On Mont Nuit, just south of Cereus House, is a grand château that serves as home to House Dahlia. With a motto of “Upright and Unbending,” adepts of this house exemplify the poise, dignity and commanding presence one would expect to find in the palace at the heart of D’Angeline politics. Sometimes accused of being haughty, Dahlia adepts instead are skilled at the games of courtship, the wildly contained flirtation, teasing, and bantering that drive D’Angeline love and ambition.
Dahlia, unlike any other house, is a crafted blend of many of the qualities of other houses. Dahlias can be as steely and delicate as Cereus house, as perfect and pristine as Camellia, as sensual and teasing as Jasmine or as competitive and calculating as Bryony. In Dahlia lore, Naamah bestowed herself as a Queen in her seduction of the King of Persis. Thus, Dahlia adepts project an air of aloof consideration and passionately cool action. Patrons pay for access to a nightly audience with House Dahlia, a chance to be chosen – some patrons are luckier with others and some come just to enjoy the atmosphere.
Upon entering through the stone and iron gates of the grounds, patrons are treated to the immaculate and sumptuous grounds, complete with hedge mazes, gardens, and fountains. Patrons are greeted by guards in royal blue livery and escorted into the heart of the house.
The hallways are lined with tasteful mosaics of Naamah and Eula’s companionship framed by the deep richness of velvet curtains. The grand hall, where the Dahlias gather each night to mingle with patrons, is decorated as finely as the palace in the City of Elua. And all Dahlias are in attendance at the nightly salon, from the little novices all the way up to the full adepts. Dahlia believes that in order to learn the elegance and poise required of the Kings and Queens of the Night Court, the novices must learn by example and watch the dance of the Dahlia salon.
Novices in Dahlia livery make the rounds with trays of refreshment, watching with eyes already haughty with the knowledge of their future marque as the adepts on their personal chairs entertain their personal courts. Living statues line the walls of the salon, the more mature novices close to graduating, painted gold and training themselves to be aloof and beautiful and untouchably desirable by decorating the salon with their own bodies. Each of their niches has a plinth on which they stand, the fluttering chiffon curtains hiding and teasing at their graceful limbs.
Candelabras with tall candles cast dancing light upon carefully placed mirrors that set the entire salon aglow. The rich jewel tones of the upholstery bathed in a golden light, imposing chairs of exquisitely carved dark wood seem gentler in the soft light, and the black and white checkered marble floor gleams in the central floor around which everything is arranged.
This checkered floor is the subject of one of Dahlia House’s most famous and scintillating seductions. After the dances have completed, stately pavanes and leaping galliards and risque lavoltas leaving the patrons breathless and the adepts enlivened, after the patrons have approached their chosen Dahlia with due reverence on bended knee, after the adepts have listened to the flattery and accepted gifts with cool smiles and haughty eyes, a Dahlia rises from her imposing chair. Her dark hair shines under the candlelight, her dark eyes glitter, and her low voice calls, “My dear Jocaste, I have been challenged to a game.”
The Dahlia Dowayne, a beautiful woman with striking streaks of silver through her hair, gestures to the checkered floor with one elegant hand, “Do us proud, my Second.”
Odilia nó Dahlia claps her hands and the statues come to life, arranging themselves upon the dance floor that has become a chess board with living pieces. Her patron, a look of hungry delight on his face, takes his place along his side of the board and the game begins.
The appeal of Dahlia is evident in the game. She sits her throne, commanding her pieces, watching her opponent for any moment of weakness. And he, caught in the Dahlia’s gaze, thrills at her attention, at the thought that perhaps he could be her equal for the night. As the game progresses, she rises, pacing her side of the board as the adept falls away and the politician and strategist comes to the forefront. Her skirts whisper on the marble floor, a predatory gleam in her eye and her patron calls for a drink to slake his thirst. And when she finally makes her way to where he sits, he is frozen as she approaches. She makes her last move and murmurs, low and proud, “Checkmate.” And he kneels.
Visitors to House Dahlia understand that adepts set their own terms, their own price, with the approval of the Dowayne. Patrons play the games of flattery, seduction, and intrigue to gain entry to the bedchamber of a Dahlia adept. Patrons pledge themselves to their chosen adept forming their own little courts. The horologist’s voice marks the hours and the arrival of guests and patrons. Each adept takes turns commanding the events of the Great Hall through the evening, with the stunning and sly Second taking control over the twilight and the Dowayne commanding through the midnight as adepts and patrons retire back to their private salons.
Dahlia adepts respond to talent, wit, and boldness in all its forms but are quick to see through arrogance and deception. And each fancies something different. As an adept, our Dowyane always showed a preference for poets over financiers, yet her Dowyane would only ever choose older, silver-haired courtiers. Thus, Patrons want to stand out, to be noticed and admired in order to gain the attention and the most private of audiences with their chosen. Games of skill and chance often make their way through the little courts as the night progresses, some more daring than others. An adept chooses their patron for the night in their own time, commanding their own terms, inviting them behind the curtains into their private bed chambers.
From there the service is as varied as the patrons’ desires. Yes, many who come to Dahlia derive their pleasure from serving – and thus Dahlia’s learn how to receive as well as give. Touches of Mandrake and Valerian sometimes also make up the delicate balance of fortitude and grace that is a Dahlia. Likewise, some patrons come to play at nobility, to dabble in the court politics that their everyday rank denies them. And then there are those who come to conquer, to break through the walls and partake of what wonders await on the other side.
Though it is true that most patrons will never witness a Dahlia’s true face, most patrons walk away with a deeper experience of pride.. Trained to the service of Naamah at such a young age, Dahlias learn how to hide their true selves, just as the scions of Elua must. Dahlias aspire to be the crown jewel of Namaah’s arts, to only show the facets and shine that can enchant, divert and command. Adaptable and yet implacable, Dahlias always find a way to get what they want, whether it be the fat jewels in a patron’s purse or an invitation to palace fetes, the more rare patron gifts.
And yet the gift the patron receives, as reflected in the many facets of House Dahlia, is one of the more precious gifts Naamah’s servants can offer: confidence and pride in one’s own inherent desirability and worth.
In Terre d’Ange, the highest commandment is to “Love as Thou Wilt”. Of course, this can be interpreted in many ways. Some of us love friends and family, in the everyday mundane tasks that such an endeavor requires. Some of us love money and all the privileges that brings us. We can love and strive for justice, knowledge, the healing of others, the beauty of art, timeless perfection, pride, strength, or desire. There is no requirement to love only one or even only of few of these attributes. Of all of the loves, we at House Orchis remind that there is one that we often neglect, love of ourselves. I contend that joy and laughter is no less than to do anything for the love of ourselves.