presents...

Red Ribbons

The Courtesans of Vodacce

Early Life and Training

Most any courtesan worthy of the name has had fairly involved training. Any who haven't must simply be extraordinary naturals, because quite a lot is expected of them.

Promising young girls are "adopted" by courtesan houses. In actuality, they're often bought from poor parents. This is only the first of many expenditures that will count against the courtesan's contract.

The houses are varied. The most exclusive are run by a single woman - an independent courtesan - and contain just her and her staff. She has adopted the girl to train as a sort of successor (or source of income as her own looks decline). A step below this are slightly larger houses, containing some senior procuress who manages the women, between three and five active courtesans, and the staff and other trainees. In these houses, the procuress will hold the contracts of the courtesans, who are probably seeking to save up enough money to buy it so they can go into independent business. And below that are the large houses, which blur the line between true courtesans and very high-class prostitutes. There could be as many as a dozen women working in them.

The trainees are schooled in poise and etiquette; by serving the courtesans of the house as maids, they learn how to do many of the small, menial tasks men expect of women. They are taught to read and schooled in a broad range of topics, so that they can speak engagingly about whatever interests their suitor of the evening. Private dance instructors, voice coaches and, if the girl has aptitude, artists are all available to teach her. The girls are trained actresses, able to put on a smiling face under any conditions - and the grown women of the house can create some fairly difficult conditions for the girls. They understand body language better than most in Theah, to pick up on subtle cues in their partners. The theories of attraction and flirtation vary from house to house, but are assuredly taught. All of this instruction will take place from youth - ages 8 to 10 are ideal - up until the courtesan begins work, and perhaps even after. Training in the erotic arts is delayed until the age of adulthood (15). Children are protected under the rules of the Great Game; anyone violating that protected status is punished, harshly, by Vodacce.

Early Career

All of this training, along with room and board, costs money. The girl's sponsor (either a senior courtesan or a procuress, typically) maintains a record of it all, adding it to her "contract." It is only fair, say the mercantile Vodacce, that they make back their investment (with interest, of course) on training the young courtesan. She is obligated to work for her sponsor until the entirety of the contract has been paid. The gifts she gets from men will go to her sponsor in the end. If there are any that she especially wants to keep, she may - but the value of the item will be added to her contract. It is permitted to pay down the contract in whatever way the courtesan can arrange - many try to convince ardent suitors to purchase it for them. A courtesan's contract can be shifted to another courtesan house, or she can buy it out, or it can be bought by another on her behalf, but it cannot be simply bought by any third party with the interest and the money. If a lover, say, were to buy a courtesan's contract and then forbid her to work, she would have no way to pay it off, and that isn't acceptable. The Vodacce split hairs to distinguish this form of indentured servitutde from slavery, and they're going to insist on the distinction.

Which isn't to say that many procuresses don't especially want to see their courtesans ever actually buy those contracts out. On the contrary, they are very happy to see their cash flow in continue unabated. And to that end, there is a never-ending parade of continual expenses that are incurred: new dresses, cosmetics and perfumes, gems and jewelry, all necessary to keep the ladies competitive with the other courtesans in town.

The most successful women aren't necessarily those with the most suitors, but those with the richest. A courtesan who can hook and keep a generous and wealthy lover stands the best chance of being able to buy out her contract and to go into business for herself. As time goes by, her looks will start to fade and she'll wonder how to keep the money coming in - and she may decide to train up a new girl herself, to live off that woman's income. So is the tradition of "courtesan families" born.

The Life

The point of a courtesan is that she must be courted. Vodacce men seek these sophisticated and educated women out to play at the game of love. If they wanted to exchange cash on the barrelhead for a tumble in bed, they would seek out a genna instead. On the other hand, if a man spends a great deal of time, energy, and of course money demonstrating his love to a courtesan and gets nothing but smiles in return, that courtesan is asking for trouble, either to her reputation or to her person. It is a delicate line to walk, and the delicacy is directly related to the status of the courtesan and the status of her suitor.

The independent courtesans often have a steady stream of gentleman callers. They send letters (and gifts) begging for a private interview, an afternoon discussing philosophy, or the honor of her beautiful company at a ball. One such meeting, or perhaps two, might pass with only kisses exchanged, but if the relationship were to persist, it would be expected to become more physical. (Also, if the gentleman in question were a high-ranking nobleman of some form, she would be expected to show her appreciation that he selected her company without much in the way of preliminaries at all.) A courtesan might have several such lovers all at once - she needs them to support her lifestyle, which still calls for extravagant expenditures. If a man wants her all to himself, he had better be willing to support those expenditures by himself. On the other hand, a courtesan will often allow an illusion to persist that the man she is with right now is the only man for her, or else the only man she truly care for. Most Vodacce men are happy enough not to test the illusion too hard.

Women in a group house can also be courted in such a manner, although they will have to contend with the wiles of their co-workers. Indeed, some men prefer to visit group houses just for the spectacle of women fighting over them. (Fighting over their wallets, more like, but the capacity for Vodacce machismo to misinterpret this is staggering.)

Courtesans can also be met away from their houses. They are frequently invited to balls by the host, to provide an army of women for their male guests to dance with. The courtesans find these events an excellent way to meet new potential custom... er, lovers. They will also visit and linger at whatever fashionable public arenas there are to see and be seen at in their area. They can go alone to libraries, museums, churches, marketplaces, and salons, but some locales, like the opera, practically require an escort. An available courtesan may employ a handsome young man to squire her to these events, but marks him out in some way - a wide ribbon matching her costume, tied around his upper arm, is traditional - to indicate to interested gentlemen that while she's with this fellow, she's not with him. While a "true Vodacce man" might not let such a small thing as another man stand between him and a woman he desired, the fact of the matter is that many Vodacce men are a little older, a little stouter, and a little slower than they used to be, and the risk of getting thrashed by someone for flirting with his courtesan is just not worth it. The ribbons let these gentlemen know that they can approach the courtesan without worrying about an overly jealous lover suddenly interposing himself.

Foreigners on holiday (or on business) in Vodacce are also handled somewhat differently. Their time is limited; they will not be around for a courtship. They are usually stuffed full of the fanciful stories told in other nations about Vodacce courtesans; if they aren't, the guide books major Vodacce cities publish to their famous courtesans (and by 'famous,' they mean, 'able to afford the fee to be entered into the book') will fill that gap. They are curious and determined to have the "full Vodacce experience" and, most importantly, willing to pay through the nose for the privilege. Few courtesans are above exploiting that fact.

Le Diamante

There are a few courtesans who can break almost all the rules. Le Diamante, "The Diamonds," are the top courtesans of Vodacce. They are all beautiful, sparkling, rare, and hard. Most live on the islands, where all the most interesting and powerful people are. There may be one or two in Numa, on the mainland, at any given time. Many have some signature, some trick that stood them out from the crowd of women and elevated them to their current status. Veronica Ambroglia, for example, is still counted by many as a Diamanta, even though most of Theah recognizes her these days as one of the founders of the Swordsman's Guild and the Ambroglia school of fighting. When she was younger, her habit of wearing blousy shirts and snug pants (hiding what other women revealed, and revealing what others hid) and her skill with a sword caught men's imaginations. (Like the Numan goddess Luna, she required would-be suitors to fight with her. Unlike Luna, she let some of them win.) Even now, in her later years, she is assiduously courted by young men (many of them her students) who shower her with expensive gifts. Some of them she takes as lovers. Isn't that the life of a courtesan?

Yes, yes, "il diamante," "i diamanti." But I'm not going to use a masculine noun for these women, so it's "la diamanta," "le diamante." Okay? Humor me.