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[Introduction] [History] [Location] [Game
Aids]
A
large, western city on an international shipping route.
On
this downtown block stand two buildings in grimy 19th century
magnificence. Both originally upper-class residences, the one on the
left is Arcanities. The right one, separated by a metal-fenced yard,
has been converted into rental apartments. Both are owned by Gail Wheldrake.
The
interior walls have been removed from the first and second floors
with the exception of the chimneys and essential structural supports.
The outer walls are about two feet thick and contain ventilation
ducts too small to accommodate anything larger than a rat. The floors
are scuffed hardwood, the interior old stucco. Ornamental plasterwork
on the ceilings is sealed under heavy paint.
The first floor is the general
bookshop. Paper- and hard-back stock is arranged by topic over every
inch of wall space and some of the floor. Topics include UFOs,
Reincarnation, Secret Societies, and many other mystic- or conspiracy-related
subjects. To the right of the register, a back door opens into the
yard. Stairs lead downwards to the basement and upwards to the gallery.
On the second floor, the books are
leather-bound and sealed in glass cases. Further cases display odd
pieces of jewelry and carved stone, shapes of ivory and
jade-sometimes a dagger, a small, carved box or a velvet pouch. A
small, lockable room is furnished with an antique table and chairs
and a small sketch by Aleister Crowley, and is used for more
ambitious transactions. The stairs that continue upward are behind a
door marked "Private."
Gail's third floor apartment
contains a kitchenette, lounge room with television, study with
computer and modem, bedroom and bathroom cum laundry (no map
provided). The spare space is filled with cartons of books,
remainders of her college days, and her mother's furniture. There is
also a trap door in the ceiling, leading to a cramped, windowless
attic that contains nothing except recently installed insulation.
All windows are sealed and barred;
external doors have security grills. All doors are solid wood with
deadlocks. An alarm system is attached to the doors and windows on
the first and third stories, sounding in the office of a local
security firm. Motion detectors on the second story trigger the same
alarm. Response time is 10 minutes. These alarms also trigger buzzers
in Gail's and Michael's bedrooms. The alarms may be set and disarmed
from either of two keypads; inside the door to the yard on the first
story, and in the stairway to the third story. Gail and Michael both
know the code, and both have a complete set of keys.
There are smoke detectors
installed throughout the building, and fire extinguishers within easy
reach. A fire escape runs down the side of the building into the yard.
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All
three floors are identical to the first, having been converted into
self-contained apartments, two per floor. Stairs connect all floors.
These and the rest of the common property are generally run down,
with the hardwood floor exposed and all the 19th century features
broken or painted over. There is no common air-conditioning, although
vents in the outer wall run from room to room as at Arcanities. There
is a common laundry in the basement, and two of the tenants have
storage rights in the attic - mainly furniture and clothes.
The front door is a security door,
with a buzzer and intercom to each apartment (although not all of
them work). The back door, which tenants use to take out their
garbage, is deadlocked. Any further security is the concern of
individual tenants such as Michael, who lives in the west apartment
on the first floor that connects to the yard. The other tenants do
not have access to the yard.
Smoke detectors and fire
extinguishers are installed as per regulations, and a fire escape
runs down the back of the building into the alley.
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The
yard is concrete, fenced by eight feet metal sheeting with a
padlocked gate. This is where any heavy deliveries are made, via the
coal chute and winch in the basement. It is also the home of Gail's
car and Michael's two Dobermans, who run loose in the yard at night.
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Ostensibly
the stairs from the first story of Arcanities lead to what were
servant's quarters and a coal cellar, now filled with cartons of
books, old furniture and bits of damaged merchandise. Only the old
servant's quarters contains a fireplace; the other columns are solid.
These rooms now host the air conditioning unit that heats and cool
the building through the network of vents. They also host the
Alexandrist, boarded up in the fireplace by one of the insane Wheldrakes.
In the old coal cellar, the coal
chute has been adapted and fitted with a winch for receiving large
crates from vehicles parked in the yard. The chute is otherwise padlocked.
From below the winch to the old
coal furnace runs a set of tracks. The tracks run right up to the
furnace door, which is chained and padlocked. Inside the furnace, the
tracks continue to the back wall, i.e. the yard side of the cellar.
This entire section is designed to swing up like a garage door
(Michael has indeed fitted an remote opening mechanism). It is
insulated, which prevents noise escaping from "the Garage"
and ensures the wall sounds solid when tapped.
"The Garage" is where
the illegal imports are stored until sale, where any that arrive in
poor condition are treated and their authenticity tested. It runs the
length of the yard to the basement of the apartments. There is a much
smaller door in the basement of the Apartment Building, concealed by
brick facing in a nook not visible from the laundry area. Electricity
and water are siphoned off from Arcanities and the Apartment
Building, and a separate air conditioning unit leads into the ducting
of both, causing occasional strange smells to permeate the two buildings.
"The Garage" is built in
the basement of the third town house that originally stood on the
block. Council records show that Jonathan Wheldrake bought the houses
of his two neighbors in 1931, and demolished the middle one. There is
a record of subsequent substantial "repairs" to the
basements of the remaining buildings.
Although some of their suppliers
and clients know about "the Garage," Gail and Michael
permit no one else to enter. If an outside expert is being paid for
an opinion, the object will be transported to her. Both Gail and
Michael have the keys to the furnace and the apartment-side door, and
carry a remote control. They perform all operations and maintenance
themselves, including keeping up the appearance of age and neglect.
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