Solo Behind the Velvet Curtain

[Rosela]

Timestamp: 57th of Fall, 512AV OOCIn this thread, Rosela visits a brothel. I keep descriptions as tame as I can, but adult things are obviously happening. Just a forewarning for any young/casual readers. I'm currently writing up a location description and an NPC profile for the place and person I use here. With the weather getting colder, it was some time before Rosela got back out with the intent to seduce. She’d flipped through the rest of the Art of Seduction, but found it mostly useless. The remaining sections were on Intimacy, something Rosela was perfectly happy to leave alone. She didn’t have any desire to be a courtesan, so being good in bed was fairly low on her list of priorities. However, she did want to know about it in principle. She’d gotten dangerously close to that section with Xuphim only the day before and like all aspects of seduction before she’d started training, she’d been running entirely on instinct. In retrospect, it had hurt a little to be left hanging so abruptly, but she tried not to let it get to her. If that moment came again, she wanted to know exactly what to do to keep a man chasing her, even when they were interrupted. It wouldn’t hurt to learn a few interruption techniques as well, in case she needed to hit that chord with a man somewhat less desirable than her dear Xuphim. She spent most of the work day musing on it, still apprehensive about trying any kind of seduction under her shop roof. The master seductress could snare a man anytime, anywhere, but Rosela wasn’t a master yet, and the wrong kind of reputation would ruin her shop. When the evening came, she closed up shop as always, but turned the opposite way to wander the town instead of going home. It was a warm day, likely the last of the season, and she wanted to enjoy it. The Warrens was closing slowly, as shopkeeps locked up their wares and folded down tents and stalls. It was surreal to see the other proprietors, and Rosela had the feeling that she somehow knew their lives better now that she was also a business owner. She turned back up towards her shop again after the Warrens, and wandered along the street, looking at the lit houses and empty shops. A couple of Akalak men passed her walking fast, and most gave her appreciative glances. She followed each one up with small smiles of varying approaches. It wasn’t until she started to approach the end of the lane that she saw what many of them were heading for: the Velvet Curtain. The brothel. Rosela nearly stopped dead in her tracks, but veered off to the left to avoid drawing attention. As she pretended to inspect a display of timepieces, she glanced furtively at the dark, sensuously decorated building. She had a strong impulse to go in, just to see what it was like. Were there only female prostitutes there? If she approached, would the men walking in assume she was one of them? Was it strictly a house of occupied bedrooms, or was there some sort of show up front? Her train of thought from earlier picked up again and encouraged her to at least check it out. If there was anywhere in the city of Riverfall where the art of intimacy was being perfected, it would be there.

[Rosela]

The wood was dark and sensuous, and there was a woman sitting in the window, backed by a dark velvet curtain. She wore only a sheer pink tunic, ringed with red tassels, with the skimpiest of undergarments underneath. She was winking and beckoning to the men approaching, and a few paused to catcall at her. She took it in blithely, blowing them each kisses and calling something back that made them laugh hysterically. Rosela was herself getting a few stares as she approached. She had stopped noticing them, and kept her demeanor aloof, but curious. At the first sign of insult, she would leave. As curious as she was, she didn’t need any grief. The woman in the window noticed Rosela’s approach with some surprise, but quickly turned it to an almost aggressive sexuality. Rosela stopped in front of the window, two arms folded under her chest. She noted with a twinge of jealousy that the other women’s bust was bigger. The woman’s expression became one of satisfaction, and she leaned back to whisper something beyond the curtain. Smiling, she turned back to Rosela and playfully jerked her head at the door. Still curious, but reserving judgment, Rosela hesitated for a moment, and walked in. There was a small hallway with a turn that obscured the interior. On the wall was a sign, "Men: 2gm, Women: Free." Humming in satisfaction, Rosela breezed past it. She would have turned right back around if they expected her to pay. She had breasts of her own; she didn't need to pay to see someone else's. It was smaller inside than expected, with a low stage along the far wall. A scantily clad human woman was twining her way around a tall metal pole at the end of it, surrounded by Akalaks. There was a slight haze of smoke, and somewhere music was playing. Around the room, men were reclined on couches with half dressed women draped over them. For a brothel, it was surprisingly…decent. While the women of the room were touching and teasing the men, there wasn’t anything truly disgusting going on, and it seemed everyone’s necessary bits were still covered. “I must say, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of my own kind in here.” Rosela turned to see another Eypharian woman, standing with four of her arms crossed over a gem-studded bustier. Her hair was a flamboyant affair of reds and pinks, done up in a burst of curls on the back of her head. On each of her six arms was a golden bangle, with matching ones at her ankles. “Hello,” Rosela blurted in Arumenic, still somewhat in shock. It was a moment before she even realized what language she was speaking, and that the woman had greeted her in it as well. “Good evening. Come for a bit of forbidden fruit have we?” “No,” Rosela said firmly, and looked away for a moment, blinking. While she wasn’t wearing much, the gems were blinding. Trying to recover, she straightened and looked back levelly. “I mean, no, thank you. I was just curious about this place.” “Naturally.” The woman seemed to consider her for a minute, and Rosela felt like a child again, the youngest at the tea party and wearing last season’s colors. “You don’t have men here, do you? For female customers, I mean.” The criticism made her feel stronger, though the woman only looked at her with pity. “Sorry honey. Plenty of men, but not for that. Walk with me.” She suddenly turned and hooked her middle arm in Rosela’s. “So you’re not here for women, and we have no men to offer you. What can we do for you, Miss…?” “Rosela.” “What a pretty name. It reminds me of home. Call me Silka.” “Silka.” The name felt familiar in her mouth and she silently agreed; it did taste like home. “I was honestly just curious.”

