The House of Foreign Stories
This tall, odd structure has three stories to it Most of the first
floor is a wide, open area broken up by low walls and decorated
pillars. It's lit during the day by tall, wide windows whose colored
glass forms images ofwomen fromdistant lands.
By night, paper lanterns and great bottles of glowworms send shadows onto the high ceilings and exotic statues. (The rest of the first floor is kitchens and storerooms serving the open dining hall.) There are no chairs in the great hall - only low tables surrounded by sumptuous embroidered cushions. Here one may dine on strange dishes, sample liquors that have crossed distant oceans, and listen to the songs and stories of far off lands - often sung or spoken by natives of those lands (as long as they're attractive). A great deal of old-fashioned Rokugan sake is consumed here as well, and pipes fill the air with tobacco and opium smoke.
The rooms upstairs are smaller and more intimate. Asquare central hallway divides those rooms into interior rooms (which have no windows) and exterior rooms (with large windows, and doors out onto a balcony that encircles the building). People go upstairs for quiet or privacy. The exterior rooms provide space for smaller groups - perhaps people who wish to converse apartfrom the hubbub of the lower chamber, or who desire a friendly game of go. Nothing too outlandish occurs in the exterior rooms, since the balcony is open to everyone, and it looks into these chambers. Many people stroll along the balcony - not only because it provides a view of the Island Garden and a long stretch of Pleasure Road, but because knowing who is closeted with whom in an exterior chamber canspark a good deal of gossip.
The interior chambers are entirely private.A smaller stairway goes up to a third floor, which is where Magda and the other women of the house reside. Their chambers are quite plain, compared to the rest of the house - perhaps decorated only with a shrine to a foreign god, or some memento of their homeland. Magda's chambers, however, are both spacious and luxurious.
By night, paper lanterns and great bottles of glowworms send shadows onto the high ceilings and exotic statues. (The rest of the first floor is kitchens and storerooms serving the open dining hall.) There are no chairs in the great hall - only low tables surrounded by sumptuous embroidered cushions. Here one may dine on strange dishes, sample liquors that have crossed distant oceans, and listen to the songs and stories of far off lands - often sung or spoken by natives of those lands (as long as they're attractive). A great deal of old-fashioned Rokugan sake is consumed here as well, and pipes fill the air with tobacco and opium smoke.
The rooms upstairs are smaller and more intimate. Asquare central hallway divides those rooms into interior rooms (which have no windows) and exterior rooms (with large windows, and doors out onto a balcony that encircles the building). People go upstairs for quiet or privacy. The exterior rooms provide space for smaller groups - perhaps people who wish to converse apartfrom the hubbub of the lower chamber, or who desire a friendly game of go. Nothing too outlandish occurs in the exterior rooms, since the balcony is open to everyone, and it looks into these chambers. Many people stroll along the balcony - not only because it provides a view of the Island Garden and a long stretch of Pleasure Road, but because knowing who is closeted with whom in an exterior chamber canspark a good deal of gossip.
The interior chambers are entirely private.A smaller stairway goes up to a third floor, which is where Magda and the other women of the house reside. Their chambers are quite plain, compared to the rest of the house - perhaps decorated only with a shrine to a foreign god, or some memento of their homeland. Magda's chambers, however, are both spacious and luxurious.
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