Having waited her turn, Circe enters the private room at the Asylum after the Reeve and Seneschal have taken their leave.

She bows. "Your majesty. I am prepared to report on the meeting with the willworkers, and upon the results of the examination of the creature from the Ordo Dracul Chapter House."

"Good evening, Hierophant," Asa says in greeting.

Well this will look awkward if Ishani drops by.

"What news do you have?" he asks, considering expediting the situation the best course of action.

"First regarding the meeting with a representative of the Willworkers," she begins. "The meeting proper was with one individual named West, who apparently holds a position of some importance within Willworker society. I explained the basics of what had happened during the Lost Nights and our evidence for some sort of magic having been involved, and I allowed him to examine three samples of remains of beings destroyed in that event - two kindred and one of my own homunculi. After examining these, and me, he was able to confirm there was some sort of unusual magic involved and that it bore a certain... what he called a 'resonance' with the powers of our kind, but was nonetheless something different, and clearly not the magics of his sort. He was of the opinion that it is a magic connected to some sort of 'realms beyond' our own and also beyond those which are normally of concern to the Willworkers.

"During the course of the meeting, I was able to observe this individual perform feats of the sorcery practiced by the Willworkers, and with his permission I was able to observe in passing some magics present on a few others of his kind before the meeting. These all bear a distinct aura signature, and they have nothing at all in common with our own magics or with those that were involved in the Lost Nights.

"My conclusions are twofold," Circe summarizes. "First, as previously suspected, those behind the Lost Nights are not Willworkers. Second, those involved are most likely practicing some unusual form magic, probably connected with some mystical realm normally far separated from the material. This is supported by the vision Priscus Ishani received from the item found in Priscus O-Yama's car, and which she subsequently shared with me. The ritual elements revealed in this vision are akin to practices sometimes referred to as Chthonic, usually related to worship of dark and alien gods and spirits.

"This, sadly, does not lead us directly to our enemy, but it does provide us with two benefits. First, it eliminates several potential threats from consideration. I think we can safely assume the werewolves had nothing to do with this attack. Second, and more importantly, having even something so vague to go on as Chthonic practices may lead to further information. There are certain Cruac rituals that are oracular in nature. I am skilled in some of these, as is Obsidian. Perhaps the Dragons or some other source known to you might have some information on Chthonic practices that would provide us with clues to investigate, or things to watch for."

Circe then pauses, to give the Prince an opportunity to ask any questions he might have regarding this portion of her investigations.

"Excellent," Asa replied. Although the werewolves and willworkers were a somewhat known quantity versus these mysterious Chthonic sorcerers, non-involvement also meant that perhaps they could be potential allies if necessary.

"Please pursue those options, and let Mr. Witherspoon know that I'm requesting the Dragons assist if they have the means." He paused, considering the options. "Are there any symbols or words that have meaning that they might use to mark their mundane affairs with? Business names, logos, that sort? Perhaps even street graffiti for rituals?"

Circe considers for a moment. "Chthonic writings tend to be quite distinctive... some consider them a form of code, though there are schools of thought that attribute them to prehistoric, and possibly non-human, civilizations. I will make sure you and any others you wish are supplied with copies of the examples I have.

"Beyond that, words and concepts such as 'void', 'oblivion' and 'space' tend to occur in Chthonic sources. Many refer to the entities they worship as being from the void, or from beyond the void. Chthonic cults I'm familiar with tend to be associated with symbols of snakes, worms and eyes. "

After a moment, Circe adds "I should note that the term 'chthonic' originated in my native Greece, and originally referred to worship of earth deities such as Gaia or Demeter through the practice of ritual - and sometimes human - sacrifice. Some cults, and some within the Circle of the Crone, continue these practices even now. The only thing these practices have in common with the ones of concern to us is the focus on sacrifice. Worship of these Chthonic entities typically involves frequent, and often extremely gruesome, human sacrifice. This may provide us with some lead, as Chthonic cultists will either leave a lot of bodies behind, or have means and resources to obtain and dispose of large numbers of human sacrifices."

"Yes, please send a few copies to Olivette of samples," Asa replied. "If you could also pass this information on to the Reeve, perhaps it would give him other angles to approach this problem."

He paused, considering speaking to her of the daydream, but he was sure Obsidian had already, or would.

"I appreciate your efforts, Hierophant," Asa said, still considering the new information.


"I, and all in the Circle, are glad to serve," she says. "As to the examination of the creature, I should first give credit to Dr. Lazarus for allowing us to use his facilities, to Myrah Wells and Gideon Witherspoon, for assisting in the examination and offering valuable insights of their own, and to Obsidian, for her part in the examination.

