[Location] Delanie House of Lavation

Delanie's House of Lavation

“Adventuring can be a dirty business, and to wash away the grime of the quest there is no finer establishment in the City than Delanie's House of Lavation.“

The two-story, white-washed stucco building which houses Delanie's is located in a very quiet area near the edge of the City. The front face of the building is painted with a colorful mural which depicts people enjoying themselves at the edge of a lovely tree-lined lake while dancers and musicians entertain about them (an overstatedadvertisement for Delanie's House of Lavation). Above the entrance to the establishment is the name of the place, painted in the same colorful style as the mural.
The house of Lavation is run by Marcus Delanie and his sister Karen. Both are tieflings, mischevous, conniving, and thoroughly aggressive, although you'd never know it by their establishment. The House has a quiet, meditative atmosphere in which to cleanse the body and thoroughly relax; unruly visitors are not welcome.
Delanie's has both public and private baths. For the basic fee (which is moderate, but higher than one might expect), customers receive the use of a cubicle to store their belongings, tea (served in a special Tea Room), and complete access to the public bathing area. Moderate additional charges are levied for a massage, or use of private baths. If a client requires an additional cubicle for hihs or her belongings, there is another low fee. The extremely dirty and visibly verminiferous are strongly encouraged to pay for a private bath before using the public bathing area; if they refuse to do so, they may be denied entrance. Males and females may bathe together in the public baths, but rowdiness is not tolerated, and will be asked to leave immediately. However, crude behavior or even outright sexual activies are more than welcome.
Delanie's operates twenty-four hours a day, but main hours of operations are from early morning to about ten at night. It is possible to rent the entire bathhouse for private use, but the fee for this would be very high. Usually, this can only be afforded by noble clientele, of which Delanie's has quite a few.

The bath house is a place to mingle, soak, swim, and socialize with nobility and aristocracy. It is a peaceful but busy place where fashion is escaped in favor of white towels and bare skin. Without posturing and costumes, jewelry or grandiose language, it is a common ground where the elite can speak simply and be comfortable.

But the bath house is also a place of whispers, threats, lies, and scheming. Beneath its tranquility it is a tense scene, where enemies face each other without swords or shields. It is a neutral ground where only wit, willpower, instinct, and intrigue matter. It's a good place to negotiate or intimidate.

Although the baths were built to be a public space, they are maintained by grants from merchant princes and nobility who frequent them. Tile mosaics and clay pots depict noteworthy, wealthy benefactors. The walls of some private bath chambers are painted with frescoes mimicking window views. Some portray landscapes, scenery, or cityscapes, while others show the palaces of the wealthiest guests. Complex, colorful pattern decorate arched doorways and round pillars, all shadowed by the complicated architecture and brass lamps that light the place. The most private chambers are adorned with scandalous, carnal sculptures; the stuff of gossip.

Layout
The building is a 40'x70', two-story building made of brick which has been stuccoed and whitewashed. The main entrance is on the south wall and can be bolted from the inside and locked. On the roof, adjoining the living quarters, is an outdoor garden and sun deck. all the public rooms of the House are painted with pleasing, restful scenes designed to induce the properly relaxed state of mind in clients. Well-tended potted plants and small trees are also part of the decor.

Entrance Area
From Behind the Low counter in the center of the entrance area, either Delanie are here to greet customers and describe the services available. Neither is particularly pushy, but they are tieflings and do pursue a client aggressively. But both will become disdainfully aloof if their establishment is mistaken for a mere 'brothel' (they think it is beyond that). Basic fees must be paid in advance, and credit is only extended to regular customers. The south half of the counter has a swinging gate which permits entrance behind the counter. Large items belonging to clients (shields, polearms, bows, etc.) are kept in a storage area behind the counter, in a locked closet against the east wall. Behind the north end of the counter is a door leading to the spiral staircase to the second story; this door is locked at night. Customers are not allowed in this area, nor are they normally allowed upstairs.

The Tea Room
This 20'x30' are is where all customers are directed to before entering the bath area, because the Delanie's feel at least one cup of tea is necessary to insure the proper state of relaxation for a quality soak. Some folk believe the tea is specially blended to be a soporific (the staff will neither confirm nor deny this) and at least one cup of tea is pressed upon every customer. Those who refuse to have tea will have their fees politely refunded, and then are shown out with the admonition to return when in a better mood for a proper bathing experience (which is a far cry from recklessly plunging the body into a mountain stream!.
Customers who drink the tea and spend a short while in the tea room do find themselves in a most peaceful state of mind. However, this is not due to the tea, but rather to the soft music played by the house bards - among them, the twins Marah and Ama - in the tea room.
the tea room is very clean and comfortable. It contains a number of soft chairs and divans and is plushly carpeted. In the southeast corner is a long wooden table; set on this table is a large tapped cask of water and a number of teapots and teacups. The small shelf adjoining this table holds numerous stone jars filled with the specially blended tea leaves (the Delanie's personal blend). Attendants draw water from the cask and heat it on the small hearth located in the northeast corner. This water is then poured into the teapots for brewing the tea. there is always an attendant at the table, and customers are served by other attendants around the tea room. The tea room is kept slightly scented at all times by a sweet incense. There is a privy located in the southwest corner of the tea room.

