Hot Springs City lies in ruins. Spas, saunas, baths, palaces, and
other buildings once dedicated to sophisticated pleasurable pursuits
crumble into dust amidst the picturesque, jungle-covered lower slopes
of a dormant volcano. When the cataclysm destroyed the Isle of Light,
the sea swallowed much of the city. Now the waves, jungles, and warm
mineral-rich springs work to reclaim the remnants of this coastal ruin.
Like all elven cities of the Isle of Light, Hot Springs was surrounded by
a massive wall of smooth white stone, thirty-four feet high and twenty-
one feet thick. Though the wall has collapsed in many areas, long
stretches still stand, untouched by time but for the vines that curl and
blossom in their joints. The wall is easily accessible from within the city
by broad flights of stairs at most major thoroughfares. A number of
large balconies extend from the wall at particularly scenic viewpoints,
and once served as meeting places or exclusive restaurant patios.
During the city’s heyday, every residence and most commercial
buildings featured spring-fed baths and fountains. An elaborate—
and unmapped—system of pipes and tunnels carried the water
up from boiling aquifers to these pools. Many of the tunnels and
pool walls broke with the island, but water continued to flow. Over
time, natural deposits of glittering white stone have transformed
large areas of the city. Flows of stone stair-step down the streets,
or encase rubble in translucent domes. Shallow caves have formed in
areas near the beach where hot springs built stone up over the tops of
partially collapsed buildings. The white stone is translucent, creating
dimly lit streets of underground ruins. Water in the natural pools is a
bright blue, and pleasantly warm. Where this water flows, no plants
grow, so when the city is viewed from afar, the green of encroaching
jungle is cut with stripes of white stone and blue pools. Walking on
the white deposits is dangerous because their surfaces are slick, and
because they could break and give way to a tunnel or sunken street.
To the elves, Hot Springs City was a beautiful and luxurious resort. It
was a place to relax, unwind, and prepare for extraplanar travel. The
great bathhouse, standing at the highest point in the city, served as
a purification and transportation hub. Elves would detox and then
supersaturate their bodies with sipopa before flickering off to their
destinations. It was also the place most elves chose to set as a return
destination at the conclusion of their planar travels. Think of the
bathhouse as a hyperbusy airport for the elite in a place like Dubai,
Singapore, or New York, and of Hot Springs City as the lounges,
galleries, boutique hotels, and eclectic restaurants frequented by
drugged-out jet-setters
