Mithraeum is the sacred temple of the Cult of Mithras, a group of kine and Kindred who worshipped the Ventrue methuselah Mithras. Built just outside the ancient city of London, it started construction in 240 CE, being engineered by Mithras' grandchilde Arcadius Augustus. Millennia after, it stood below a city ward called Walbrook, with only its underground complex remaining.
Description[]
The Temple of Mithras stands on the bank of the Walbrook river and counts three layers: an above ground temple for kine, an underground temple for Kindred, and two rooms for Mithras' personal use.
Mortal Activities: The temple is long and narrow, its windowless vaulted space designed to resemble the sacred cave. A marble relief of Mithras slaying the Bull stands at the far end, and several statues of the god line the room. The central space holds room for sacrificial worship, mortals offering bread, fruit, and cups overflowing with mead and blood unto their god. A man kneels naked, slitting his wrists so he may join Mithras in the afterlife. Armed Roman soldiers keep guard outside, for the Mithraic Mysteries have many enemies in both Britain and Rome.
Dominant Kindred Faction: The Mithraic Mysteries fully control the temple.
Kindred Activities: The underground temple holds the same lay-out with a narrow central space flanked by columns. Where kine make do with an effigy of their god, though, Kindred worship before Mithras on his throne. They too bring sacrifices, from virile bulls to supple mortals ready to bleed and die at the methuselah's feet. The sun’s glory never reaches here, for Mithras tolerates no competition. A hidden passage leads further down to Mithras' personal abode consisting of an audience chamber and sarcophagus room. Two ghouls stand keep vigil here, denying all who seek Mithras uninvited. Even then he does not always sleep in the chamber, and rumors fly that the sarcophagus room holds yet another hidden passage leading to a maze below London.
Notable Features: The Mithraeum was later rededicated to Bacchus and Venus, before falling in disuse as Christianity rose through London. A team of archaeologists excavated the temple 1954, and, come 2012 the above ground temple is slowly being reconstructed in the Bloomberg Space where it will become a tourist draw. Agents of de Camden saw the entrance to the underground blocked, erased from all records, and hidden amidst the foundations of the 14-story Bucklersbury House.