House Mandrake

From Wiki

House Mandrake

Statistics
House	Mandrake
Canon	Algolagnia, sadism and dominance
Motto	"Yield all."
Dogma	Naamah chose her patrons like victims and whipped them to violent pleasures, leaving them sated and half dead.
Dowayne	Genevieve
Second	None
Image Credit	©2007 Elegaer, used with permission of the artist.

1 Training
2 Debuts
3 History and Current Events
4 Dowaynes
5 Quotes
6 Perspectives on Mandrake
7 Members

[edit]

Training

At an early age, lessons begin on focus. It's drilled into a novice that a patron in the throes of mingled passion and pain can't always judge when to stop - the courtesan has to be able to read the signs. That means concentration and intent focus on the results of what she's doing.

Later, classes are taught on physiology and how the body is put together, how it all works. Not just how to give pleasure (though that's certainly taught as well) but where and how to cause pain as well. Teaching pain begins with feeling it: a novice is expected to know how these things feel before she tries them on anyone else.

Scholarly classes are debates about control and power. Where does it reside at which points in an assignation? How is it passed from one person to another? Philosophy is also considered: does the demand of 'Yield All' apply to anyone a Mandrake courtesan meets, or only to a patron after contract is signed? Why would anyone want to yield, for that matter? Treatises on both mental/emotional and physical submission, as well as its opposite, are expected reading material.

Training for skills with tools is wide and varied, and often done at intermediate and advanced levels with the assistance of Valerian courtesans. Even if a Mandrake courtesan doesn't particularly enjoy a tool, she still needs to know how it's used and what it's for.

After the debut, a Mandrake adept is encouraged to find a specialty that pleases her, though it's not a strict requirement to do so. Classes continue on more advanced techniques and skill-sets, as needed and as teachers are available.

[edit]

Debuts

Aditya and his Valerian sister, Kamini, are slated for a debut in the near future. Word has leaked out that it'll be a Bodhistani jungle-themed event, with masks for the guests as predator or prey (as their own whim suggests). No date has been set yet.

[edit]

History and Current Events

Longest Night, 1185: Mandrake's theme is wolves. This fits well with the Valerian theme of valuable and rare prey, but there's some uncertainty about whether the two Houses planned it that way or not.

[edit]

Dowaynes

1) Amarante

It was a bit of a surprise when the Grand Dame of Mandrake passed away. It left her House in turmoil. There'd never been a time when Amarante wasn't there.

2) Nevelon

It was a dark and stormy night! Nevelon arrived at the House and declared himself Dowayne. It stuck, for a while.

3) Genevieve

Was it a quiet coup? Or did Nevelon (of all people) get badgered into leaving? Nobody's saying for sure, and when all's said and done, one fact remains: Genevieve is now the Dowayne.

[edit]

Quotes

"What Valerian claims I know not, for of the two Houses that cater to tastes with a sharper edge, we heard less; but I heard once that Mandrake holds Naamah chose her patrons like victims and whipped them to violent pleasures, leaving them sated and half-dead."

― Kushiel's Dart^{Pg 16}

"Black velvet, like a moonless night, and silk like a black river under stars, bronze masks, horned and beaked, at once beautiful and grotesque. I felt a tremor run through me..."

― Kushiel's Dart^{Pg 42}

[edit]

Perspectives on Mandrake

"When a patron enters into contract with us, he sets something infinitely precious in our hands: trust. Trust that we won't hurt him physically beyond what he wants, certainly, but also trust that we won't use his moments of vulnerability against him. Trust that we'll help him push the boundaries of what he wants when the time is right, and trust that we'll accept what others label dark in him.

There are layers and depths to yielding, an unending number of them. No patron ever yields in exactly the same way, to exactly the same degree. Each one is a new circumstance and should be treated that way. There's no such thing as a 'typical' assignation - this is truth for all of the Houses, including Mandrake."

- Genevieve no' Mandrake

[edit]