Viriconium
- At October 01, 2018
- By Great Quail
- In Vampire
0
Prisons are built with stones of law; brothels with bricks of religion.
—William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Viriconium
The coven’s second largest lupanarium, Viriconium is a subterranean reflection of Byzantium. While Byzantium rises boldly into the sky, Viriconium is quarried deep within an abandoned subway station, a stunning IRT terminal constructed below Manhattan’s City Hall in 1904. Unfortunately, as subway trains became longer, they could no longer negotiate the narrow tunnels and tight curves of the terminal, and it was abandoned shortly after World War II. Purchased from the city by agents of the Nosferatu, the station was eventually sold to the Sabbat in one of Prince Radu’s negotiations with the sect. After a brief spell under Roger and Kitty Plant, it passed to Venus and Orchid. She allowed Roger Plant’s ghoul Lazlo Black to renovate the station as an underground brothel, and “Station Bluelight” opened for business in 1972. After three years of successful expansion, the brothel was renamed “Viriconium” to better suit the Byzantium aesthetic, and Lazlo was traded to Ingo Wallrafen and promoted to “cambion.”
Viriconium Coterie
Enghouled for the better part of a century, Lazlo belongs to the so-called Viriconium coterie, a loose confederation of Cainites and retainers who fall somewhere between the pretentions of Byzantium and the depravity of Siddim. While Viriconium is certainly more exotic than most brothels, it remains anchored in the realm of “acceptable” human vice, and Lazlo operates within the boundaries of the human legal system. He may not refer to his employees using glamorous euphemisms like “houri” and “koitai,” but none work against their will, and problems are usually solved by bribery instead of violence.
Geranium
A voluptuous Nosferatu who keeps her face hidden behind a veil of black lace, Geranium is the “lena” of Viriconium, the madam who manages the hetaerae. She is not a member of the Sabbat, and her presence is part of Radu’s original arrangement. Geranium has an excellent working relationship with Lazlo, and is correctly viewed as a liaison with the Nosferatu, rather than a spy for the Camarilla. Indeed, during times of conflict, the level-headed Germanium has sided with Venus just as often as Radu.
Security
Viriconium maintains a vigorous security force composed of human bouncers equipped with walkie-talkies and batons. They are managed by a Lasombra ghoul named Darius, who possesses the keys to a respectable weapons locker. Unruly patrons are forcibly ejected, and are rarely allowed a return visit. These mortal bouncers are reinforced by a trio of Templars. Under extreme circumstances, Lazlo may also summon Faye White, who makes her lair in a subway car at the terminus of Viriconium’s “Scarlet Tunnel.”
The Hetaerae
Being a glorified brothel, Viriconium employs a wide range of sex workers. Although these hetaerae come in myriad shapes, colors, and genders, they are not categorized like Club Byzantium, and are collectively referred to as “the girls,” “the ladies,” “the boys,” etc. Lazlo has tried to use some of Venus’ flowery terms, but the hetaerae themselves find them ridiculous—“Meretrix? Really? I’m still not sure how to pronounce hetaera!”
Most of the hetaerae are independent. They are allowed to work at whatever attraction suits them, paying a house fee to rent the space and setting their own prices. They pay a percentage of their earnings to the house as well, but this fee is negotiable, and depends on factors such as experience, popularity, and “value added.” Although some of the hetaerae are blood dolls—formerly known as “pallakís”—most are Dominated into ignoring the supernatural aspects of their employment, and very few are destined to become Daeva. Those that exhibit supernatural potential are often “bumped upstairs” to Club Byzantium. Of course, the opposite is also true, and sometimes an employee discovers more than he or she can handle. On rare occasions where Domination does not suffice, these poor souls are condemned to the abyss of Siddim, and are rarely seen again.
Vampires
Of course, the true purpose of Viriconium is to bring humans and vampires into mutually-beneficial contact. Because these interactions are often sexual, a brothel is a natural place to host such encounters, and feeding is expected at Viriconium. Unlike Club Byzantium, Viriconium does not cater especially to Daeva, so the feeding here is typically more “traditional”—human meets vampire, human has sex with vampire, vampire drains a pint of blood, everyone has a good time. Cainites are encouraged to use Presence and Domination to preserve the Masquerade, and murder is forbidden. Having said that, Viriconium is less regulated than Club Byzantium. Sometimes mistakes are made, whether because of frenzy or lack of good manners. Fortunately, Roger and Kitty Plant are always available to “clean up” any unfortunate messes.