Private Bath Area
The Private Baths are cutained booths which contain large copper tubs. hot spring water from a small pump is used to fill the tubs. The fee for a private bath includes use of the tub for a “reasonable” amount of time (no more than an hour), a small towel, and soap. Specially scented soaps, herbal infusions, bath oils, special anti-vermin soaps and shampoos, and large warmed and scented towels are also available for additional fees. Such fees can be paid directly to attendants.

The Changing Room
There are 48 wooden cubicles in this area, each 1' wide and 5' high. Each cubicle contains a small towel and a toga-like garment for wearing out to the bathing area; after removing these items, the customer stores his or her clothes and possessions in the cubicle. Items which cannot be stored in a cubicle or which a customer wants more closely guarded are usually left in the storage area in the entrance room. there are always two attendants on duty to make sure nothing is stolen and to change the towels and togas as they are used.

The Baths
There are three baths - one 'cold', one 'tepid', and one 'hot.' The cold bath is not icy, but rather normal-temperature water coming from the city's aqueducts and pipe system. The 'hot' water, roughly 120 degrees fareinheit, comes from a magical spring built under the bathhouse. The 'tepid' bath is a mixture of water from the aqueducts and the springs, and is about 85 degrees fareinheit. Bathers move from bath to bath as they wish, but most prefer to lounge in the tepid pool. Attendants around the bath area make sure customers do not accidentally fall asleep and drown. Each bath is about 4' deep and has submerged bench0like ledges on which bathers can sit and relax. Customers can bathe in this area as long as they wish; in fact, long restful soaks are encouraged. there are two privies in the northeast section of this room; their doors can be latched.

Massage Area
There are five private massage rooms in this area. All bathhouse attendants have been trained in the art of massage, and those not occupied elsewhere in the bathhouse will be available to give full-body massages at a reasonable price (though more is charged if specially-scented oils are desired). Sexual liasons are only a part of the services availble here, but if a customer who becomes too pushy on this subject may be ejected.
The room in the northeast corner is used exclusively by a husband and wife team.

Personalities
Marcus Delanie. Marcus has straight, thinning black hair which he wears short, and dark eyes with a somewhat Eastern cast to them. He carries a dagger, but depends mainly on his hired guards to deal with disturbances in the House. To summon the guards, he always wears a shrill-sounding bone whistle around his neck.
Marcus is soft-spoken and polite, and favors belted robes in dark earth color for attire (deep greens, rusty reds, tans, etc.). He is humbly proud of his artistic abilities, which are expressed in the murals around the bathhouse, and in the care he takes in tending the roof garden.

Karen Delanie. Karen bears a good resemblence to her brother, but her left foot is twisted and uses a gnarled blackwood cane to get about. She will not hesitate to wallop a malefactor with this cane if she deems it appropriate.
Karen is as soft-spoken and polite as her brother, but is much more hard-headed about the operation of the bathhouse, gladly rejecting customers she considers too “low-life.” She controls the purchase of all materials used in the bathhouse.
Karen does not talk much about her earlier life, but it is known that she has been a widow for a few years and that she still wears an insignia of mourning. Her attire is the same belted-robe style garments as her brother, though she favors yellows and blues.

The Twins, Marah and Ama. Marah and Ama are twins, they have pale hair and large eyes, are dextrous and nimble and have a unique, inherent, magical ability to use music to lull listeners into a peaceful state of mind. They focus their ability best in their most treasured possessions: Marah's large darkwood flute, and Ama's oddly-designed string instrument (which is not akin to any known types).
The twins were hired as musicians by the Delanies early in their lives and have been virtually adopted by them. They are still street-wise and overly cautious for children, having grown up in the school of hard knocks (an education they still fear is not completely over, despite their comfortable situation. They trust only each other, though they have a certain affection for the Delanies.

Attendants. The criteria to be an attendant at the House of Lavation is refinement and physical attractiveness, and most would be men or women in their late teens or early 20s. Attendants gladly accept “tips” and side work within the House, but bribery for the purpose of robbery or blatantly nefarious activities would be quickly reported to the Delanies. Pay for an attendant is about 5 gold pieces a week, before tips.