THE LUMINARY BUILDING
Twenty-eight floors of old-fashioned glamour on the outside, built out of large, light grey granite blocks. The small boxed gardens out the front have a well-manicured lawn and flowering shrubbery lining the main wide sandstone path to the black-glass front doors which slide open - a newer instalment when the Luminary was recently refurbished. A street entrance on the west side allows deliveries to be unloaded at the back, or cars to turn into the building down to the basement parking level. A footpath only alleyway on the east side allows people to walk around to the back, directly into the kitchen, but they need a passcode to get through the metal door.
Previously known as The Crest and going through a phase as The Oligarchy Chambers, the building is now recognised as The Luminary - which is how city council have marked it. One of the ex-Luminaries (Halen) was a dragon and had installed draconic runic wards around its perimeter to keep hostiles out. The magic is reactive and only works after the intended violence occurs by incapacitating the attacker with intense mental distress. The runes are still in place.
PARKING : LEVEL B4 TO B6 (UNDERGROUND)
With three levels of parking, everybody who visits or lives at The Luminary can park their car securely. Residents have their assigned parking level at the very bottom (B6)
CONTAINMENT ROOMS AND STORAGE AREA : LEVELS B3 (UNDERGROUND)
Level B3 is specifically for the holding of Lycanthropes before the full moon changes them into uncontrollable beasts (but would do in a pinch for holding any unruly supernatural).
The containment rooms are quite cushy, though everything that is breakable (such as the television set and radio) are protected behind plexiglass boxes. The sheets on the bed, as well as the mattress and other furniture, are not very expensive (though they are comfortable to last a night) in case the werewolf destroys the room.
The other part of this floor has a very large cold room for extra kitchen storage, and also shelving for dry storage when the kitchens buy in bulk. There's also a freight elevator that comes down to this level.
SERVER FLOOR: LEVEL B2 (UNDERGROUND)
Banks of computers without monitors or keyboards are plugged into the power and continue to drain it. These servers are not easily moved and more are coming every month. This particular room is a certain hacker's wet dream (Digital). These servers are not just for powering the building but mostly hold the Lovebite App data.
THE ACADEMY'S LUMINARY CAMPUS LECTURE HALL : LEVEL B1 (UNDERGROUND)
The library is now found on this floor in a large room, but has been scaled down and has armchairs and lounges for reading. Students can access it, and it is adjacent to the lifts while the lecture hall is directly opposite the lifts. On the other side of the lifts a corridor leads to some minimally furnished offices for the lecturers to prepare their notes. These offices are shared and don't have names on doors.
FOYER, KITCHENS, SERVICES : GROUND FLOOR
Expensive and stately are the first impressions upon entering this spacious foyer. Open-ceilinged, its white marbled tiles streaked with light blues and greys, are imported from Italy. Heels click most satisfyingly.
At the foyer’s centre stands a grand stone statue approximately nine foot high, it is carved from a blood red stone of a well-endowed male figure holding an etched globe aloft with an extended right arm. The globe is a fountain that pours water over the statue giving the impression of running blood. It gleams in the bright spotlights that shine upon it from nowhere obvious. A bank of six elevators can be found in the back portion of the foyer and slightly off to the right, past the reception counter. There is a stairway in between the two that gives quick access to the City Ward offices one floor above (it is signed appropriately).
The reception counter is left over from The Crest’s hotel days and is of an impressive length of glossy black marble. There is nothing atop this counter, but behind it hangs an abstract painting of swirling silvery blues that give the impression of clouds. Two staff members await behind the counter to direct people to the appropriate area.
A coffee shop on the front left corner is a great hangout area for people who like posing in fancy lobbies. They only serve coffee and hot blood in takeaway cups. Students who possess red cards get a daily free blood cup (of animal blood).
OFFICES TO RENT : FIRST FLOOR
A floor filled with various spaces for reasonable rent on the first raised floor level. Recently vacated by the City Ward.
FUNCTION HALL AND CONFERENCE ROOMS : SECOND FLOOR
The function hall can be used for a variety of events, such as being turned into a ballroom for a masquerade party (for instance), wedding events, funerals, birthday parties, corporate events, etc. Conference rooms come in different sizes and prices to match. Catering can be hired/prepared from the kitchens below with affordable packages.
LOVEBITE OFFICES : THIRD FLOOR
Lovebite Enterprises makes its home on this floor. Tech support, marketing, market research, administration, HR, etc.
GUEST ROOMS : FOURTH TO TENTH FLOORS : THE SWEET SUITES
The suites on these floors are all designed for single occupants and are about the size of the usual one-person apartment found in the city. Upon entry into the room, one finds themselves beside the roomy kitchen - which has a fridge, microwave, kettle and toaster. The kitchen faces the spacious lounge room. Some rooms have a balcony accessible through sliding glass doors opposite the front door (each balcony is furnished with a glass table, four outdoor chairs and two outdoor sun lounges). Turning towards the rest of the suite (it could be left or right, for the apartments mirror each other), you walk down a short hallway that has a large pair of bi-folding doors on one side. Behind these doors is a small space for the washer, tub, dryer and ironing facilities.
