When you use the bathroom you simply switch the flow to go to the 'sewage' out-take instead of the 'clean water' side. In more modern cities like Tri City the switch is automatic, as the tiles on the ground in the bathroom reacts to your weight and activate the switch. This is to prevent people forgetting and having their waste flow past neighbor's toilets.
Theoretically if everyone in your neighborhood was using the bathroom at the same time, the water flow would slow down significantly, but there have only been a few documented cases of that happening. One such case was the Keplar Valley Food Poisoning Incident of 294.
Keplan toilets usually have a place to wash your hands in the same room, but never a bath. For this reason the term 'toiletroom' and the term 'bathroom' are totally different things to Keplans. This often confuses people of other cultures who may visit a Keplan house and ask to use the 'bathroom' only to be given a towel and shown to a room with no toilet but instead a bath that is almost the size of a small swimming pool.
To Keplans, toiletrooms are rooms full of many plants with a toilet and a place to wash your hands. The constant running water from the aqueduct makes it easy to water all the plants, and the plants provide leaves that can be used instead of toilet paper. Luffa plants are often grown in toiletrooms as they make great sponges, but many other types of soft leaves are also grown. Since the plants are all biodegradable it is totally ok to send them down the toilet when you are done. Many homes also have plants that help make the toilet room smell better.
A 'bathroom' is a room for taking baths. Keplan culture puts great emphasis on baths. All true Keplan style homes have a heated bath. Expensive homes generally have their own heating systems to insure consistent heating, while more budget homes get heat from a community source. These community sources can cool down over long distances in cold weather, and the temperature fluctuates depending on how many of you neighbors are using the source. People living in budget homes will often visit the public baths during the winter, as public bathhouses are a staple of Keplan culture. Wealthy homes will generally have baths large enough for multiple people.
It is basically unheard of in Keplan culture to have a bath and a toilet anywhere near each other, which is a large contrast to the Likemind style bathroom. In Keplar you will generally find the bath and toilets on opposite sides of a house.
Keplan style plumbing is mostly constructed from granite tunnels that always have to be on a slight downward slope. As a result it is more bulky to build around than the pipes of Likemind style plumbing.
What is now considered the 'Likemind' style of bathroom first started gaining popularity about 40 years ago. The system relies on copper or brass pipes hidden inside the walls of the house with porcelain toilets, bidets, and sinks.
Likemind style toilets have water tanks high above the bowl with a chord you pull to flush it. Most bathrooms feature bidets and don't use toilet paper. The bidet and sink usually have multiple knobs for different temperatures of water.
Much to the dismay of Keplans, Likemind homes usually feature showers instead of baths. Unlike the slow soaking enjoyed by Keplans, Likeminds like to be quick and efficient with their cleaning.
The budget level showers feature just a simple shower head located above the person and sprays water downwards only. However as the price goes up these showers get much more intricate. Many feature a ring of copper pipes that surround the person on all sides with tiny holes that spray out water. Sometimes on the most expensive showers these rings are mechanized to move up and down. Many expensive showers also feature spinning brushes to clean you and spinning fans or towels to dry you off quickly. Some showers include tanks that have soap already mixed into the water to save you the time of grabbing a bar of soap. Though you do have to close that knob before you rinse off.
These contraptions are usually more showy than practical, but when you have the money and the technology is there... why the hell not? Does saving 20 seconds of time on your daily shower really matter in life? Probably not, but it brings a sense of accomplishment to some.
These showers are almost always in the same room as the toilet and sink, as it makes for more efficient plumbing. To Likeminds a bathroom is a place of efficiency and the quicker you can get in and out and back to your day the better.
People from the Delta adopted Keplar style bathrooms about 300 years ago, but over the last 30-40 years have been modernizing to Likemind style plumbing. Baths however remain an important thing and showers are rare. A 'Deltan Bathtub' is a large tub that is provided with water from a Likemind style faucet and pipes.
In the Delta the bathroom tells you more about the age of the home than anything culturally.
Many of the elites in Tri-City have both a Keplan and Likemind style bathroom in their homes. This way they always have options and it keeps guests of all cultures happy.
The Little Keplar district has a very large and well maintained public bath that is free to the public. The free areas include a bath for men, women, and everyone, but there are other rooms that can be rented for a price if you want to have a private party.
There are also toiletrooms that are free and open to the public. They are rather simplistic and don't offer a great deal of privacy, and they are often in short supply of quality leaves... But they are free. Like the public bathhouse the public toiletrooms come in men, women, and everyone varieties.
Outside of the Keplan district public restrooms take on the Likemind style. They feature small private stalls for toilets/bidets, and a row of sinks. Some even offer private shower stalls to provide a free way to keep the public clean. Because everything except the sinks have private stalls, the public bathrooms of this style are just one large room.
The Boiling River enters Tri-City from the northern mountains at an elevation about 18 meters higher than where the Tepid River exits Tri-City after merging with the Frigid River and Requinto River.
