The Peabody Reading Room

Location: Historic District
Type: Kindred
Owner: Father Darius Cole

Description: Beneath the polished shelves of the Peabody Booksellers lies the hidden sanctum known simply as the Peabody Reading Room - a dim, cathedral-like chamber underground. The entrance, concealed behind an unassuming bookcase inside the bookshop, leads down a narrow unlit stairwell, the air thick with the scent of old vellum, wax, and the faintest trace of dried blood. The chamber itself is a relic of another time maintained perhaps since the area’s creation, its low ceilings upheld by pillars carved with cryptic inscriptions, the walls lined with ancient tomes and relics of esoteric significance. Heavy wooden tables bear the scars of centuries of study, their surfaces littered with manuscripts, forbidden texts, and the occasional silver-tipped quill waiting to inscribe some revelation.

This is no mere refuge of scholars - it is a place of whispered truths and unspoken bargains, where knowledge is both currency and weapon. Ordinarily, the reading room served as a private domain for the Sanctified and their most trusted allies, a space for contemplation, study, and the slow unravelling of divine mysteries. But with war clawing at Savannah’s doorstep, Father Darius Cole has thrown open its doors to all Kindred, a reluctant act of pragmatism wrapped in the language of providence. The Prince, ever watchful, has decreed that any who enter must abide by the laws of civility, though none doubt that the moment sanctuary is abused, the wrath of the Sanctified will fall like divine fire.

Though not an Elysium, the Peabody Reading Room now functions as an uneasy neutral ground, a shelter for those who seek a quiet place to improve their knowledge, or simply a reprieve from the chaos above to indulge in patient work. The dim lighting and flickering lamps cast long, wavering shadows, and the ever-present gaze of Father Cole or one of his Ghouls ensures that no one forgets whose domain this truly is.

Benefits: +1 to extended Occult rolls made here from perusing the shelves for additional knowledge to assist in research. (OOC, no new knowledge can be obtained here. Studying Father Cole’s notes would take months and months to even just comprehend.)

Rules:

• Nothing contained here may be taken out or damaged.
• No fighting or aggressive use of Disciplines that could cause the above.
• Ghouls must have city status 1 or higher, or be accompanied by their Regnant, or have Empowered to Speak, otherwise they are not permitted.