"Together, we performed a variety of procedures on the creature, including full medical autopsy and pathology and use of Cruac to examine the creature's blood and nature, and to seek information about its origins. The basic findings were that the creature possesses a mixture of human and animal - and specifically reptilian - features. These were not as pronounced by the time of autopsy - the scaley skin was not so obvious, for example - but clearly the creature was not an ordinary human. Some features were more unusual than others. The heart and lungs, for example, looked completely human, while the skin was unusually dry and scaly in appearance and teeth and the bones of the jaw and inner ear were more characteristic of a reptile than a mammal. The most notable abnormality was in terms of the brain. The areas governing higher reasoning were atrophied, while those involving sensory acuity and aggression were larger than in a human being.

"The creature's blood included Kindred Vitae, as you had already discovered while encountering the creature in the Chapter House. Through Cruac, I was able to also confirm your impression that it has unusual addictive properties. There was no magic about this creature other than that associated with, and produced by, the blood of our kind.

"The obvious conclusion is that the creature is a ghoul of some sort, more physically altered by the regnant's Vitae than most. We believe some of the enhanced physical characteristics these ghouls displayed are probably the effects of some unusual Discipline, or perhaps a variation on Protean.

"All of this suggests the regnant or regnants of these creatures probably belong to some unusual bloodline. There are multiple bloodlines associated with reptiles or having reptilian features, including one prominently associated with the Circle of the Crone, but we do not appear to be dealing with any of the commonly-known ones. I have heard rumors of a bloodline of African origin, capable of transforming their servants into serpents or beasts of some sort, and Mr. Witherspoon recalled having heard mention of some legendary bloodline able to create 'bestial servants in the image of the Serpent.' I am, unfortunately, no expert on Kindred bloodlines.

Finally, though inconclusively... Obsidian performed a Cruac ritual in attempt to identify who or what had spawned these things. Her ritual produced an image of two figures, rather unclear. They may have represented the symbols for infinity, or the number 8...
or they may have been the letter B."

"Hmmm," Asa mused. "Some time ago, we were attacked by Brood who mutated Mandragora to consume vitae, and I've had recent information about Brood activity in the city. Perhaps they've gone from plants to humans?"

"That, or it might simply be a different group of Brood," Circe says. "Either way, using ghouls to produce chaos would not be beyond Belial's Brood, and they would probably find special appeal in the idea of using unusually-dangerous, near-mindless ghouls. Given this, I think we should continue under the working hypothesis that Belial's Brood are behind these ghouls, and thus the attack upon the Ordo Dracul Chapter House... and thus, Rahyna is most likely in the hands of Belial's Brood."

It was almost irony the former Harpy turned Seneschal who loved order so much, a captive of the Brood. Except that it was far from amusing, and only small circumstance kept Ishani from being in Rahyna's place.

"I agree," he replied to Circe. "However, a Brood by the name of Cutter claimed to be alone in the city, and I'm inclined to believe him... which means there are possibly multiple elements within the city. Right now the Reeve is focused on the Lost Nights and Priscus Hatori -- so the Dracul must deal with this alone, or at least keep them occupied for a bit."

"If the Circle of the Crone can assist the Reeve in his duties, or yourself in any manner, you need only ask, Prince Clarke," Circe says.

After a moment, she adds "In fact, Obsidian has expressed a strong interest in serving the court more directly in some manner. While she is not a strong warrior in the mold of Reeve Culler or Deputy Konstantin, she has demonstrated some skill with Cruac and promising understanding of things occult. Perhaps you could find use for an advisor with a developing gift for prophecy, or perhaps she might be assigned to assist Reeve Culler?

"In any case, she, and we, stand ready to serve. While the Circle of the Crone is less concerned with politics than are some other covenants, we are quite willing to use the might of Cruac and all our other weapons in defense of the Domain and to smite our enemies."

"That's an excellent suggestion. It would be useful to have a Deputy with such skills, if the Reeve found her worthy," Asa said, after thinking for a few moments.

"Have her contact him, and we'll see how things progress. Although her enthusiasm is admirable, there is also an... impulsiveness... to her that I have noticed," Asa said frankly, but still choosing to use a kinder word than 'foolishness' or 'arrogance'.

Circe nods. "I will have her contact him, and make it clear to her that her role will be to assist the Reeve as he directs. Is there anything else I might do to be of service this night, Prince Clarke?"

"No, thank you," Asa replied with a smile. "I do appreciate the Circle's assistance," he added with sincerity. For his entire residence in Sacramento, the Covenant had been insular and isolated. "I'll let the Reeve know to expect Obsidian's call."

Circe bows. "Then I shall wish you a good evening, Prince Clarke. May the Dark Goddess watch over you, and this Domain."