Joy House
Joy houses,[1] also known as pleasure houses[3c] or flesh-houses,[3b] are dens of iniquity where patrons partake of the pleasures of the flesh;[1][2a] a brothel or bordello.
They typically employ Joygirls and Thrillboys.[3a]
Contents
Overview
Flesh-houses in hive cities are often owned by wealthy Noble Houses, such as those of the Navis Nobilite.[3b]
Skin rings are trafficking groups who often prey on poor, young humans and abhumans, selling them into prostitution or forced labour. Joy-houses will buy these individuals from skin runners, keeping said individual locked up until they grow old, at which point they are tossed onto the street.[2b] Flesh-houses can be found in both upper[2d] and lower districts of cities.[2c]
These joy houses can be found among higher class areas around restaurants, bars, theatres and narcotoria catering to the planetary elite. Luxurious and opulent, these locations often have their own armed guards who wear lavish uniforms. The nobles of various houses can be found in their spacious gilded lounges and body-slaves call out their prices from galleries against back walls.[2d]
Flesh houses are also found in the many poorer sectors of a city alongside casinos, cantinas, tavernas and other sundry dens of iniquity. The smile-girls working at these joy houses are treated poorly. Often seen shivering on the streets, their bodies tend to show signs of neglect and poor health, sometimes having diseases such as a form of pox.[2c]
In between long voyages in space, entire voidship crews berthing in habitable worlds may be allowed by their ship captains to frequent local planetary brothels and drinking dens, speeding up the recovery of depleted morale from arduous voyages. Some captains will even go so far as to spend Gelt to reimburse their owners for expenses and any damages caused, which further speeds up the crew's morale recovery.[5b]
Known Joy Houses
- Menem-Ba's - an upper-class joy house and casino on Alecto.[2d]
Known Joy House Characters
- Alizebeth Bequin - employed as an impoverished joygirl prior to her recruitment by Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn.[4]
Drukharii
- Low Commorragh was known to contain brothels, among other many dubious facilities. It was not unheard of for even Archons to visit, though always incognito, to sample the pleasures of the city.[6]
Trivia
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- It is feasible that paradise worlds, being havens for Imperial Nobles with stupendous amounts of wealth and seeking pleasure[5a], would be one such world that contains Joy Houses if not many.
See also
- Imperial Culture
- Joygirl - scantily clad individual who sells their body[3a]
- Thrillboy - scantily clad individual who sells their body[3a]
- Slavery
Sources
- 1: Grim Repast (Novel), Glossary
- 2: Flesh and Steel (Novel):
- 3: Rites of Passage (Novel):
- 4: Xenos (Novel) (e-version), Chapter Four
- 5: Rogue Trader Core Rulebook:
- 6: Silent Hunters (Novel), Chapter 6
