The Whitedown Retreat

[Anya de la Rose]

Grand Opening

Announcing the grand opening of The Whitedown Retreat, RhyDin's newest luxury establishment, part of a new development in the Dockside district.

This classical bath house and day spa offers full days or brief stays for pampering and relaxation. The stream fed public bath on the lower levels is kept comfortably heated. Private rooms are available for more intimate settings and individualized pampering by attendants.


The Whitedown Retreat Lobby

Services include:
Public bath access for the length of the reservation
Private room rentals
Deep tissue massage
Therapeutic massage
Hot rock massage
Facials
Mud baths
Sauna


Massage Rooms

On site catering is available for light meals and beverages.

Packages for group events are available by appointment. For those wishing to host events with entertainment, a state of the art karaoke lounge has recently been added.


Main baths with adjoining private rooms


((OOC Note: While this bath house functions as a spa, a place to enjoy a public bath, a massage, or have a private bath and be pampered, adult themes are implied to also take place here. However, the karaoke lounge, spa and lobby areas are all kept strictly family friendly. We encourage you to reference this business or use it in your posts! Please send a PM to Angelic, Anya de la Rose, or Death Knell if you have any questions.))

[Death Knell]

There was more than one entrance to the bath house, a door that connected to the depths of RhyDin's Underground -- and close to the pits, narrow and winding tunnels, and yawning chasms with perilous switchbacks that led into the Underdark. This entrance was called the Deep Door, and was manned by a handsome svirfneblin receptionist named Agrippa. He wore polished spectacles with golden frames, large golden earrings, and a silk scarf tucked into his tunic on most days. While kind and helpful, he could be sharp with his words, which he was whenever someone tried to tease or fluster him.

Not far from this entrance, where deeper-dwelling and especially sunlight-averse clients like drow and vampires often entered the establishment, Ettyn maintained her office. She had been told that she needed a place to have meetings, especially to negotiate the slayer contracts that often came from these customers. But rather than a room with a desk and paper, or worse, one of the "sorcerer's slates" (tablets and laptops) that Angel insisted on distributing for communication, accounts management, and controlling the baths, lighting, and climate, Ettyn elected something a little different:



Whenever Anya and Ettyn came in from the Underground together, though, fresh from a hunt, it was more likely they went to their tiered bath, on an offshoot from the underground stream. Here they could scrub away the blood and ichor, soak away the soreness from being flung and slammed into walls, floors, and ceilings by large monsters, enjoy a massage, and more often than not be found drinking wine and giggling over the cartoons on the wall-mounted waterproof TV that Angel had grudgingly ordered for them.

[Anya de la Rose]

Anya also maintained a separate office in the bath house. At Angel's urging, no paper was allowed on the floor with the spring fed baths to prevent potential damage to business records. Her compromise on the point was to build her office at street level and ward it against the humidity that rose from below.

This was where she could book group reservations, conduct meetings with potential surface contract holders and handle the mundane management tasks of a small business. When she wasn't in the building, it was available for any of the employees to use to handle bookings

[Angelic]

One of the suites available in particularly luxurious packages is lovingly called, by the dedicated attendant himself, The Teal Room. The suite itself boasts luxury decor and soft bedding with high-count sheets for the best night's sleep after a day of pampering. The room holds many amenities and can be altered to accommodate guests of all sorts, taking into account size, comfort level, and other such factors.

From the bedroom suite there is a large door that leads into the private bath, sporting a luxurious crystal tub to promote healing energies and a relaxing atmosphere of soft music, warm deep blue marble floors, and a fish tank filled with exotic and often rare species dancing colorfully through a softly lit and calming habitat. Lounges sit nearby, an ideal spot for an after-massage nap, a glass of wine, or simply to watch the fish swim by.

[Cherry]

Another suite included among the most luxurious packages offered by the Retreat is known simply as "The Center." The spacious, if sparsely decorated, suite boasts earthy tones and a sleek wood and nature-centric design. The living area is split by an outdoor seating area exposed to the sky above, with a thirty-foot soaking pool fed by the springs below. The pool, in turn, splits a heated sand garden and a lush spread of grasses and decorative shrubs for guests to enjoy with the attendant as they see fit.



