Bordello of Blood, Part One!
So, imagine, I'm getting around to Bordello of Blood not too long after I mention it! Imagine that.
So, RenFest has this dinner theatre called the Phantom's Feaste that they do each October. This year was a prequel to last year's Bordello of Blood, which revolved around a coven of vampire whores in Victorian England, though I'm not sure of the exact plot, as I never saw it. Doesn't much matter, as this takes place before all that. The cast basically consists of the vampire whores, lead by the "Ancient One" and the Madame of the establishment, Victoria Sanguine, as well as a coven of vampire men, all of whom are pretty yummy. (Not biased because my boy was one of them, nope, not in the least.) There are also the "innocents", as one of the plotlines involves a man named Ancel infiltrating the Bordello to save his brother, who has been made into one of the vampire whore's servants.
Since I'm sure none of you had the pleasure of seeing this in person, I'll be telling the story itself with visual aids, by each dinner course, so that you get an idea of what went on. ^__^
Our story begins outside the gates of Faire, where we get our tickets and mingle. (Yes, I'm one of the crowd members. You'll see why later.) The first to appear are the maniacs, loinclothed creatures almost too feral to be human, their minds broken to make them better playthings of the whores. Cautiously approaching the dias on which they perch, we meet Ancel Deacon.
He explains that he lives in a village beyond the hills beyond, and that for years they lay safe from the Bordello, separated by the wall behind us, and that only those who wandered too far, or sought a disgusting end to their perverse desires, had their blood drained. Now, however, their hand had stretched far beyond their devil's parlor, and they had absconded with his brother, Richard, leaving behind only a note, written in his hand and stained in his blood. And now here we are! Guests for their Feaste of Blood this evening. At this point he jumps down into the crowd, begging anyone with a shred of goodness in their heart to offer some assistance, for if he got in, surely he could find a way to get his brother out again.
As if on cue, such "assistance" as Ancel would never have hoped for arrives, in the form of three figures.
The long-haired blond immediately reaches for Ancel, poised to bite, when the other blond, obviously NOT a vampire, cries out to the third, Vlad, begging him to spare this one. Perhaps he might be of use to them, he reasons, and certainly he wouldn't be if he was harmed! Vlad, amused, approaches the timid-looking blond and strokes his cheek. "You favor this one, Anton?" he purrs. "You think he truly may be of use to us?" Anton nods shakily, and Vlad laughs softly. "How can I refuse you?" With one smooth backstep he returns to his place on the dias, now addressing Ancel, telling him that if he wants assistance, he must earn it. He will do what Vlad asks of him, when he asks it, without question or hesitation.
"And you'll help me free my brother?" Ancel asks warily.
Vlad merely holds up a hand. "You will get whatever you deserve." At this, the long-haired vampire laughs, and now two more have appeared, seizing hold of Ancel and dragging him from the dias, writhing and protesting that he means to help them. "Oh, you'll help us in many ways, my boy," the vampire in the bowler hat chortles.
Distracting us from this little scene now is a voice behind us, the voice of the Madame welcoming us, glad that we've accepted their invitation for a "bite" at the Bordello. But we are not here simply for her pleasure, or our own, but on behalf of the founder of the feast, the Ancient One. She was known as Elizabeth Barrow in life, to the Madame, but she has had many names through the ages, and tonight, she is to drink from a sacred chalice, one that will ensure her dominion as the most powerful and beautiful of their vampire kind.
"Oh Madame!" calls Vlad from the dias. "I cannot wait to share from the chalice with my dear Elizabeth once again!"
"Vlad!" the Madame hisses in anger. "She will not make that mistake again! It was you that put a curse on the chalice so that now, she will age and wither!" This idea appears to greatly distress the Madame, while the male vampires merely laugh as if it were some great joke amongst them.
A larger vampire appears from the doorway, announcing that she has found a solution to the curse, and that if the Ancient One drinks in the right company this time, she will not age. The Madame appears reassured, promising that the vampire, Beatrice, will be repaid for her service, while Vlad will be repaid in another sense entirely. The Ancient One will decry his name.
"I love it when she cries my name," he replies, to laughter from all.
It is now that the other ladies of the Bordello are called in to view their guests, waving and 'showing off the goods' with no shortage of enthusiasm.
The male vampires slip forward into the crowd, pleased with the view, some even flirting with the whores. Ancel, however, wastes no time in shouting out to them demanding to know where his brother is. The littlest vampiress, dressed in a blue doll-like dress, tilts her head sweetly and replies that he is as well as can be expected. If Ancel returns home, he will be safe. Another one of the vampires tells the little one, Olive, not to be foolish, didn't she know his brother wrote him a letter BEGGING him to come? It was a shame, she went on with a smile, that he lost so much blood writing that letter. The girls laugh, and the Madame calls to Beatrice to fetch the piece of filth he calls his brother. Ancel stares in horror as a ragged-looking creature is brought forth and flung against the rail.
"Brother!" he waits piteously. "You shouldn't have come! They f-forced me-"
But he is silenced by a strong blow to the back of his head by Beatrice, who warns him not to give away all their dirty little secrets. The girls laugh again at the miserable creature's pain, and Ancel pleads with them to release him, even promising to take his place. This appears to intrigue the girls, who look him over, and the Madame replies that they will soon see, before gesturing to Beatrice to take "Filth" away. She hoists him over her shoulder as if he was a ragdoll and drags him out of sight, as the Madame now hands the crowd over to the Maestro, to send them in one group at a time, for the long trek towards the Bordello.
Meanwhile, the male vampires are instructed by Vlad to move through the crowd, and to see if any are to their liking. Guess who takes a pointed interest in me?
