Spero Hall

Standing at the corner of West 75th Street and Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, Spero Hall is one of the last remaining Tradition Chantries in New York City. Originally an Intertraditional social lodge emblematic of the opulence of the Pre-Termination times, its meager tactical value and stong warding made it a valuable safehouse following The Termination. In present nights, it acts as a sanctuary for any Mage that would continue to oppose the Technocratic Union, though potential initiates are aggressively screened before the Chantry's location is revealed to them.

History

Originally constructed by the Order of Hermes as the Aula Bacchi, it served as a way to simultaneously extend a hand to their fellow Traditions and to flaunt their wealth and power. All it really managed to accomplish, however, was to drive additional wedges between them all. It was widely attended by the most degenerate Ecstatics, raccous Verbenae, and vainglorious Etherites, serving to comingle only the worst aspects of each beneath haughty Hermetic arrogance. It produced scandal after scandal, and many a grudge between Traditions could be traced to a slight given within its halls.
It did serve some good, however, as in the late 1990s an informal Cabal that would come to be known as the Table began meeting in one of its cellars. Their stated goal, to attempt to bring some degree of peace and unity back to the fracturing Traditions. While they obviously failed in that task at the time, it would set the stage for what would come in the wake of the Termination.
In the days and weeks immediately following the Termination, the Table, along with a handful of others, found safety from Union HIT Marks within its Hermetically warded walls. After the dust settled, the Table began the process of converting Aula Bacchi into a formal Chantry, a stronghold both to preserve some measure of the Traditions, as well as to prosecute and ongoing resistance to Union activities in the city. Over time, they have recruited several young and newly Awakened Mages to their cause, and now share the Chantry with two other Cabals: Eternity Unbound and PLAYERCABAL.

Architecture and Layout

While originally a Hermetic social lodge, much of the massive building has been renovated in favor of residential and work space. It features six levels, plus two sublevels, a rooftop terrace with an ornate conservatory, and a small walled courtyard. A central elevator services seven of the eight levels, plus one additional level above that opens up into a small Umbral Realm resembling a small rustic hotel built into a nondescript cliff overlooking a mirror still sea shrouded in mist.
Ground Level: Retains much of the Chantry's social lodge origins, featuring a large reception and living room, music room, and a fine library where much of the Chantry's occult knowledge is stored.
Second Level: Primarily kitchen, dining, and den space.
Third Level: Meditation rooms, studio space, a well furnished study, and other facilities for more scholarly occult pursuits.
Fourth - Sixth Levels: Living space, with each of the Chantry's three Cabals receiving their own dedicated floor, each including bedrooms, bathrooms, and a private lounge and den.
Roof Terrace: Open terrace featuring an ornate and well appointed conservatory with a large array of plants and herbs.
First Sublevel: Gym, dojo, and heavy workshops tooled for forging and machining.
Second Sublevel: Houses much of the Chantry's technical and digital infrastructure (mostly Kai's servers and their elementals).
The Umbral levels contain mostly empty halls and rooms, as well as a ladder down to the sea with a mooring for a small boat. No one has been brave enough to see what lies out across the mists.

The courtyard is well concealed down at street level, and is mostly paved save a small, well manicured patch of grass, and contains a fine marble fountain set into the wall of the Chantry.

Spero Hall's Umbral Presence

Powers, Abilities, and Features

Spero Hall was constructed at the height of Hermetic power, and while its original purpose as a social lodge reduced the degree of power its founders imbued it with, it still boasts a number of useful enchantments.

Warding

Originally intended to conceal the greatest indiscretions of its powerful guests, deep and lasting enchantments shield it from outside discovery and intrusion. Anyone not initiated into its nature compulsively avert their eyes, delivery drivers and solicitors refuse to approach its doors, and it fades from the mind the second one looks away from it. The property records and deeds all trace to perfectly inconspicuous owners, before magically disappearing from both sight and mind. The owner even makes regular public appearances and arouses no suspicion, or at least that's what everyone remembers.
Even should someone manage to steel their focus and prevent the Chantry from slipping from their mind, the windows and doors resist all intrusion from those not authorized entry. The terrace and courtyard are screened against eavesdropping from without, both aurally and visually. Even digital maps and data develop strange glitches and artifacts that people forget the second they look away. Short of being invited in by a member, it is functionally impossible to discover and access the Chantry.

Comforts

Built to entertain, the Chantry's pantries and larders continually restock themselves with good, quality foodstuffs. Likewise, the first sublevel features a wine cellar that continuously refills itself with fine wines and liquours, but the Table as the masters of the Chantry have seen fit to seal it, having witnessed firsthand the danger it can pose.

Node

The Chantry was originally built upon and powered by a minor Node, centered in its grand meeting hall. Over time, the Node has deepened in its potency and its Quintessence has taken on a hopeful, auspicious Resonance. Its Tass manifests as spectacularly sweet fruits that appear in the bowl of the altar at the center of its round table. Anyone who eats a piece of the fruit is filled with vigorous determination and infectious optimism. Similarly to the liquor cabinet, the member of the Table attempt to moderate access to the Node's Quintessence--much of which goes to sustain the Chantry itself--in an effort to avert a Tragedy of the Commons situation.

Spero Hall's Meeting Room & Node

Electricity, Computer Power, and Internet

Not actually a feature of the Chantry, but of one of it's members. The Dreamspeaker Kai Ishikawa maintains an impressive shrine of server architecture in the Chantry's lowest level, as well as a "pet" electricity elemental lovingly known by most of the Mages in the Chantry as Sparky that provides for most of the Chantry's technological infrastructure. A frost spirit that most of the Mages call Frosty also inhabits the second sublevel, both cooling the servers as well as providing air conditioning for the rest of the building. Occasionally Frosty and Sparky play fight a bit, resulting in some power flickers, but nothing ever serious.

Spero Hall from Riverside Drive
Name: Spero Hall
Type: Tradition Chantry
Location: W 75th Street & Riverside Drive, Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City
Affiliations: The Table (Chantry Masters), Eternity Unbound