> 📗 Although normally I only send self-contained pieces to this list, _The Civil Mage_ is a multi-part serial. You can [start here](https://eleanorkonik.com/the-civil-mage-sewers-1/) %% ( [[2022-08-17 Civil Mage Sewers (12)]] ) %%. It pulls together a great deal of research I've done — check out the Afterword for more notes on that. Irella didn't dare try to approach Valentia with her robes still dirty and torn, so the second she stepped foot into the palace—making sure to use one of the little-used side entrances—she asked a runner to fetch her a fresh set of robes from the small room Eramepi had ordered set aside for her use. Then, she made her way toward the closest bathing stall, the one normally used by the courtyard laborers. Alem, uncharacteristically grave, took up a post outside the door. The moment she was finally alone, hot tears welled up. She squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip to keep the sounds of weakness from escaping as she undressed and opened up the water pipe. Sun-warmed water from the palace cisterns, normally a privilege she luxuriated in, sluiced over her body, barely felt as she cried. Eramepi had been her savior, her patron, and—in the end, her friend. He had taken her, a barbarian child orphaned by raiders, and given her a home, a faith, and a purpose. He had been the star by which she sailed her life, and now, he was gone. She wanted to keen her fury at the unfairness of the universe, but even now, curled up miserable and alone in the cramped confines of a laborers' bath, she dared not call attention to her barbarian heritage with such an open display of emotion. She had to get herself under control. She owed it to Eramepi to be worthy of the place he had made for her in Lysaria. She was a priestess of the Architect. A thaumaturge with a direct connection to the divine. When her heartbeat slowed, when she could breathe again, she dried herself with a thick square of linen and went to check if her robes had arrived. > 📗 The [next section](https://eleanorkonik.com/civil-mage-empress-2-3/) %% ( [[2022-09-08 Civil Mage Empress (23)]] ) %% is available. --- ## Afterword I still remember how surprised I was the first time I read a story set in a fantsay world where a character built a shower. It was _The Magic Engineer_ by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and I was so startled, because generally stories with a limited technology tend to have Medieval technology, and the Medieval era isn't associated with showers — there are usually baths, if anything, and the general vibe was that people didn't bother to bathe at all. Thanks to classes and books, for a long time I had the impression that history progressed. There's a certain sense that we sort of march through the ages, Stone to Bronze to Iron to Information... Agricultural Revolution to Industrial Revolution... The Dark Ages and the Renaissance are easy to mistake for a sort of blip. But the reality is a lot more complicated than that, and despite the terrible state of the Thames river during the Victorian era, [some of the earliest  known human civilizations had sewers](https://eleanorkonik.com/sewers/) %% ( [[2022-08-01 Sewers]] ) %%  — which is to say they had indoor plumbing and pressurized water. From a technological perspective, that's all that's really required for at least showers. As far as I know, [Ancient Greece had the first showers we'd recognize](https://lakesshoweringspaces.com/news/a-brief-history-of-the-shower-part-one/) as showers, and the modern shower dates from roughly the 1850s. Personally, I have a strong preference for showers. In fact, when planning my anniversary trip to Harpers Ferry (it'll be 5 years in October!), we specifically chose our room because it had a shower instead of a bathtub. That said, I'm a bit tempted to take my first bath in years. My school is undergoing construction, so we've been getting things much later than normal, and more is going wrong than normal. It's very chaotic. I worked 12 hours today – most of it on my feet helping students and solving tech problems – and my legs are killing me. The idea of standing up for a shower makes me flinch. But at least nobody I love died. In fact, the majority of my students seem very nice. It should be a good year, as soon as I manage to get on top of my paperwork. For me, at least, Irella's plight serves as a reminder that things could always be worse 😅