002.

[propulsion]

FORM: Enchanted books as well as loose leaf fliers left in key public spaces.
SENDER: Tony "Do I Have To Do Everything Myself" Stark
RECIPIENT: Hopefully all of you disgusting people.
NOTES: n/a

Comments

[okayimin]

Foul weather is usually an indication of an increased grippe risk, but we don't have much in the way of weather underground. Grippe outbreaks in Dust Town were attributed to the Taint or exposure to dirty surfacers.

And I had noticed the tendency to spread regardless of weather or properly shut windows, yes.

[propulsion]

you might not be wrong about that if you have wildly different environments. you can build up an immunity against disease in your area and get hit bad with something from
wait, dirty surfacers?

[okayimin]

I would say the surface and Ozammar are significantly different.

And yes. Each nation will insult the habits of the other and claim their superiority, but I've found across the board surfacer hygiene oddly lacking. I've hypothesized it's to do with not living in enclosed spaces and a general ignorance of the Taint.

[propulsion]

ok I'll buy that
I haven't felt clean since I got here

[okayimin]

Hardly surprising. Baths are needlessly complicated to prepare on the surface unless one has the very good fortune to be near one of the few surface hot springs.

One expects such things in places where scarcity is a fact of life, but the amount of time certain members of noble families go between bathing is nearly offensive.

[bouchonne]

Only nearly offensive? We'll be certain to spread them out even more, then.

[okayimin]

To be frank, the absurd amount of attention paid to perfume by the surface upper castes IS offensive and a waste of perfectly good resources.

[bouchonne]

Counterpoint: we all apparently find each other attractive enough that we copulate sufficiently, in contrast to your lot. So really, the only thing we can conclude is that the smell is stimulating and invigorating.

[okayimin]

If sex was the only thing that was required for a pregnancy to occur, midwives would lose half their income.

[bouchonne]

That actually is the only thing required for a pregnancy to occur.

[okayimin]

It is the seed with which a pregnancy MAY occur, but there's far more involved with the actual process of it. For instance, a poor diet can cause the seed to fail to take root within the womb. An insufficient amount of seed reaching the womb is also a common problem.

[propulsion]

please there are children present

[okayimin]

All the more reason.

[propulsion]

oh my god tell me about it

[okayimin]

It was going to be the subject of my first research paper when I took my vows, but my Revered Mother felt it would be inappropriate to ask the Empress about the regularity with which she washed herself.

[propulsion]

make bathing fashionable and maybe we'll get somewhere

[okayimin]

Unfortunately, that is entierly outside my realm of expertise.

I suppose at the very least I can see if any of my old Carta contacts can get their hands on more soap. We've run clean through with this blasted outbreak.

[keenly]

Just go to the marketplace.

[okayimin]

Mme Fontaine overcharges for shite product and you know it.

[keenly]

Go to Lowtown. You get housewives making soap out of their homes and consigni I'll pick some up this evening before my shift.

[okayimin]

[ SHE FUCKING SEES THAT ]

If you think a Lowtown housewife won't take you for every coin you have, you're mad. But thank you.

[propulsion]

me and an alchemist are working on something mainly for infirmary use
little more heft than your standard

[okayimin]

That's fantastic, frankly.
What's the composition of it?

[propulsion]

alcohol + glycerin
or whatever we'll substitute for glycerin. it's a fat component.

[ He may be a genius but the finer points of shit he never had to think about before are surprisingly hard to reverse engineer. ]

[okayimin]

Animal fat would be my first thought, considering it's used frequently enough. I assume you've already considered that option, though.