[Rosela]

“You were just curious.” “I saw all the men coming in, and yes, I was curious.” Silka smiled as though having solved a puzzle. “You wanted to know what the men were so interested in. You wanted to be a part of it.” Irritated at being read so easily, Rosela shot Silka a sharp look. “I have no interest in being a prostitute.” “Of course, of course. One doesn’t need to be paid to sleep with a man in order to captivate him.” She breezed through Rosela’s harshness and Rosela was finding it difficult to remain mad at her. “I don’t even want to sleep with them.” “You just want their hearts, not necessarily their bodies. Nothing wrong with that.” Their slow walk passed behind a couch where a human woman was feeding grapes to an Akalak man resting his head on her chest. She whispered soothingly as another hand played gently across his chest. “So you want to learn what we do,” Silka continued. “But not participate. And I assume you're not looking for employment?” Rosela looked up in irritated alarm, but Silka soothed it away with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I kid, I kid. Come, we’ll discuss this in the back. It's so nice to speak in the proper tongue again.” She steered Rosela gently across the room and into a side door near a line of wide mirrors set in the wall. On the other side, in a black-painted hallway, an Aklak paced slowly in front of the windows, clearly not there to enjoy himself. “They’re darkened,” Rosela observed quietly. “The windows. It’s darker on this side, so the other side appears to be mirrors.” “So Morgal here can keep an eye on things. In case anybody gets rough.” They walked away from Morgal, who paid them no mind. Silka stopped in front of a window nearest to the stage. The woman dancing now was a Konti, oddly enough, and had a captivating, unearthly way about her dance. “Now, let’s talk business.” Rosela, unsure of what she meant but unwilling to say so, only raised her eyebrows in interest. “I know you, Rosela of Red Diamond Fashions. One of my girls was in there buying a skirt the other day and mentioned you to me. She thought we might know each other.” She flourished a pair of hands in succession by way of explanation. “And now you’re here, wanting to learn. Lhex works in mysterious ways.” She paused dramatically, watching the Konti dance. “Our wardrobe is in bad need of an update. Things tear, wear out, go out of fashion, you know the drill. Make me a few pieces for the girls and I’ll tell you everything I know about how to please a man.” Finally caught up to the situation, Rosela kept her surprise off her face. She had just walked in out of curiosity, and she was getting business?

[Rosela]

Bringing a hand to her chin, Rosela stared out the window, unseeing. “I’m not sure that’s a fair trade. I’m sure you know a great deal about men, but I’m not sure I’m willing to pay that much to learn. A single silk chemise is 6 gold mizas.” With a small smile, Silka tossed her hair, curls flying. “Just the labor then. Bill the fabric to me, and if you make them, I’ll share what I know.” That made it a much more tempting proposition. “How many pieces do you want?” “Eight.” “Five.” “Six then. Do we have a deal?” The handshake was swift and firm, and Rosela inwardly smirked, knowing she got the better end of the deal. Labor was nothing – she could sew them up in her spare time – but learning the art of seduction from someone who was paid to do it, and obviously paid well, was priceless. Besides, if they liked her work, she may have gained an ongoing customer, well after she’d exhausted the bargain of information. “Fabulous. Walk with me.” They passed another mirror, this time with a couple inside, rummaging around one another on a large bed. Rosela started and looked away, but Silka met her eyes. “If you want to earn their respect, nothing shocks you. Nothing scandalizes you, and there is no reason in the world to ever lose your temper. They will self-moderate based on the cues you give, even when filthy, stinking, drunk.” In the room, the man nearly tumbled off the bed, only to be pulled back laughingly by the woman. Even through the haze of drink, he looked up at her gratefully, almost worshipfully. Silka shot Rosela a romantic look and they moved on towards the next window. This one was much calmer, and the motions of the pair were of obviously sober participants. The woman appeared to be in absolute rapture, and her cries could faintly be heard through the glass. “Men are competitive, no matter what the species,” Silka continued, looking at the pair with the same casual interest as the previous. “And there is no greater pleasure for him than to think that he is special. In his eyes, that the reason you come to him, because is because he is special. In our line of work, this is the first thing every girl is taught. No one wants to be reminded that they are paying for sex; it’s a buzzkill. She has to make him believe that even though she’d been with countless other men, he’s the only one that makes her feel this way.” “Special…” Rosela repeated vaguely, eyes on the woman’s face. “They want to feel special.” It made sense, and Rosela figured it also applied women. Who didn’t want to feel special? “A great woman is only interested in special men. They are special because you are interested in them.” The idea made Rosela swell with pride, and she knew, in her heart of hearts, that she was that great woman. Silka was too, in her own way, and her eyes were aged and knowing when they met.

