Insanely Rich

[WhiteRanger]

You know I was thinking, and I think I have figured out the one thing that only the most insanely rich of the world of Zalanthas do........and its something that most of us take advantage of in RL.




BATHE........So please, people, when you bathe, remember, some people arent as fortunate as you are.  :shock:

[UnderSeven]

It isn't really so much that they don't bath.  It's that most people probably don't use water if they bathe.  It's called 'sand baths'.

[Stroker]

The allanaki probably bathe in blood.

[Delirium]

I remember the first time I saw a bathtub in game. That really did remind me of the division between that character and the others.

But yeah, commoners probably do stuff like sandscrub. Doesn't get all the stench of sweat off, but it at least gets off a little bit of the grime and such.

[X-D]

Sand baths?

Actually, I'd like to see items that were used in the middle ages, not sand, but scented oils.

Method, rub oil on, then with wooden scraper (looks like a slightly curved paddle with a sharp edge) scrape off excess along with much dirt and old oil as well as new.

Most people did not bathe in europe in the middle ages, specialy not the wealthy. I'd have to check, but I think I read somewhere that Queen Isabella of spain (columbas' financer) A woman considered quite fine looking BTW never "bathed" in her life.

[UnderSeven]

This isn't the middle ages though. . This is armageddon.  I'd buy that most common people don't bath, and those that do probably mostly use sand baths.  The oils and such I've seen in game are expensive and thus gone to the rich. Baths with actual water seem to be considered a high luxery item. So I think to compare arem with the middle ages is way off.

I'd say the value of a bath and being clean is well known to everyone, but most probably see it as a waste of water and or stuck up noble things.

[X-D]

I happen to find this idea of sand bathing mildly funny, aside from that I can find no examples of such in use or used ever in earth human history (yes, I know Zalanthas is not earth) It would serve no purpose that I can see, specialy when you consider that almost everything on zalanthas has sand and dust on it all the time, You would be far more interested in getting rid of it, not adding it.

And what is it supposed to do anyway? Let us consider this, Sand is basicly hard to handle, and dry sand would be near, if not completly useless for the purpose of scrubbing and may even cause injury and or infection since you would be doing a darn nice job of embedding sand particals into yourself more effectivly then the wind. A good stiff brush, something Zalanthans do have, would serve better to clean and scrub with AND would at least temporarily remove most of the sand and dust.

[Geekfreak]

I had a character who had a bath once, he lived on his own in the desert and found a dirty pond. The first thing that came to his head was to drink when until he was bloated, the second was to strip down and bathe in the pond. It was pretty good role-play and I'm pretty glad nobody else was around to witness it though.

-GF

[ShaLeah]

I had a character who had a bath once, he lived on his own in the desert and found a dirty pond. The first thing that came to his head was to drink when until he was bloated, the second was to strip down and bathe in the pond. It was pretty good role-play and I'm pretty glad nobody else was around to witness it though.

-GF

I was there. I just wasn't emoting while hidden.   :wink:

[Trenidor]

hey that was when I had my l33t ranger...I saw both of you  :wink:

I was thinking of how you were poluting the environment at that moment.

[Geekfreak]

*chuckle

Uh oh, how much did you see Trenidor?  :wink:

-GF

[Cenghiz]

Middle ages? Ottoman empire had 'hamam's, some public bathes in the center of all cities. All houses had also little bathes. No no... Please, ARM cannot look like Earth when it comes to bathing.

[Stroker]

If we had snow ... we could melt it in the sun and bathe in it.

Man, I have to hand it to myself. I am amazing. I mean, originating from Siberia I play a character in a world where the word 'cold' is about as hollow as the word 'moral' in our society.

[Agent_137]

If we had snow ... we could melt it in the sun and bathe in it.

Man, I have to hand it to myself. I am amazing. I mean, originating from Siberia I play a character in a world where the word 'cold' is about as hollow as the word 'moral' in our society.

*rimshot*

[UnderSeven]

Birds take sand baths.  Anyway, sand bathing really isn't that crazy a concenpt.

I'm not even going to bring up the armageddon reason for sand bathing not occuring, but instead I'll simply say, you really wouldn't hear about it on earth would you, considering we do have water.  Anyway it would serve a purpose as the sand would at least be able to rub off some of the sweat and such, though probably not the dust..

[Pantoufle]

Most people did not bathe in europe in the middle ages, specialy not the wealthy. I'd have to check, but I think I read somewhere that Queen Isabella of spain (columbas' financer) A woman considered quite fine looking BTW never "bathed" in her life.

Arm is definately not Medieval Europe.  I'd compare Zalanthas to ancient cultures long before Medieval Europe (such as ancient Egypt or Rome).  In ancient Egyptian times, even the common bathed daily -- and mind you, they lived primarily in desert.  It stands to reason, however, that those who cannot afford to use that much water will not bathe themselves much, but I'm quite sure the rich would bathe whenever they damn well please -- they aren't subject to the fears and restrictions that Christianity imposed upon the people of Medieval Europe, where bathing might be construed as sinful or a mark of the devil.

[Bestatte]

I'll note a wee bit of IC info - but hopefully it's nothing anyone will make a fuss about.

There exists coded soaps in the game, and they are -relatively- inexpensive, and available in places -other- than the "rich" sections of the cities. This would imply that commoners have a method of cleansing themselves, if not outright bathing.

