Emeralds House of Delight

At a Glance

Emerald’s House of Delight is a three-story building located in a small alley, surrounded by a couple of food stores and some empty lots. Although it is not in the most premiere location in the Ward, it looks well-kept even from the outside, its paint fresh and its decorations pristine.
The sign above the door leaves no doubt as to what kind of establishment this is. “Emerald’s House of Delights” is etched in golden letters, with a scantily clad woman to the letters’ left and a scantily clad man to the right. The magically lit emerald green background seems to leap out of the night light a lustful beacon of invitation.

Local Knowledge

The House of Delights is fairly-well known in Ptolus, servicing clientele both well-off and middle-class. Apart from its obvious offerings of sex and pleasure, the House of Delights is also known for its fantastic selection of alcohol, its above-average food and the availability of various games of chance and skill. Generally, although the vast majority of its clientele focuses on the sex and enjoys everything else as an added bonus to that, there is a small percentage of the House’s customers that visits solely to eat, drink, and play games.
Emily Arallon, a female half-elf, opened the House of Delight roughly fifteen years ago. Having been born in Ptolus, she left the city when she was young and returned only fifty years later, when she founded the House. Rumors swirl about her time away from the city, and she does anything to keep them up – some say she learnt about pleasure in the lands of the south, others that she spent a decade being an exotic dancer for some monarch far away.
While most brothels are not particularly well-regarded by the general populace, the House of Pleasures has a reputation as a clean, upstanding place.

Interior

Each of the House’s three floors is richly decorated and themes. The first floor where all the various games can be played is modeled after Ptolus itself – all art on the walls is by local artists, all the drinks and food served are made with local recipes.
The second and the third floor are full of private rooms, small and large. Moreover, the second floor is where clients can select their partner(s) for the night, if they have not done so on the first floor already. The second floor is decorated after the southern desert, with veils and thin fabrics hanging everywhere and incense burning at all times.
The third floor has a theme of distant an exotic places, with the rooms decorated in the reflection of these far away lands. Generally, the second floor is where one has run-of-the-mill, ordinary sexual experiences, while the third floor is the one for more adventurous sort of folks.

Owner

Emily Arallon is fiercely proud of her establishment and the work she’s put in the past fifteen years, but her story is nothing like the various rumors she spreads – and which she thinks add to the allure of the place.
In particular, Emily never was a courtesan, prostitute, exotic dancer, or anything of the sort. She left Ptolus with her parents at an early age simply because her parents found more lucrative jobs in another city – although her human mother is now dead, her elven father still works there.
The reason Emily founded the House of Pleasures – at least at first – was simply because she thought it a prudent economic move. She felt the market had room for a good quality brothel that was not on the high end of expensive. She was filling in a niche, essentially. Already fascinated with sex, this was just a bonus.

Staff

Emily has sixteen prostitutes under her employee, twelve women and four men. Half of them hail from Ptolus, while many come from a variety of distant places and cultures. However, Emily has given them all strict orders never to say anything true about themselves, and so all of them have safe, “exotic” personas built up.
In most brothels, the staff doesn’t stay long – the job is hard. However, Emily pays very well, which mean her cut of the services is smaller than most other establishments. Having buildt a local and loyal clientele that leaves good tips works in favor of a longer tenure. For this reason, more than half of Emerald’s staff has worked in the House of Pleasures for more than four years.
The senior member of the staff is Siyana, a local girl who’s worked in the House of Pleasures for ten years. Although she started out as a prostitute – and still works as such for some of her old, well-paying regulars – she’s transitioned to working as a waitress and also looking after the brothel’s finances.

Morning Orchid

Night Orchid

Guests

Most of the House of Pleasure’s guests are middle-class, usually merchants, professors, naval officers and such. On top of those, members of the nobility sometimes make a covert appearance while lower-class folks sometimes celebrate a big payday here.
Most of the brothel’s clients are regulars. They want something specific and have favorites among the employees. Such people come by at regular intervals – once a day, once a week, three times a month, etc. They are the ones who leave the most money.

Secrets & Rumors

Although Emily founded the House because it was the correct business move to make, her motivations have changed the past few years. Roughly three months ago she took a lover that has started to influence her and lead her down a darker path. This man with little or no history and no ties to local Ptolus ia actually an agent of a demon cult for Delirix, the Prince of Pleasure. He plans to use her brothel to gather sexual energy and funnel it into the cult’s activities, and his prince.
In fact, the second floor – renovated into a it's new themes – isn’t just for show. Many of the cultural artifacts have hidden demonic signs and items among them to strengthen his prince's hold over the brothel.
While Emily does not yet understand the danger and deceit they is become suspicious, but its is a hard battle as everyday she looses herself a little bit more under his power. Her staff and the brothel act a touchstone giving her purpose and strength, yet it may not be enough.