(2202) Sanctuary

[Aeolus]

Circle of creation

The Circle of Creation is the gathering hub for all Pentacle mages in the Sacramento Concilium, with chapter houses for all five Orders inside.

Located east of Sacramento and far outside the prying eyes of the inner city, the Circle of Creation awaits the mages of Sacramento. Despite being a replica of the Westminster Abbey, the sleepers who come by never seem to notice it. The wards built into the structure have made sure of this. To all but the Pentacle the Circle is essentially invisible, ensuring the safety of those who enter and engage with one another. Whether it had always been here for the Awakened was hard to say now, but it was the site that the Awakened gather to mingle and discuss official matters.

It is a time for simply for mingling among the Awakened. The common area is large and open, but over the course of the month it's inevitable that people may bump into each other. The official concerns of the Consilium are put on hold as a more lighthearted experience is shared among this community of the Wise. Ultimately, this is the opportunity to let the proverbial hair down. How much so is up to them.

This is the opening post for Sanctuary. Please read this for information on Sanctuary, Consilium, and the difference the two. Come here to be recognized!

Also a reminder, Sanctuary threads are not official Consilium threads. Those under an incarceration sentence may not attend a Sanctuary thread.

Sancturary is not a single event, or formal Consilium. It's a compression of time to represent the comings, goings, and intersections of Awakened throughout the month at the Cirlce.

[Corn]

Corn was, again, one of the first people in for the informal gathering. He was dressed in a cozy brown light sweater over a white shirt, with dark trousers. So much and so little to discuss with his fellow mages. He didn't expect any big announcements but it was always a chance to see familiar faces - or not as the place was empty at the time.

[Aurora]

To say she hadn’t felt like herself would be an understatement. And skipping the meeting was a real possibility for her, but she wanted to be around people.

Black was the color for the mood, and thus, she wore it.

But the Shaman looked a bit more somber then usual, a distant look in her tired eyes. Once she saw Corn, there was a change in her face to one of neutral, indifference. Her weird ass dreams were not going to be the main topic here.

Then a smile was forced, “Hey Corn.”

[Zeromancer]

In walked Zeromancer, decked in his green trench coat, wearing a black and white Hawaiian shirt underneath as well as blue jeans a black boots. Zeromancer saw that his fellow Mysterium Aurora and Corn were present. He liked seeing familiar faces first. He noticed that Aurora was wearing all black and was kind of intrigued at the color choice.

Zeromancer made his way to Aurora and said "Hey Aurora, how are feeling?" Zeromancer then addressed Corn "Hey bud, how goes everything?"

[Winter]

The Guardian arrives at the Temple. Late, but he arrives.
After a cursory look at the present, he exchanges the typical pleasentries.
"Aurora", he nods occupying a seat a row behind hers, "Hey everyone", he especially focuses on the newcomer, someone he doesn't recognize.

[Corn]

Corn saw that Aurora didn't seem in the best mood.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-02-07 11:10:46	Corn rolls 4 to Wits + Emp (10 Again)	4, 4, 1, 8	1 success

"Greetings, Aurora. Always a pleasure. Is everything all right? You look a bit tired. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out."

The Censor showed up around that time and Corn gave him a wave. "So far so good, Zero . How are you? Settling down well? "

It wasn't much later that Winter showed up. Good, he wanted to speak with him about that apostate. Seeing him focusing on Zero, he makes introductions.
"Winter, this is Zeromancer, Mystagogue and new arrival. He has been recognized by the Consilium as a member. Zero, this is Winter, a member of the Guardians of the Veil. Unlike what you may have heard or seen in other consilia, the Mysterium and the Guardians of the Veil are not in bad terms in Sacramento and I have Winter to thank for that."

Introductions done, Corn gets to business.
"Winter, you may remember a few weeks ago that I texted you about a couple of apostates. We have sympathetic connections for both, if you're interested. The second one, the one that threatened to find me and make me pay may be of greater interest to Phoenyx but the first guy, Crypto, may be of greater interest to you. As Aurora could attest, the guy was a bit too lax with the lingo in front of Sleepers and lowed the volume all around our table when we were in a cafeteria. As members of the Mysterium we have separate issues with Apostate Crypto - Zero I will fill you in later - but I thought you would be interested to know there's a mage going around and being a bit too vulgar-magic friendly around sleepers. I can tell you more, if you want and I have the cup he used for his coffee, touched by his lips. The guy was speaking to mages he didn't know and was planning to swindle and he left his cup unattended, if you can believe that. "

[Aurora]

The question was a bit of a surprise, as she didn’t know her fellow Mysterium member.

