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The Courtesans of Vodacce

The Montaigne Court

The Courtisans of Vodacce

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	Catarina Brissi This young courtesan is becoming quite famous at the court of Vodacce. She has not yet chosen any permament protector. However, she now seems to hold some kind of power over a few men since two at least died in duels to get her favors.
Magdalena Campaniolli There are many rumors about this gorgeous woman. Some people pretend that she has some noble blood from a foreign country. Others think that she has always been there and just changed her name. She does not seem to grow older.
	Bianca No one knows the name of this woman; she is just called Bianca (white). She has very pale skin and she loves white roses. She has in the past prefered a bouquet of white roses to a diamond necklace. Many men think that due to her gorgeous blonde hair she is from Vendel but her family has always lived in the Montaigne at the boundary with "the Crescent". She often wears a veil and many fate witches have considered that to be an insult.
Angella Di Rossi and Mario di Filipo Angella di Rossi is famous for cheating on her exclusive protector Mario di Filipo. On the other hand, Mario di Filipo does the same thing and spends time with many other women. However, despite those behaviors they love each other and many courtesans would love to share their happiness.

The Courtisans life and duties It seems that many people think that courtisans are merely prostitutes. This is a huge mistake, they are much more than that and no Vodacce prince would accept to be seen with a Jenny. A Courtisan is an intelligent and beautiful woman trained to entertain her employer. They quickly develop specialties and some courtisans are famous musicians, others famous storytellers, etc. They sleep with their employers but this is only one of their duties. It takes many years to teach a young girl how to be a courtisan. It also takes a lot of money, those women are pampered and are fed with the best food available, they have people taking care of their hair, their skin, etc. They also use a lot of expensive make up and wear beautiful dress. Obviously all that has a price and the Courtisan's schools expect to make money. Usually those costs are about 3000 guilders for a complete education. In order to pay those huge amounts, Courtisans accept contracts negotiated by their schools. Progressively they get better and make more money. A good courtisan will probably pay her school in only a few years, the courtisans less gifted or less lucky spend the rest of their lives in jenny houses. Until they have finished paying the cost of their education the courtisans need to obey their guildmistress. Sometimes they try to leave the cities and break thier contract before the hand but this is considered a theft and many swordsmen are happy to help the school in exchange for money or attention. Leaving the school means also giving up the possibility to attend new classes and to have the protection of the school bodyguard. If a man injures a courtisan, the school will ask him money for the loss, if he does not comply he will be defied by swordsmen linked to the school. Very often the school invites artists or teachers to share their knowledge with their students and those schools are probably the best places in Vodacce for women to get some education. The Courtisans tools The Courtisans use many items to achieve their goals. They compete with "la mode du lac" society in Montaigne for fashion. - The mask A Courtisan's signature is her mask. They wear those most of the time and therefore it has become one of their symbols. Getting a Courtisan to remove it is like unwrapping a present. It is considered extremely rude to force a Courtisan to remove her mask and the Courtisans guild might take offense and send swordsmen. They are usually made of feathers and leather and decorated with pearls and jewels. Basic masks cost 5 guilders they are worn by young courtisans not yet very skilled. Courtisans of more experience usually spend 100 guilders per mask. Those masks usually have the school symbol on them. It is only after a Courtisan has paid all her debst to the school that she removes that symbol. The masks used by Courtisans dating princes cost at least 500 guilders a piece and those women have at least 10 of them available. - The perfume Courtisans need to be perfect. A meeting with one of them needs to please all the senses. Their beauty will please the eyes, their voice will please the hears, the softness of their skin and the silk they use for their dresses will please the hand caressing them, etc. They also of course need to smell wonderful. Therefore, Courtisans pay a lot of attention to their perfumes, the most successful among them will design their own and wear different perfumes according to their mood, weather, etc. These small perfume vials can also contain potions and poisons and the small case filled with those vials are sometimes more deadly than expected.
	This shoe is typical of Courtisans. It has very high heels to make the courtisans taller and easier to see in a crowd. Of course those shoes are used only in the main City-Islands of Vodacce, they are not very comfortable and it is impossible to run with them. Those shoes are often very expensive, they are made of precious leather with cork heels and incrusted with jewels. They are called Chopines.