Passing through the bedroom, guests find themselves in a bath perfect for drawing out the stresses of the outside world. A large soaking tub sits beside a personal sauna large enough to accommodate a couple, or maybe a few, who wish to sweat out their demons.



On the far side of the room are stout bamboo stools and a few detachable shower kits for a quick cleanse before hitting the deceptively extravagant sheets, or lying back in the grass to stare up at the Rhy’din sky as the gentle sound of kokyū, koto, or shamisen music filters through the suite.

[Pharlen]

The Sluices


Frau Greta Kock, a stern, upright woman of indeterminate years, oversees the Sluices. A pristine white tiled space fitted with an white enameled iron framed bed, an enameled white sitz bath, a full slipper bath, and a shower space.

To Re-invigorate your body and spirit, Frau Kock meets you with a tall, cold, glass of water in a lovely cut glass tumbler. You’ll be drinking a lot of that lovely pure water, so come thirsty.

Once divested of your clothing, you will be provided with a modesty sheet. As that is wrapped around you, you will be taken to the slipper bath and allowed to begin the process of revitalization in a tepid bath.

Soon, you will be taken from the bath to the hip bath, where you will sit and drink more water. Several gallons of cold, pure water will be drenched over your head and shoulders soon after, stimulating your skin.

Frau Greta will then take you to the bed and wrap you firmly in cold, wet sheets. You will lay there thinking lovely thoughts of purity while she steps out to attend to other clients.

Upon being unwrapped from the wet sheets, you will then stand in the shower space while Frau Kock pulls the tap to release a cleansing fall of cold, pure water upon your person. The douche function will send that same perfectly pure waters shooting upwards and give you a thorough cleansing.

With a final glass of water, Frau Greta will send you on your way, invigorated and with a spring in your step!

One may try to ply Frau Greta with money and requests of deeper treatments, however, she will only take your money and send someone more appropriate to assist in your deeper relaxations…




That would be Ms. Gulch, no relation to Elmira Gulch, a specialist in discipline and morality. Ms. Gulch believes firmly in capital punishment and the ascetics of leather.

Ms. Gulch will perform the same hygienic water treatments as Frau Kock, however, she is much more concerned with the purity and cleanliness of your mind and body.

For obvious reasons, clients must be in good health, preferably arriving with someone that can drive them home. Otherwise, a taxi will be called.

[Pharlen]

The Caverns Steam Baths:



A corridor cut in the living stone opens into four barrel arched rooms, where the hot steam rises through slots cut in the stone. Teak seats are provided for sweat bathers to relax, and attendants bring glasses of cold, fresh water every fifteen minutes.



Deliciously moist steam will invigorate and renew your skin. You may enjoy a private visit to these rather primitive seeming caves, or bring a party!





(Based on the Arrowhead Springs Hot Steam Caves :3)

[Pharlen]

The Mud Room

Oh yes, all the mud. Lovely, nutrient rich red mud, renewed daily, is placed on a pedestal in a shallow tank filled with hot spring water. Smear the mud all over your body, and give a friend a hand!

Once you have finished enjoying the mud, lay under warm sunlamps and let the mud dry on your skin. Brush the mud off before heading to the showers to rinse and exfoliate.



Warning: The mud will cause silver to tarnish, and will stain many fabrics. Wear an old swimsuit if you’re not going in naked.



(based on Club Mud, Glen Ivy Hot Springs!)

[Death Knell]

Hrofjna Hjlmsdrottrn



(Art credit: Chandra Pandhita)

Hrofjna Hjlmsdrottrn was one of the bath-house’s newest hires, drawn by news from Underdark merchants and travelers that there was a new bath-house in RhyDin that where deep-dwelling and sunlight-averse folk could be comfortable while experiencing the comforts that the surface (and its dwellers) had to offer. She came from a pleasure garden in the First City, which claimed to be the first (shallowest) of the major settlements of RhyDin’s Underdark, and brought with her a set of dwarvish bagpipes, jeweled brushes she used for her own luxurious hair and beard and that of her clients, and the valuable reputation that came with her name.

