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You’re going to meet Chastity Sullivan tomorrow for the final character profile, but today we’re looking into her realm. Originally, she was going to be a tavern owner in the city of Nyte, but then I moved her into a more neutral establishment. It was still a tavern and brothel because the character is fairly lustful as you’ll see in War of Nytefall: Loyalty. She’s ten pounds of Id in a five pound dress, so her business had to show this as well. Over the top would be a starting point and I looked at various vampire bars in fiction to get an idea. I was ready to roll once I sat down to write.
Then, I got to the chapter where the Scrumptious Siren was introduced. First thing I realized was that I didn’t have a name for the place, so I took some time to design one that embodied Chastity. My focus was a little muddled and the original attempts were bad sex puns that didn’t make any sense with Windemere. They would barely make sense on Earth if you wanted to keep the place a pseudo-secret. I went with the siren due to her seductiveness and for some reason scrumptious came soon after. This was after I had eaten too, so it wasn’t like I was hungry, which the rest of this description will make people doubt.
I just went with whatever popped up in my head, which started with a hill that was covered in thin trees and home to hummingbirds. That went smoothly and then I suddenly found that I made the building resemble a cupcake. Wait, what? Fine, I went with it and then got inside. Chastity had a bakery that went around the main bar area and an enchanted menu on the ceiling. I gave her private quarters with one that you would expect from a madam and another, yet to be seen, closer to that of a mild-mannered businesswoman. I had magical poles that allowed people to slide up and down to reach the lower levels. The bakery ended up being manned by goblins, who were incredibly protective of their wares, which were being sold alongside ale, stew, and kinky sex. What in the world had I created here?
Honestly, I probably created one of my favorite settings ever. There was such a bizarre mesh of the sexy vampire with the standard fantasy tavern and a common business around the edges. For some reason, all of this worked and I think a big part of that is because I had Chastity standing in the middle. She embodies all of this and the character’s charm abilities really fit the idea of a vampire businesswoman. I don’t think the Scrumptious Siren could exist alongside anybody else, which makes me a little sad that I didn’t put any more prior thought into it. Then again, it might have come out rather drab and dull if I forced it into creation.
One thing I had to figure out was the security. Not only the goblins protecting the pies, but a way to protect the Scrumptious Siren from being revealed as a vampire bar. This became a really big concern when I decided that patrons would be both mortal and vampire. The mortals are enchanted as soon as they enter, so they never realize that they are among vampires. The vampires are under orders not to hunt on the premises or they will be banned or killed. With the Scrumptious Siren being one of the few places they can go to relax, nobody wants to anger the hostess. Still, you can’t only have rules to keep people on their best behavior, so I needed a physical barrier. That’s when the hummingbirds got an upgrade to vampiric agents. Anyone who hunts around the area is attacked by the flock and drained. This doesn’t kill them, but they aren’t going to get very far with no blood and this leaves them exposed to anything that decides to finish them off.
I’m still on the fence on if it counts as neutral territory too because Chastity is openly aligned with Clyde. You’ll learn more about that tomorrow, but it means the traditional vampires would see her as an enemy. Still, too many love the Scrumptious Siren in both the human and vampire societies. Her disappearance would send some really big ripples through their worlds, which could reveal a lot of secrets. The fact that she has operated without the Duragians ever becoming suspicious means that Chastity has created a business, which spans more than her corner of the world. So, both sides can use it as a safe haven if need be. This could change as the series progresses though.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Legends of Windemere 