Friday, November 12, 2010

Red Light Action

"A Norman-French law dated 1393 delineates the reasons for establishing the sex neighborhood, the isolation of the sex trade to assigned areas, and the penalties for craftswomen who violate the rules. "Whereas many diverse frays, broils, and dissentions have arisen in times past and many men have been slain and murdered by reason of the frequent resort to and consorting with common harlots at taverns, brew houses of hucksters, and other places of ill fame within the city. And more especially through Flemish women who profess to such shameful, dolorous life. We forbid that any such women should move about or lodge in the city or its suburbs, by night or by day. But they are to keep themselves to the assigned places, the Stewes and Cokkeslane." page 105.

Many men have been slain? Think about what that implies here. Think about what it could possibly imply in a fantasy setting where half-orcs and drow may be among the more exotics of the nighthawks that are popular among the client? When fantasy poisons, spells, and all manner of dark and dangerous methods can be used to kill, and more importantly, where fantasy eco-systems are made specifically to clean up such a mess, think of how difficult it might be to even have prove of death.

In such a town, the lords and ladies running the dark houses of ill repute may have gleatinous cubes at the very least to clean up their mess. They may feed the occassional stranger to the ghouls in the sewers in exchange for the assistance of the undead in times of need.

Magic and mayhem can easily be combined when struck with such words as many men have been slain here.

No comments:

Post a Comment