The Grand Dance Hall of Kortos

An ornate, round building with dozens of entrances of ground level and a few on the roof, this is officially simply a theater in the round for Vudrani style dancing troupes to take the central stage of the vast, unbroken interior space to take central stage of the vast, unbroken interior space. There they showcase everything from belly-gyrating silk dances to mounted camel ballet to saber-tossing gymnastics. While many of the performers are true-blooded ethnic Vudrani, even more are Absalom natives who have studied at the Dance Hall their entire lives who have studied at the Dance Hall their entire lives to perfect the eastern arts. Endowed by a rich rajah centuries ago, the Dance Hall has no need to charge for admission to its lowest levels, and instead allows in anyone who is well dressed and well behaved. However, those who wish to be allowed into the three tiers of upper balconies must become patrons, which has a hefty annual fee (the greater the fee, the more guests they may take with them). As a result, minor nobles and major merchants, along with their entourages, often visit the Dance Hall on a daily bases, with the height of their stay saying much about their financial and social status. And there, they do business. With chairs and tables surrounding the theater, and four tiers of balconies running around the whole building, exchange for merchants, investors, majordomos, and crafters. Long before a caravan of ships sails across the Inner Sea. chances are its goods are discussed, bought, sold, and traded at the Dance Hall. The price of everything available along the Inner Sea, from slaves to swords to wine, is influenced by how many people have the commodities offered here, and how many want to buy them. Many merchants call the building the Hall at the Center of the World. The level of business you wish to conduct is directly related to the level of balcony you can reach. While this is a fine place to earn work as a guard or for buying a shipment of moonfruit from Osirion, the prices paid and opportunities available are only slightly better than can be found on the Docks or in the Coins, and access to them requires a fine level of dress and the ability to quietly haggle while a delicate dance is performed on stage. Those who dwell in the lowest level do so in the hopes of gaining an invitation to a higher balcony, for the farther a merchant or venture leader gets from the ground floor, the more opportunities appear, and the greater the profit for each gold piece risked. Patrons who are allowed at the upper levels may each issue a number of invitations per day, and each invitation is good for a whole day for that balcony and any below it. Thus doing anything to catch the attention or favor of a patron on a higher balcony immediately opens up a vista of traders looking for buyers, factors seeking to hire guards and experts, and wealthy family scions casually talking about how the price of white onions will double in the next week. The majordomo of the Grand Dance Hall is Lord Raijit Punjeer, a master dancer in his youth who now trains and choreographs the best dancers in Absalom. He is also a canny merchant in his own right and plays a careful game of controlling who has access to the balcony tiers without ever angering enough senior patrons that they take their business elsewhere. The Dance Hall is home to business out of tradition and convenience, not law or practicality, and Lord Punjeer walks a careful line between maintaining absolute control over access to the balconies and making sure the wealthiest and most powerful patrons remain pleased with their return on time spent here. He is not above encouraging dancers' careers are determined by how much they make Punjeer's life easier as much as their true talent.