ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

I got to thinking about Sanctums the other day and it occurred to me that it was one of those little corners of the World of Darkness that wasn't exactly painted. I think each and every one of us has an idea of what a Son of Ether Sanctum looks like and what a Child of Knowledge Sanctum might look like too. So the challenge becomes defining how other Sanctums appear.

What do all Sanctums share in common?

1. They are places where bending reality becomes easier for mages. In this respect they are like places of power for mages without being a Horizon Realm. This is a good thing as it gives a haven to mages without all the baggage of Horizon Realms and ancient Chantries and extra-planetary jaunts and all that stuff that is completely out of place in a street-level chronicle. It also precludes chickening out and ducking into the realm for a while when pissed off vampires or werewolves show up.
2. They offer an additional amount of anonymity and arcane, thus enabling the mage to work powerful magick without being a huge blip on the nearest Manar scope. They enable a mage to attack remote targets without being discovered. They enable mages to hide when the heat is on. They also enable mages to hide awkward things that need hiding like diabolic summonings and Nodes. Sanctums also keep others from knowing what you are up to and is perhaps the sole reason why Convention mages use them too. Arcane keeps that pesky Time scrying off of you while you plot your enemy's bureaucratic demise.
3. They act as a good places to put all the mage's assorted Mathoms like their library, their Tass supplies, ritual equipment, old foci, alchemical labs and other whatnot. Because of the place's Arcane, others will not find them. In fact, Sanctums seem to gain power based on the amount of magick junk they have stored in them (sort of a weird quasi-resonance thing).

Akashic Sanctums

These Sanctums break down into a couple of different types. Many follow the form and function of a traditional Kwoon or Dojo. These Sanctums tend to accumulate weapons on the walls, pictures of former masters, scrolls of teaching, the heavy bag, the speed bag, arrow and shuriken targets. Maka wara boards, bricks, wooden practice dummies, exercise equipment of all types. Herbalogical equipment in large lacquered wooden cabinets, tatami (a soft floor) and numerous other training tools.

Some Akashics, particularly Orange Robes are more at home in a monasterial setting and might make a combination shrine/library sort of arrangement. While a Blue Skin might just find a waterfall and start to build a zen garden around it.

In all cases, you will be able to find joss and ritual purifications. East Asian calligraphy and layouts that adhere to traditional feng shui may also be observed (Storytellers may in fact grant some additional abilities or bonuses if the Sanctum is on a really good site).

Celestial Chorus Sanctums

These sanctums are a lot like a miniature shrine or temple of their own. They differ from a church proper because they are sustained by the will and faith of only one mage. The best way to picture the kind of stuff that is available in a Celestial Sanctum is to picture a Catholic Mass. The priest enters into a fenced off area to separate himself from the parishioners mentally (proximity is very important in magickal theory). He wears a special set of clothes (vestments) and works with a special set of tools and helpers like altar-persons, holy water and the cup and plate. He consecrates the wine and wafers (symbolic representation of the deity). Even the air he breathes is changed to be made otherworldly with a censer. Smell is a very important trigger for changing consciousness. This collection of theurgical material is also important for magickal workings and is also augmented by religious books and, in some cases, music as well. Naturally, the trappings are going to be vastly different if your Celestial mage is a hindu or a bantu. The ideas and processes for touching the divine are universal and even they are ultimately unnecessary. Other stuff might include healing paraphenalia, candles, musical instruments, scourges (to mortify the flesh), hallucinogens (for the purposes of prophecy) and a natural source of water or fire.

Cult of Ecstasy Sanctums

Try to picture the coolest bedroom in the world. Nice big comfy futon, game system that will run just about anything, shelves and shelves of books and sheet music, keyboard, guitars, incense and other supplies like that. Psychedelic lighting and other weird stuff of that sort (stick-on glow in the dark stars, day-glo mandalas, black light painting, a lava lamp or two, Chinese rug on the floor... Go nuts). Candles with holders that will prevent an accidental fire. A skylight or maybe a mirror over the bed. A closet filled with every sex toy known to man. Hey, maybe even a hot tub. This would be the place where the Cultist would go to safely stimulate himself or another or where he would go to seek refuge from stimulus. In many cases, these Sanctums can be made as devoid of sensory stimulus as possible (many are light tight). Some Ecstatics try to live in very small homes so as to be able to claim the whole house as a Sanctum.

Dreamspeaker Sanctums

These are usually naturally occurring structures or are built in such a way as to be part of the ecology. While the urban shaman might have some difficulty in this regard, tree houses are becoming increasingly popular as a means around the problem. Mages in the wild will use old trees, caves and burial mounds as well as any hidden spot where the ley lines are particularly strong.

