The Midnight Sanctum
The Sanctum is the local brothel and artist's hub. Not a venue for rock concerts, but quiet and soulful jazz style music. A place where you find companionship and comradery amongst the artsy folk of the city and Magnus alike. Their proprietor, the Dusk Keeper, has been around since the inception of the city and her Sanctum was built from the ground up in the form of a clocktower towering over the Lanes and visible from all communities in the Old Town District.
Here you can have a drink, listen to aspiring artists, and enjoy intimate company. The building has six floors. The ground floor is filled with overstuffed chairs and lounges, a bar/kitchen and a stage.
- The 1st floor contains several private reading rooms where you can have an artist tell you poetry, serenade you quietly or just talk. Tea sets, hookah, absinthe drips or other recreational substances are often brought into these rooms as well.
- The 2nd and 3rd floor are bedrooms for intimate encounters with the staff.
- The 4th floor is where staff that live here stay. Usually only 8 or so live here at any given time.
- The 5th floor and final floor is where Dusk stays. It is divided into an office, bedroom, and sitting room. The decor of the building is dark toned damask patterned walls, often burgundy, dark green, and yellows. Wooden floors, brick walls and metal pipes fill in the space around the wallpaper. Pictures, portraits, sculptures, pottery provided by various local artists, line walls and staircases. The art focuses on the beauty of people's bodies in sexual, intimate, mundane, or strange settings.
Purpose / Function
As it has been stated before and will be repeated again after, the Midnight Sanctum is den of relaxation and entertainment. Populated by many artists and bards, it also caters to anyone who has the coin. Often it is referred to as a brothel, but the staff is trained to talk as much as they are to please. Those who need to release their burdens of the mind and responsibility will have a kind ear to listen and comfort. While sex is common, the better way of describing the service is intimate company as it goes usually further beyond just sex.
The goal of the Sanctum is to provide you a place of comfort and safety. A place to open up and relieve the burdens of life, even if it is only for a short while.
Sensory & Appearance
The inside of the Midnight Sanctum is that of sultry decadence. Walls are covered in red satin curtains to soften the feel and to provide dull warm light to the rooms. Art of all types line the walls, illuminated by the Fusan lamps. Music plays to the tune of light and soulful jazz. Copper and brass tubing runs along the walls and up support pillars give a industrial feel, but warm. As you move about the building the colors shift from reds to blues and other deep colored hues to treat the mood of the room.
Denizens
The only folk who live there are the staff and the Dusk Keeper, herself.
Alterations
Over the course of the years and as technology developed the Sanctum too developed. Initially when it was built piping was run throughout the entire building with most ending in a megaphone like cone, which was designed to carry music from the stage downstairs to any room in the building. A simple crank can close the "speaker" to the music, silencing it. Now in addition to this, music crystals can be found in each room to customize the room to what the companion wants from the encounter with the clientele.
Oil lamps and candles were replaced with Fusan lamps for safety and ease of mood setting. Many rooms still have candles and lamps, but it is now specifically for mood than a necessity for light.
Architecture
The Sanctum was built within a large clock tower, so much of the construction is made primarily of metal and stone. The interior is mixture of wood, stone, and steel. Fabrics line the walls to soften the feel of the room and to bring the correct ambiance. A mixture of Fusan Lamps and candles are used to provide lightning and further improve the ambiance of the interior.
Defenses
The building itself is well fortified to typical attacks, but internally the Sanctum employs very capable guards on their payroll. If things get too out of hand, the Dusk Keeper herself will step in and resolve the issue.
History
The tower was built in the early years when The Old Town District was still new. The rumor surrounding the history of The Midnight Sanctum is known to anyone with any knowledge of Fusa's history. The Dusk Keeper was rumored to have been a wealthy aristocrat in Arroyo who walked away from it all to live with the downtrodden to give them escape from their life in the mines. With her wealth she had the clock tower built to remind the people of the time despite not seeing the sky in the mines, it was also a beacon in the dark and a safe haven to relax. The state of the inside hasn't changed much over the years. Despite all of this time it still carries with it a certain sultry and sexy atmosphere, but also one where if you wanted to escape to a dark booth and relax to the sound of light jazz you could.
It became a symbol of class despite it being a quality brothel and arts venue. If you are looking to talk, seek an intimate encounter, or relax with someone you can find a place here.
It wasn't always so, though. Over the years, as gangs and power struggles happened around the Sanctum there was plenty of times where the proprietor had to show exactly why you don't fuck with the Sanctum.
Tourism
Due to the quality of the establishment it is not uncommon to see people from Fusa, Magnus, and people visiting the cities make a special trip to the Sanctum to relax and enjoy its services.
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