The architects of Little Keplar built all the residential buildings on a downward slope between 18meters and 7 meters at the lowest. This way gravity continually pulls water through the apartment buildings for plumbing purposes.
The Public Bathhouse is the very first stop for the water, so water that is heated up in this location is sent to the residential baths through a separate channel.
This all happens underground and is only made visable in the image for illustration purposes.
Keplan Style Bathrooms
Toilets with running water have been an important thing in the Keplar Empire for as far as history goes back. With the Keplans specializing in aqueducts and technologies revolving around running water, they developed a sewer system relying on continually flowing water and gravity.
The water in Keplan toilets never stops running. The water runs horizontally with a very minimal slope. When you use the bathroom you simply switch the flow to go to the 'sewage' out-take instead of the 'clean water' side. In more modern cities like Tri City the switch is automatic, as the tiles on the ground in the bathroom reacts to your weight and activate the switch. This is to prevent people forgetting and having their waste flow past neighbor's toilets.
Theoretically if everyone in your neighborhood was using the bathroom at the same time, the water flow would slow down significantly, but there have only been a few documented cases of that happening. One such case was the Keplar Valley Food Poisoning Incident of 294.
Keplan toilets usually have a place to wash your hands in the same room, but never a bath. For this reason the term 'toiletroom' and the term 'bathroom' are totally different things to Keplans. This often confuses people of other cultures who may visit a Keplan house and ask to use the 'bathroom' only to be given a towel and shown to a room with no toilet but instead a bath that is almost the size of a small swimming pool.
A 'bathroom' is a room for taking baths. Keplan culture puts great emphasis on baths. All true Keplan style homes have a heated bath. Expensive homes generally have their own heating systems to insure consistent heating, while more budget homes get heat from a community source. These community sources can cool down over long distances in cold weather, and the temperature fluctuates depending on how many of you neighbors are using the source. People living in budget homes will often visit the public baths during the winter, as public bathhouses are a staple of Keplan culture. Wealthy homes will generally have baths large enough for multiple people.
It is basically unheard of in Keplan culture to have a bath and a toilet anywhere near each other, which is a large contrast to the Likemind style bathroom. In Keplar you will generally find the bath and toilets on opposite sides of a house.
Keplan style plumbing is mostly constructed from granite tunnels that always have to be on a slight downward slope. As a result it is more bulky to build around than the pipes of Likemind style plumbing.
Likemind Style Bathrooms
What is now considered the 'Likemind' style of bathroom first started gaining popularity about 40 years ago. The system relies on copper or brass pipes hidden inside the walls of the house with porcelain toilets, bidets, and sinks.
Much to the dismay of Keplans, Likemind homes usually feature showers instead of baths. Unlike the slow soaking enjoyed by Keplans, Likeminds like to be quick and efficient with their cleaning.
The budget level showers feature just a simple shower head located above the person and sprays water downwards only. However as the price goes up these showers get much more intricate. Many feature a ring of copper pipes that surround the person on all sides with tiny holes that spray out water. Sometimes on the most expensive showers these rings are mechanized to move up and down. Many expensive showers also feature spinning brushes to clean you and spinning fans or towels to dry you off quickly. Some showers include tanks that have soap already mixed into the water to save you the time of grabbing a bar of soap. Though you do have to close that knob before you rinse off.
These contraptions are usually more showy than practical, but when you have the money and the technology is there... why the hell not? Does saving 20 seconds of time on your daily shower really matter in life? Probably not, but it brings a sense of accomplishment to some.
These showers are almost always in the same room as the toilet and sink, as it makes for more efficient plumbing. To Likeminds a bathroom is a place of efficiency and the quicker you can get in and out and back to your day the better.
Delta Style Bathrooms
People from the Delta adopted Keplar style bathrooms about 300 years ago, but over the last 30-40 years have been modernizing to Likemind style plumbing. Baths however remain an important thing and showers are rare. A 'Deltan Bathtub' is a large tub that is provided with water from a Likemind style faucet and pipes.
In the Delta the bathroom tells you more about the age of the home than anything culturally.
Tri-City Wealthy Corpos
Many of the elites in Tri-City have both a Keplan and Likemind style bathroom in their homes. This way they always have options and it keeps guests of all cultures happy.
Public Restrooms in Tri-City
The Little Keplar district has a very large and well maintained public bath that is free to the public. The free areas include a bath for men, women, and everyone, but there are other rooms that can be rented for a price if you want to have a private party.
There are also toiletrooms that are free and open to the public. They are rather simplistic and don't offer a great deal of privacy, and they are often in short supply of quality leaves... But they are free. Like the public bathhouse the public toiletrooms come in men, women, and everyone varieties.
Outside of the Keplan district public restrooms take on the Likemind style. They feature small private stalls for toilets/bidets, and a row of sinks. Some even offer private shower stalls to provide a free way to keep the public clean. Because everything except the sinks have private stalls, the public bathrooms of this style are just one large room.
Keplar Gravity Based Plumbing
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