[Rosela]

The next window was dark and empty, and the pair turned a corner to another long hallway of windows, with another fierce-looking Akalak pacing at the far end. Many of these windows were also dark, but the first one they stopped at was a larger bedroom filled with people in their undergarments. There were only a few women in the room, compared to several men who obviously knew each other, but the women attracted the most attention, cheering on a pair going at it in the middle bed. “Group party.” Silka supplied with a chuckle. Several of the men were swaying on their feet, drinking wine straight from the bottle. “It doesn’t seem safe.” Rosela observed shortly, her own night at the White Crane coming to mind. “Even with people watching out here, there’s nothing really stopping one of those men from hurting one of the girls.” “No, there’s never a guarantee,” Silka sighed thoughtfully. “If this were anywhere but Riverfall, I’d have much more men to watch these windows. But being that it is Riverfall… I don’t really worry as much as I used to. These men have a respect for womanhood that you don’t really see anywhere else in the world.” She looked sideways Rosela, her arm tightening. “If you decide to leave Riverfall, do not expect their kind of self control anywhere else. There are ugly places in the world where beauty is a thing to be owned like a trinket, not left to grow in the sun.” The thought was unnerving and Rosela could only nod, keeping her sudden fear out of her face. Was Ahnatep like that? Perhaps it was, and Rosela had simply never needed to know. For the first time since arriving, she really grasped the knowledge of prostitution. These weren’t wealthy women dabbling in the practice to have a good time. One didn’t grow up wishing to be a prostitute; something went wrong to set Silka on this path. “Why did you start this? The Velvet Curtain, I mean.” “Because Riverfall needed it.” She shrugged nonchalantly, obviously happy to leave the dramatic subject behind. “All these men in once place, with not enough women to go around? Someone’s got to keep them happy. I actually didn’t start the business though, Kashana, an old Konti woman, did. She was traveling in the spring and didn’t come back after the djed storm.” “I’m sorry…” Rosela offered the token sympathy, but Silka shrugged it off. “She probably went back to Mura, the old bat. She’d talked about leaving me the business for months before she left.” Unsure of what to say, Rosela looked back into the room where the pair in the middle had finished, and were tiredly celebrating with a kiss.

[Rosela]

They rounded the last corner, where there were only a few darkened windows and a messy office space at the end. “Not really sure what else to say…” Silka said awkwardly, letting go of Rosela’s arm to lean tiredly against the wall. “I could write a book on dealing with men, but getting it all out is the hard part.” She shrugged, one pair of hands rising in a helpless gesture. “They like to be touched? Men’s nipples are usually rather useless. Let him do all the drinking – it doesn’t help anyone if you’re both sloppy. Oh, and always carry a handkerchief.” By way of demonstration, she pulled a checkered corner of cloth hidden in her bustier. “Hm, thank you.” Rosela said quietly, suddenly wondering what she’d need a handkerchief for. “When do you need the clothing done by?” “Your schedule. Two weeks, maybe? I’ll send a girl by with a few measurements. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make some mizas. There’s a door on the corner if you want to head out without being seen.” “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.” “I hope so. Come back any time, I'm sure I'll have more to say.” With a flirtatious wink, Silka slipped out the door to the front room and closed it behind her in one smooth motion, leaving Rosela alone in the dark hallway. How long had she been here? Chimes? Bells? The entire conversation had the impression of being very long, but but it felt very short. With a kind of numbness taking over her body, Rosela went to the door at the end of the hallway, and left. It was fully dark outside, and chilly. As she wrapped her arms around herself, she wished for her cloak. She felt oddly…stained by the encounter. Now that she was outside again, he gravity of what she’d just been through hit her. She’d just willingly entered a brothel, seen perfect strangers in their most intimate places, and gotten seduction advice from a prostitute. Was this right? Was she okay with this? Was seduction really worth going this far? By the time she’d climbed the roads to her home, most of the shock had worn off and she was very cold. Just because she clearly didn’t want to end up like them, didn’t mean they didn’t know what they were doing. She hadn’t gone in asking about the business of having sex for money, she’d gone in asking how to make a man happy, which was a perfectly normal goal for her life. Silka had nailed it when she said men just wanted to feel special. That’s what desire was all about, having something special for yourself. How better to share her own special-ness with the men of Riverfall than to make them love her?

[Jackalope]

Rosela

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Observation	+3	Velvet Curtain: House of Pleasure
Negotiation	+1	Silka: Eypharian of the Velvet Curtain
Anthropology	+1	Business is Everywhere
		Seduction Tip: Let Nothing Shock You and Make Men Feel Special
		Akalak Men are Trustworthy... Comparatively
		Seduction Tip: Let Them Drink

Witty Remark Here

And that wraps up those threads! Good stuff on them. I hope Rosela can make use of what she learned and continue to get what she wants. Very entertaining reads, and I can't wait to see what she's learned in practice! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.