Pelhure, an introduction
An introduction to the main stage of Dressverse: the city of Pelhure.
On the Eastern coast of Uso, the city of Pelhure stretches from the golden beaches and bustling port all the way to the beginning of the forests at the foot of the Cavelight mountains. The hub of fashion on the continent, it houses those for whom art is a life devotion. To even survive in Pelhure, let alone get your foot on the first rung of business, you must sweat and bleed your work. Minor artisans and businessmen have tried and failed at the first hurdle, their business ethics alone not enough to stand out amongst those who have travelled hundreds of thousands of miles to make a name for themselves in this city. You have to be a special talent to stand out from the crowds of embroiderers, weavers, jewellery makers, and tailors that line the streets, and even more so to attract the attention of the biggest Houses in the cities.
House Almaz. House Opala. House Borado. House Kallis. The biggest names in fashion across the four continents, each admired and revered for their designs, they are locked in a bitter rivalry that has swallowed the entire city, desperate to be the iconic House of Pelhure.
For House Almaz, jewels are their icon. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, every precious stone you can think of and then more. Rumour has it a model once had to be revivified after the number of jewels laced into her corset crushed her ribcage. House Opala pride themselves on their embroidery, for their skirts and dresses and sleeves that magically embroidered figures and animals dance or run or fly across. House Kallis is a newer House, smaller than the others but climbing quickly in Pelhure. Their designers hail from all over Uso, and as a result their construction and designs often find spaces in fashion that the other Houses have never considered. But overconfidence is a dangerous thing and those who rise in Pelhure can fall just as quickly. House Borado’s fabrics are a thing of beauty. They have in their employ a wizard who manages to imbue their fabrics with magic that rarely fades: fabric with patterns of ice, with fiery threads, invisibility dresses, trains that float off the ground, ribbons and laces that do themselves. They are the most powerful of the Houses, and the most dangerous.
Those who do manage to make a name for themselves in Pelhure, who stand out from the crowd with what they offer, are almost immediately bought under the fold of one of the houses, with hefty wages offered to them alongside bribes of wines, homes, and even partners. Not that they need to try. The opportunity to work with one of the Pelhure Houses is enough incentive for any self-respecting artisan. It just depends which one you choose. Once you choose a house, you choose. The rivalries between the Houses define who you work with, who you talk to you, who you do business with, even who you can fall in love with or what you can wear. A House is a House for life. Some have changed Houses, but they live in hiding from then on, in fear of the wrath of their old employers.
Fashion is a cut-throat business and in Pelhure, conspiracy with the enemy is punished brutally. One wrong step, and your career is not the only thing you could lose.