(Her name was a tricky matter, and seemed to be pronounced slightly differently every time she was asked to repeat it. Many simply called her “Gina.”)



Her baths were in a chamber on the lowest level, not far from Ettyn’s “office,” with many features carved from the bedrock, while the rest of the stone and tile and gilding was brought up from the Underdark. It was blessedly enchanted with sound-proof wards, emanating from Giant runes carved into the tiles, for those less fond of bagpipe music.

She serenaded clients with her pipes while they enjoyed a soak, washed and brushed and braided their hair, recited epic verse, and engaged in a unique form of massage that started with arm-wrestling and ended with furiously pummeling the tension out of her client’s muscles.

[Flower]

Just because the suite where Flower holds court is located below most of the others doesn't mean that it lacks in luxury. The first thing guests will notice, upon approaching the door, is the intricate carvings of different flowers within the wood. Each painted in a different floral color. This suite, called The Floral Cellar, is set apart from the others first by the aroma that greets the guests upon entering, like walking into a field of wildflowers freshly bloomed. Don't be fooled by the scent though. This room isn't decorated wildly and filled with the flowers it smelled like.



Soft brown tones cover the marbled floors, with a few accent rugs to help keep feet warm. Candle light gives the room a soft ambiance that makes the cream colored furniture seem even more inviting. Plush couches and an oversized chair in a soft cream color set the sitting room apart from the king sized canopy bed that can be hidden away by two curtained pocket doors. Even though the suite is underground, the back wall of the room is the main accent. Covered in panels that look frosted, it shimmers with adjustable lighting that gives it the look of a window and the feel of daytime or nighttime, depending on the guests' moods. There is even an option for weather which mimics the sound and sight of raindrops pattering against the fake glass.



A candle lit path scattered with petals of different flowers leads to the Japanese soaking tub that is large enough to accommodate a small group, should they want to share. Its brown marble sides are wide enough for seating or setting drinks upon while one basks in the floral petal baths this suite is known for. Matching robes are provided along with a private massage should one want to have their worries soothed away. All of this is accompanied by the soothing sounds of birds chirping and soft classical music from speakers hidden within the walls. Come in, relax, and bloom in The Floral Cellar.

[Anya de la Rose]

Anya wasn't one to leave without some prior planning. Even when suddenly called away for weeks to months of extended surveillance in the Deep Wilds, she had time enough to make sure some of who she left behind would be taken care of during her absence.

First, she arranged for catering for Whitedown. It was easiest and what she was used to. Tacos on Tuesday nights, sushi on Fridays. Custom orders from the Perch on Mondays and Wednesdays (just let Agrippa know before 4 PM.)  Thursday simply rounded it out with pizza. This would continue for as long as she was gone.

Her email was set to auto respond with an out of office, her voice-mail autoforwarded to the receptionist to triage. Bills were set to auto-pay. She would need to do some work balancing the books when she got back.

She left notes for the two who had been there the longest and helped with management.

Cherry,
I'll be gone for a few weeks. I don't expect it to last past the holidays. There's a portal in the back left corner of Domus's kitchen to the Deep Wilds. If anyone needs me, Ettyn's ring will activate it. Be well, see you soon.

Angel,
I promise I'm coming back. I need to be closer to the Wilds for my scrying to work. Something is coming and we're not sure what. If you need me, take the portal in the kitchen back to Caer Cors. I'm there, and won't be able to leave it for more than a day at a time. I think my phone only works there during perfect weather.
I should be back in the New Year. Hopefully sooner, but these things move at their own pace. Be safe.

Agrippa got a few more last minute instructions to cover her daytime duties before she left for her new assignment.

((Follow up to my play pause.  I do think the new year will bring some sanity and I'll be back then!))