The Fraternity's Mansion
Era
21st century.
Location
Minnesota, United States.
Description
The mansion was large and built in the gothic style, with a gabled roof adorned with carved stone gargoyles. It stood deep in the woods, barely visible from the road and not overlooked by any other property.
A short flight of steps led to an imposing front door with an old-fashioned knocker in the form of a lion's head. The front door led into a wide, high entrance hall, with several doors leading off it and a wide, sweeping staircase to the upper floors.
Other rooms included a library, a large dining room, and several bedrooms on the second floor. The top floor was a wide, low attic space with windows set into the roof.
The basement was equipped as a laboratory for Hampshire's research.
The mansion was furnished in an old style, with old portraits on the walls, four-poster beds, and suits of armour in the hallways. It seems unlikely that this furnishing belonged to any of the Fraternity, and it was presumably in the house when they moved in, inherited from the previous owner.
Several of the walls were hollow, with passages running through them wide enough to allow a man to walk along. Holes in the walls lined up with the portraits in several rooms, allowing someone hidden in the passage to look through the eyes of the paintings and observe the room.
History
Shortly after the Event, the criminal team known as the Fraternity went into hiding to avoid arrest. Using their reserves of cash, their leader Alan Hampshire bought an old mansion off the main roads and several miles from the nearest town. The group hid out there for almost twenty years before being discovered.
The history of the mansion before it was purchased by Hampshire is not known. It appears to be over 100 years old, and was constructed to include secret passages in the walls, suggesting it had an unusual original owner.
Occupants
- Alan Hampshire
- Jean Hampshire
- Arthur Firne
- Paul Lamb