The Crossroads Chantry Game
Setting
Chantryhouse
Old-fashioned red brickwork defines the multi-level mansion that is the Handel House. It contains over fifty rooms decorated countryhome-style. The Handel House is located in the Rolling Hills suburban area east of Kansas City, admidst much wealth and greenery. Set upon a knoll, the good-sized estate gives the home plenty of privacy, yet maintains all the modern utilities people depend on.
Passing the foyer, the lobby leads into the dining hall, which branches off to the kitchen, the first floor study and library, and the lounge (with its own bar and accessories). Beyond lie the servants’ quartars and a staircase up to the second floor. This floor is dedicated completely to the service of guests, and many individual suites line this floor. The third floor is similar, though it only boasts half of the suites as the second floor. They are the master bedrooms, however, as well as the private study.
Above, an attic is set aside for storage space. The basement includes a wine closet and a secondary storage area. The basement is unfinished, but was walled off in many areas to create semi-private rooms and sections. These sections usually lie empty.
Lodgings
There are plenty of available guest rooms on all floors of the mansion. Every member of the chantry will be allowed his or her own private suite. The basement is vacant but filled with a number of sparse chambers one could change into personal Sanctums, with the Masters’ permission. The downside to this availability is lack of real secrecy!
Libraries
There are two libraries at the Handel House. The main Library on the first floor is host to hundreds of volumes, mostly academic and literary in nature. There are few esoteric texts in the main library, and the few that are present are general occult rubbish. The Study, as the smaller library is called, is located on the top floor next to Master Meister’s personal chamber. Access to the Study is highly restricted, and the chamber is fully sealed. The Masters’ permission is required to access this library, which is rumored to boast dozens of rare and potent grimoires of antiquity and yore.
Nodes
The Crossroads Chantry is favored with two small but stable Nodes located elsewhere in the city, and linked mystically to the chantryhouse. Within Kansas City, the “City of Fountains”, two of the largest fountains have long been proverbial corks on veritable natural springs of Quintessence. The Neptune and Pomona fountains sit on twin Nodes. Though the water bubbling up and spraying majestically is pure and even drinkable (despite cautious mothers’ warnings), it does not contain any of the Nodes’ energy. That energy is instead filtered off and channeled to the Handel House, just out of town (the mechanics of this magick are left to individual players interested in Storytelling something regarding it).
The energy manifests in a fountain inside the Handel House’s Sanctuary. This room on the first floor is simply a room behind the Lounge and Dining Hall that is kept purified. A well bubbles up here, a natural occurrence upon which men (or mages’) improved and harnessed. The room is monitored magickally at all times by one of the Masters to insure theft and abuse do not take place. Mages can meditate here freely to regain Quintessence provided they are members of the chantry and not on probationary or poor terms with the Masters. The collected Tass (the water) is property of the chantryhouse and its Masters.
Defenses
The Nodes have no defenses except their multi-level anti-detection wards. The chantryhouse, on the other hand, may have any number of magickal and mundane defenses. Given the powers and resources at the Masters’ disposal, one might assume that the chantryhouse is fairly well defended against anything but an all-out Technocratic artillery barrage. The specifics are left to players who wish to run Stories that may involve these defenses.
Backgrounds and Characters
All members gain the Chantry Background at ***. All other Backgrounds must be purchased and acquired normally. The chantry commands a pair of communal Level 2 Nodes, one leaning towards dynamic Wonder and the other static Strength.
Custos
Custos will never be recognized members of the Crossroads Chantryhouse. Whether they are permitted to stay in the chantryhouse as guests depends on the Masters. There are several house servants (Sleepers) in the Masters’ employ. This implies that some Acolytes will at least be welcome. Consors, however, may be pushing it.
