Bathing

Public bathing is a common pastime across the towns and cities of the Helerin Archipelago. The bathhouse, typically adorned with mosaic designs and featuring both hot and cold pools, is central to the social lives of Helerin’s middle and upper classes.
These spaces are far more than places to bathe; they are venues for networking, diplomacy, and even intrigue. Conversations range from mundane gossip to negotiations over marriages, business deals, and military strategies.

Etiquette and practices

Attire is simple and respectful: bathers wear light linen wraps or towels as they move between chambers, rest on benches, or take refreshment in shaded alcoves. In the water itself, garments are set aside. Nudity, though never flaunted, is treated as natural within the pools, a quiet equality that transcends age and status.
Most bathhouses are designed with both gendered and mixed-sex spaces. Separate wings allow for privacy when desired, but many central pools and lounging areas welcome men and women alike, provided etiquette is observed. In mixed spaces, conversation is kept calm, gestures remain considerate, and attention - unless invited - is never assumed.
Social class blends more freely here than in most public places. Artisans soak beside officials, travelers alongside scribes. Subtle divisions persist, however: elevated benches or secluded hot springs may be informally reserved for elders or patrons of influence, while younger guests often gather around the plunge pools or the louder, more social corners of the steam rooms.

Physical closeness is a familiar part of bathhouse life. Friends lean together on cushions, hands brush shoulders during quiet talk, and laughter often echoes between strangers made temporary kin by the enveloping warmth.
Age plays its role, too: those in their prime often favour the hotter, invigorating pools, while older bathers drift to quieter, gentler waters, or the dry heat of tiled alcoves, where stories are shared as readily as silence.

Notable bathhouses

Forbin

The Banthis Grove (Gilrimmon)

In addition to its indoor pools Gilrimmon's Banthis Grove bathhouse features an outdoor pool and stunning gardens.

Galdeen's Bathhouse (Olbrint)

Galdeen's Bathhouse in Olbrint is entirely below-ground, and is known for its numerous chambers and pools connected by a warren of passages. Its proprietor, Dafell Reeshamar, is a gruff Kazlaa war veteran.

Halls of Jires (Hapros)

The Halls of Jires, named for the god of the sea is the largest bathhouse in all of Forbin. It is situated at the base of the White Hill of Hapros.

The Golden Pools (Holdras)

Located on the southern edge of the Great Plaza of Holdras, the Seven Pools has a magnificent pillared frontage. Inside, the building houses the seven ornate pools for which it is named.
The bathhouse is owned and managed by the diminutive Gulvarra Gontin, a businesslike and soft-spoken Boma.

Teros

Ashpar's Palace (Elinann)

Named for its original proprietor, Ashpar's Palace has stood in the city of Elinann for more than 500 years.

Indigo Pavilion (Persothan)

Three long halls of Persothan's famous bathhouse radiate like spokes from a green-domed central tower. Here, the city's wealthy elite socialise, gossip, and make deals.

Wells of Lessada (Olnath)

The Wells of Lessada is a popular bathhouse in the Market Quarter of Olnath.
Its proprietor is the smooth and seductive Sevad Galmeer. His personal bodyguard, the hulking Makkun, Sensha Belmara, is never far from his side.

League of Mar Miskun

Old Thalis (Penstrarn)

The Old Thalis is a small and exclusive bathhouse in the city of Penstrarn. Its membership is exclusive and by invitation only.

Treca's Repose (Ashanok)

Situated close to Ashanok's harbour, Treca's Repose is popular with the city's nobility and wealthier merchants. Its atmosphere is quiet and refined.

Mar Mabon Townships

House of the Three Maidens (Gathansin)

The House of the Three Maidens in Gathansin is the oldest bathhouse in the Helerin Archipelago.

House of Arrema (Argonsa)

The House of Arrema is a small bathhouse in the city of Argonsa. It is tucked away on a quiet side street on the isle of Prulla.

The Fair Winds (Orbont)

The Fair Winds is Orbont's largest bathhouse, and is mostly frequented by the city's middle classes: minor merchants, administrators, and the like. It is located in Orbont's lively Shortwall district.

The Pearl Palace (Orbont)

The Pearl Palace is an ancient bathhouse, richly decorated with mosaics. It is run by Aball Dor-Ponarr, a gregarious and welcoming man, known throughout Orbont for his booming laugh.

Remon

The Octopus (Harsann)

Located in the city of Harsann, the Octopus is smaller than some of the grand bathhouses of Teros or Mar Mabon.
It is frequented mostly by military officers and city administrators, and is sometimes used as a meeting-place by members of the Knights of Piatok.