[UA] A room with a view

[Robin Pfeifer]

Hi everyone,

I am fiddling with a room of the House of Renunciation, and I'd like to get
some input on what I have so far. I'm not too sure that I've got my head
around the concept of the House already. In my campaign there is an Avatar
of the Chronicler (NPC) who is on the heels of something which by its very
nature cannot be 'chronicled' which fact is slowly driving her mad. Details
on the Clandestine Gun (the thing not to be recorded) were posted here some
months ago and can be found on my site at http://www.one-world.de/nyboria/,
but that isn't really necessary for the description of this room.

The Room of Accepted Defeat

First off, a cooler, catchier name would be good...

Agenda
The Room of Accepted Defeat seeks out those who follow a goal obsessively
which is nigh impossible to attain (or at least appears to be such). Its
clients invariably are at a point in their development or quest towards that
goal where they can't seem to go any further, where difficulties surmount
and where it may all seem to be futile. The room then pulls them in to show
them that the perfection, completion, mastership they long for cannot
possibly be attained, and that there is always something higher -call it
god, fate, invisible clergy- which is more perfect, more complete, more
masterful. The only way out is accepting defeat in the light of this and
losing the obsession in question.
Naturally the room often encounters Avatars who break taboo, but anyone can
end up here.

Appearance & Agent
The Room of Accepted Defeat always superimposes itself on a local place of
worship, usually the largest available. It is entered by whatever means is
used to enter the actual edifice it replaces, and the entrance only leads
the target into the room, not anyone else who may enter at the same time.
The room appears as the epitome of the type of place of worship it nests in.
In a cathedral, it becomes the most absolute ideal of a cathedral
imaginable, and the visitor is always immediately awed by its rightness -
even though it invariably lacks all direct references to the faith in
question, meaning that as a cathedral it has no crucifixes, no statues of
saints or the like. Generic objects like altars etc. may be found there, but
nothing specific for any single creed. The room is always devoid of people
and always dwarfs the visitor.
The visitor may take his time sightseeing - whatever imagery is typical for
the place of worship it resembles, it is abundant here and depicts hints at
why the goal the visitor is seeking is unattainable.
At some point the Priest enters - the only agent of this room. He always
wears the clothing expected of a priest in this environment, but also
without obvious symbols of the faith. In such cases as there are only
priestesses the Priest has the ability to appear as a woman. He or she is
always of middle age (if appropriate) and seems benign and friendly. The
Priest will seek to talk to the visitor and will sooner or later begin to
drive the point home, that the obsession the visitor is following is forever
out of reach. He may make the impression of being in some higher service,
but he will never refer to any specific world view or religion, keeping it
all mystical without talking over his visotor's head. He may talk about the
meaning of life, the wholeness of existence etc., even the divine, but he's
not here to proselytize but to put his visitors back in their humble but
honourable place. Specifically he does not teach the truth but that the
truth is by necessity out of reach.

That's it so far, any suggestions and comments are appreciated.

Robin


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