An Elf in a Strange Land

Chapter I: The Brothel

Far to the south of Edan, in the Gulf of Broken Ships, there is a narrow strip of land that runs just off the coast of Vanheim, sheltering the sandy beaches from the raging storms of the bay. That land is known as the Sea Spine, and for a thousand years Vanheim has studded it with fortresses, lighthouses, monasteries and prisons. In the far southern reaches of the Sea Spine, there is a town built into a narrow cut in the rock where merchants bring goods to feed soldiers, prisoners and monks alike, and the guardians of Vanheim's shores go to spend their coin.

Of course few trades spring up near forts and keeps with the speed and tenacity of the skin trade, and the town, known as Sprivhn to the king's excise office and Spree to everyone else, was no exception. First among those brothels was the Temptress.

Like any good brothel, the Temptress attracted all sorts of business and all sorts of custom, from newly freed convicts looking for work to guards who merely wanted a hot meal and their clothes washed. The establishment had sprawled out over the decades, absorbing the laundry across the alley behind it, the restaurant next door and even the small brewery in the town. It was a bustling place, though the activity might shift between different rooms given the hour.

So it was, late one night that a figure entered the Temptress, and began the fall of Vanheim.