(2309) Sanctuary

[Chambers]

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.

[Chambers]

Would Summer be truly over while the heat persisted, not to this necromancer. Quietly making his way into the circle of creation there is an immediate sense of gratitude for the coolness inside old cathedrals.

Passing through the naves it seemed he was alone for the time being. No matter, he was never one to use time to idle, every moment mattered.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a task more enjoyable. Depositing his pack on a pew he pulls a few items out of side pockets and heads towards more open space (the common yard).

Adjusting his robe so it doesn’t sit uncomfortably as he leans in the arch between in and outside, the Mystagogue lights up his pipe, smoking in the building proper felt a little disrespectful, places a thermos of peach iced tea on the stone windowsill, and cracks open a book of 1000 advanced sudoku puzzles already about a third finished.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip joined sometime after Chambers, bringing a backpack with various things, such as food, drink and sunscreen. He came in, wearing a regular blue jeans and a gray-green striped shirt and a gray cap, while playing on his phone. As soon as he noticed Chambers, he looked up from his phone, stopped what he was doing, and greeted him. "Hi, nice to see you again."

[Chambers]

The sound of Philips greeting popped him out of his sudoku headspace, exhaling the smoke into the open outdoor space before turning.

‘Hey up, been keeping well?’ Offering a smile in greeting. ‘Let me guess, just got back from a camping trip?’ Gesturing towards Philips own backpack with a small grin.

[Witch]

The faint murmur of voices sounded ... different.

Walking into the gathering area, Witch realized why. Whoever was causing the murmur was not there. That was ... new. Pausing only long enough to tilt her head and identify the direction, she let her feet carry her toward the presumable them.

And them it was. Chambers and Philip.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" she chimed by way of announcing her presence.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip took a while to answer, making a show of making his answer seem mysterious.

"Camping trip? Nope, just necessary supplies to survive the heat. Water bottles, sun screen, hat, phone, wallet. Not like your camping trips, though, with full survival gear. That is actually a good idea though. Other than that, doin great. Just came back from work."

Meanwhile, Witch came, interrupting his thoughts, though he didn`t let it show, too much, at least.

"Oh, hi Witch, nope, not really. Never mind. Anyway, how`re you guys doing? Did anything new happen these past few days?"

[Chambers]

Chambers listens patiently as Philip draws out his answer, playing along it seemed to the role reversal joke.

‘The weather does demand it.’ As he says this, he drops the book on the windowsill, to pop a cup off the top of the thermos and fills it. ‘Always a good feeling to be done for the day.’

‘Not a lot’s happened my end, started up a few shifts of volunteer work for a couple of evenings otherwise same old.’

Which leaves us with few new topics of conversation, so how about an old one?

‘When I first arrived, you asked me about the lie, do you reckon they had to worry about overly hot weather back in Atlantis? Or this a problem we brought on ourselves?’ As space fillers go … not my best.

Witch gets the same smile in greeting Philip had shortly before. ‘No not at all.’ Philip had already asked the common curtesy questions, so Chambers doesn’t see a need to repeat them, and props himself contentedly against the stonework.

[Witch]

A single eyebrow lifted for a moment. Never mind? Never mind what?

Brushing it off with Chambers' reassurance though, she stepped more fully into the small circle of talkers and adopting a comfortable stance. That was still in the shade though of course. Because it was still summer and still freaking hot.

"I'm good, thanks for asking."

Chamber's question didn't get an eyebrow raise, but it was an interesting one to jump into. Looking to Philip Crosen she made no move to answer, ceding the floor to him if he so wanted to.

And if he was like other Free Council she knew ... he would. So, it would be interesting to see.

[Philip Crosen]

He brushed off the raised eyebrow at his response to Witch`s inquiry by simply ignoring it, though he perfectly understood what she meant. It was, for him, common courtesy to not let himself show irritation at her interruption. Although he`d been quite absorbed about thinking of what to get for dinner, and how Chambers was going with his Sudoku puzzles, he didn`t care to let her in on that thought process. On the other hand, Chambers` attempt to start a conversation was a welcome one. Witch`s earlier analogy about the damage ballistics of bullets linked to the lie as a function of time had deeply intrigued him, only to have been cut short by Chambers` first arrival in the Circle.

"Yeah, right before you first arrived we were having an intriguing discussion about the Lie. And what you just asked tied into that, asking whether any weather patterns had an effect on the people of Atlantis. I can only say about that, that I can`t make assumptions about what the situation was like long ago because I wasn`t there, although it seems plausible some things were different because of a potentially different situation regarding the Lie back then, now that I think about it. Although other the other hand, you could also argue that weather is weather and might have had the same effect, but who knows. Either could be true."

He then turned his attention to Witch, referring to what he remembered her say last time they talked about it. "Last time we talked about this, Witch, you made an interesting analogy, linking the damage ballistics of bullets to the lie, the abyss and paradox, as a function of time. Asserting modern bullets might only have had the effect of a bee sting on Atlanteans. That`s got me thinking for a while now. You also said my earlier ideas about the effect that the tools of the modern age, (guns, GPS, etc.) have and had, were flawed. And by extension, my thoughts on using the Lie to fight the Lie in general. But you didn`t get around to explaining why."

[Chambers]

Not a good space filler … because apparently it was a decent conversation starter.

Listening, weighing words, considering their merit. ‘Either could be true. Hence the importance of rediscovering such things.’ Sipping the iced tea, a moment of contemplation. ‘If the Atlanteans are even half as powerful as we would think, the state of the weather would be immaterial as it would be as they willed it, the truth they made.’ Philip shared his view with me, so right exchange is fair.

Of course, the lie effects tools, it wraps around everything and the wise are needed to pull it all apart again. ‘Any Arcanum can help nullify the effects of bullets, if willed to do so, in more powerful times, more so.’ The question had been addressed to Witch so he kept his answer short, turning to contemplate her response.