Viriconium does not employ Nephilim—the majority of Cainites at Viriconium are actually guests. Interestingly, Viriconium attracts a wider range of vampires than Club Byzantium, and has emerged as a quasi-Elysium between the Sabbat and Camarilla. Many Kindred secretly enjoy “cruising the tunnels,” and as long as Lazlo stays out of politics, the Camarilla turns a blind eye to the brothel. Viriconium’s location also contributes to its neutrality. Situated on the border between Chinatown and City Hall, and suspended between the upper and lower realms of the undead, Viriconium serves as a buffer between the struggles of East and West, Camarilla and Sabbat, Primogen and Ventrue, Prince Immanuel and Prince Radu. As such, Viriconium serves the undead community as an interstitial black market, a useful interzone where business may be transacted across party lines.
Photo: Ilya Abramov
Layout
An underground red light district, Viriconium has the air of an erotic carnival, a sprawling complex of blazing midways, secret tunnels, and repurposed subway trains. Its features are even called “attractions,” and like most carnivals, clients pay as they go. Despite its subterranean location, Viriconium is no Nosferatu warren. Everything is tastefully lit, free from dampness and mildew, and appropriately climate controlled. Much of the station retains its original interior, an elegant style contemporaneous with Grand Central Station and Carnegie Hall: Roman brick, stained glass, brass chandeliers, and floors of Gustavino tile. This original architecture has been generously restored, and Viriconium’s modern expansions replicate its aesthetics. Even the new tunnels are laid with vintage track, and while not every train is completely authentic, Viriconium makes every attempt to appear cohesive and self-contained.
Entrances
Viriconium is open every night from dusk to dawn. There is a strict “no photography” policy, and any patron breaking this rule is Dominated and ejected. The main public entrance is located inside Pandora’s Box, an adult bookstore just south of Chinatown. A gay bar near the Courthouse contains a secondary entrance, a long staircase leading directly to the Thracian Post. The Sabbat maintains several private entrances as well, including an elevator in Le Musée de L’érotisme, two private tunnels, and an underground canal accessible from the East River.
The Midway
Once the platform of the main terminal, the Midway is the central hub of Viriconium. Attractively illuminated by brass chandeliers and panels of blue stained glass, strings of colored lights contribute to the carnivalesque atmosphere. The walls of the Midway feature mosaics depicting a Roman town in the midst of a festival, complete with naked celebrants and titillating acts of public indecency. Numerous stairs, bridges, alleyways, and tunnels are accessible from the Midway, and there’s usually a few hetaera strolling about in various stages of undress, helping new patrons find attractions to properly satisfy their desires.
Le Métro Bleu
Constructed during the 1970s renovation, this bordello is accessible from the Midway through a Parisian metro entrance. The interior is designed to resemble the original station, and features a profusion of terra-cotta brick, stained glass, and brass furnishings. The rooms are surprisingly well-appointed, decorated in art-nouveau fashion and saturated with luxurious blues and deep reds. Some rooms even have a vintage phonograph player and clawfoot bathtub. The women dress to complement the fin-de-siècle décor, with stockings, garters, merry widows, and corsets evoking an atmosphere of Moulin Rouge decadence.
As one might expect from its description, Le Métro Bleu is as traditional as a brothel can get—the madam lines up the available ladies, and the customer makes his selection. There’s even a piano in the lounge. The hetaerae of Le Métro Bleu are at the top of Viriconium’s pecking order, and some are employed as houri at Club Byzantium on weekends. As with Club Byzantium and Zoara Bela, pallakís are distinguished by the Greek letter “pi” tattooed on their left wrists.
The Thracian Post
The only attraction with a dedicated street entrance, the Thracian Post is a gay sauna, themed as a Roman bathhouse and featuring numerous private rooms. Technically not a brothel, the action here is client-on-client, with the odd vampire cruising for some “steamed milk”—somewhat deceptive slang for blood imbibed in the steam room. Most visitors to the Thracian Post are interested only in the bathhouse itself, but a back exit leads to the Midway, and some regulars enjoy an occasional trip to the V-Train once they’ve become suitably relaxed.
The El-Line
Illuminated by blue neon lights, the El-Line is a strip club elevated above the original tracks on metal supports. Unlike Zoara Bela, the El is designed to be seedy, and has the air of a topless biker bar. While lap dances are the club’s bread-and-butter, anyone desiring a more intimate encounter may be escorted to the X-Train. The El’s dancers charge less than the ladies of Le Métro Bleu, but are allowed to keep a higher percentage of their tips. The El is popular among Viriconium first-timers, particularly those intimidated by the more outré attractions.
Amsterdam Avenue
A former service tunnel accessible from the Midway, Amsterdam Avenue is a “window brothel”—a row of rooms fronted by large glass windows, where available hetaerae pose under red lights to attract customers. Interested clientele may engage individual girls as they see fit, until they are invited inside and the curtain is drawn—or not drawn, as the case may be. Farther into the tunnel, the lighting switches from red to blue, and the windows feature more “exotic” hetaerae, generally transvestites and “she-males,” but also pallakís and cambions. And after that, the lighting changes to ultraviolet, and the available hetaerae become increasingly more…dead.
