(1807) Sanctuary 18

[Saber Sloth]

Circle of Creation

The Circle of Creation is a large imposing building of gothic architecture. It is an almost perfect replica of Westminster, but no one ever notices. Sleeper eyes slide over the building and only Awakened eyes can pierce the subtle occultation

The Circle of Creation, a Sanctuary and a bastion of the Awakened of Sacramento, when once, just months ago they numbered few and fewer, just enough to make a single Cabal to fight against the tides of horror waiting outside these walls, now the numbers grow, magi wandering in from the dark, a trail of ones and twos.

For what purpose?

.....and what will their enemies do once they realize that they will face true opposition again?

[Winter]

Of all the places in Sacramento, this one was by far his favourite. Not only because its anonymous creators had the good taste of making it a Church, which was always a plus in his book. No, there was something more. The occultation of the Sanctuary couldn't have been but the product of the most hubristc willworking, yet at the same time, it was a noble act of self-sacrifice, pure altruism. Somebody cared enough to deny his own wisdom and asked nothing in return, all so that they could have a shelter, for peace. He shared the ethos, the Libertines surely wouldn't.

"Book club my ass", he mutters.

Then, it shouldn't come off a surprise, when, as an act of deference, the Susceptor not only got rid of the unlit cigarette that had been planted between his lips until then, but dismissed his spell, rolled the sleeves of his white shirt barely below his elbows and procedeed inside the Cathedral.

Did he still believe in God or was it a mere reflex? Was it part of the Truth or just another Lie of the Exarchs? It might have meant a thing or two when he didn't know the difference, but again, how could he deny the vision of the Aether. His thoughts went to the creators of the place, would they be offended by his religious demeanor?


A sign of the cross later and he had reached the Henry Chapel.

Today he had been the first. He stood there, closing his eyes and enjoying how peaceful everything was. Just a few meters away, the central seat, the one Campanella had occupied the last time they had been there. All thrones are false. A psychotic smirk crept across his face.

[Winter]

"Magus Alastor", he nodded approvingly. Despite the occultation, it was good practice to have people man the sanctuary.

"Good", he later added. "This city is unnervingly quiet. To a fault, even". He said while standing tall in the middle of the room. "I get you've met Magus Hamia already?", he said nudging a finger in the air towards the Arrows wing.

[Winter]

Maybe that Gazette isn't a bad idea after all."You're looking for Councilor Samael, he's been on the loose for the past month. Private matters, I believe" he sat down on the seat directly facing the Arrow, his spine erect against the straight wooden back of the chair and his legs at a 90 degree angle.

"As for Magus Lacuna, Magus Hamia might be able to tell you more, they formed a cabal not long ago". He paused for a second as if trying to decide whether to share the detail or not. "She's been taking care of the Arrow Wing".


He glanced around, making certain that the chapel was empty and that nobody would eavesdrop their conversation, and then leaned in. "Take this debriefing with a pinch of salt, they are just hypotheses. I wasn't here, but Councilor Campanella and Councilor Aurora were", a brief halt, then he continued,"Apparently Sacramento used to be quite the Consilium. Everything changed when the Seers mounted an attack. A temporal anomaly, or so I believe -I'm not well versed in the Arcanum of Time - was used to edit the past. Everything was lost", from the tone, a hint of annoyance was perceptible, "when I first came to town, a few months ago, there were five, maybe six of us. We're in the process of rebuilding and investigating", a shrug, "you can now understand why the last meeting was touchy at best".



"There are good news, though. You see, the Seers' plan wasn't perfect, they didn't take into account few variables", he waves a hand in the air, "this place, the clock tower, the fact not everybody was wiped out and, well, Magus Vau", he nodded to himself, "apparently Vau wasn't here in Sacramento for the attack but he still remembers things as they were before, if we could find another like him", he pounds his index finger against his temple, "we could verify this theory, and maybe there's something you Mastigoi could do".

[Campanella]

Campanella decided that with the recent influx of Awakened, returning to the Circle might be wise. So here he was, dressed in a light suit designed for the summer. No spells glittered in his aura, if anyone cared to look. The Circle was neutral ground and a Consilium meeting moreso.

He nodded and greeted both men as he passed, taking up his now accustomed seat in the registers.

"Yes. Samael," he confirmed. "He hasn't been available for a while now."

He settled into his seat.

"And for want of sounding rude, the history of the Seers war has been done to death. If you wished to get a fuller explanation, I believe you should track down Sand. She was going to collate our testimonies into some sort of script or primer before memory becomes clouded with time."

Or transmission to second- and third-hand accounts weakened the transmission of fact.

"My good colleague Mr. Winter is correct through. By and large the city is very quiet. There are a few things to attract our attention here and there but by and large the city appears scrubbed of trouble. We have an instance of cracks in space-time causing unusual mutations in insects - which is so far being monitored and managed sufficiently enough - and we are on our guard against a couple of rogue mages* but apart from that. Nothing."

He gestured with his hands.

"And we have no signs of our enemy. Its like they've scrubbed themselves out of existence."

More likely, the Consilium was flying blind and had little in the way of assets to look for them.

[Winter]

"Councilor", he stands up to greet the new arrival. "A wise man once said: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be in peril", he turned back to the Arrow and sat down again. "As I see it, we need to assess our resources and collect intelligence on our enemies. Although there's something deeply unsettling", a crease appears on his forehead, "Sacramento is the capital of California, yet we stand here, alone. No word from nearby Consilia. Something is missing, could be we're in the proverbial eye of the storm".

[Campanella]

"Where do we go from here?" Campanella echoed.

"So far, all we've been doing is surviving. A few months ago we were down to one Cabal and was... circling the wagons, you might say. Since then, it has taken all our resources to..." He was going to say acquire a Grimoire, but managed to hold his tongue. "...Follow up on a pair of disturbed Awakened* and safely move some cryptic curiosities to a safe place^."

He shifted in his seat. It was not a sign of his being uncomfortable; more like he moved to get a better view of the other two Awakened.

"I'll say it. We're blind. I'm currently deflecting vultures among the cultural elite before they get too peckish about antiques and curios. We've had a near miss with some collector's recently. I don't know if any of the other Councillors had any plans or proposals, let alone support active agents looking for Seer presence. I'm assuming all the newcomers are simply settling in. So - as of right now. We have no strategy and no plan. And no idea where to start looking. Its not all bad news, however - a group is getting into the catacombs under the Sanctuary for the first time in... must be years. Perhaps we will find something of use."

A slight nod toward Winter.

"The Golden Gate Consilium most likely will not help us. It is an inward looking Consilium with problems of its own. There might be a handful of small Consilia or coalitions of allied Cabal's through the Central Valley, but it isn't like we have relations of any kind with them. Not to mention, the effect of the Seer's war... appears to have made knowledge of Sacramento's Awakened very sketchy beyond the borders of the city itself."

*The Cortez Plot, in progress.
^Heavenly Creatures plot, completed.