Sindocat wrote:
My usual challenge is creating venues for Supernatural that can feel like part of the existing community and make sense there. The team did a jaw-droppingly awesome job with Roaring Heights, and gave us some great build assets. My project was to fit an Elixir Consignment venue into RH to support the Alchemy skill – on the surface, not an easy fit for the 1920s.
Except that, believe it or not, it really is a natural fit if one recalls that the early 20th Century was the heyday of occult fraternities and esoteric orders. So instead of taking the 'easy out' of a storefront crammed with metaphysical bric-a-brac, a gem cutter, alchemy station and consigment register, I had my community lot concept - an esoteric fraternal lodge.
Also, I like to try to build on small lots. Since the essentials are just the register, gem cutter and an alchemy station, 20x30 seemed like plenty of room to work with. No custom content is used, but I do use store content, expansions and stuff packs.
So here's my Elixir Consignment Shop for Roaring Heights, Arcana Arcanorum Lodge No. 23:
Egyptian themes dominated in the occult orders of the period. This lodge is no exception, tricked out with extravagant Art Deco 'faux-gyptian' motifs and fronted with a palm court and lotus pool. This garden is enclosed, yet open to the community, and mirrors the aims of the society in symbolic form:
Sleek bronze panthers stand as guardians of the grand entrance. What better emblem than a cat to suggest both curiosity and secretiveness?
Inside, most of the space is the lodge hall itself. During her or his six-month term, the Magister (or Magistra) gets to preside from this swanky dais seat. A small social parlor and a library and reading room are in the back. Craftsman style, seen in the furniture and temple pillars, was also typical of the period:
The Treasurer's seat is here by the front entrance, as members are expected to keep current on their dues. What isn't needed for upkeep goes to local charities. Have a bit more to give? Maybe one of our exclusive elixirs or some philosophical literature. There's the consignment register:
Once you have shown yourself to be trustworthy and have taken in the society's ethics of public service and good citizenship, you may be allowed to study the more erudite (and potentially dangerous) teachings, otherwise kept from casual view:
Aha! They really do have secret wisdom! Behold, the Sanctum of the order. Ooooh! Mystical and spooky!
And that's as much as I can tell you about it, unless you know the secret handshake. ;) A Supernatural community venue presented as a period-appropriate metaphysical lodge, on a 20x30 lot. In overview:
For more about actual metaphysical societies of the time, I recommend Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manley P. Hall, 1928.
This is very creative and I love the idea. Thanks for sharing, will be grabbing it for Twinbrook. ;)
