#22, Going Home: The Vampiric Wizard Tower
Originally posted here on December 22, 2021.
I have recovered from my battle with modern medicine and have returned to answer a prompt. I had a few homes; the chantries in Paris and Aquitaine, Ceoris, even the Council of Seven as a family could qualify as a home... but in an attempt to avoid having to get too emotional when I don't have the energy for it, I'm going to talk about my wizard tower in the middle of Mexico City, because that one always trips people up and makes them laugh.
From a distance, it just looks like a large, nice home: not quite a manor, but somewhat fancy. It has a sizable open area around it surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Upon passing through the gate, the illusion breaks, and you are confronted with a tall, dark stone brick tower, reaching upwards into the sky with flickering lights in its many barred windows. At the very top, between the crenelations, you may spy movement--a single gargoyle often perches up there, Nkavarka, shy but strong. At the door stand two Tremere antitribu guards, lightly armored and usually in cloaks.
Inside, the building does not match the layout of the tower. It's wider than it is tall, with great hallways with shining tiles, stained glass, and a general color scheme of black, white, and red, with browns and warmer colors creeping in once you get into the sitting rooms and libraries. The hallways are confusing and change periodically, although the residents learn the patterns quickly. There are a couple of floors, although there is one staircase you can climb to reach the very top of the tower.
Why is your tower designed in this stupid and ridiculous way, where it seems to have three floorplans, Goratrix?, many people ask me.
Because fuck you. Fuck you is why.
No one ever tries to break in a second time. No one ever finds what they're looking for. It intimidates the hell out of everyone, makes me laugh, and would annoy my rival Etrius. Just the thought of its existence would make him boil over with rage. Is that not one of life's greatest pleasures?
Besides, I enjoy watching the fledglings and new ghouls get lost and ultimately have to choose between asking me for directions or being too scared to do that and wandering for hours. The tower acts as a home for many antitribu; learning it is a rite of passage. Why deny them the mental stimulation?