Business Name: The Velvet Veil

Current Owner: Anonymous NPC, though has investors both anonymous and named: Gilbert Prusseneit

Contact Player: Té, Lynn, Fox, Beanie, Kit, Lady, but also it's meant for everyone to use so as long as you don't burn it down, you're probably good xD

Hiring: Go Ahead!

Threadable: Yes


Established: 1445

Location: London, across the street from the Leaky Cauldron

Nature of Business:

IC: A social club for those who aren't perfectly respectable. OOC: We wanted a place for socializing and events for the characters who aren't invited to the fancy UC events. :P

Target Clientele:

• Anyone on the fringe of society that will spend their money there (any class, gender, reputation, race, or species as long as you have coin)
  
• Caters to UC and upper MC folk who are rep 6 or lower (though they don't say no to the 7-10's); pay levels 1-3 could afford the daily membership fees, pay level 4 might be a stretch for their budget, and pay levels 5-7 would have to stick to the Main Club
  
• Important terminology to note: Patrons are any customer within the building who have not paid for member access that day. Members have paid the fee for the day and have full access to the amenities.
  

Description of Location: Openly edgy but still legal, thank you very much!
The outside is your average brick building, indistinguishable from any other in the area. It's once you get inside that the real fun begins.

Free entry via street entrance, floo or apparition (limited to the foyer)

PUBLIC
Entrance: Similar to the Gringotts waterfall (rumored to be spelled by the same goblin), when stepping through the entrance, all external enchantments, magic, and disguises are stripped. This ensures patrons reveal their true identity to enter. There are services for potions and disguises they can purchase once inside. This gives the club control over the magic happening within and prevents their services from interacting badly with any unknown/outside ones.

Hallways and doors: The building itself feels sentient at times, believed to delight in mischief. It loves making sure you bump into the person you’d rather avoid. Sometimes the doors redirect people into compromising situations or plop them into another area or event. Though it always takes into account the safety and member or nonmember status of the person. You aren’t getting anything extra for free!

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Main Club: Clean but not extravagant, moody lighting with velvet curtains blocking out the light, dark wood, feels like a jazzy burlesque club. Has a bar tended by a poltergeist (sometimes you get what you ordered and sometimes you don’t.) Seating throughout is provided via tables and booths. A menu of light/quick food (think appetizers) is available. People who are wanting a wealthy patron and a discreet relationship tend to linger. There’s nightly performances, drinks flowing, card games, and plenty of social events. Patrons come to indulge, trade information, business deals, find allies, and otherwise be free to unwind by doing what they want, when they want, knowing it stays a secret.

Patrons can expect to pay 2s for your run of the mill beer and ales, 3-4s for wine & liquor, specialty cocktails are 5s+

Typical activities include (but are not limited to):

• Truth or hex table (group game): 7s for the entire table or 2s per seat for individuals Like truth or dare but with non-lethal hexes. If a lie is told as a truth, they get an automatic hex. Also has a version of never-have-I-ever.
  
  
• Performance stage: Entertainment of all types including half-veela dancers, goblin singers, drag performers, illusionists, etc. Performers are not members of staff and are paid a flat fee from the club, along with tips from the patrons. Some might even agree to a private performance in your suite.
  
  
• Emotion Elixirs: 7s Patrons can purchase drinks that induce strong emotions for an hour, i.e., joy, melancholy, anger, boldness, euphoria, etc. They come with a warning label, however—as they can become addicting to certain individuals.
  
  
• Message Charms: 20k per note Discreet notes that flit throughout the club and carry short, anonymous messages. Could be a flirtation or a threat, one never knows. Must be ordered from a staff member to keep everyone safe from unwelcome hexes.
  

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LODGING 3s-5G/hr

Suites and rooms: Tucked discreetly on the upper floors and down shadowy hallways. Rentable by the hour, night, or week. The more that’s paid, the more opulent the room. Various charms and enchantments can be added for additional fees (ex soundproofing.) Ran by a staff member who uses enchantments similar to the room of requirement to create them on demand, no questions asked. Meals can be delivered to rooms for those who prefer privacy (for a fee.)

