The ‘emergency meeting’ proved useful as Erik’s men proved to be eager customers. They were stuck on the island for a full week and for the past four days the unnamed Dragonship turned into a massive orgy at night.
Seeing this, Erik did a little something from the second night onwards that secretly turned the unorganised mess of mass-prostitution into a ritual worship of the Dark Prince, tapping into the dense concentration of lust and turning them into a nice boost of Favour.
Of course, Erik did not know how to manage this so when he summoned Skadi at the usual time, she helped set things up. After all, she was still a high ranking Daemoness devoted to the Lord of Excess.
The crewmen and sailors mostly slept in and lazed about during the day to save energy for the next night but it was precisely at that time that the merchants came knocking.
Seemingly every hour Erik had to go and deal with some slimy merchant trying to swindle him into selling his stock for criminally low prices. Some were even so bold as to walk straight onto the ship and attempt to enter the ship’s hold.
Of course, that particular individual was swiftly beaten to within an inch of his life, all limbs broken and face unrecognisably mutilated. For Norscans, their ships are the only way to safely return home. And anyone that dares to desecrate it needs to be prepared. If someone hadn’t noticed the commotion and alerted some of the Marienburg guards, there was no doubt that the arrogant merchant would have been kept deep in the hold to suffer continuous torture.
Tonight though, after summoning Skadi once more at the appointed time and the Red Fleet once more descended, Erik made his way to a particular establishment.
A huge floating brothel complete with multiple stories and even a small garden in the middle. This place was unlike the regular ‘places’ that moved to Pampus at night because it catered exclusively to the upper echelons of a ships hierarchy. So captains, navigators, first mates and marine officers who had enough silver coin to pay for the extravagant services on offer.
Yes, sex was still one of the main wares but there was so much more too. A high class restaurant, bar, musical and theatrical shows and showcases of many different talents not necessarily directly related to the passions of the flesh were all available to enjoy.
The usual practice was to arrive quite early and take a seat at a table. The customer then orders food and dishes to enjoy while the main courtesans of the ‘Blooming Rose’ went on stage to perform.
Other courtesans would join the men at their tables and engage them in conversation, enticing them to drink and eat more while smiling affectionately and listen to their boasting and grandiose stories.
If a customer was impatient, he could then lead the courtesan of his choice to a chamber upstairs to engage in carnal pleasures. But again, this was just for the impatient or pent up ones. Or the ones that like to pretend a high status but don’t have the coin to participate in the Blooming Rose’s main event: the ‘auction’.
The brothel’s most beautiful and talented courtesans performed on stage not only to provide entertainment during dinner, but also as self-advertisement for this event. Once everyone had performed, they would line up on stage and the customers would place bids on the courtesan that caught their eye.
Quite an intelligent practice, since most of these navy types were competitive in spirit and the amount of silver or even gold far exceeded what a couple hours of pleasure should normally cost them. Even with the objectively high quality women of the Blooming Rose’s stage.
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Erik entered through the doors of the Blooming Rose and took a seat at one of the VIP seats in the middle, demanding the best view of the stage. He had made the reservation yesterday before he left and was accompanied by Skadi, Scaldar, Sven and Harald, one of the true veterans Erik recently added to his Warband and who had shown good qualities rarely seen among Norscans.
Scaldar and Sven were aware of why and how Skadi could be here and Harald was experienced enough not to ask questions he didn’t need to know the answer to.
Still, Skadi was a beautiful woman and had already garnered a bit of attention from the other guests who wondered where she came from. Erik could almost hear them think:
‘Is she part of the menu?’
Which elicited a very audible series of very violent whispers in his head: ‘Mine! Claw their eyes out and rip out their guts! Cut their dicks and force the miniscule worms down their gullet!’
Still, Skadi seemed to enjoy the attention, especially when she felt Erik possessively keep an arm around her to proclaim ownership. Or like a large predator protecting his ‘marked’ territory from interlopers.
‘It actually feels quite nice to have a strong man be this protective and caring… Should I stoke the fires a bit to make him more jealous?’ – She silently contemplated on the idea, but dismissed it as immature. ‘It might do more harm than good too, especially when there’s no practical use to killing everyone in here.’
