^^ the Wine Cellar's Entrance, pre-update ^^

— Gina —

There was, in fact, a basement; a three-hundred-foot across basement, fifty feet deep, full of mostly-empty wine racks and surrounded by yet another hundred feet of a parking garage that was accessed by way of the Front Door to the property, -a non-demarcated and private off ramp inside one of the many highway tunnels in the city, not the back door we'd come through,- meaning to enter this massive room, you didn't even have to see the Tower, much less enter it, or even know of its existence.

"So if I made this entire 'wine cellar' into a club, with the bottom floors as a high-class casino and lounge and the top as private rooms available only by appointment, the invitees wouldn't ever even know where in the city they are, even if by some weird miracle they find their way upstairs, because we're in the middle of the woods?" I asked carefully, clarifying as I looked down into the empty canvass of a room.

"I thought you'd like that, yes. And up top there's seven floors of tower and a rooftop terrace for you to do whatever you want with!"

"And if I asked, you could probably find some people who like gambling amongst the Waking World, and would appreciate such a location enough to visit it frequently and gamble large amounts of money?"

"I... no, I couldn't do that, I don't have enough close friends for that, but Thomas could. He may even be one of them, as he enjoys cards very much, more than he should sometimes."

"You trust your husband to go to a casino full of naked women?" I nodded appreciatively at their apparently healthy relationship, only to have a snort surprised out of me by her casual response.

"Oh, I don't worry, he's too shy to do anything he'd regret! Couldn't look at a naked woman for more than a second before turning into a fire hydrant!"

"Well, regardless... yes, that's my plan. Lower floors as a casino, restaurant, lounge, with a big empty ballroom floor there in the middle, a little smaller than it is now... top floors just elegant doors with big brass knockers, old fashioned, then they open into little hallways with individual suites attached. Private Card Rooms with much higher buy-ins hidden off in some of the private suites, not a lot but not too few... ladies walking the floor with platters of drinks and taking men off into the side chambers for their various carnal delights... I can see it now... a lovely den of greed and debauchery, hidden underneath a lovely park that is left untouched by the sin being committed below, and a tower full of ladies and gentlemen relaxing after a night's hard work in a variety of spa treatments... Desiree will flip at the opportunity to send one of her daughters off to start her own salon..." I sighed dreamily, leaning against the railing only to squeak in terror as it gave way and I was saved from plummeting by Zawahili's swift hold of my collar. "Oh, thank you dear..."

"Don't mention it... and don't lean against any more rusty railings?"

"I will do my best... let's go back upstairs, yeah? Tell me about this 'Level 1 Dungeon' that's on the property? Is it dangerous for Johnathon to be running around? I thought Dungeons were a myth?"

Lady Erica laughed and patted my head gently before climbing the stairs that exited into the bottom floor of the tower ahead of me and Zawahili. "Not myths at all, dear, and no, it isn't dangerous unless he jumps directly into the dungeon gate, and Agnus will make sure he doesn't do that."

"Dungeon Gate... is that the place that I felt as we approached? It was like a warmth in my chest, beneath my heart... it was weird, but pleasant." I hummed curiously, looking in the direction of the feeling as we sat in the lounge on the first floor.

She looked at me, then the direction I was facing, and frowned slowly. "You shouldn't be able to feel it, but yes... that's the direction the Gate is in? Perhaps there's something you need for your Enchantments that's in there? Most Gifts try to guide us to use them better, so maybe that's what you felt?"

"Mm... alright, so tell me about this Dungeon, what's its deal, is it really monsters from another planet or... what?"

She laughed, shaking her head at the apparently ridiculous question. "No, dear, it's Daemonkin, Demonkin, and Dragonkin, and in a First Level Dungeon, it's nothing more than Goblins and Slimes, really. Hell, Johnathon could probably kill one of those, if you gave him a dagger and a shield. The Heinrich Clan used it as a training area for newbies and people without any combat-oriented Gifts."

"Oh... okay... then we'll put a fence around it, or a wall, yes? To keep the dogs and John from getting close and getting too curious?"

"If you like, sure. Draw up all the changes you want made to the premises, and I'll have my people get it done within a week, no matter what it is; we have magical means of remodeling, so don't worry about it, truly." She set a mostly-blank blueprint on the table in front of me, showing only the basic outline of the tower and the wine cellar and garage underneath, as well as the property as a whole; looking at it now, it was nearly a mile across, forested in its entirety except for the clearing where the tower stood, a small empty patch where the 'Dungeon Gate' stood, and a lake and River about six hundred feet away from the tower, hidden amongst the trees.

