Baths

The Baths

The Baths of Aelyria Prime are a complex of buildings, a series of hot and cool pools, and lush hedges of gardens and tranquil fountains located to the southwest of the Forum. Commissioned by High Queen Charisma shortly after ascending the Throne, the Baths are considered one of the most beautiful and luxurious public places in the Realm.

Culture

For centuries, baths had played an integral part of daily life in Ioannolia. They centered around an arrangement of hot and cold pools, but the baths were more than just a place to bathe. They were country clubs open to people of every class. After finishing work, citizens would go to the baths for several hours: to discuss politics, to relax and unwind, to get a rub-down, have a manicure, shave or haircut. There were places to work out or wrestle, and of course, the there were baths themselves which enabled visitors to sweat a lot and cleanse their bodies while surrounded by elegant and marvelous structures. Baths were always for the benefit of the masses and people of all classes were welcome. General admittance to the Baths were considered a public right, though some areas of baths may be reserved for customers who were willing to pay for higher tiers of service.

The Baths Complex Interior

Baths had always been popular construction projects among municipal aediles or particularly gracious nobles. However, High Queen Charisma was determined to set a new standard for pleasure and relaxation by importing design standards from her homeland of Daltina with its classic and elegant outdoor fountains and gardens, and of its neighboring city of Medonia with its legendary pools and columned walkways. Upon assuming the Throne, she committed herself to building the most massive bath complex ever devised in Aelyria Prime, and so great was its scope that today the term "the Baths" can only refer to this one location.

Design

The imposing and sprawling compound of the Baths is a testament to Queen Charisma's success. There are a series of giant rooms in which there were immense pools, bathing pools at different temperatures, private bathing rooms and areas where guests could mix and mingle. The central building is larger than the Basilica and trimmed from stem to stern in gold and marble. Its floors are covered with intricate tile mosaics studded with gemstones and rich metals to catch and reflect the light bouncing off of the pool waters. In the rear of the buildings were the Royal Bath Gardens, designed to mirror the gardens on Insula Coronae; Charisma was well-known to have personally overseen the design and implementation of these gardens to exacting details: from the rosebushes and hedgeferns, to the walkways and fountains.

Front of the Baths

Surrounding the main building are open spaces for track and field events, separate buildings containing libraries, shoppes, restaurants, and even brothels lining the perimeter. The Baths Complex can comfortably accommodate over 2,000 citizens at a time. Heaving with people every day, the enormous rooms are a testament to the engineering and skill of the construction workers who designed and developed the layout of the Baths. Charisma's laborers worked relentlessly without pause for five years to complete the construction of the Baths, and did so using an impressive rotation schedule emphasizing efficiency, while also being assisted with the magical mechanations of Archmage Abar, a close personal confidante and friend of the Queen. Over 10,000 people were known to have worked on the Baths.

The Buildings above ground were but half of the story; beneathe the complex a water channel tunnels from a nearby aqueduct directs over five million gallons of fresh water a day. Water for the pools passes through furnaces where it is heated by magical wood fires. As many as fifty such furnaces were built beneath the marble floors. The chambers beneath the Baths were perilous catacombs and mazelike tunnels that were choked with magical smoke and the rushing sounds of water being diverted and cleansed, drained and rechannelled on a near constant basis.

The Baths, Channel Pools

Architecture

The Baths of Aelyria Prime are considered one of the greatest feats of engineering not solely because of their expansive layout, but because merely constructing them combined numerous techniques and disciplines, styles from across the empire and methodologies from separate schools of architecture. Among the great achievements include: the production of bricks, masonry, the import of marble, the building of water systems and aqueducts, drainage and sewer systems, the use of Rockstone concrete enabling the covering of great spaces with vast spanning domes and vaults.