Dwarven Baths
In the ten millennia since humans, elves, dwarves, and orcneas have wandered Kytheria, dozens of empires have waxed and waned, and the empires of dwarves are no exception. At its peak the first dwarven empire covered two thirds of the world, and dwarves have always been masters of invention and engineering. One of their most exceptional buildings is the massive Geoforge, built to draw heat from the inexhaustible supply bubbling up from Kytheria's heart, and focus it into workshops where a dozen blacksmiths could work side by side and never get in each other's way. As the empire slowly broke apart, dwarven control receded, though they felt little need to destroy what they'd built and given the quality of their craftsmanship, numerous geoforges have stood intact for all the millennia since.
Where humans came across these magnificent edifices, the reactions varied from people to people. Some had been treated horribly by the dwarves and destroyed these monuments to their oppression, some chose to use them for their intended purpose (though constant use without knowing the proper upkeep procedures has lessened their efficacy over time), and others had little need for forging metals so they turned them to another purpose: bathhouses. The need for not only cleanliness but socialization has been a constant element in all of human culture, and bath houses can be found in nearly every culture (except for those in the most arid of climates). With massive buildings set up to funnel endless heat from below, humans needed to only modify them a little to create baths and spare themselves considerable construction and energy output. Some geobaths or dwarven baths served as centers around which new villages and cities grew, even changing hands multiple times. This is even true in places with little to no other dwarven influence, though several old dwarven houses can still be found around many of them.
Because the effort to convert a bath back into a geoforge is almost never worth it, the baths have remained even when artifice-heavy peoples have come into possession of them. Though undoubtedly repurposed, they serve a similar function to dwarven geoforges in that they still bring communities together; dwarven smiths would wag their tongues while working, with apprentices running in and out and excess heat often used on the floor above for communal baking and other food prep. Correspondingly, the buildings maintain a warm and social feel to this day.
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