night court – Page 10 – Longest Night Midwinter Masque

A Visit to Gentian House

Within Gentian is a place of mystery, sensuality, and peace. Our adepts will sooth your worries and bring rest to a troubled mind. The scent of incense wafts through our halls, and at the center of our house lies a pool for bathing, warm and perfumed. Entering Gentian is to step into a place between dreams and waking, where anything may happen, and where hidden things may be revealed.

Incense is usually burning, filling the rooms with sweet, earthy smells. Our house is full of corners for quiet reflection, but in the open areas low, soft melodies can be heard. Our motto, “Truth and Vision” is present in the many books that line our walls, the divination practiced as a sacred art, and the visions we encourage.

Gentian unites the spiritual and the sexual. gentian flower Sexual ecstasy is a magic all its own, and patrons of Gentian house will find themselves enchanted. Gentian adepts provide non-judgmental guidance, mystical experiences, and connection with the parts of ourselves revealed only by dreams. If your sleep is disrupted by insomnia, if fears and anxieties plague your waking hours, you may find solace within our rooms.

Betting on Love at Bryony House

bryony flower When you enter Bryony House, you leave behind the monotony of a normal life and enter a world of chance and pleasure. Our patrons are varied across all types; we turn none away who can afford a seat at our table. We recognize that all pleasure has a cost. At Bryony, we want to make the most of this, by striking a good deal and providing amazing pleasure.

Our motto states that Wealth Seeks Company. This speaks to our values on many different levels. It’s true that Bryony adepts are good with coin. They are good at earning coin, at spotting the best investment for their coin, at negotiating beneficial loans to share their coin, and also at spending their coin. Despite what it might appear on the surface though, Bryony does not adhere to the blind accumulation of wealth. Wealth alone does not satisfy; company is required to experience true pleasure. That is why Bryony adepts might drive a hard bargain but their true goal is always to share their pleasure with their patrons.

The Bryony Hall of Games is the focal point of our Night Court experience. If you have been a guest of the Royal Palace, you will likely notice some similarities. At Bryony, our patrons are treated like royalty; we serve only the finest foods, sleep on the finest bedding and offer the most interesting of adepts. That’s not to say that we cater to your every whim; we are not the house of blind subservience. Favours from a Bryony adept must be negotiated first and they may be won or lost. We are the only house who will happily gamble for our pleasure.

Many Houses in the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers treat their patrons with the utmost secrecy. This is a valued service of the Night Court but you will find that Bryony has a different atmosphere. In the Hall of Games, our patrons gather together openly. They play at card games and dice games, games of chance and games of skill. Many partnerships and business deals have been made in the history of Bryony House, not only in matters of pleasure.

Often the servants of Naamah in the Night Court feel that Naamah’s fulfillment of pleasure lies solely in the bedchamber. While the pleasures of the bedchamber are often wondrous, Bryony adepts value the pleasure that comes before as well; the pleasure of making a great deal. Likewise, many of our patrons find the most pleasure in the unknown, in taking the chance of the gamble. Games of chance have always invigorated the pleasure centers of the brain. At Bryony, we aim to provide pleasure to all aspects of the body… if you can negotiate the right price.

The roll of a dice can change your fortune. A lucky hand could make all your desires come to life. If you are up for a challenge, visit Bryony House for all your pleasure.

~ Arietta de Millazza nó Bryony

Dowayne

The Quiet, Private Love of House Alyssum

Alyssum is the house of modesty, a surprising trait in a society that doesn’t shame love. But for some love is quiet, private. We value the quiet intimacy of love and we honor Naamah in keeping that privacy. “Love as thou wilt,” means that we make room for all types of people and love is not only the bold and brash lover singing their heart out to the person of their affection. It’s also seen the rose blushes on cheeks and the whisper of veils and the soft sound of lovers in the dark. Alyssum doesn’t shout it’s joys from the rooftops rather cherishes them in their hearts. In Alyssum house we were taught that when Naamah went to the King of Persis, whom she lay with to secure Blessed Elua’s freedom, that she trembled to lay aside her modesty. alyssum flower To offer something so personal is no easy task and because of it, her sacrifice on Elua’s behalf is honored in our efforts to mimic and value that modesty. Just as the other houses offer her worship through their choices so do we in our own way.

Some see shame in modesty. Shame of our bodies that we try to hide them, shame of sex and sexuality that we whisper our desires. But modesty does not need to be derived from a sense that something is wrong so much that something is valuable. We view our bodies and the things we do with them as special in much the same way that all of Terre d’Ange does. However we view them as gifts that are reserved for the right time and place and person, shyly shared and privately enjoyed. Closed doors and covered bodies do not ruin the joy in the experience. We want our lovers to come away from the encounter just as fulfilled and pleased as others.

Those who choose to visit Alyssum house come seeking these treasures like a gift wrapped in silk and bows. Some choose to keep their encounters and tastes and loves to themselves not for shame of them but because it is something personal for them. Privacy is something to be respected as much as any other aspect of consent. Some enjoy the blushes and embarrassment of the modest exposed. They come to admire and love those with shy smiles and averted eyes. Finding the erotic teasing of skin hidden behind veils and desires revealed in whispered confessions is an allure for others. Alyssum offers muffled giggles and quiet sighs that do not need to be shared with anyone else. There is beauty in the shared private intimacy that is different than the love that is spoken of freely. Different but no less or more valuable.

~Cyrille nó Alyssum

Dowayne