a wolf in the wearhouse

Madame Vex

character

Clipboard, sharp heels, a smile like a closing door. and she is human she runs the wearhouse

Brannoc

character

A rival stud with a chest like a barrel and a smirk that never drops.

Miraf

character

A handler with a bored eye and a quick pen, stationed at the podium. She logs encounters, issues trial stamps, and enforces Vex's rules without flourish. She wants a quiet shift and no drama on her floor, and Rex is neither. She is the only human who reads the ledger faster than the floor is written.

The Front Floor

location

A hot, humming hall of pallets and curtained alcoves under high lamps. Newcomers prove themselves here and handlers stand at the edges with clipboards, clocking builds and handing out trial stamps. Every human on it is either selling heat, buying it, or pretending not to want it, and the pretending never lasts long.

The Members' Back Aisle

location

A gated corridor off the main hall, warmer and quieter, hung with better everything. The bodies back here are picked and paid and patient, and the lamps are low. Only stamped regulars pass the gate, and the gate reads stamps, not names. It smells of clean linen and slow heat.

The Access Ledger

item

A fat stamp-book chained to the handler's podium. Every encounter, every tier, every clause is inked into it in Miraf's flat hand. Stamps buy doors; enough of them buy a reputation. The book is heavier than it looks and the chain is short — it never leaves the podium.

The Handlers

faction

A small crew of floor staff in canvas aprons who issue trial stamps, log encounters, and enforce Vex's rules with bored efficiency. They aren't cruel, just literal: the ledger is the law and they keep it. They want a clean floor and an early finish, and they will not bend a rule for charm — though charm buys a slower pen.

The Tag Rule

lore

Inside the Wearhouse no wolf is owned — but a tag marks a claimed wolf, and tags are earned, not given. A tag is a human's claim, worn at the throat, and once clipped it reads to every handler and every gate. The deepest aisle only opens to a bare neck: the last wolf in this building has to be unfettered, or the door stays shut.