DarkSirenSally/CrystallineMenagerie
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The Crystalline Menagerie
The entrance to the Menagerie is not ostentatiously well-to-do, but elegantly so. A short series of steps, the balustrade at either side tastefully lacquered and smoothed into a gentle curve, leads up to a set of double doors of dark mahogany carved with hummingbirds sampling wild flowers in full bloom. Next to the doors hangs the ubiquitous red paper lantern that adorns many of the establishments in this district, broadcasting for all who pass by what pleasures may be bought within. Just below that sits a panel in the same lacquered wood, neatly engraved in flowing, embellished script with the words "The Crystalline Menagerie."
The interior of the Menagerie seems wider than it appeared from the outside. Walls adorned with rosewood and mahogany coffered panels, the carpet a luxurious dark rose, the tasteful furniture matching perfectly with the decor. The main room is dotted with lush velvet upholstered chairs and small round tables with legs carved into the shape of wild and fanciful beasts, some occupied by well-dressed pairs leaning close and intimately to each other in rapt, even yearning attention. Adorning the tables are exotic crystal vases shaped into dramatic whorls, loops and curves, embracing flowers so vivaciously fresh they seem an impossibility in the North, much less a city as industrial-minded as the Boil. The ceiling is lit by chandeliers dripping with a dazzling array of crystal shards, each one glittering with an inner light like so many stars captured from the sky.
Close to the entrance is a smooth wooden counter, as ornate and well-kept as the rest of the furnishings of the room, behind which stands a lovely young woman in a multilayered robe of richly embroidered silk, awaiting to direct customers as they arrive. At the back of the room is an archway draped in deep rose velvet trimmed with golden tassels, through which another silk-clad lady leads a smiling, smartly dressed young man to the rooms deeper within...
