VicLondon-StJames
St. James (Clubland), the West End
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District Traits
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| Interactive: Access x, Information x, Prestige x Reactive: Safety x, Awareness x, Stability x |
Notable Locations
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Class: xxx
The gentlemen’s club is a mainstay of upper-class social life. By the 1880s, many clubs now will deign to take wealthy merchants and respectable professionals, not just the aristocracy. The point of the club is to provide a place not just for socialization, but for the deadly serious business of making political and economic contacts. They also were to provide a home away from home, where a man could eat, drink, smoke, and in some gamble. The club was a one-stop social scene, and many members spend their off-hours (if they work) here. The clubs provide meals and drinks at a much reduced rate as part of the membership, and this allows the sons of peers and the wealthy to indulge – even if they are not wealthy themselves – in a comfortable lifestyle.
The club buildings are designed to be spacious and as comfortable as possible. Salons for lounging, libraries with complementary stationary for writing and periodicals, dining rooms with menus available at all times...the club was a paradise away from the cares of the everyday. Many included bathing and barber facilities, and some had bedrooms set aside for men who were travelling to London for Parliament or other functions. Clubhouses were some of the rst locations to get the telephone, and by the mid-1880s, nearly any politically-based club had not just telegraphic, but telephonic service.
To become a member of a club, an applicant must be nominated by two current members. A membership committee then researches the prospective candidate’s background – evaluating their social standing and reputation, before voting on the membership. The voting is carried out with white and black billiard balls – white for yes, black for no (hence the term “blackballed”.) Some clubs have a cap on the number of members they can have. Once offered membership, an annual fee would have to be paid. Usually, this is between £20-50, and if a member fails to pay for their membership, they often are dropped for being out of good standing...and have to go through the process of being re-nominated. If removed for an offense – breaking the club rules, not paying their tab for meals, bankruptcy or criminal involvement – the member cannot regain his club position, nor is he likely to be nominated for another club. Point of fact, he is likely to be ruined in good society.
Awakened Locales
- The Prospero Club: Sanctum (Consilium) • Consilium. A club sponsored by the Consilium. All members of the Elder and Vassal Cabals are members, though other mages frequently receive invitations to attend and socialize, either from the Consilium itself or from individual members (who are responsible for the behavior of their guests). This is the most common venue for mages to receive invitations to one of the cabals. Most often, this is an individual being invited to one of the Vassal (or more rarely Elder) Cabals, but this has also, on occasion, been where an entire cabal is invited by one of the Elder Cabals as a sort of last test before extending them patronage.
- The Veiled House: Sanctum (Acknowledged) • The Transcendence Gather. A fringe social club made up of those spiritualist and theosophist enthusiasts of society, the Veiled House is also the acknowledged sanctum of the Transcendence Gather cabal.
