Help with "Male Courtesan goes Adventurer" idea

[Enverxis]

I've got a really good idea for a character (perhaps not necessarily a D&D character for a tabletop game, but I might use him as an NPC or even a story character). The problem I am having is that I have come to a point in the general overview of the story where I am not sure how he would react to a certain situation, I think this would be a good place to ask for ideas, opinions.

[sblock]
The character I have in mind is a child born to a young human woman of a noble house who has a fling with a charming elven rogue who disappears the following day and is never seen again.
She decides to give the child up for adoption and gives it to a courtesan of a very respectable Bordello in the upper part of the city.
The child happens to be male, however looks very feminine.
Due to this, and the fact that there were no opposing male figures around, the courtesan raised the child a lot like a girl, and was even dressed as such a lot of the time.
The boy started his life out in the Bordello as a male courtesan who filled a niche for ladies who enjoyed younger, even girlier men.
One evening, the young man was performing a dance dressed as a lady at the bordello, and caught the eye of a particular countess; who payed a large sum to spend the evening with him.
Unknown to the Countess, the Count's Wizard was watching her through a scrying dish and informed the Count, who was furious. He decided that he would have her followed and on her next visit to the bordello, his men would kill the boy in front of her.
Sure enough, she came back a few days later.
The Count's men forced their way into the brothel at the protest of many of the patrons and entered the room at a most untimely moment, and seized the boy.
The brutes raked his back with a spiked whip on the bed and forced her to watch, and when they were about to remove his manlihood, in burst the brothel's owner (who is actually a vampire) and the young man's guardian (the courtesan), who killed the guards and helped the young man escape the city (although still wearing the outfit the countess had him wear).
The Wizard was onto this however, and riders were sent on horseback to go and kill him. They chased him across field, hill and dale before he made it to a forest, although they outmaneuvered him and trapped him at a waterfall, in which he was forced to take the plunge.
He wakes up upon a Halfling boat many miles down river, but blacks out again and then wakes up in my "point of light style" village.[/sblock]

Now I've worked out many character quirks such a character would have and relative ability scores, although what I'm having trouble figuring out is how he would immediately react to the environment he finds himself in / and how it would react to him. Now this town has is a multi-racial "safe place" from the surrounding lands that has stood for about one hundred years and has a good mix of humans, halflings, half-elves, elves and dwarves, with a few eladrin, tiefling and one dragonborn, who has lost his clan (good subplot hook there).

Factors that would affect this:
*Having no fatherly figure in his life
*Being raised by a Courtesan
*Become one at a Certain age
*Never traveling outside the city walls, and rarely the upper part of the city

This character will be a more mentally focused character with high Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence scores, but say 8 Str, 10 Con, 12 Dex . His diplomacy and whatnot will be *very* good, and I imagine he would talk in a husky, seductive voice with a penchant for alliteration (as he was taught at the Bordello)

However because of his feminine looks, the fact that he's wearing suggestive clothing of the opposite gender ... the village may react a little strangely to him.

One thing I can think of is that he would be fascinated the the beauty of the natural world (such as the forest) in comparison to the city.

What I am asking for here is some help determining the immediate reactions between this character and his new surrounding, and perhaps some extra enlightenment on how some of the above factors would affect one's personality.

Any second opinions on ideas put forth are most welcome too

 

[Sigurd]

My guess is that if he was 'working' when he was attacked and then savaged with a spiked whip, and then quickly bundled out the door, he is more likely to have been wearing a bed sheet or curtain than anything else when he had to take the plunge. My guess is if he had any sort of garments he lost them in the swim.

If he has anything, whoever saved him might have given him some rags.

As to looking feminine, he's still going to be 3 heads taller than the hobbits - this might be the first time he's physically imposing. I can't help but think that its likely the people outside of the sex industry just dont care about his looks that much.

You have to ask yourself about the sway of the Vampire brothel manager. If the vampire has been fascinating house members to control them this might be the first time your runner is free of the spell. Conversely he could be in withdrawal and be urning to return.

If the boy has nothing to offer the new community they will likely reject him - not wanting to support a dead loss. If the community doesn't have a brothel he may not have any salable skills. If his appearance gathers any interest he may simply want to take advantage of whoever he thinks is a good meal ticket. He might run afoul of less freewheeling morays in the new community.

He might have some gold jewelry worth something. If the vampire or the countess cared for him they might have given him something(s) valuable. Its likely the bordello manager kept a collection of jewelry, for special situations or to have the customers buy for their pets.

Sigurd

 

[Quartz]

Presumably he's been out and about in the city, so he knows about the 'real world', even if he's been sheltered from it. He's obviously relatively learned and cultured, so could know things like mathematics and heraldry which he could put to good use.

