Oldest House

## The Oldest House

The outside of the Oldest House only appeared to those who sought it's presence, and the interior was far larger than that of the outside.

The interior of the Oldest House was it's own pocket plane of reality outside of time itself, the Federal Bureau of Control was similar to that of the Time Variance Authority.

# The Oldest House

The **Oldest House** is a Place of Power located in New York City. Appearing as a featureless skyscraper of the Brutalist architectural style, the interior of the Oldest House is a space-defying, constantly shifting labyrinth connected to various alternate dimensions through spontaneously occurring Thresholds. The Board and the Astral Plane both appear to possess intrinsic connections to the Oldest House.

The Oldest House acts as the global headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control, where the Bureau carries out research on paranatural phenomena, and contains hundreds of Altered Items and Objects of Power. On October 29, 2019, the Oldest House was invaded by a hostile paranatural force, the Hiss, which was unleashed by Bureau Director Zachariah Trench.

## Structure and Nature

The Oldest House is a Place of Power, a type of paranatural location possessing a deep and intrinsic connection to various alternate dimensions, particularly the Astral Plane. As a result, it exists outside of the ordinary laws of spacetime, and experiences constant shifts in its internal topography. The Oldest House is believed to be infinite in scale, with the area controlled by the FBC only representing an infinitesimal fraction of the Oldest House's true extent. From the outside, however, the Oldest House is a stoic Brutalist skyscraper of defined size, meaning the building is larger on the inside than on the outside.

The Oldest House possesses a property which makes it imperceptible to anyone except those who are specifically looking for it. As a result, it remained undiscovered until the Bureau found it by accident during an AWE investigation in New York City in 1964. The Bureau itself later seemingly acquired this same property, making it difficult for the general populace to find. It is unknown when the Oldest House first appeared or was created, or whether its name has any bearing to its actual age. The Board implies that it and the Oldest House share a connection through the Astral Plane, and that both originated in the Foundation, a mysterious location within the House. Because of its paranatural nature, the Oldest House - much like the Oceanview Motel - possesses connections to other dimensions in the form of Thresholds, which appear spontaneously in the building. Known Oldest House Thresholds include the Black Rock Quarry, Mold Threshold, and Clock Threshold. The Oldest House is connected to the Oceanview Motel as well as a result of the events of an AWE in Butte, Montana.

Only the Foundation of the Oldest House remains structurally static; the only recorded shifts occurred due to outside influences from the Hiss invasion and subsequent collision of the Astral Plane. Former Head of Research Theodore Ash noted that the global leylines run not only through the Oldest House, but seem to converge within the Foundation at the site of the Nail. Emily Pope determined that the Oldest House may predate the existence of the Nail, as the Nail is made of a foreign substance composed "of, from, or [possibly] containing" the Astral Plane itself.

After a period of extended observation, Dr. Ash speculated that the Board has exerted substantial influence over the shape, function, and character of the Oldest House, possibly co-opting and interfering with its inherent organic growth to suit their needs. Dr. Ash and other FBC agents, including Helen Marshall and Frederick Langston, noted that the House itself may exert influence over the FBC agents working within. Ash observed Director Northmoor become more arrogant, egocentric, and preoccupied with asserting control over missions and FBC personnel, while Marshall and Langston saw similar effects in both Zachariah Trench and Casper Darling, who became more secretive, isolated, and concerned with pursuing the Board's agenda over the welfare of the Bureau during their extended tenures.
The Oldest House is sensitive, and can react to the presence of observation devices (for example, only shifting when in a camera's blindspot,) modern technology, paranatural activity or interference, and the will of powerful parautilitarians, such as the FBC's Director. Due to the Hiss invasion, the corrupted influence made some sections of the Oldest House hostile to the FBC; however, many of these areas returned to regular function after being cleansed by Director Jesse Faden.