One of my favorite Mage set pieces has to be an abandoned monastery in Staten Island called St Augustine’s.

In the real world St Augustine’s was abandoned some time in the mid-to-late 60’s and left to ruin. Some of the original grounds have become Wagner College, but some remained as they were. Rumors abound as to what can be found there. Some say that an insane monk set a fire that killed a number of people ranging from none to hundreds. Some say that there are at least a dozen sub-basements, but since the lower floors are flooded below the third no one can say for sure.

Many rumors warn of the cells in the lowest of levels, however deep they may actually be. Those stories say that if one were to be able to swim deep enough, or if the water were to be removed, there is a cell in the lowest level that housed the monk that went insane and set the fire. They claim that his body was never retrieved from his sleeping cell, and that his ghost lingers with it.

When the real life history of a location is this rich it’s impossible to not want to bring it into the World of Darkness. I turned up a wide variety of websites about the place during my campaign research, which means that the players can totally psych themselves out before things really get rolling! These online rumors also persist in my campaign world, and this being the World of Darkness they are not easily dismissed. There was indeed a mad monk in the basement in my world, and he may be there still. He may not be alone. Of course strong emotions attract the notice of the spirit realm, and burning alive does tend to bring on extreme fear… and pain.

I do make an effort to provide some good to go with the bad. This having been a holy place there are sanctified items to be found. The brothers earned the money necessary to sustain themselves by crafting crosses and rosary beads. They also printed bibles at a small hand-press on site, and transcribed verses onto cards and plaques. All of these items give advantage should one need to perform an exorcism, but why on earth would anyone ever feel the need to do that?

There is so much for the Mages to uncover here that I would have been remiss if I hadn’t let my Multiple Mage Murderer have found it to be a marvelous place to hide. Naturally I felt compelled to give him a good reason to feel safe here. You can file that under “The Bad”.

Who knows what the Mages might find hidden in this long forgotten place?