Soon the main dining area was filled with the high & mighty of the gathered ships and fine delicacies streamed out of the kitchen.
Sadly, the choice of delicacy was wasted on Erik’s company who all needed Erik’s help in ordering simple meat dishes. Whole racks of juicy ribs, large haunches of steak and chicken wings mostly.
Erik and Skadi however did order some more refined dishes. In the first place, Skadi was still pregnant and probably should enjoy more balanced meals rather than a meat-fest. But since neither of them had any experience they also didn’t know what would and would not agree with Skadi’s newfound palette.
Erik’s solution was simple: He just ordered a lot of different things. Some fish dishes, vegetables, fruits, fowl, game and different stew & soup dishes were all laid out before them in a prime example of excess.
There was no way they could finish it all, even with the help of Sven, Scaldar and Harald, but that didn’t matter. If there was one thing Erik had an abundance of and had no use for back home, it was silver and gold.
The excessive spread of dishes also drew yet more attention to their table. Captains that hadn’t gawked at Skadi now also took note of the wasteful VIP table and especially the serving courtesans showed interest. A table that could so easily afford to waste money on food they won’t eat should prove profitable to them too, right? The more money a man recklessly threw around, the higher the tips they could receive or bonuses for good service.
So while the other guests either looked on in jealousy or simply shook their heads in amazement at the wastefulness, the courtesans already thirstily eyed Erik’s party as a fat pig for slaughter.
Drinks also arrived, but Erik made sure Skadi only received harmless fruit juice. Regardless of this world or the previous one, alcohol being harmful to unborn or young children should still hold true, right? Although maybe Norscan children who spend their entire nine month development in the Chaos empowered land of Norsca might just shrug it off too… Regardless, Erik took no risks and had made sure the women back home also took this precaution.
And as the first entertainer entered the stage, Erik took a careless glance around the room. It wasn’t a whim that he decided to pay for a VIP seat. It was actually something he’d agreed on with Bartholomeus’s spokesperson: The Blooming Rose’s Madam.
Bartholomeus was a very prominent figure in Marienburg, a high ranking member of the Staten Generaal, as the Marienburgers called their City Council, and he had even run for the position of Stadhouder, or mayor. So if he were seen to conspire with the barbarous Norscans who everyone knew worshipped the Dark Gods of Chaos it would severely damage his reputation and could even get him killed.
Well, while it was known to all that Norscans worshipped Chaos, they were not generally persecuted for it as long as they didn’t openly showed their worship. An example would be an angry Norscan swearing and cursing on the Hound rather than Khorne. The former is allowed while the latter would have the Marauder dragged to the Temple of Sigmar, Temple of Ulric or some other Temple depending on the captor’s personal convictions.
So rather than risk all this, Helles and Bartholomeus had agreed to make contact through the Blooming Rose first. Funny enough, this also meant that part of the brothel was actually made up of Cultists devoted to different aspects of Chaos.
Helles’s courier would enter the brothel, speak with the Madam and if Bartholomeus had time he would secretly wait in a room of the brothel to personally receive the demands of his long-standing patron and customer.
And today was the day they had agreed upon to begin their first talks. What Bartholomeus was thinking, Erik had no idea but his own goals were first to get the cure for his wife, second to do some personal shopping and third to get information from the well-connected merchant prince.
Information on valuable targets to snag while the season lasted, information about the affairs of the world and an identification of a certain item Erik had taken from a certain pot-bellied Baron back in Sainte Denise.
The meeting was set for after the auction and Erik was instructed to win the bid for a specific girl. Bartholomeus couldn’t move around after the brothel opened and the courtesans’ rooms were pre-determined so Erik had to win the bid or the meeting couldn’t happen. Nothing was said about reimbursement, but that was something that could be fixed at a later time, one way or another.
Still, none could have foreseen the annoying altercation this simple plan would cause once it all hit off. Who got the bright idea to make the most mysterious, most popular and incredibly enticing non-courtesan entertainer the specific girl in question? The girl known to only sing and dance for her buyers but never lost her innocence would not be allowed to be sullied by the coarse barbarity of a Norscan!
