Atheneum
This extremely rare Background grants a mage a number of physical sources of knowledge from which to learn. Typically, this means books or scrolls, but some Spirit-Talkers learn from art on cave walls and carvings their ancestors left for them to find. Paper is rare in the Dark Medieval age, and many of the ancient drawings have faded or been destroyed, so Atheneum (library) is expensive; each dot of Atheneum costs two Background points or two bonus points.
Atheneum have their advantages, however. A player may roll Intelligence + Atheneum against a varying difficulty to find occult knowledge or magical secrets. The player and the Storyteller should work together before play begins and determine what sort of information a given Atheneum contains (a book pilfered from the Papal library is unlikely to contain information on summoning demons, although one never knows...). Also, a mage can increase her own mystical understanding with a Atheneum. When the player wishes to spend experience to increase a Pillar, she may roll Library (difficulty 8); each success reduces the experience cost by one.
● -- An incomplete book or a partially burned scroll.
●● -- A book handwritten by a knowledgeable source... you hope.
●●● -- An inscribed cave wall, left undisturbed for centuries.
●●●● -- A collection of illuminated manuscripts, in fairly good condition.
●●●●● -- A truly impressive library; any topic you wish to research is probably at least mentioned.
