On the east and west walls, there were shelves filled with curios from his many travels: A flintlock from Spain, a small Buddhist statue made of jade, from Japan, even an iron cross when he visited Germany during the Third Reich.

On the walls there were pictures, mostly from his tenure in the Council. Happier days were those as the smiles denoted. There were even a few with the old Watcher in them, though his head had to be physically pointed in the direction of the camera lens. Simply dreadful affair that was.

The majority of photographs held Valic and two younger men, barely more than boys. The largest of these was taken in a pub in Scotland, on the left there was a young man with a rakish grin, one arm slipped around the Scot's back, and on the right a man of equal age with glasses and glint of mischief, the same pose struck. Valic sat in the middle of the table grinning just as widely as the other two. After all, why not? Each man held a pint of beer in one hand, all three raised outward and slightly upward together as if in toast to the camera.

Under the picture in gold lettering was the following:
ETHAN RAYNE, VALIC MANDRAKE, RUPERT GILES

Another portrait of importance, and the largest one in attendance, was a slightly older Giles, dressed smartly and holding a framed certificate, or license of some sort. Beside him was Valic again, standing tall and smiling proudly, albeit blindly, at the camera holding the right end of the frame.

Underneath the wooden frame on the black plate in gold lettering, was the following:
RUPERT GILES & VALIC MANDRAKE INDUCTION CEREMONY INTO THE COUNCIL OF WATCHERS CARPE DIEM

Many more pictures adorned the walls of the Mandrake study, though the above mentioned was singular and higher than any other.

Those who saw the pictures always asked the inevitable question: "If you can't see the pictures, then why keep them?"

To which he always replied: "Because you can see them, and that preserves my memory."

Presently, the Magus stood behind his oaken desk, with a small black box placed in the center, next to the ink and quill, which he stubbornly refused to surrender to the modern world...
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Items From the Armory and Around the House-->