"Nice... fucking massive, but nice..." I smiled and instantly drew a closed building around the Dungeon Gate, disguising it as a generator room for the electrified fencing due to its proximity to said fence, barely two hundred feet away. The tower's interior was basically scrapped without a single fuck given, (all puns intended,) and reworked into a multi-level Spa Facility. With Nine Floors and nearly 10,000 square feet per floor, plus the roof terrace and the circular towers added onto each corner, -which I had special plans for two of them, while the third instantly became the elevator shaft for the building,- I had enough room to go a little wild, and have every type of therapy one might need, both after a days hard work and before one. The bottom floor was the easiest, as it was now home to a lovely little pool and hot tub situation, as well as a full bar that would serve employees their liquid courage or nightcaps, whichever they preferred. A jogging track wrapped around the building and lead off towards the Park and the back door that opened into it, using the little dirt road we'd walked on as its track so that we didn't have to ruin any of the woods to manage it, and the whole second floor was made into a full Gym and various studios; fitness was very important to a good Escort, after all, and barring that they'd make for good shooting locations for various Films or Photo Sets, both of which customers often bought after a session.

The third floor was for wardrobe, hair, nails, and waxing, then the fourth, fifth, and sixth were all for various other spa treatments, then a full sauna took up the entire seventh floor. The eighth floor was the residence, a series of three apartments facing a central hallway and the elevator. The first two apartments were mostly crashpads for people to get some sleep in, so they were a collection and conglomerate of different beds spread liberally around as well as a big TV to watch whatever and a personal bath for... bathing. Mostly. The third apartment was mine and Johns, nearly triple the size of our current one, with the kitchen settled in the circular tower portion of the building, and our bedrooms and the living room set in the wider portion. The ninth floor, and its accompanying rooftop terrace, was a diner/cafe and lounge for employees, serving every meal at every hour because of our sometimes random schedules, though that would hopefully ease up with the stability this kind of situation provided, being able to set dates and times for appointments and know exactly where they were held; in a safe and secure location that you were comfortable in. Being a call girl paid well, but it wasn't the safest gig, and I knew that from personal experience, as did all the girls in the industry. (Boys too, of course, they're also preyed upon.)

Lastly, but most importantly, were the tops of the three towers and the walkway that connected them. I didn't know a lot about science, mostly what I did know was reiterations of Doctor Goodwin's lectures, but I did know that the Stars were pretty, this high up above the low-lying smog of the city. As such, one of the tower tops gained an observatory, -which I wasn't sure what to draw there so I just wrote observatory on it in big letters,- the second gained an aquarium that would tie into the rest of my plan, and the third was just a laboratory of some sort, for John's Chemistry stuff. (If he set a fire up there or released a poisonous chemical, all that would be messed up is the roof, instead of if it was in the basement and thus putting the whole building in danger.) With this increased building height, the three corner domes could be connected by one domed roof, hopefully made of solar panels that would power the building, and protecting the rooftop terrace from the elements. On the walkways in between the domes, along the crenellations, I'd have a garden to grow the herbs we needed for our perfumes, because I was sure John would enjoy the science project of making perfume for us, and also it would lower the costs down from ridiculous to acceptable. To feed and keep these little crops healthy, the aquarium now came into play, as something scientific that I did know about, aquaponics, was my plan. Glass pipes where the fishes could roam through were spread around the entire terrace, even into the tables and the bar for a little bit of exotic fun to break up the monotony of what would otherwise be a simple rooftop cafe looking out over a gorgeous forest... and because I just liked fish, and the idea of sitting at a bar and seeing lots of colorful fishes swim by you was adorable.

"Your imagination is... impressive, Lady Chamberlain. Like the people who make extreme aquariums, I watch them on the television sometimes." Zawahili surprised me as I leaned back away from the finished blueprint, which was, I could honestly say, not the very best of drawings, but it was symmetrical and clean at least.

"Why thank you, dear! That's a very kind compliment, given the humbleness of the drawing! Is there anything I'm missing, Lady Erica? Maybe an Auction House and Shop for my Products?"

"Ah, yes, I was wondering where you'd put... wow, okay, you don't hold back, do you? This may take two weeks to finish, instead of one... mostly the rooftop portion and this mega-casino downstairs... I'm legitimately in awe of your dedication to overzealousness. Truly magnificent... anyway, yes, you need a Shop somewhere in here and an auction house... this ballroom will do for an auction house, especially with the second floor balconies all around it, I suppose?"

"No, that's the ballroom. The auction house... I think I'll use the Opera Theater I'd had set up. It's already got the balconies and the fancy dining tables and the stage and backstage areas... yes, that'll do. As for my Shop... here, underneath this Private Card Room, it's right next to the theater's backstage, so we can have a little Vault for the Auction's Storage, and the Shop can be accessed only after invitation to this particular card game, let's call it Room 52... I'm thinking a room set up like a boutique, but with all nonenchanted items. The customer comes in, makes a request of a specific item and possible effect, the clerk checks the list of Items we have 'in Stock', then calculates a Price for the Requested Item; the price of Requested Items will be at least Ten Times the Auction Price, to encourage people to try their luck in the Auctions instead of specific requests, hopefully keeping the number of individual and specific requests low. By not letting them know that we have a way to make Enchanted Items, and instead letting them believe we have a Dungeon that reliably produces them, we reduce possible danger to me and my son. Perhaps making people believe that the Dungeon here produces magic items, and we control it with an iron fist?"

