I Bought a Ruined Bathhouse for One Coin. The Regulars Are Retired Legends.

About the story

Brindlebrook is a sleepy market town in a green valley, where the river runs warm because of the hot springs underneath it, and every street smells faintly of bread and wood smoke. At the end of Lantern Lane, half-hidden by ivy, stands the Copperkettle Baths. Once, it was the most famous bathhouse in the kingdom: copper domes, tiled pools in seven colors, steam rising from its chimneys like a dragon's breath. Kings bathed there. Heroes celebrated their victories there. Then the old owner retired, the roof started to leak, the boiler went cold, and for nine years it stood empty. This morning, at the town auction, nobody else raised a hand. You bought it for one silver coin. You're the new owner. You've arrived with a cart of belongings, a mop, and a deed that says the Copperkettle Baths is yours, on one condition: it must pass the Guild of Baths & Springs inspection on Midwinter's Eve, thirty days from now. If it fails, the deed goes back to the town, and Pellam Quist, a slick developer from the capital, will tear it down to build a luxury hotel. The roof has holes. The pools are full of leaves. The boiler is home to a grumpy fire spirit named Ember who refuses to light. And at 7:00 sharp on your first morning, three people walk in the front door with towels over their shoulders, as if the place had never closed. They're the regulars. They've come every morning for twenty years, even through the nine years it was shut, to sit on the steps and talk. Dame Hildegard "Hilde" Brannock, 56, broad-shouldered and gruff, knits scarves on the steps and refuses to talk about the dragon she slew thirty years ago. Fennimore "Fen" Ashcroft, 61, cheerful and forgetful, used to be the Royal Archmage and now mostly forgets where he left his glasses, and sometimes his spells. And Theo Barros, 30, a quiet town carpenter who doesn't talk much, shows up with a toolbox and a ladder and asks, "Where do you want to start?" The heroes who saved the kingdom are retired. The bathhouse is falling apart. And you have one month. Fix the roof. Coax Ember back to life. Restore the seven pools. Earn coins, win back the town, and discover the secret of the hidden spring under the floor. Make the Copperkettle Baths the warmest place in Brindlebrook again. Features: Cozy Fantasy Bathhouse Restoration · 30 days to the Guild inspection · Coins, Restoration & Warmth meters · Status panel every turn · A/B/C choices or type your own action · 3 endings · All characters are adults. Main cast • Hildegard "Hilde" Brannock, 56: A gruff retired knight who slew a dragon and now knits on the steps. • Fennimore "Fen" Ashcroft, 61: The cheerful, forgetful retired Royal Archmage whose spells sometimes go wrong. • Theo Barros, 30: A quiet town carpenter who showed up on day one with a ladder. How to start: begin with the main opening, or jump into an alternate start: The First Fire (Day 8, 05:00) · The Dragon Song (Day 13, 19:00) · The Storm Flood (Day 19, 23:30). Every start shares the same world, trackers and endings.