But, little by little, we are shuffled through the gates and down the lanes towards the Bordello Feasting Hall.
End Part One!
So, RenFest has this dinner theatre called the Phantom's Feaste that they do each October. This year was a prequel to last year's Bordello of Blood, which revolved around a coven of vampire whores in Victorian England, though I'm not sure of the exact plot, as I never saw it. Doesn't much matter, as this takes place before all that. The cast basically consists of the vampire whores, lead by the "Ancient One" and the Madame of the establishment, Victoria Sanguine, as well as a coven of vampire men, all of whom are pretty yummy. (Not biased because my boy was one of them, nope, not in the least.) There are also the "innocents", as one of the plotlines involves a man named Ancel infiltrating the Bordello to save his brother, who has been made into one of the vampire whore's servants.
Since I'm sure none of you had the pleasure of seeing this in person, I'll be telling the story itself with visual aids, by each dinner course, so that you get an idea of what went on. ^__^
Our story begins outside the gates of Faire, where we get our tickets and mingle. (Yes, I'm one of the crowd members. You'll see why later.) The first to appear are the maniacs, loinclothed creatures almost too feral to be human, their minds broken to make them better playthings of the whores. Cautiously approaching the dias on which they perch, we meet Ancel Deacon.
He explains that he lives in a village beyond the hills beyond, and that for years they lay safe from the Bordello, separated by the wall behind us, and that only those who wandered too far, or sought a disgusting end to their perverse desires, had their blood drained. Now, however, their hand had stretched far beyond their devil's parlor, and they had absconded with his brother, Richard, leaving behind only a note, written in his hand and stained in his blood. And now here we are! Guests for their Feaste of Blood this evening. At this point he jumps down into the crowd, begging anyone with a shred of goodness in their heart to offer some assistance, for if he got in, surely he could find a way to get his brother out again.
As if on cue, such "assistance" as Ancel would never have hoped for arrives, in the form of three figures.
The long-haired blond immediately reaches for Ancel, poised to bite, when the other blond, obviously NOT a vampire, cries out to the third, Vlad, begging him to spare this one. Perhaps he might be of use to them, he reasons, and certainly he wouldn't be if he was harmed! Vlad, amused, approaches the timid-looking blond and strokes his cheek. "You favor this one, Anton?" he purrs. "You think he truly may be of use to us?" Anton nods shakily, and Vlad laughs softly. "How can I refuse you?" With one smooth backstep he returns to his place on the dias, now addressing Ancel, telling him that if he wants assistance, he must earn it. He will do what Vlad asks of him, when he asks it, without question or hesitation.
"And you'll help me free my brother?" Ancel asks warily.
Vlad merely holds up a hand. "You will get whatever you deserve." At this, the long-haired vampire laughs, and now two more have appeared, seizing hold of Ancel and dragging him from the dias, writhing and protesting that he means to help them. "Oh, you'll help us in many ways, my boy," the vampire in the bowler hat chortles.
Distracting us from this little scene now is a voice behind us, the voice of the Madame welcoming us, glad that we've accepted their invitation for a "bite" at the Bordello. But we are not here simply for her pleasure, or our own, but on behalf of the founder of the feast, the Ancient One. She was known as Elizabeth Barrow in life, to the Madame, but she has had many names through the ages, and tonight, she is to drink from a sacred chalice, one that will ensure her dominion as the most powerful and beautiful of their vampire kind.
"Oh Madame!" calls Vlad from the dias. "I cannot wait to share from the chalice with my dear Elizabeth once again!"
"Vlad!" the Madame hisses in anger. "She will not make that mistake again! It was you that put a curse on the chalice so that now, she will age and wither!" This idea appears to greatly distress the Madame, while the male vampires merely laugh as if it were some great joke amongst them.
A larger vampire appears from the doorway, announcing that she has found a solution to the curse, and that if the Ancient One drinks in the right company this time, she will not age. The Madame appears reassured, promising that the vampire, Beatrice, will be repaid for her service, while Vlad will be repaid in another sense entirely. The Ancient One will decry his name.
"I love it when she cries my name," he replies, to laughter from all.
It is now that the other ladies of the Bordello are called in to view their guests, waving and 'showing off the goods' with no shortage of enthusiasm.
The male vampires slip forward into the crowd, pleased with the view, some even flirting with the whores. Ancel, however, wastes no time in shouting out to them demanding to know where his brother is. The littlest vampiress, dressed in a blue doll-like dress, tilts her head sweetly and replies that he is as well as can be expected. If Ancel returns home, he will be safe. Another one of the vampires tells the little one, Olive, not to be foolish, didn't she know his brother wrote him a letter BEGGING him to come? It was a shame, she went on with a smile, that he lost so much blood writing that letter. The girls laugh, and the Madame calls to Beatrice to fetch the piece of filth he calls his brother. Ancel stares in horror as a ragged-looking creature is brought forth and flung against the rail.
"Brother!" he waits piteously. "You shouldn't have come! They f-forced me-"
But he is silenced by a strong blow to the back of his head by Beatrice, who warns him not to give away all their dirty little secrets. The girls laugh again at the miserable creature's pain, and Ancel pleads with them to release him, even promising to take his place. This appears to intrigue the girls, who look him over, and the Madame replies that they will soon see, before gesturing to Beatrice to take "Filth" away. She hoists him over her shoulder as if he was a ragdoll and drags him out of sight, as the Madame now hands the crowd over to the Maestro, to send them in one group at a time, for the long trek towards the Bordello.
Meanwhile, the male vampires are instructed by Vlad to move through the crowd, and to see if any are to their liking. Guess who takes a pointed interest in me?
But, little by little, we are shuffled through the gates and down the lanes towards the Bordello Feasting Hall.
End Part One!