Each large bedroom has a built-in wardrobe and a king-sized bed. If this apartment has a balcony, then it is accessible through the bedroom; and lattice-like barriers protect the privacy of the resident on either end of the balcony.
The bathroom is beyond the laundry and beside the bedroom but it is not an ensuite. When the hotel was last modernised, the decorator created a rather unique bathroom, furnishing it with a toilet, average-sized shower beside, vanity unit with minimal storage below and in the medicine cabinet above and a bathtub opposite the toilet and shower. The unique part about the bathroom is that the tub is always on the bedroom side of the bathroom but is not divided from it by a wall. Instead, four panels of wooden blinds - generally painted white - go from the bath edge to the ceiling, meaning that the bather may sit in the tub and open the slats to see into the bedroom, or even open them right up - folding shutter style - so that they may recline in the full comfort of a hot bath and watch the television attached to the wall above the dressing table/bureau. Oftentimes, they stay fully open and many occupants have been known to line this half wall with candles.
GYM, INDOOR SWIMMING POOL, SAUNAS, STUDIO : ELEVENTH FLOOR
A place to work off the stresses of the day or simply keep fit (for those whose lives might depend on their ability to outwit, outlast and outrun), The Luminary provides free access to a thoroughly modern exercise facility for all residents.
The indoor heated swimming pool is decorated as though it is outside with starry lights in the ceiling and potplants all around. A hot tub sits in the corner, oft used.
This floor is placed nearest the mortal residents of The Luminary, for not only will they enjoy the conveniences most often, but they won't be as disturbed by clearly hearing clanging weights or people throwing themselves about on slick wooden floors at all hours of the day and night.
MEDICAL CLINIC & ENTERTAINMENT AREA : TWELFTH FLOOR
The clinic takes up a quarter of the floor and is mostly set up for blood donations and simpler health emergencies. The clinic has a kitchenette area where they can have some cakes, biscuits and also an espresso machine and kettle.
The entertainment area is accessible to everyone with a room keycard, it has a pool table, some video arcade machines include pinball, air hockey, foosball, ping pong table, a widescreen television with gaming consoles, a VR sectioned off area, some gaming computers networked together for multiplayer, darts board and a few card tables that have a supply of various board games. Lots of couches, chairs, beanbags, stools and other seating options. A jukebox is in the corner that has speakers wired around the room. There is a water cooler in the room.
OFFICES : THIRTEENTH FLOOR
Where Kerr and Ben do business from.
HOTEL ROOMS: FOURTEENTH FLOOR TO THE TWENTIETH FLOOR
These seven floors have one or two bedrooms and function as hotel rooms for visiting supernaturals.
LUMINESCENT : TWENTY-FIRST FLOOR
Sometimes simply called "Floor Twenty One", the latest hotspot for donors and their vampiric hookups. All manner of supernaturals come here as the bar tends to stock exotic flavour profiles to suit everyone. Drinks are cheap - almost at cost. The club is a meeting spot more than a money-spinner.
The music is fast-paced but canned instead of live. Popular, grunge and techno make the rounds, at a volume loud enough to be heard but not drown out conversation. White and silver lounges salt the black hardwood flooring and there are different levels of flooring to create a sensation of nooks and separation though everything is open. The bar is three steps up and highest. There is a dancefloor in one corner large enough to host fifty squashed bodies. People aren't here for dancing - they're here to make connections. With plate glass windows showing a view of the city central, low lighting (that a majority comes from the fairy lights strung all across the black painted ceiling), Luminescent isn't quite a lounge, isn't quite a bar, isn't quite a nightclub but it certainly has impact.
VIP SUITES : TWENTY-THIRD TO TWENTY-SIXTH FLOOR
These four floors are dedicated to modern, luxurious apartment-style housing for more important guests.
ANTIQUE GALLERIA : TWENTY SEVENTH FLOOR
Completely open space with load-bearing pillars being the only supports. There are many antiques on display, shown in cases or freestanding with plaques, depending on their size. A small corner of the galleria is dedicated to strange and unusual artefacts. There is still a lot of space to fill.
THE LUMINARY PENTHOUSE : TWENTY-EIGHTH FLOOR
The topmost level of The Luminary requires a particular key-card, of which there is no copy. The special-access elevator opens into the foyer directly. The penthouse is not a whole floor, but a house of a kind that is nestled atop the building. It has three large bedrooms with ensuites, a large bathroom and separate toilet, a centrepiece aquarium, a large and modern lounge area, a magnificent dining room to seat sixteen, kitchen, bar and library.