So how do Dreamspeakers accumulate stuff? Well, they don't really. They might grow a garden, make some cave paintings and such sites often attract animals (peaceful ones, generally). Some Dreamspeakers also partake in Verbena-like lore and might have some books and herbs stored nearby. The Sanctum could take the form of a shack or cabin way out in the middle of nowhere. The Sanctum might also accumulate cultural arts and crafts. Drums, handmade snowshoes and bows, bullroarers and other caboodle like that.

Euthanatos Sanctums

These Sanctums often blend elements of Chorus Sanctums and Akashic Sanctums. Some are temples to Shiva, some are workshops for assembling bombs or distilling poisons. Almost all have an area set aside for combat training and for using dance as a focus. Like many Sanctums, these places often rely heavily on music and incense to create a particular mindset and to remove the mage from worldly concerns.

There are so many ways to deal death and there are so many tools to use that a list of Euthanatos stuff could be a post all by itself. Here is a short smattering of ideas like tools, a forge, explosives, poisons, statues to Kali, booby traps, torture implements, bones and other dead stuff,sharpeners, books of stolen Kindred and wraith lore, targets, sacrifices and maybe a prisoner or two.

Hermetic Sanctums

While hermetic Sanctums are not without their theurgical elements, they are mainly used as studies and places to experiment. Odds are good that their magickal library is here. If the hermetic has an interest in anything personal and time-consuming it will be here as well (Computers? Herbology? Alchemy? Ships-in-bottles?).

Alchemical labs are useful for a few things. Qabalistic high ritual magick requires a number of diverse foci. Enochian mages will require a tablet of Solomon and every single hermetic sanctum has at least one permanent protective circle for summonings and other major workings. Some also have thaumaturgical triangles and Sephirothic trees. Hermetic Sanctums are often very comfortable as hermetics spend a lot of time there.

Sons of Ether Laboratories

If there was ever a group this Background was invented for, the Sons or Ether are it. Where else does one keep those apparatuses and monsters (not to mention that... "innovative" assistant). The link below leads to a piece that describes Sons of Ether laboratories in an inspired manner.

Things Found in Son of Ether Labs

Verbena Sanctums

Verbena and Dreamspeaker Sanctums share a lot of common characteristics such as an outdoor setting (or very convenient to one), a lowered Gauntlet, friendly local animals, artsy-craftsy stuff, healing supplies, sacrifices (maybe), apothecarial junk, a local garden, an almanac, an ephemeris, incense, air, earth, fire and water. Some teutonic Verbena go a lot further with old weapons and runes on everything. Santeria practitioners rival both Celestial mages and the Bata'a for sheer volume of sacred materials and icons. Goblets, altars and some kind of knife or axe are usually the only universal elements in this group. Verbena Sanctums react badly to being desecrated. It is known that those who do usually end up horribly cursed.

Virtual Adept Sanctums

In some respects, a Sanctum is often the only place that a Virtual Adept can really relax and play a bit of Marathon. While Adepts pride themselves on their self-sufficient nature and self-contained power they perhaps need a Sanctum as much if not more than the Sons of Ether.

The Adept's Sanctum is often dominated by a mainframe computer, work desk and an electronics workbench. The place is often heavy with multiple monitors, modems, routers, printers, laminators, cables, VR gear, technical manuals, CD-roms of important works, backup software, a portable fridge and microwave. Most Adept Sanctums also have technology built into the walls and the phone lines that is similar to a fighter jet's ECM package to produce that Arcane feeling (never mind that this is probably impossible). There is a Virtual Adept in our chronicle that has transformed an old reconditioned Bookmobile into a Sanctum. Adepts only spend a lot of time in their Sanctum when coding something big, building a new device or when making a serious run on a heavily protected system.

Technocratic Sanctums

You might think that Technocrats would not require a Sanctum and in fact the official policy is Sanctums are against the ideals of the Union. They endanger the prevailing paradigm, they make members of the Union difficult to find and there is no reason that Convention members can't use open general labs for their work.

This is, of course, bullshit. Technocrats need Sanctums just as much as Tradition mages if only to keep prying eyes from their own side off of them. Technocrats need a place to experiment with the cutting edge of the paradigm, plan their bureaucratic vendettas, turn Nephandi, plan their escape and, of course, store their junk.

Progenitor Sanctums

It is heavily frowned on for Progenitors to use Conventional resources to make things for their personal use. Never mind that everyone does it. That's what Progenitor Sanctums are for. There are Progenitors that study herb lore, keep bees, grow custom orchids, make pets (that will kill you) and stow away a spare tank for the clone they are growing on the sly.

Iteration X Sanctums

Rare, but not impossible. They violate orthodoxy, but some Iterators do find that they work better alone. Picture an immaculate workshop with every kind of tool that you can imagine. Then double it.

