The Feng-Huang's Feathers

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Wyvern
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The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Wyvern »

The Feng-Huang's Feathers is a tea-house, located in one of the better areas of level three - it's within walking distance of one of the vertical rail stations that goes all the way up to level five. Feather-masked waiters serve a variety of tea blends (from basic earl grey to one-off custom mixes), and biscuits (american english: cookies), as well as more filling pastries and sandwiches for the lunch crowds.

In front of the tea-house is a small rock garden; sand and stone and lichen with an artificial brook - and several lemon trees, growing near steam vents that keep them from freezing in the winter. (The lemons are a common target of petty theft; as long as it's just a few adventurous kids, Kin doesn't do more than go through the motions of chasing them off - she remembers being in their shoes, and really, the trees produce more lemons than the tea-house can use, anyway.)

The building's construction is the same standard stone as everything else, but a combination of sculpted relief work and a good paint job gives the place a distinctly oriental feel, with the appearance of a torii gate built into its front facade. Inside, expensive paper walls reinforce the theme - and allow easy re-arrangement of the floor plan, sectioning off private areas for the occasional noble patron. Exotic electric lighting lets the place run late into the evenings - and helps minimize the risk of those paper walls going up in flames.

For those willing to pay for even greater privacy, a single serving room is maintained on the second floor; occasional rumors that the Feng-Huang's Feathers offer courtesan services are false - what it does offer is the service of an expert alienist, with psychoanalysis sessions framed as tea ceremonies. (It's worth noting that this likely bears relatively little relation to a real Earth oriental tea ceremony; Kin is working off a combination of what Belinda taught her, and what she's found to work, and memories of popular-culture portrayals.)

And, last but not least, a (literally and figuratively) underground room hosts an occasional high-stakes poker game, and lower-stakes gambling on a more regular basis. A customer will generally access this space by requesting 'special seating', with a comment that they 'brought their own mask', but specific events may have their own unique pass-phrases, or even require that the customer be known to the staff; as with the tea-house's alienist services, a reputation for discretion is an important part of what the place offers.

* * * * *

The above is the customer-facing description; there are a number of relevant details that it leaves out.
  • The second floor of the FHF (Feng-Huang's Feathers) includes some living quarters - Kin and [insert name of Carbone's character] both live on site; other PCs could as well, and the death of its previous owner means there's at least one room currently empty.
  • The FHF does have a small Tok'l engine; most of its mechanical power goes to producing electricity - still a rarity in Lastfell. This is a good potential hook for Miles - he could have set up the electric wiring - perhaps as a side project in his off hours in exchange for free tea and biscuits, or even a trade of continued maintenance in exchange for room and board?
  • The trees out front, in addition to providing an effectively limitless supply of lemons, also help dampen the sounds of the rail lines. The sounds of trains going past are likely to still be clearly audible from any of the FHF's above-ground rooms, but the volumes are low enough to be easily ignored.
  • Behind the FHF is a small greenhouse; metal bars reinforce its glass and make it difficult to break into - which is important, given the number of rare herbs and spices being grown on site. Some of the plants are likely unique on Lastfell; Kin is working on getting a proper inventory of the place and trading seeds or cuttings to some of the specialist farms on level two; she doesn't like having this one small greenhouse being a potential single point of failure for some of the FHF's more popular (or more expensive) blends.
  • The FHF proper includes only a single basement level; it also has (locked and barred) passages connecting down to the sewers below.
Also worth noting: This description should be considered a work in progress; I did not run it past the GM before posting, and it's entirely probable that some of the details will require revision.
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Joshua
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Re: The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Joshua »

The FHF proper includes only a single basement level; it also has (locked and barred) passages connecting down to the sewers below.
Anyone insane enough to have an opening into the sewer likely had it warded with several layers of elder sign. (Not that that actually helps, but... ya know.) Also, probably some outward facing siege weapons. Not that incursions are common, but when they happen, they're REALLY bad. Usually, just having it semi-walled up is enough to get the elder thing to go elsewhere. Because quite frankly if it wants to get into that specific house, it could always go another way.

Also, speaking of trees... This works. Most plate areas have 5 - 6 feet of soil on top of them. this allows for most basements to not dive directly into the plate below, and for the inclusion of trees in rich areas. (which are kinda needed for an estate feel.)
Wyvern
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Re: The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Wyvern »

Did some off-line discussion with Josh about that sewer access. Conclusion: I'm not sure whether it's appropriate to have that walled off or vault-door-style-sealed; presumably it would still be present either way, even if for no other reason than necessary plumbing connections. So, if anyone else with an interest in the FHF has an opinion, we'll go with whatever that opinion is; if not, I'll just flip a coin.
Wyvern
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Re: The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Wyvern »

From a bit of discussion with kitsunenotsume, who has a better handle on british culture than I do: To 'take tea' means light refreshments or a small meal in general, rather than explicitly -tea-. So the FHF will have pastries and cold sandwiches and the like available at all times; it is oriental-themed, and has more of a focus on tea than a standard british tea-house would, but it does still hew to the local expectations.

Oh, and add fortune cookies to that. Of course it has fortune cookies.
"Be prepared; a great opportunity comes knocking. Your lucky numbers are 7, 18, 19, 56."
"Your charity is seen, and shall be returned in kind. Your lucky numbers are 5, 11, 13, 22."
"Those Who Watch have turned a blind eye; audacity will earn you rich rewards. Your lucky numbers are 8, 14, 31, 36."
"Look not beyond the shadowed corners, for today their face is grim. Your lucky numbers are 4, 4, 17, 44."
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Joshua
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Re: The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Joshua »

Uh, is the tea house Japanese or Chinese? In victorian times, the only fortunes would be the omikuji or Tsujiura which was distinctly Japanese. The American Fortune Cookie was invented at least 100 years after Lastfell was founded...

Also, Lastfell doesn't really have a large lottery... So, there aren't lucky lotto numbers...
Wyvern
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Re: The Feng-Huang's Feathers

Post by Wyvern »

And this is part of why I wrote Kin's backstory the way I did. It's quite reasonable if fortune cookies are not something the FHF did before she was running it. A similar thing goes for the numbers - Kin knows fortune cookies are supposed to have numbers on them, but may not necessarily know the original reason for those or that they're superfluous in context of Lastfell. (And even if they're superfluous in larger context of Lastfell... there -is- that underground gaming room...)
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