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The Blue Crow

by Okensha

”Oh, please, darling, that unruly group of amateurs? Why would anyone want to go there? More wine?”

- Velvet Darkness, courtesan at The Bower of the Mask

”And then – and then – this big lad, right, in a lacy pink dress *chortle* he says in this real squeaky voice, he says, ‘Oh, la, sir! A shy maid like me wouldn’t know what to do with such a great warrior’s weapon!’ *guffaw* I haven’t laughed so hard in all my life!”

- Jendell Lacaster, a frequent patron

Found on The Avenue of Enigmatic Philosophy, one of the less affluent areas of Bastion, The Blue Crow is a pleasure house that’s only been operating for a half-dozen years. Prior to that, it was the home of noted eccentric Darkallee Krace, who died under mysterious circumstances. He left the house and all its contents, including a small staff of slaves, to his nephew, Darkallee Ptraed. Ptraed was at a loss over what to do with the property, not wanting to move out of his inner Bastion estate. It was Hyacinth Faces the Sun, the “majordomo”, who suggested the house’s current use.

A typical visit to The Blue Crow at night starts in the raucous main room, where spicy foods and cool drinks are served and a small stage hosts an ever-changing array of entertainments, including songs, dances, and short (often humourous) plays. Usually it is the resident entertainers themselves doing these performances, but now and then a band will be hired to play, especially if the house is hosting a party and all the boys will be too busy. The main room is loud with music and laughter, and a certain amount of rowdiness is encouraged – although if a patron gets out of hand, some of the huskier lads will bodily throw the offender out the front door.

The rentboys owned by or employed at The Blue Crow allow for a variety of tastes, from slim and pretty enough to be taken for a girl to thoroughly masculine and muscular young men who look as if they might be apprentice smiths. While a few are stunningly attractive, most are a bit plainer but very lively; the boys are chosen as much for energy and sense of humour as for skill and looks. The youngest of them is seventeen, and Hyacinth and Ptraed decline to procure anyone younger than that. The Blue Crow is a house of men, for men. Women are respectfully (or not so respectfully) turned away at the door.

Other than the main room, and, of course, various individual bedrooms, The Blue Crow offers a sumptuous marble bathing room capable of holding at least thirty people, as well as a number of medium sized rooms in a wide variety of decorating styles which are available for small private parties. Each of these rooms has at least one decorative blue jay - a carving in the frieze about the door, a figurine, a painted lamp, a repeating pattern on the wall, etc.

By day, The Blue Crow has a more sedate character. The doors open at noon, and tea is perpetually offered in the salon as the main room undergoes cleaning and repairs. The younger entertainers sleep most of the day. A handful of well-educated, refined, usually-older courtesans cater to the daytime visitors, who are often older gentlemen or simply less interested in the rowdy goings on at night. These patrons have access to a few things unavailable at night, such as Darkallee Krace’s outstanding library of fine literature, a small gallery of art, and the Atrium.

The Atrium is the home of the impressive flock of blue jays from which The Blue Crow takes its name. At first Darkallee Ptraed took them for some sort of songbird, and then had it explained that they are actually corvids, “a sort of small, blue crow”. The Atrium features plants from the birds’ natural habitat; the temperature is kept cool by sorcery, making it popular during the hot days of Descending Fire. The roof of the Atrium is made of panels of glass to let the sun in, and several small streams crisscross the place. It’s off-limits at night to prevent the disruption of the birds’ sleep, but during the day, it’s the perfect place for a picnic and a leisurely tryst.

House Rules

Order is kept at The Blue Crow by a small collection of rules of conduct; some of these apply to the employees, others to the patrons. Here are just a few of the more stringently enforced:

• No women allowed on the premises, except cleaning slaves during the day.
• If a Blue Crow employee declines a guest’s invitation, the guest must accept this and look elsewhere. (This is primarily to prevent violence occurring from misunderstandings when a band has been hired to play for the evening, or when a rentboy is already engaged with someone else.)
• No marijuana is to be smoked on the premises. Darkallee Ptraed is terribly allergic to the stuff, and will vomit at the slightest whiff of it.
• Prostitutes from other establishments are not to be brought into The Blue Crow by patrons.
• Employees of The Blue Crow will submit themselves to a medical check by the house physician before going to work. Any boy found to be negligent in this will be severely punished.
• All guests must pay before leaving.

Rumours

• Krace is not actually dead, and has orchestrated the creation of The Blue Crow as a way to collect blackmail information. He is a sorcerer who uses the images of the blue jays found around the house to spy on the occupants. The birds themselves speak prophecies.
• The Blue Crow is built over the ruins of a First Age monastery dedicated to the twisted religion of the Anathema. Women are not allowed in because the ghosts of the long-dead monks will rise up and kill any female who sets foot in the boundaries of their sacred place.

Secret

Hyacinth Faces the Sun is the one responsible for the “no women” rule. He was sold to Darkallee Krace when the man who owned him got married to a woman who didn’t appreciate her new husband keeping a male concubine so obviously in love with his owner. Hyacinth Faces the Sun’s hate for the woman has spread to all of her gender. Ptraed has become aware of this, and he sympathizes, although he worries about what might happen if Hyacinth Faces the Sun’s previous owner were to ever visit the house.

Comments

Fixed the link so that it leads to a sub-page of the Nexus Project.
--BrilliantRain

Thanks. I just noticed I'd missed a reference to Krace and fixed it. -Okensha

Oh, was that a mistake? Here I was assuming it was deliberately a reference to anyone who fit the bill ...
~ Shataina

That's an interesting idea, but alas, I meant Krace. -Okensha