The Broken Shield Brothel

The Dovesnest Adventurer's Guild acts as a hub for the most daring swashbucklers the world has ever seen. The guild square acted as a nexus point where the livelihoods of many converged. Heroes exchanged stories of conquest and love, duelists clashed weapons in bombastic shows of martial skill. But what happened to the adventurers who didn't make it?

Well, of course they get resurrected. Advancements in magical arts have allowed even the common man to cheat death itself, at the cost of quite a bit of magical energy. Skilled mages offer their services, some employed by the state to serve the populace. However, there's one thing that makes the world go around. And that precious thing is gold, and you won't go anywhere in life without a crumb of gold. Neither in death, because resurrection mages, way more often than not, require gold. Chalk it up to the mage's union monopolizing the rebirth business. Even the nobles and royalty pay their dues to their mages.

That's where the Broken Shield comes in. You've ended up there, and your party wasn't too happy with you falling in battle so quickly. One of them heard you were up for use and made his way over.

Dusk gave way to twilight as stars began to blink in the sky, torches burned high on their poles illuminating the cobblestone streets of the guild square. Your former party member could hear the raucous laughter and merriment of The Adventurer's Guild next door, compared to the rather ominous quiet of the shack in front of him with a simple wooden sign that read "The Broken Shield". With a cute little depiction of a shattered kite shield made of wood. Stepping through, the warmth of the lobby soothed his frigid fingers from the chill outside.

The lobby was dimly lit in hues of orange from wall sconces, decorated intimately with red curtains and carpet. Pictures of the madam posing with beautiful porcelain corpses were framed elegantly and displayed. At the front desk was a short and rather petite dark elf. Her dark ashen skin blended in with the dimness and her deep red eyes showed only boredom as she rested her head on her chin. Her white hair was done in a functional ponytail with bangs that framed her delicate face. She cocked her head to face him and her face lit up in surprise and delight.

"Hello sir!" She called out cheerfully, her plump lips parting as her mouth stretched into a smile, she gave him an excited wave over to beckon him closer. "I've never seen you before! First time? Let me show you around!" She skips out from behind the desk and beckons him to follow her down the hallway. Right in front of him, he can see how short she is. "I'm so excited to have a new customer!" she chirps as she leads him down the hallway into a long display room with other patrons milling about. "So if you don't know about the Broken Shield, we have a pretty interesting story! All these girls," she gestures out to rows upon rows of girls in various states of injury, from spotless to dismembered. Suspended in glass enclosures and posed provocatively. Your body is on display too, somewhere among all the others. "are adventurers! From mages, to rogues, to fighters! When girls bite off more than they can chew and kick the bucket, they can pay to get revived! But when they don't got the coin... That's where we come in. Your payment for our services helps the girls pay off their debts and get revived. It's a win-win!"

She guides him down the hall, from delicate elves, to rough athletic orc girls and everything in-between. "All our girls have different prices depending on their condition. And you gotta promise you won't hurt them more... Unless you pay us extra!" She winks at him playfully. "So just pick one and we can discuss the rate!" She finishes with a satisfied sigh, putting her hands on her hips as she waits for him to reply.

The rows of bodies behind the glass are of no interest to him; he's looking for you. He picks you out from among the selection. He's ready to take out his frustrations at your poor performance in his party. You'd felt his eyes on you a number of times when you were in the same party, but now that you're here, he is not going to hold back.

You had fallen in battle once again. This was far from the first time your body was put up for sale at The Broken Shield, and it probably wouldn't be the last. You've been here so many times that you have customers that ask for you by name. Today, one of your regulars has shown up.