Weaving Steel - Multi-Traditional Chantry

Located on the southern edge of East Liberty near the border of Shadyside, nestled within an old industrial area surrounded by unused warehouses and storage facilities, lies the old East Liberty Library. The building looks like no one's done anything with it for some time, abandoned by the government after millions were put into a new one for 'urban renewal' that was little more then a facelift. A double set of serpent statues are outside on either end of the steps, the only noteworthy thing about the place...in fact, most people never give the place more then a second look. The area is rarely traveled by most folk--a few of the bolder drug dealers use the general vicinity, but for the most part, this is a block of streets that most Pittsburghers seem to have happily forgotten about.

The building itself is large; the windows are boarded up, the stone weathered and chipped. Old and faded graffiti mars the outside...long past faded from being legible thanks to rain, the other elements, and more graffiti on top. A set of steps lead up to the double doors, which appear to be padlocked. The lock cannot be picked, and has eaten more then it's share of lock picks over the years...but for the right people, the lock will fall open, fading into nothingness until the doors closed, upon which it reforms behind. For the wrong people...well, the Tellurian doesn't need people like that around, and the building makes sure to rectify that mistake.

Just inside the front doors is a large foyer which looks like anything but the entrance to a library. The floor is smooth green and grey marble, looking like it's one solid piece of the stone. The foyer is largely empty, but for tapestries that form portraits of individuals...the original Wake Snakes, the founders of the chantry. From the foyer, several doors lead to the other parts of the chantry...including the Node Room.

The Node Room itself is a large, circular room. The ceiling is vaulted, a good thirty feet in the air...the stone is intricately carved with pictographs, murals, and languages of arcane significance...some of them foreign, others familiar. The carvings are from all different cultures, from Aztecan to Celtic to Japanese, and most in-between, depicting all different images and myths of snakes. The languages are similarly from all over. In the center is a large marble fountain, carved in the image of a coiled snake, with water flowing from its mouth, around the coils, to the shallow pool surrounding it. Entering the Node Room, one gets bathed in the Resonance of the chantry. It's a liberating feel...a feeling of acceptance, concord.

The chantry is large from the inside of it...larger then the outside makes it seem. There are rooms for each of the four Deacons, as well as rooms for other members. The chantry contains all the rooms necessary for self-sufficiency--there is little in the way of technology in the place, though there is plumbing. A kitchen, bathrooms, and the like are all present. A garden sits in the far corner of the place. In the other corner of the chantry is a moderately impressive library--there is room for improvement, but it's a damn good start. In the center, just before the Node Room, is a large meeting room. A table sits at it, polished black stone, with nine seats. This is where the Council of Nine for Pittsburgh once sat...and perhaps, may well sit again.



Alpha Gamma Sigma House Chantry for the Order of Hermes

Located in a 6 acre property a few miles from university, the house of Alpha Gamma Sigma lords over its neatly kept lawn. The main entrance is the large double doors, ornately carved, the deep groves in the ancient wood emanating strength and foreboding. The house is brick, three stories high, and old although in excellent repair. The lawn in front hosts triple rows of shrubs and bushes. A cobblestone walk with multi-colored stones leads up to the front doors. Another path leads around one side of the house, to the large back area. An in-ground pool is open in the late spring and stays such until late autumn, after which time accordion-style panels are pulled out and bolted into the floor, and insulated by large inner weather dampening panels, to form a heated poolhouse. There is a small cottage near the pool, and another small cottage further toward the forested area. The first is a guest house meant for visiting non-members of the house. The second is for the grounds-keeper, the shack next to it a tool house.

Inside the large front doors is a foyer, housing portraits of each year's graduating members, with a portrait of the head of house above them. There is a small padded bench, and a coat rack and umbrella stand. Just beyond this is the great room. The great room seemingly serves no purpose other than to provide a way to the other ares of the house. To the left, the kitchen and dining room, to the right, the library, forward leads to the stairwell, and beyond that, the study. The second story houses the girl's dormitories. 5 rooms house two occupants each, equipped with beds and bookshelves and nothing more until the occupants dress them. The boys dormitories are on the top floor and have the same number of rooms and the same amenities.



Malcolms' Shop Non-Chantry Safe Haven

Nestled in-between two vacant buildings in the South Side, a few blocks off the beaten path of Carson Street, the unnamed shop doesn't seem to have a particular focus...it really couldn't even be called a "shop," so to speak. The large window front has no name labeled on it, nor is there any sign proclaiming the name. Sure, there's a counter and a cash register behind it, and there are things for sale...herbal remedies, some of the more well-known new age books, and other scant items to buy. The place could almost be more considered a sort of New Age community center then anything else. One back corner of the front shop has a small station where various herbal teas are available, without cost; one side of the room is left open for meditation, with mats available stacked against the wall. A community board holds tacks for posting all sorts of news bulletins and advertisements, of which it's full; every other month, some get removed. There are no "employees," but for the owner, Malcolm Yates...but he has plenty of volunteers.

And then, there's the back room. Only accessible to those who are truly Awakened or on a sorcery path, it's a bit more luxurious then the more spartan front. Leather couches and a chair are positioned around a coffee table on one side of the room; the other side has several bookshelves with topics of minor occult significance. Malcolm keeps several small herbs and incenses in stock in case they need to be used, and the back room is never unavailable for those who need shelter, open 24 hours a day.