Drow? Drow were like cats.
They were fastidious in cleanliness you know, despite the fact many artisans enjoyed painting them half naked and covered in blood. And, well, most drow enjoyed being half naked and covered in blood--but that wasn't the point. The point was that the drow were people with wagon loads of ego and with good reason. They were a folk obsessed with beauty. What their idea of beauty was, of course, differed from one to the other but what most if not all drow shared was their affinity for bathing.
For bath houses, especially.
Suliss'urn was no different, secretly and with purpose she had been frequenting one of the dark-elf run bathing houses in Rhydin since pretty much the time after crawling out of the stinking dirt of a hole near the Red Dragon Inn. Not literally, but close enough. The Bath House was a block of pure black bricks in an area of the town few visited without wearing a small armory and swinging a set of brass the size of a barn. There were windows, if you could call horizontal slits ten feet up in the air and just large enough to let light sliver through, windows. They let in some air, but were mostly to let out steam more than anything else. It curled lazily in the chill air and carried with it faint scent of perfumes and soaps--things only the sharpest of noses over the stench of offal, sweat, and bodies would catch.
The door was more of a sheet of steel thick enough to guard against an ogre, painted black. A small rectangle broke the solidarity of it, and when Suliss' approached it slid back without the drow having to touch the door. A pair of eyes, light blue in an expanse of black eye lids and framed by white hair glared at Suliss'.
"L'elend?" Sharply asked. Suliss' reply was to glare back. The rectangle of metal slid shut with a small clang and the door began its lumbering, metallic-screechy self open. Suliss'urn stepped through and was immersed into a world familiar. The scented oils, perfumes, herbs and thick cloying heat with moistness of several hot bathing pools clung to every polished tile surface. She was half way down the hall and already passing several males and females in the bathing houses livery and diaphanous robes. She grabbed a stack of towels from one, a pile of random oils and soaps from the other and flipped several gold coins in the air, leaving several of them to scramble after the coin like paupers.
One arm full of things needed, the other arm began tearing away at clothes, strewing them from one end of the hallway to the other. Some who weren't chasing down her gold coins went running after leather and mithril pieces. She didn't care. That is what the servants were for, xas? What they were paid to do.
Finally, to a door along the right and marked with a rune, the half-naked drow shoved it open, rolled on in and shut it firmly after her. No one bothered to remark on her behavior...They all valued their lives, and Suliss'urns coin flowed when her mood willed it. That's all that mattered.
???????
It was customary for them to deliver cleaned, neatly folded clothing, polished armor or weaponry to the occupants bathing room when their time neared.
Briza had pretty much been assigned to Suliss'urn since the first time she walked through the doors nearly a decade and more so ago. She both admired and detested this female, as was (she thought) a proper thing to do. There were times the female treated her as garbage. And there were times that...Briza felt her cheeks warm. Those were the good time, at the very least.
Opening Suliss'urns bathing room door, Briza bowed her head and put her eyes to the floor, entering and kneeling as she placed the pile of earlier shucked weapons and armor.
"Forgive me, Mistress," she said in lilting, perfect drow. "The Mistress of this House wishes you to be informed that should you be inclined to stay longer, you will have to pay."
Somewhere within the cream-tiled room, lit by candles and scented heavily with herb and perfumes came a startled hiss. Something wet and soft--a bar of soap--hit Briza's cheek. Startled, the female looked up.
To see a tiny young female drow floating in the middle of the tub, hissing. Gold eyes slit and wild as dogs in the full moon.
"Orthae shu!" Briza breathed.
((Part of the Your Inner Child and You: A Rhy'Din Guide (Open to All) SL! Playable: Crisis in Rhy'Din: Children Everywhere! Join today!))
They were fastidious in cleanliness you know, despite the fact many artisans enjoyed painting them half naked and covered in blood. And, well, most drow enjoyed being half naked and covered in blood--but that wasn't the point. The point was that the drow were people with wagon loads of ego and with good reason. They were a folk obsessed with beauty. What their idea of beauty was, of course, differed from one to the other but what most if not all drow shared was their affinity for bathing.
For bath houses, especially.
Suliss'urn was no different, secretly and with purpose she had been frequenting one of the dark-elf run bathing houses in Rhydin since pretty much the time after crawling out of the stinking dirt of a hole near the Red Dragon Inn. Not literally, but close enough. The Bath House was a block of pure black bricks in an area of the town few visited without wearing a small armory and swinging a set of brass the size of a barn. There were windows, if you could call horizontal slits ten feet up in the air and just large enough to let light sliver through, windows. They let in some air, but were mostly to let out steam more than anything else. It curled lazily in the chill air and carried with it faint scent of perfumes and soaps--things only the sharpest of noses over the stench of offal, sweat, and bodies would catch.
The door was more of a sheet of steel thick enough to guard against an ogre, painted black. A small rectangle broke the solidarity of it, and when Suliss' approached it slid back without the drow having to touch the door. A pair of eyes, light blue in an expanse of black eye lids and framed by white hair glared at Suliss'.
"L'elend?" Sharply asked. Suliss' reply was to glare back. The rectangle of metal slid shut with a small clang and the door began its lumbering, metallic-screechy self open. Suliss'urn stepped through and was immersed into a world familiar. The scented oils, perfumes, herbs and thick cloying heat with moistness of several hot bathing pools clung to every polished tile surface. She was half way down the hall and already passing several males and females in the bathing houses livery and diaphanous robes. She grabbed a stack of towels from one, a pile of random oils and soaps from the other and flipped several gold coins in the air, leaving several of them to scramble after the coin like paupers.
One arm full of things needed, the other arm began tearing away at clothes, strewing them from one end of the hallway to the other. Some who weren't chasing down her gold coins went running after leather and mithril pieces. She didn't care. That is what the servants were for, xas? What they were paid to do.
Finally, to a door along the right and marked with a rune, the half-naked drow shoved it open, rolled on in and shut it firmly after her. No one bothered to remark on her behavior...They all valued their lives, and Suliss'urns coin flowed when her mood willed it. That's all that mattered.
???????
It was customary for them to deliver cleaned, neatly folded clothing, polished armor or weaponry to the occupants bathing room when their time neared.
Briza had pretty much been assigned to Suliss'urn since the first time she walked through the doors nearly a decade and more so ago. She both admired and detested this female, as was (she thought) a proper thing to do. There were times the female treated her as garbage. And there were times that...Briza felt her cheeks warm. Those were the good time, at the very least.
Opening Suliss'urns bathing room door, Briza bowed her head and put her eyes to the floor, entering and kneeling as she placed the pile of earlier shucked weapons and armor.
"Forgive me, Mistress," she said in lilting, perfect drow. "The Mistress of this House wishes you to be informed that should you be inclined to stay longer, you will have to pay."
Somewhere within the cream-tiled room, lit by candles and scented heavily with herb and perfumes came a startled hiss. Something wet and soft--a bar of soap--hit Briza's cheek. Startled, the female looked up.
To see a tiny young female drow floating in the middle of the tub, hissing. Gold eyes slit and wild as dogs in the full moon.
"Orthae shu!" Briza breathed.
((Part of the Your Inner Child and You: A Rhy'Din Guide (Open to All) SL! Playable: Crisis in Rhy'Din: Children Everywhere! Join today!))