Place: The Mermaid Brothel

The open secret in most cities is there is always a brothel of some sort. Tridon society doesn't encourage brothels, but they haven't outlawed them either. In far flung posts, sometimes moral is boosted by the presence of brothels, and by not outlawing them, the House can tax them. Win, win for everyone. Most brothels keep a healer on hand to keep the women disease free, but not all brothels are so well kept. If your campaign has rules for such diseases, feel free to use them on your careless PCs if they frequent such places.

The Mermaid in Bloodhelm is currently owned by Shayla Tidewater. Her grandmother bought the business from some other woman of the night and made it her own. Shayla, nor her mother or grandmother, ever were one of the "girls" but she treats them well. She gives them half the cut and makes sure they are well fed, well cared for, and well protected. She currently has fifteen young women under her care, most human though she has a half elf in the mix. The crazy thing about Shayla is that after a certain age she figures her girls should be married and carrying on a family so she looks for nice "gentlemen" to marry her girls. Most arrangements work well and the girls always come back to thank Shayla (or in the past her mother and grandmother). Some of her girls' children even come back to work under such conditions.

The Mermaid a stout, square building with three floors near the docks and kitty corner from the temple of Sircarius. The first floor is flamboyantly decorated with rugs, wall hangings and fine furniture. Here the girls are dressed in lovely, but seductive dresses and await their gentleman callers. Food and beverages are available. There are the men who simply like to have a meal with a lovely lady and are willing to pay the extra gold with the meal for such company.

The second and third floors are the girls room where they take their gentlemen friends. Shayla lets the girls decide if they will service a man or not or how far they are willing to go. Shayla will not take abuse of her girls, even from nobles and has several very burly men who watch over her girls. She fears no retribution from the nobles because she is protected by none other then Lord Kredoc who use to frequent the place in his youth.

For your party this could be a place to get information about the House members or other nobles. It could be a place to relax and and spend their gold. Perhaps one of the party is the daughter or son of one of Shayla's girls. Or maybe they just need a tumble. What ever you want!
Tomorrow: A Bit of History