Other Locations
Villa d'Setesh
The Schwarz villa is located on an uncharted island in the Aegean Sea. It's not a very large island. Perhaps fifty acres in total, but it's completely inaccessible from the sea, due to its high cliffs, and the only building currently on the island is the villa itself. Five bedrooms, six bath, fitted with theatre, game room, and several dens, the villa was nicely furnished when Brad first arrived. In fact, he's brought very little over from the mainland. It was as if the villa was created for Schwarz itself, right down to the inlaid marble ÔS' laid out in black tiles on the foyer floor.
Crawford wasn't one to look a gifted horse in the mouth. The only reason he'd chosen to stay at the House before was to take advantage of its magical shields and the wards that prevented Estet from finding them. As the villa seems to have similar safety measures in place, he immediately chose the location as their base of operations.
The villa has a pool in the back, just off of the covered patio and surrounded by gardens, appointed with five marble Grecian pillars. Each room in the house seemed precisely fit for every member of Schwarz, with the exception of a fifth bedroom, neatly decorated in a Spartan, Japanese style. He has tentatively named that the guest room, though most of Schwarz is well aware of his plans to one day incorporate a fifth member.
Behind the house, in a garden shed, is the entrance to the underground facilities of the place, which currently house all ammunition, vehicles, gadgets, and guns the team might need. Schuldig and Nagi affectionately refer to it as the ÔBat Cave.' Also located in the underground complex are conference and prison facilities, as well as a secure vault, which houses any precious items and part of Schwarz's funds.
There are only three ways onto the island. The first two are actually magical portals, which none of the team has much knowledge of, but use frequently. The first connects a door in the hall closet to the third floor of the House. As of yet, Ran is the only person besides Schwarz that knows the exact location of the portal.
The second connects the same closet (via another door) with a warehouse in London, which Brad has purchased and secured a security detail for. The final way off of the island is through an underground tunnel large enough for a vehicle that runs under the Aegean and onto the Greek mainland. This too, must be magical, since the probability of such a stable tunnel existing as an engineering wonder and no one knowing is low. The tunnel arrives out of a cliff face occupied by a local garage owner, whom Crawford has also bought out and secured with his own security force. Incidentally, none of these places look like the hi-tech facilities they are. They continue to run under the guise of common, everyday places of business.
Of all of the portals, the last two are only known to the four members of Schwarz, and have never been accessed, to the day of this summary, by anyone else.
Mouri-Fujimiya Ceramic and Floral
Located in a stylish neighborhood in the city, Mouri-Fujimiya Ceramic and Floral is a popular, modern flower shop. The store carries not only traditional floral arrangements but handmade pottery, bowls and vases, combined in totally unique pairings individual for every customer. Ran presides over the flowers, while Cye's talents at the potter's wheel provide the ceramic vases. Their creations work in harmony together to create the perfect mood for every customer.
The store itself takes up two normal storefronts, half devoted to floral arrangements, and half devoted to ceramic creations and gifts. The shop is spacious and airy, with plenty of room for customers to move around, and a work table in the middle of the shop for the proprietors to work their art among their visitors.
Behind the store, there is a small greenhouse where Ran keeps his stock, and a separate room with Cye's pottery wheel and supplies. Most of his creations are made on-site and fired in the kilns behind the store. Between the workroom and the greenhouse, a staircase leads up to the apartment on the second floor.
Ran and Cye's modest two-bedroom apartment is as tastefully fabulous as one would expect, being owned and decorated by two Japanese gay men. Cye has his own little kitchen, and the two share a happy domestic life there, splitting their time between the shop and the House. The second bedroom is left as a guest room, most frequently for Alucard and Aya-chan. In the closet is a magic portal that leads to the rose garden of the House, allowing Ran and Cye to go back and forth easily.
Copyright © 2005 - 2006 The Harem House.