 

[Enverxis]

My guess is that if he was 'working' when he was attacked and then savaged with a spiked whip, and then quickly bundled out the door, he is more likely to have been wearing a bed sheet or curtain than anything else when he had to take the plunge. My guess is if he had any sort of garments he lost them in the swim.

LOL, that's correct, so no shirt. I'd say he would have been given a cloak by the courtesan. Good pointing out. This makes it even more interesting, because now I have the choice of what to do about the being used to dressing how he does, he might feel embarrassed about it in the village due to feeling out of his comfort zone or he might just do it as if it's second nature and completely normal, and weird the village out

As to looking feminine, he's still going to be 3 heads taller than the hobbits - this might be the first time he's physically imposing. I can't help but think that its likely the people outside of the sex industry just don't care about his looks that much.

I don't think these points will be too much of an issue, but they're also good points. I think with the high mental scores and whatnot he should be able to adjust to such changes fine, and perhaps even talk up some of the locals.

You have to ask yourself about the sway of the Vampire brothel manager. If the vampire has been fascinating house members to control them this might be the first time your runner is free of the spell. Conversely he could be in withdrawal and be urning to return.

I'd actually planned this bit to be a bit of an example of a non-black and white situation about vampires. I have actually come up with a quest involving the character we're discussing and a Paladin who has come to investigate the existence of a vampire at the Bordello due to some strange marks on a noblewoman's neck; it's his job to make the paladin go away. This is when he discovers that the owner of the Bordello is a vampire, now he won't have grown up on tales of evil blood-sucking vampires or anything so that shouldn't affect his judgement. The vampire herself isn't doing anything wrong, and is just content with running the bordello and offering some 'special' services to the more kinky customers, to satisfy her lust for blood.

If the boy has nothing to offer the new community they will likely reject him - not wanting to support a dead loss. If the community doesn't have a brothel he may not have any salable skills. If his appearance gathers any interest he may simply want to take advantage of whoever he thinks is a good meal ticket. He might run afoul of less freewheeling morays in the new community.

My idea is that he does want to return to the city. However, he can't because it's too dangerous and he owes the halfling that rescued him. So he'll have to stay put for a while, and learn how to become useful in one way or another. He will eventually also learn there's more to companionship than simple harlotry (how & why to be determined). So he now has a list of goals (getting back to the city and sorting the mess out for example) and will have to find a way to make himself useful.

My original idea for this character was a kensai-type warrior or something. Then I thought well, that's kinda boring ... I'll make him a pissant half-elf girly character who later learns to kick ass with a mithral katana using say psionics or sorcery

He might have some gold jewelry worth something. If the vampire or the countess cared for him they might have given him something(s) valuable. Its likely the bordello manager kept a collection of jewelry, for special situations or to have the customers buy for their pets.

Excellent point. I'll factor that in somewhere

Another thing I'd like to note is that he has never killed anyone, and in the course of things, sooner or later he will have to, and that will change him a fair bit.

Thanks for your input Sigurd

Presumably he's been out and about in the city, so he knows about the 'real world', even if he's been sheltered from it. He's obviously relatively learned and cultured, so could know things like mathematics and heraldry which he could put to good use.

Yes this is true, perhaps not the exact things you mentioned, but definitely he will have the skills to be useful in a non-combat way, although eventually he'll have to double up on that.

I still can't figure out what he might do, feel or say when he wakes up in the village, that's probably what I need the most help with, some great tips and ideas coming so far though

 

[Quartz]

Another thing, if it was an upscale brothel, is contacts. The brothel's customers will likely be seniorish people in major trading houses, law courts, and the like. So if the halflings want to trade something, he may well be able to tell them where to start. He may also be of use as the halflings' face-man.

 

[Sigurd]

Its also entirely possible that in a brothel he learned about more than sex. Cooking, business, medicine, drinking.... He might have learned anything at the knee of an ancient vampire.... The vampire madame likely received briefings about powerful patrons on a regular basis. If he's resourceful with high mental stats he might have snibbits of politics as well. Perhaps he knows a fair bit of juicy scandal that was discussed in the brothel behind closed doors.

If he knew how to swim he might have had the presence of mind to hide a satchel of treasure under the water, hollow log or something, and might be waiting on how to repay his rescuer etc....


Sigurd

 

[Old_school_overlord]

No ones mentioned class yet, but Bard seems a great match for this character.

I'd also say that the harlots would have been able to teach him a bit about being "all things to all women" While his natural persona may be very feminine & demure, he's probably had some practice at acting a bit tough for other patrons who prefered that.

His training will lead him to become a bit of a social chameleon - acting in whatever way people expect him to act. If they seem surprised/outraged by his clothing, he's likely to change it double quick - i'm sure displeasing important clients received swift discipline in the past.