Hygiene

The concept of hygiene was known in the Realms, however it varied culturally, geographically and practiced differently by different races. The importance of cleanliness in medicine was also known and healers disinfected the wounds the best way they could to promote natural recovery.

"The bath? The bath! Bathing will avail you no advantages, my girl! I have it on good authority that water against the skin introduces rude humors into the blood-stream!""

- Ulia Mannicci, the First Lady of Sumbria

Personal hygiene, by the most part, was lacking. Bad breath and deficient teeth hygiene was very common. Individuals who did not get a chance to regularly bathe used heavily scented oils to mask the unpleasant body and hair odor. Individuals with bad hygiene, for the Realms, washed their hair once every four days, and scrubbed "smelly areas" every evening or so.

Personal Hygiene Products



 * Ardanthe was an aromatic plant that secreted sap that could be rubbed on hair to imbue it with pleasant herbal scent, used by rangers in the wild.
 * Soap was the most common cleaning substance available in virtually all civilized places, even though was sometimes hard to find. It was used to remove dirt and smell from skin, clothing, adventuring gear, and hair. Typical soap was concocted using tree oils and sometimes scented.

Hygiene in the Field

 * Rangers knew value of personal hygiene when away from civilization. Body odor tended to attract hungry wild beasts and stingflies. The latter were a distracting nuisance, while the former could easily track ripe sweaty humanoid stench from great distances. Rangers used cold mountain and forest streams to wash themselves and scrubbed their bodies with sand from the stream bottom.

Hygiene Across Nations

 * In the Blade Kingdoms of the Vilhon Reach, nobility believed in humors theory. Bathing was unwelcome as it introduced "rude humors into the blood-stream," which was frowned upon.
 * Chultan port city - Port Nyanzaru, was considered an extremely clean town by the late 15 century DR. The humans of the city dated daily and were horrified of the idea of skipping daily bath. The city was littered with public and private bathhouses ran by the Church of Sune. These bathhouses were free but the visitors were encouraged to leave a donation to the Church.

Hygiene Among Various Races

 * Goblins of Grodd used fungus with similar properties of tree oils to create soaps, detergents, scented perfumes and aromatics.
 * Ogres and half-ogres had notoriously low standards of personal hygiene. Standing downwind from them was deadly, almost as deadly as their foul breath.