Venus Flytraps
First-time customers who wander too far down Amsterdam Avenue usually pick up on the changed vibe; and for those who don’t retreat to more familiar territory, a trip to a “black light window” may be their first encounter with a vampire. The Cainites who work these windows are known as “spiders,” a semi-pejorative term for vampires who lure humans to their lairs for blood and sex. Such lairs are called “Venus flytraps.” Although most of the vampires working Viriconium’s flytraps are habitual spiders, any bored Cainite is welcome to spend a few hours getting paid by his dinner!
The Trains
Three of Viriconium’s attractions take the form of remodeled subway trains, each ensconced in a separate tunnel and accessible through the Midway. Contrary to rumor, these trains are not operational, and all three tunnels terminate before reaching the functioning MTA system.
The Blue Train (The X-Train)
Located just off the Midway, the cars of the Blue Train have been refashioned into private rooms, usually three to a car. (Many clients and hetaera refer to it as the “X-Train.”) Viriconium’s hetaerae bring clients here for privacy; they set their own fee, but owe a variable percentage to the house. The cars are kept clean and tidy, and some hetaera have earned the right to personalize their favorite rooms. The Blue Train has no madam; but its last car serves as Viriconium’s “security caboose,” and is always staffed by two or three bouncers.
The Transylvania Express
Located near the Thracian Post, the so-called Transylvania Express is composed of lavishly-decorated cars populated by pansexual “conductors” who may be selected from a central lounge. The madam of the brothel is a Daeva fledgling named Lady Godiva, a 1970s drag queen obsessed with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Known for its campy excess, the Transylvania Express attracts a respectable number of straight clients, who pay handsomely for Viriconium’s fabled discretion. Some of them specifically request to be Dominated into forgetting their visits, a task Lady Godiva is happy to perform—her Daeva addiction is the blood men excited by shame.
The V-Train
Towards the end of the Midway opposite the public entrance, a small, unmarked corridor leads to a black door illuminated by ultraviolet light. The door is marked “EMPLOYEES ONLY” in florescent letters, but is kept purposefully unlocked. It provides access to the “Scarlet Tunnel,” a length of track abandoned from the old days, upon which sits a genuine IRT train transformed into an undead brothel informally known as the “V-Train.” Dedicated to Cainites and their retainers, the V-Train is staffed with enghouled hetaerae, pallakís, and fledgling Daeva. Its madam is a Malkavian nymphomaniac named “O,” who claims to be—you know. Although the V-Train is intended for Cainites and their human “guests,” sometimes bold or transgressive mortals walk through the black door and discover the V-Train on their own. Such mortals are charged a steep price to enter. If they agree, nothing is kept from them, and they are invited into the Sabbat’s world with eyes wide open. Such patrons normally exit the train a couple pints short, Dominated into remembering their experience as a bizarre sex party.
The Fourth Train
Despite the obvious immobility of Viriconium’s trains and the limitations of their tunnels, tales of a “fourth train” have achieved the status of urban legend; a rolling brothel of vampires clattering across the Gotham underground, abducting unsuspecting humans during the insomniac hours of night. This rumor is so persistent that even some Kindred have come to believe it, the Sabbat whispering of a “Nosferatu ghost train” and the Camarilla imagining a “never-ending Sabbat party.” Having grown tired of denying the rumors, now Lazlo just shrugs his shoulders and jokes—“We tried to have a fifth train too, full of werewolves—but you know, you just can’t train the damn things!”
The Harpy’s Nest
A hundred yards past the V-Train is the Harpy’s Nest, a cast-off subway car occupied by Faye White, the Harpy of Siddim. Surrounded by canvas tents and reeking with the stench of a carrion pit, the Nest has several additional exits, including a tunnel that leads down to the sewers, a passage connecting to the MTA subway system, and a vertical shaft beneath the basement of an illegal abortion clinic in Chinatown. The presence of Faye is a constant thorn in the side of the Viriconium coterie, and she is restricted from entering the Midway unless summoned. Roger and Kitty may have given the station to their former ghoul, but the Harpy of Siddim is a constant reminder that when push comes to shove, the Plants are the true masters of the Byzantium underground.
Lupanaria of Byzantium
Club Byzantium | Viriconium | Siddim | The Hippodrome | Zoara Bela | Cabaret Tannhäuser | Empusa Theatre | Hellfire Club | Satrina
Sources & Notes
The core of the Gotham Sabbat was first uploaded on 31 October 2000, but the Byzantium Coven was extensively revised during the August-October 2018 update. Like Siddim, Viriconium is based on Under the Willow, a historic red-light district in 1860s Chicago run by Roger Plant and his wife; said to be one of the most wicked places in America.The banner features an illustration called Black Witch by the wonderful Russian artist Rheann D.
Author: Great Quail
Original Upload: 31 October 2000
Last Modified: 6 October 2018
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
PDF Version: [Coming Soon]