To get back to the Indulgence spirit, you do not have to go through the steam bath, only the antechamber.
The spirit's image is floating a little closer to the wine table, now with a cluster of grapes in one hand and a goblet in the other. «Are you coming back?» asks it. «And shivering? You know, there are new hot baths on the other side. It is customary to continue there, and have a proper orgy to Sulis. The bath is not complete without it.» It pauses, and says with deep concern, «you look tense. You should take care of yourselves. Sit down and relax; the world outside can take care of itself. You too, at the back, don't be shy.» It looks at Edwin, who might not see it at all. «Give yourself to each other, and live! Indulge!»
"You're not much... of a host," says Thom with a grimace. "You didn't tell us about the lurker in the water in that cold bath. Hot bath is probably worse."
The Merinita grunts as he heads toward the opening that leads to where he left his folded clothes.
«Beg your pardon. I am not the host; I am a guest like yourselves, a regular maybe, but not a host,» says the fat spirit sourly. «Did you meet other guests?»
«Oh, I am sure it was just a guest seeking intercourse. He is quite attractive, you know, your friend, and this has to be expected in a bath. Embrace it. You only live once.»
Betula's eyes narrow but she thinks better than to get into a discussion of metaphysics with this one. "You spoke of a new mayor, can you tell me of them?"
«Elassius? Yeah, he stopped sending taxes to Rome and decided that fruit and wine be served in the bath. The best things that ever happened here.» He raises his goblets and shouts, «cheers!» and as an afterthought he adds, «but you have to help yourselves. There are not as many slaves as there used to be. Limit to our indulgence, they say. I guess we just have to grit our teeth and get up every once in a while.» He sighs.
«He is at the forum, I suppose. Or maybe he is bathing. If he came early, he could have reached the Indulgence of Sulis. I haven't seen him though. ... oh ... The forum is to the right of the temple if you have not been here before.»
Turning to the others, "Come, we should go to the forum," Betula says then heads towards the changing room where their things were left. When she gets there she puts her clothes back on and gathers her things before heading to the Forum.
Thom follows along and gingerly gets dressed again, asking Turold if he can lean on him as he gets dressed.
He says very little, seemingly ready to be quit of the place. Being bruised up and down one side seems to have dampened his desire to let off a little... steam, so to speak.
Assuming you follow Betula's lead, they find the passage between the temple and the Indulgence of Sulis. A thick fog seems to cover the town except for the square between the bath and the temple, but walking only a few steps, you think you can see the next building. It looks a lot like the temple. Wait ... it is the temple ... and you find yourself between the temple and the Reception of Vesta.
"What say you two? Should we try to leave or should we head to the orgy. I do not relish what we may find there and I believe we are unprepared to deal with it. Perhaps the spirit we met in the woods can tell us more or aid us but the other possibility is that this regio is not at all what it appears. She said she found nothing and I find that unlikely for a spirit of magic to be unable to find a magic regio."
Turold is quite willing to assist Thom, doing so with a generosity that seems earnest. He lets him dress first before dressing himself up.
Given that we have rolled second sight - does Turold believe he walked into another regio level, or that the regio just wraps arround?
"I'm useless if there are hostile spirits and water elementals." says Turold. "I'm not sure I care about an orgy. But it would be nice to know if, besides a lot of baths, there are living areas behind the baths. Places to have quarters, a kitchen, that kind of thing. We are looking for a living area, after all. I doubt anyone wants to sleep in a pool."
Thom listens to them both, wincing occasionally at his injuries.
"I'd say we avoid the orgy," says Thom. "I'm in no fit shape to enjoy it." His chuckle stops abruptly at the pain it causes in his side.
"You're both right. We aren't prepared to make this place safe to live but with our full group and some preparation we might be able to. It might be worth a little more poking about to see if there is places for sancti and the needs of the custodes. This won't be easy but there is a lot of promise here. But I'm ready to get out of here too."
Turold walks around the outside of the baths, away from the square. It is quite foggy, and the walk is a lot shorter than it should have been, and he turns no sharp corners, before he find himself returning around the opposite wing. As far as he can tell, there are no other building, and also no windows or doors from the bath on the outside.
Nobody disturbs the quiet in the square.
Square footage
The Cold Bath was the size of a small swimming pool, close to 20x10 paces, so the room must have been 25x15 paces. The two wings have same width, about 15 paces, but are longer, maybe 35 paces, or whatever it takes to fit the changing room and three pools.
The building is high enough to fit a floor above, but the pool areas are high-lofted and sometimes the floor is elevated. There could easily be a floor above the changing rooms and the left hand wing you have not visited.
The temple is a little wider than the square, say thirty paces, and the passage between the temple and the bath is four horse arses wide, which is what it takes for two Roman chariots to pass each other.