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MEMBERS ONLY WING
Membership status lasts for 24 hours only and is renewable via a nightly fee, specific amounts at the discretion of staff (14s-3G)
It caters to the UC and wealthier MC, who can afford to realistically pay the fees, but anyone who can pay it (or has a sponsor) is welcome. The area is more opulent with chandeliers dripping in crystals, gilded furniture, polished marble, private alcoves (that everyone knows exist but no one admits to using), and a very moody lounge feel. There are several private lounges for groups, and then more public tables and booths where meals can be ordered. Where and who you eat with is always observed. Members can use the private lounges, soundproof meeting rooms, and access to:

• Basement pools: Styled like roman baths with mosaics, enchanted mist, and gentle harp music. Public to all members. Members must wear a robe that covers them from neck to knee. Some tie them up tightly and others more loosely. They are spelled to dissolve after a set period of time. The more you pay, the longer you can use it. (Though the staff don’t seem to be bothered by those who overstay, though other members might.) Some of the pools have genuine magical benefits (sobering up, mild healing, fertility charms, energizing, etc.) while others are purely placebo. They’re all labeled for safety reasons but it is never revealed which pools work and which don’t. (Sometimes believing is half the fun.) Tended by Mer staff.
  
  
• The Green Room: A semi-secret lounge designed with heavy drapes and pillows thrown across the plush furniture and Persian rugs. a hazy ambiance. Where members can indulge in whatever substances they’ve brought with them. It’s a favorite for those who enjoy opium, magical narcotics, and hallucinogenic herbs.
  

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What Happens Here Stays Here
The Ministry turns a blind eye through a mix of bribes, blackmail, and the fact that some officials are known to be frequent members. The club is openly despised by the upstanding gentlemen and women’s clubs, and those from Knockturn Alley see them as pretentious for trying to be respectable (ish.)

The club’s survival depends on discretion, so there are no masks or disguises allowed. This holds each patron accountable and ensures silence of all by mutually assured destruction. There are house rules, and if any are broken, the wards eject the rulebreaker from the building.

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The House Rules

• Consent and safety are absolute.
  
• No fighting, dueling, theft, cursed objects, or dark magic.
  
• They do not endorse the black market – you have to go to Knockturn Alley for that.
  

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Event nights can include:

• Anonymous Auctions: Objects that may be taboo though not illegal, strictly speaking. The staff can’t say where they came from. The auctions are silent and anonymous and run by a Legillimens staff member. Maybe it’s a notorious quidditch player’s undergarments or a diary you would have wanted kept private…
  
  
• Polyjuice night: a rotating menu of pre-brewed polyjuice that comes with a dose of the potion, a mini magical portrait (for the buyer's reference), as well as a verified donor. Hair is provided by those who need money and may be procured through bribes, stolen combs, blackmail, etc. The club's official stance is that they don’t condone this, but no one looks too closely since it profits everyone. (Effects either wear off after a set period or is removed by enchantments when walking through the entrance.)
  
  
• Private tastings: Eight-course meal led by a sommelier that serves dishes laced with magical substances (love-potion seasonings, hallucinatory desserts, etc.) Effects are subtle.
  
  
• Forbidden lectures: Overseen by the staff. Lectures are given by members who want to speak on taboo topics such as experimental magic, the positives of vampirism, etc.
  
  
• Masquerade night: Members-only event where masks must be worn somewhere other than the face. The more risque, the better. Innuendos encouraged. Someone is crowned depending on the theme, which can go from most evocative to most boorish. Depends on the staff’s mood.
  
  
• Traveling menagerie: a gallery of tamed and unusual magical creatures displayed for curiosity. Sometimes doubles as a backdrop for lectures or illicit wagers (ex which troll will fall off the stage first.) If any sentient creatures are included, their full consent will have been acquired.
  
  
• Meet Markets: Networking/social event for a specific group of people, meant to introduce patrons to others. Popular markets are geared toward a specific goal: e.g., singles for matchmaking without the fussy rituals, werewolves congregate, vampires connect with willing blood donors, etc.
  
  Anything else your heart dreams up, so long as it follows the house rules. Feel free to add any of these events or your own to the official events posts!
  

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Other Notes:
The Staff:

• NPC's or played characters
  
• Human and non-human, ranging from humans with giant-blood, goblins, werewolves, house-elves not suitable for Hogwarts, and more.
  
• Keep a black book of names lists the names and sins of patrons who have been banned
  
• Bound by unbreakable vows of discretion (and paid well for it)
  
• The performers are not employees. See performance stage description for details.
  

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Special mention: Members of memento mori have been seen here frequently, though no 'funny business' is tolerated.