Virilo

As seen in

(Content warning: sexual exploitation)
Among the elite in Mandoral, the keeping of a virilo is often a sign of special status. The ruling family may place one or more virilos in their Sera Qadra, the select group kept as evidence of their masters' machismo and power.
A virilo is typically selected as a child, chosen for looks and temperament. A common test is to ask the child questions of whether he would help someone in distress or seek to cheer someone who is sad or depressed; it is said this selects for those personalities which are most inclined to enhancing the comfort and well-being of others and serves as evidence that the child chose this path. When the child has passed the selection test, there is typically rejoicing in the family and pride in their village; due to their expense, a virilo will be valued and kept in good health, and it is considered an honor for a family to send a child to this prestigious service, for which the family is well paid.
The chosen child begins training immediately, taken to the procurer's facility to be raised with higher manners than what he would learn in his home village. Because a virilo is an elite personal servant tasked with complete care for his master's comfort and well-being, not a common prostitute, his initial training is in the arts of entertainment, such as music and dance, and of comfort, such as massage and the mixing of scented oils. He learns the complex etiquette of Mandoral elite society and the arts of fashion and cosmetics. Despite wholly unfounded complaints from certain commentators, the nobles of Mandoral are not monsters to exploit children, and the virilo does not begin his training in physical pleasures until he has matured to puberty.
Once he has completed his training, a virilo is given a chit, a tiny figurine which resembles the virilo himself, and this chit passes to his new master. Many nobles choose to display this chit in a place of honor, as an ostentatious item of status for guests to observe as well as the virilo himself, who will generally be present to serve guests in one or more functions. The more desirable the virilo, the greater the prestige of the master he serves.
Virilos take pride in their aesthetic appeal and their desirability. They do not see themselves as prostitutes or even as courtesans, but as power-adjacent members of high households who have the privilege of bettering the lives of their masters.

Career

Qualifications

Procurers watch among the common folk for particularly beautiful children. A certain shade of dusky warmth is most prized, although preferences vary and virilos may be found in several skin tones. To facilitate the training, and to maintain the defense that virilos are not slaves, candidates are evaluated for suitability through being thoroughly questioned in a variety of safely hypothetical scenarios, such as whether they would offer a hug to someone crying. Boys who demonstrate sufficient empathy and willingness to aid those in need are declared suitable for virilo training.
It is critical that, like members of the sera qadra, candidates must choose to enter training. As with the sera qadra, however, there are many benefits to the family or town, and candidates may be pressured to accept an invitation.

Career Progression

A virilo's basic training begins at a young age, typically seven or eight years old at selection. At thirteen or fourteen he will begin his more specialized training, and in his late teens he will enter service in an elite house. Some virilos stay in the same house for years, but others may find their chits (and themselves) traded, lent, or sold.
As virilos age, they are often replaced with younger courtesans or virilos. Some may be passed to less-wealthy houses which still want to boast of a virilo, while others are at last turned out. A wise virilo in his late twenties will begin to hoard jewels or other valuables from his working wardrobe to fund his coming retirement.

Payment & Reimbursement

A virilo is kept well in a high household. They are typically given a spending allowance to maintain their specialized wardrobe, cosmetics, and other accoutrements necessary to their employment.

Other Benefits

He may be famous, he may be lauded, he may be despised. A virilo occupies a curious place in society, as an object of value, often to be coveted, but an object nonetheless.

Perception

Purpose

Ostensibly, they are to lend comfort, entertainment, emotional aid, and physical pleasure to those they serve. Functionally, they also offer power and prestige.

Social Status

Virilos are recognizable by their clothing and aesthetic, and they draw attention whenever they appear. They might appear to a stranger to Mandoral to be influential members of society, with so many eyes upon them and occasionally a subject for dispute among the powerful. However, it is not hard to see that their place is to augment the image of those who rule, not to rule themselves. They have no standing which is not based in the approval and sexual desire of those more powerful.

Operations

Materials

A virilo will have an extensive wardrobe and a collection of figure-enhancing Virilo Jewelry .

Type

Entertainment

Demand

Virilos are very much a luxury item and are included in sumptuary laws.

More on this profession

Author's note, Laura speaking out of world: In no way does this story romanticize or glorify sexual abuse and exploitation. In my writing career I have organized multiple fundraisers to support anti-trafficking and anti-slavery organizations IJM and World Vision, most recently last month. This is art to critique social wrongs, including less overt methods of pressuring victims into exploitation -- though I know that may not be clear from the internal-POV these articles take, which is why I clarify here.