Campanella adjusted the last seat as
Corn
arrived.
"Yes. We do."
He smiled and gently ushered
Corn
into one of the seats.
"Official attire? No. I... I had mine custom made, going off what I saw from my old Consilium in D.C. As for these... I tracked down a shop that makes garments for academic graduations."
To
Crystal
as he arrived:
"It is no trouble at all. And I am well, thank you. Please..."
The Moros gently ushered the Warlock into another waiting seat.
Campanella genuinely beamed as
Aurora
made her presence known.
"Not at all. Please, take a seat. And thank you for your gift. Much appreciated, I assure you."
He offered the Thyrsus a seat and took the remaining one for himself, sitting and adjusting the folds of his academic robes.
"Thank you for coming. As you can see, our Athenaeum is quite bare. That is the sad tragedy of our state. As Aurora here can attest, we have been fighting for survival against the Seers for some years. There simply was not an opportunity to repair what was... lost."
"But before that. For those that do not know me, I am Campanella, a Moros and Daduchos of the Mysterium. Our presence is tiny, here; this must be the most we have had in number for some time. So who knows, perhaps the tide has turned."
"Now I promised to explain - as much as is possible - our (and the Consilium's) current position. But before I do that, do you have any questions that simply cannot wait? The Grimoire is available for perusal - but I caution it cannot leave the Athenaeum - and will definitely benefit those of you who are interested in exploring the Mind Arcanum*. The grubs live in the terrarium over there; they have been touched by the Supernal but do not seem overly changed by it. Yet. I keep them here so they can be monitored. Occasionally, they excrete a substance infused with a little mana^."
"Am I right in thinking you have already got to work?"
Campanella was under the impression the newcomers were already working together on a project.
Giving you all an opportunity to chat before I do the info-dump
*The Grimoire was a 'plot device' to allow access to Mind rotes before the rules were changed. Consider the Grimoire as an in-game explanation for the Mind rotes in the 1st edition core mage book
^The grubs are just window-dressing at the moment and are the remains of a dead plot from way back. However, if you invest in a Hallow for the Mysterium sanctum.... the little grubs will start pumping out a liquid Tass again :P