A smile was put on her face, “Hi Zero, I’m doing well, thank you.” She wasn’t bringing others into the mess. “And you? Settling in ok?” always good to check on new faces.

Winter walking in was a nice sight, she enjoyed his company, and a warm smile was offered, “Winter. Hope you’ve been well.” They really needed to touch base again.

To Corn, “I’m ok, nothing to worry about.” Nothing she would discuss anyways. Maybe with Phoenyx or Crystal, they both knew about the whole Path thing.

So Corn was alerting Winter to Crypto. She actually hadn’t expected that. Nodding, “I was there when it all went down.” If he had questions, he could ask. If not, then whatever.

[Zeromancer]

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-02-07 20:09:07	Zeromancer rolls 5 to Wits2 + Empathy3 (10 Again)	8, 4, 2, 3, 7	1 success

Zeromancer was sure Aurora was hiding that something was amiss. The difference in clothing from last time he met her to now just seemed off. But if she was unwilling to talk about it he would let her be. Zero then said to Aurora "Well if you ever need someone to vent to I am a good listener."

Zeromancer noticed someone enter whom he had yet to meet. Corn introduced the man to him as Winter. Zeromancer thought to himself "So Winter is a Guardian, that should work in my favor." Zeromancer said to Winter "Like the man said I am Zeromancer, but you can call me Zero. I am the new Censor for the Mysterium so some of our goals may line up to each other. And hopefully we can work together."

The thought of Awakened performing on or around sleepers worried Zeromancer. He was all helping to awaken others, but at the same time he knew the dangers of doing so. Zeromancer thought "If he is brazen enough to use vulgar magic around sleepers what else is he willing to do?" Zeromancer than said to Corn "I am up to help if you need me to, it doesn't sit right with me that we would have someone using magics around sleepers."

[Winter]

"I'm looking forward to it", he answers politely to the newcomer. "Any information on the whereabouts of this Crypto would be helpful", the irony of that shadow name wasn't lost on him.
"I'd like to speak with him myself, before I form an opinion. Not that I don't trust your evaluation, however"

[Corn]

To Winter he said "We still have the information we used to contact him, but that trail is probably cold. If you have access to space arcanum and could track him from his sympathetic connections, I can give you what we have. If you don't, I can point you to Belle the new Mystagogue, well, not as new as Zeromancer in Sacramento but still new, that can use space. Perhaps Councilor Crystal may also be able to track him through space, I don't know. Here, let me give you... "

Corn fished in his pocket and got a small sheet of paper with the information they had on crypto - outdated as it was. Then he pulled a dirty cup in a zip bag.
"I hope this is good enough. Do you want the cup or should I give it to Belle? "

To Zeromancer, he answered "Well, if you could work with Winter, following his lead, it would be beneficial to the order as well. But as Winter said, we can't be sure how much threat this guy presents to the veil. Let's not go busting heads like the mob."
To both of them - and Aurora he said "Crypto is a slimeball, I can tell you that. His dealings with us have been less than sincere and honest. I think Dadouchos Aurora would agree. I certainly don't like him but my personal dislikes don't mean the Consilium should act.

Do you want to hear about the other one, the possible-Banisher, Winter? That guy actually went against us during some Mysterium night-away. We took him down, didn't kill him. But he was using a lot of vulgar magic. Not in front of sleepers but frankly, enough vulgar magic that it was a race whether he would bring in an Anomaly - or worse - before we got him down. I can't be sure the mad ramblings were not paradox-madness or he actually believed that crap. But he seemed sincere enough when he said he would try to cleanse the world from people like us. And I don't think he meant awesome Mystagogues, Winter. I think he meant mages in general. He thought he was in some kind of holy mission.
That guy is not Crypto, I think he's dangerous. I want to talk to Phoenyx about him and the other Arrows. Describe what we saw, his powers etc."

For player information: Corn is taking some "creative license" with the events. He believes what he says but he's not telling the entire truth nor the entire story.

Whether Corn's perception of the events is mostly correct or not, and whether things he leaves out are important, I am not sure. But Corn is not trying to lie here, but he omits some things.