The Athenaeum

The House

Front view of the Athenaeum

The Athenaeum is located in Longwood, Florida; the property sits on 18 acres of land. From the outside, it appears to be a large, well-appointed house, with a private, gated entrance. Out back, there is a massive pool (complete with lazy river), an outdoor kitchen, and a spacious porch.

Inside, the place is a little ostentatious, but cheerful, though there is an odd feel about the home, as though it is not used often. The five bedrooms all seem to be guest rooms, beautiful, but impersonal. There is a game room, several family areas, even a wine cellar.

In truth, the above ground area is effectively one massive guest house, arranged for visiting mages or others who might need a safe place to stay. The entrance to the Athenaeum itself is in the wine cellar. Pull the right bottle, and a keypad appears, the letters all in Atlantean script. Enter the right password, and you can gain entrance to the lower levels; however, there is a permanent 'Forensic Invisibility' spell on the area, erasing all trace of biological matter once the password is entered, making it much more difficult for would-be intruders.

• The Athenaeum exterior at night
• Back of the Athenaeum house
• Back of the Athenaeum house
• The outdoor kitchen
• The pool
• The pool
• Foyer
• Foyer
• Living room
• Living room
• Family room
• Kitchen
• Kitchen
• Game room
• Entertainment room
• Wine cellar

1/16

The Underground

The underground elevator

Once past the security measures, the pathway opens onto a long hall with an elevator at the end. The elevator travels into the Athenaeum proper. The first two levels are living areas for the members of the Mysterium; the lower levels are workspace for the mages, as well as their Scriptorum and libraries, and the vaults in which dangerous artifacts are stored.

In case of an emergency, the entire Athenaeum can be locked down into defense mode, sealing off the hallway with sidirite doors.

Kitchen and Dining Room

The Athenaeum's kitchen

The kitchen and attached storerooms are always kept stocked with enough food to keep the members of the Mysterium fed for at least a year, if not more. However, this has yet to be necessary.

The Athenaeum's dining room

More often, Fortuna can be found bustling around, cooking dinner for the entire group. In addition, there is almost always some kind of delicious dessert freshly baked on the counter, whether brownies, cake, pie, or something else equally tasty, as well as fresh bread.

Living Areas

One of the three living rooms

One of the three living rooms

One of the three living rooms

The living areas of the Athenaeum are all quite comfortable. One is set up as a reading room, with plenty of bookshelves and good light. The other two are set up with state-of-the-art entertainment systems; one room has couches, the other full of fluffy floor pillows and beanbags. Either of the movie rooms can also be used for viewing work files for the Mysterium.

Bedrooms

Each member of the Mysterium has their own bedroom, and Fortuna makes certain that there are still a few extra rooms, should anyone new join the Order (Space and Matter magic help). Decorations are up to the Mage in question, but Fortuna is more than willing to help, with either advice or money for the furnishings.

• Dresden's Room
• Fortuna's Room
• Gray-Hat's Room
• Indiana's Room
• Jae's Room
• Prose's Room
• Stella and Daphne's Room

Training Areas

The Athenaeum's gym

The Athenaeum's sparring room

The underground complex houses a large, fully equipped gym, as well as a training area for martial arts and weaponry combat, complete with padded floor. The area can also be used for magical training, as long as one is careful not to blast a hole in any of the walls or equipment.

Recreation Areas

A small section of the arcade

Never let it be said that the Mysterium don't know how to have fun. The Athenaeum is home to a large indoor pool and a hot tub; the surrounding area is set up as a lounge and bar.

The underground pool

The floor between the living areas and the rest of the Athenaeum is dedicated to nothing but what appears to be a giant arcade, filled with pinball, ski-ball, and all sorts of other arcade games. In addition, there are pool and foosball and air hockey tables, as well as big-screen televisions hooked up to the latest in modern console and computer gaming; there is also a large collection of snack and soda machines, all of which dispense their goodies at no charge.

Fortuna's Office

Fortuna's underground office

Fortuna takes her job as head of the Athenaeum seriously, but she tends towards procrastination and flights of fancy. Her office in the complex is often stacked high with paperwork, grimoires, and occasionally the odd relic or six, as well as her usual array of tarot cards, crystals, and other occult supplies, mostly because she just hasn't gotten around to dealing with any of it.

Her door is always open should one of her compatriots need assistance; she would rather her fellow Mysterium members drop in to chat and have a cookie than actually come visit about work. On the chance that one of the other Mages does come about work, they still usually end up with cookies.

The Scriptorum

One floor of the Scriptorum

Not for nothing is the Orlando Athenaeum considered the premier in the Southeast. The Scriptorum is one of the most extensive in the country, housing countless rotes and grimoires for each of the ten spheres of magic, at each level of proficiency. It is little wonder, then, that the Scriptorum can be locked off separately from the rest of the Athenaeum; that much mystical knowledge is too precious to put at risk.

The Library

The Athenaeum library

The library in the Athenaeum is nearly as extensive as the Scriptorum. While nearly all of the books are non-fiction, they cover an incredibly broad range of topics. There are a great deal of tomes on occult subjects, but there are also books running the gamut from astrophysics to cooking to foreign language instruction, and everything in between. The shelves seem to have their own strange organizational method invented just for these archives, alphabetical by subject, and then by author, and then by title.

The Alchemical Lab

Some of the alchemical lab equipment

The alchemical lab is a newer addition to the Athenaeum. The room is an odd mix of modern and medieval, with brand-new chemistry equipment merging with cast-iron cauldrons. While the shelves of the room creak with jars of herbs and other strange materials, all of the supplies are tracked by careful computer organization. The workshop is a perfect place for a Matter mage to practice, should they get the urge to do so.

Work Rooms

One of the Athenaeum's clean rooms

The lower levels of the Athenaeum are home to several work spaces, designed to study, test, and classify all manner of magical goods, be they artifacts, imbued items, grimoires, or anything else.

One of the Athenaeum's document rooms

A few of the rooms are specifically for the care and maintenance of books and documents; Prose can often be found in here working, occasionally with the help of one his zombie 'assistants'. Others of the rooms can be completely quarantined off, in case of dangerous magical effects or the like.

The Vaults

A high-security, siderite vault

Besides the Scriptorum, the Athenaeum's value lies in its collection of mystical items, not all of which are tied to the Mages themselves.

The vaults are located in the lowest levels of the complex, with plenty of room to build more should the need arise. Each vault is carefully categorized, the objects within under the utmost of security measures. Not all of the items have been tested; those that have not lie in temporary holding vaults.