The Century Club

In the darkened heart of a sprawling London, the clandestine gathering known as The Centennial Convergence unfolds beneath a veil of secrecy. The shadowy assembly beckons the timeless and the ageless, the entities untouched by the sands of time, to unite in hushed discourse and shared tales of centuries past. It is a beacon in the eternity of their existence, a rare event that occurs but once every hundred years, an assembly that bridges epochs and weaves tales from millennia of experience, held within the confines of a seemingly unremarkable Victorian mansion.

The enigmatic guests, these seemingly immortal souls, carry an air of melancholy and the weight of countless years upon their shoulders. Each of them, from the marked wanderer Cain, to the eternally youthful Orlando, the cryptic Time Traveller, and the imperious Ayesha, come bearing the burden of their endless existence. Amongst them move phantasmal figures of indistinct identity, their mortal companions or 'plus ones', often overwhelmed by the grandeur and timeless wisdom surrounding them.

The atmosphere in the mansion during The Centennial Convergence is one of mystery and awe, touched by the ghostly pallor of the past. Stories are shared, wisdom exchanged, and through the hours, an uncanny camaraderie grows among these unlikely companions. Bonds forged in the timeless crucible of their shared experiences, strengthened by their recurring encounters. Yet, as dawn approaches, they part ways, vanishing back into the annals of time, leaving the mansion once more to its silent vigil until the next Centennial Convergence.

Bearing the aura of eldritch mystery and spectral grandeur, the mansion materializes once every hundred years, manifesting for but a single day and night. Its architectural grandeur and intricate details vary with every manifestation, appearing as an ancient castle perched on a hill, a regal palace embraced by the wilderness, or a sprawling mansion nestled in the heart of a bustling city. Yet despite its shifting appearances, it remains unfailingly familiar to those destined to gather within its walls.

This mansion is more than a mere location; it is a sanctuary. A truce ground where no violent act can take root, where personal vendettas dissolve in the face of ageless camaraderie. As the time of the Convergence approaches, it beckons its timeless guests through dreams that grow ever more vivid and insistent. A call heard only by the select members of this hallowed convergence, guiding them to the ever-changing location - the heartbeat of the world, the zeitgeist of the century.

Tales circulate among the members of unfortunate souls who, taken in by the mansion's enigmatic charm, failed to vacate its premises before the day's end. Those who have disappeared, swallowed by the mansion’s enchantment, never to be seen again in any age. These stories serve as somber reminders of the mansion’s temporal limits, and the price for transgressing them.

To the uninvited, the mansion is nothing more than a benign addition to the landscape, an unremarkable part of the backdrop that was never questioned, never noticed, though it was not there the day before and will not be on the morrow. It stands as an anomaly, present yet unnoticed, a secret hidden in plain sight.

Yet there is an unspoken understanding among the Century Club's members, a secret they all carry: the mansion itself is a member of their exclusive gathering. Silent, immutable, and always present, it is their host, their confidant, and their companion through the ages. Yet they never speak of it, perhaps out of reverence, or perhaps because sometimes, even they prefer to maintain the comforting veil of ignorance, the illusion of control in the face of eternity.