Geisha Society

The Geisha Society, known more formally as the Courtesan's Guild of Arborcítta, is a renowned Courtesan's Guild located in the Artists' Quarter neighborhood of Arborcítta. Its members-- called geishas-- are among the most rigorously trained and highly coveted courtesans in the known world.
Geishas, even more than typical urban courtesans, are highly trained artistic professionals. During their apprenticeship, they learn arts ranging from historical and modern styles of theater and dance to calligraphy, poetry, and even formal debate. Pageants put on by the Geisha Society are a centerpiece of many secular holiday celebrations in Arborcítta, most notably Saint Lucretia's Day.  A geisha is considered an "apprentice" by the Geisha Society for at least the first decade of their time there, regardless of their species or previous level of experience as an artist or courtesan. During their apprenticeship, a geisha must live in housing provided by the Society and adhere to strict rules of conduct. Geisha apprentices may not form romantic or sexual relationships outside clientele, and geishas who marry are expelled from the program. The Society legally adopts its apprentices, therefore taking any bride prices or dowries in the event of a geisha's marriage. Few geishas, especially of short-lived races (Human, Halflings, Tieflings, etc.), outlast their apprenticeship. Many are illicitly sold off in under-the-table arranged marriage contracts, mostly to foreigners from outside Scalados. In mid-December Y1110, Goro-- the owner and proprietor of the Geisha Society since the late Y700s-- was found dead outside his home in the L'aureandos neighborhood. When questioned via Speak with Dead, he insisted that one of the former members of the Geisha Society had murdered him, though none available for questioning were found suspect. By early Y1111, Madame Frasquita (head of the divination department at Scalados University) revealed that, via further consultation of oracles, she discovered that his murderer had been a vengeful spirit of a former geisha, not a living person. The case was summarily closed, and longtime geisha Magda took over his position as the head of the Geisha Society. She instituted a number of reforms allowing further freedom for geishas and apprentices and bringing the Society further in line with the standards of the typical worker-run courtesans' guilds of other major cities.

Type

Guild, Professional