New World Order Sanctums

Every NWO mage needs a place that he is sure is not bugged and will often go to great lengths to secure such a place. Most Sanctums of NWO members are extremely anonymous offices in near empty office buildings somewhere out of the way. They also use small, cramped labs for those well-versed in brainwashing techniques. Since NWO agents must usually account for every piece of equipment they handle, sometimes stocking the Sanctum with found articles can be a real hassle.

Void Engineer Sanctums

Void engineers, because of the sheer weight of secrets they keep, often need a Sanctum. Research and Execution always needs a lab away from the prying eyes of those not in on the big joke. Cybernaut Sanctums are practically identical to Virtual Adept Sanctums and anyone involved in Chronal or Dimensional Science research has to have a Sanctum if he's going to be working earthside for any reason.

In fact, it is a good idea to assume that any Void Engineer working on terran soil has got to have a lab/bolthole tucked away somewhere, if only to be able to use techniques that he's grown used to in other places that he can't use here.

Syndicate Sanctums

It doesn't matter what the place looks like as long as it has electricity and a connection to civilization. As long as that's the case, hey, why not go all out? Some Syndicate members consider their offices to be their Sanctums. Some keep mountain retreats where they go to recharge from the office. A palatial penthouse somewhere in the city is also a possibility, especially if that place is well-stocked with alcohol, cable TV, a Jacuzzi and a few buff sorority girls. In fact, in Syndicate circles, Sanctums are a form of status symbol and only a low-level schmuck doesn't have at least one. Among Convention mages, Syndicate members are also the most likely to have some sort of trophy room and all sorts of junk is likely to accumulate there.

Hollow One Sanctums

While Orphans tend to establish the entire gamut of Sanctum types, Hollowers have sort of taken on a distinctive look and feel to their Sanctums. Like every other type of mage, they have some sort of incense (in the case of Technocrats, in case you are wondering, it is either Spic-n-Span or burning solder) and they also have books — although a Hollower is just as likely to have them jammed into a disused closet as on a bookshelf. Some Hollowers like graveyard crypts for their Sanctums while others will decorate a room with decayed black lace and real cobwebs to get that oh-so-important ambiance. Their choice of music is liable to be as laid back as Enigma or Orbital or as violent as the Ramones or the Dead Kennedy's (or whatever is cool these days). Some might have musical instruments or computers. Others might have bongos and the odd wraith fetter. No Hollow One Sanctum is complete without a set of Tarot cards and a Ouija board. Any place that is abandoned is ideal for making into a Sanctum.

Craft Mage Sanctums

Any of the East Asian Crafts (Wu Keng and Wu Lung) will usually conform to the kinds of Sanctums that the Akashics have. As far as the Bata'a go, a voodoun Hounfor is basically the definition of a Sanctum. There will always be plenty of wide open space for dancing. Children of Knowledge will have alchemical equipment that will rival any Hermetic equipment. Hermetics have entered into Children of Knowledge labs and found themselves drooling. Sisters of Hippolyta and Kopa Loei mages are likely to conform in many ways to both Dreamspeaker and Verbena Sanctums. Kopa Loei Sanctums are always near water — which isn't exactly hard in the Hawaiian Islands. Templars will have Sanctums that are identical to their Chorus counterparts (although the musical elements will be conspicuously absent). As far as the Hem Ka Sobk go... Well,they probably have Sanctums but no one has seen the inside of one and lived.

Nephandi Sanctums

Small, out of the way temples, in basements, in deep subterranean fastnesses, in old abandoned barns in New England somewhere... Some Nephandi Sanctums reside cheek-by-jowl with Tradition and Technocrat areas. Some like to reside near Spiral Dancer Caerns, Jhuvunka warrens and large nihils. Nephandi have even been known to create havens out of radioactive test sites, on islands crawling with smallpox and in neighborhood graveyards and junkyards. Icons to their master often have links to them as well and may prove dangerous (especially in the case of the outsider things who have a history of statue animation). Nephandi Sanctums are likely to be littered with slaves and pets (who may or may not be able to leave) and all sorts of equipment.

The Sanctum will often conform to their former Tradition's or Convention's standards unless, of course, they are not barrabi and follow the Nephandic tradition itself.

Such Sanctums are a Satanist's wet dream and occasionally make Spiral Dancers nervous and ornery. Their incense is a cloying, sickly-sweet reek that leaves itself embedded in your clothes. Their books are those worm-eaten but carefully preserved tomes of utterly damned literature. Their trophies are likely to be real heads on the wall. Some historically-minded Nephandi have become attached to particular eras of history or particular atrocities and they have started decorating their sanctums in those fashions. This is a fad that is beginning to catch on as it makes it very to easy to link these Sanctums to certain areas of the Atrocity Realm. The current favorite decorator fashions include Concentration Camp, Ancient Rome, Spanish inquisition, Soweto, Jonestown and Khmer Rouge. Also remember that most Nephandi Sanctums are seriously booby-trapped, if only to keep out their fellow Nephandi.