Her eyes were wide in awe and happiness as she stared at me for a few moments, a wide jester's grin across her perfectly white teeth. "Yessss, I like it! That way everyone just thinks you're the proprietress of the Casino, and not the Enchantress herself!!!"

"Exactly. Also, not even the Clan will be aware of this arrangement; to them, I will simply be the person selected to oversee this Facility, as literally Madame Chamberlain and nothing else. And when I start summoning Demons and Daemons and Dragonkin as pets and servants, selling them here will also make sense; as I build wealth, acclaim, and acumen with my auction house and casino/brothel, I will gain access to a greatly expanded selection of imported goods. Still, I am but a middle-woman and Proprietress of the Tomoi Clan's Auction House, and thus targeting me can bring nothing but a ransom, and probably not even that." I nodded seriously, and then made a small adjustment to the entrance of the Garage, adding a security checkpoint and a guardhouse before you could enter or leave.

On a whim, another change was to the stairway and elevator, changing the entire stairway into hollow glass so that the fishes from the roof could swim through the entire building. From the stairwell it continued, down into the basement and casino and throughout the building complex in its entirety. Each section was individually sealable, in case there was a break or a leak in the bulletproof glass, and there was a healthy amount of food and nutrients in the water for the fishes at all times, capable of being released in any portion of the glass tunnels. The columns in the ballroom became individual coral reef aquariums, so the fishes had plenty of places to sleep when they wanted to, and the railings of the balconies and almost the entire building, anything that wasn't structurally important, it was glass, and the fishes could swim through it. From Erica's immediately cramped expression, I knew it was beyond ridiculous, which just made me smile. "Honey, that's... difficult."

"Hey, If I'm buying and owning a gorgeous tower in the middle of a meadow,-"

"Glade, Actually..."

"-glade, whatever, if I'm going to live in a tower, it's going to be a Wizard's Tower, and it's going to be beautiful, and-... sorry, say that again? What's the difference between a Meadow and a Glade?"

"Meadows can be used for farming, usually for wheat, and Glades are simple openings in the forest where there aren't any trees. This is a Glade."

I blinked slowly, then groaned and dropped my face into my hands. "Fucking Precognizant Devils causing nothing but trouble... The Contract Devil called me 'The Lady Of The Glade'. At the time I thought he was just trying to find something that rhymed, but this seems... serendipitous."

"Ahhh, yes, they do that sometimes, don't worry about it too much; it's not really precognizance, but rather an irritating attempt at manipulation that is most often successful due to their highly analytical minds and access to every bit of knowledge that exists in this plane and many others. Still, glass everywhere is not structurally sound, no matter how you do it; you'd need at least double the amount of columns, and then there'd need to be some sort of metallic bracing... maybe Tungsten or High-Carbon Steel?"

"So it's possible? Also, what if you didn't use glass for all of it, but rather plexiglass or Silicon Rubberized-Glass, with a thin coating of glass on top of the surfaces people would touch?"

She hummed curiously, tilting her head at the pictures and nodding slowly. "Okay... plexiglass might work... and rubberized glass is perfect for these railings and stairs all that stuff, those'll be the worst hit because of the increase in traffic over them. But still, care to explain why you want it all to be glass?"

"Sure: like I said, if I'm gonna live in a tower, it's gonna be a Wizard's Tower. What says Wizard's Tower more than The entire building being one huge aquarium full of Daemon Fish?"

"... I will admit that does sound like a Wizard's Tower; just the right amount of crazy." Zawahili shrugged helplessly as Lady Erica stared at me incredulously.

"Exactly. Of course, the glass will be perfectly opaque or frosted in all the private rooms, but the walls will be lit internally, making the light Omnipresent throughout the building. Of course, not the parking lot, that'd be weird."

"Yes, that's the line that's been drawn, the garage can't be glass; that would be weird."

I defended the decision to the skeptical Viking, frowning at her censoriously. "The cars would stress the glass and the fish at the same time, what about that doesn't make sense? That's a sensible line to draw!"

"I'm not disagreeing, I'm just being catty; anyway, this is a tall order, but give me two weeks and it'll be done." She rolled up the blueprints and tucked them into the tube they'd come out of, handing them off to a young man who I was positive hadn't been there until just now. "Take those to Aleheart, tell him I apologize for the complexity, but I'd appreciate his full attention: this is Priority 1 until its final stone is lain."

The young man bowed and then disappeared in a puff of smoke, not even bothering to do the dramatic batman exit like Avid had done.

"Waste of an opportunity to be batman, I tell you..." I sighed, shaking my head at the smoke disappointedly, and Erica cackled at the comment, agreeing heartily as the conversation turned to other things while Zawahili returned with something for us to drink.