Perhaps the average commoner might only use a tiny sliver of soap to dab on their crotch and under their pits. Perhaps a richer person might buy soaps by the dozen and use them with sponge-baths, using a little water from their waterskins and a piece of sandcloth. Perhaps a very wealthy person might actually use a tub once a month, and slather themselves with perfume oils the rest of the time just so they don't stink like the average commoner does.

Some Zalanthan cultures might consider bathing an unhealthy thing to do. I mean afterall - there's all kinds of possible illnesses around - keep your skin coated with sand, oil, and sweat, and there's less of a chance of a virus or bacteria to get in. Of course that seems an obvious fallacy, but there's nothing preventing this from being a "common thought" and even one encouraged by physicians. Maybe people -should- only cleanse themselves of grit once a month so they can be assured of a fresh coat of grit the next day. Maybe that's what sand-scraping is for.

Just some random thoughts about bathing - A few of my characters have actually considered these things.

[Pantoufle]

Some Zalanthan cultures might consider bathing an unhealthy thing to do. I mean afterall - there's all kinds of possible illnesses around - keep your skin coated with sand, oil, and sweat, and there's less of a chance of a virus or bacteria to get in. Of course that seems an obvious fallacy, but there's nothing preventing this from being a "common thought" and even one encouraged by physicians.

There's also nothing preventing the open-mindedness of cleanliness as "common thought" either, since this is not the Middle Ages.  

It is unlikely the people of Zalanthas think in terms of germ and bacteria, so they wouldn't likely argue that being unclean will keep them at bay.  Furthermore, being coated in sand, oil, and sweat lifelong is a surefire way to acquire an excess of germ and bacteria, not the other way around.  Antiseptic may be a shield against germs, but an unclean body sure as hell ain't.

I don't see that being filthy is something people would necessarily embrace or enjoy, rather, it is a fate many are subject to due to abject poverty.  Who's to say some commoner who stumbles upon a bubbling brooke deep in the wilderness might not gladly dip in and bathe him or herself?  I just like to steer well away from the whole "Let's make Arm Medieval Europe" line of thinking.

[Angela Christine]

Go to the area outside the Bard's Barrel in Allanak, and read the room descriptions.  There is LAUNDRY hung out to dry by the second floor windows.  People who can afford to wash thier laundry can afford to wash themselves, they  might even use the same water for both, and then re-use that water again for watering a window garden.

You can get a pretty good sponge bath with just a gallon of water.  That would be too pricey for every day, but merchant class (ie. most PCs) could manage it a few times a month.  Again, the sponge bath water can be re-used several times.  If you let it sit in a sealed crock most of the dust and sand will settle on the bottom, some of the scum will float to the top and be easily skimmed off, and the water left in the middle will still be pretty clean -- not clean enough to drink, but clean enough to wash with.


Oil is another good cleaning material.  Yes, pleasant scented oils are expensive.  A lump of gurth fat is not, and could easily be cooked into grease.  You can get an entire jug of cooking or lamp oil fairly cheap -- ok, you won't come out smelling like a rose, but you will be cleaner.  Even brushing oil through your hair will help clean away the dust, sand, dirt, salt and old rancid oil, leaving your hair cleaner then when you started.


Plants are also great for cleaning.  Wet plant material can be used like a sponge bath.  Crack open that cactus and use the inner rind to wash with.  Draw materials like grass or straw can be used for scrubbing and for absorbing excess oil.


Even urine can be used for cleaning.  Many fine skin care products contain urea.  Many household cleaners contain ammonia.  Go once over with urine and soap to remove the dirt and oil, then over again with a little oil or water to remove the urine stink and prevent you from developing diaper rash all over your body.


People at or near the begger level of poverty have no choice but to be grubby.  But most PCs are not quite that poor and so can maintain some degree of hygiene if that is a priority for the character.  Maybe not as clean as the cast of "Friends" but noticably cleaner than the average European in the middle ages.


AC

[Stroker]

In ancient Egyptian times, even the common bathed daily -- and mind you, they lived primarily in desert.

Yes .... they also lived near the Nile River.

[Pantoufle]

Yes .... they also lived near the Nile River.

Well, yeah, fair enough.

But I'm just saying that culturally some people didn't bathe themselves and did all sorts of other stupid shit (like draw out blood from your body because you have a fever).  In Medieval times it wasn't a lack of water that caused people not to bathe, it was ignorance.  I don't think we have to prescribe to the same line of thinking here simply because Zalanthas isn't a modern world.

The people in the 1100's were as much dipshits as they were in the 1700's practically, and technology/medicine was relatively the same the entire duration.  Since the fall of Rome all the way up until the 1800's, even, not much was that different.  Christianity imposed abject fear into people which only perpetuated their misery.  Yet in some ancient cultures, people were vastly more intelligent despite their lack of electricity and other modern comforts, and in some cases even metal.

Anyways, I always cringe any time a comparison between Arm and the Middle Ages pops up for that reason.  Not every culture without modern inventions will succumb to the idiocy that took place during that time period.  It just seems the most well known time period to compare for all of us fantasists out there.

[jstorrie]

Maybe some nobles just have a Vividuan in their bathroom.  You know, for showers.