The Chicago Conclave of the Veil [Leaders of Pentacle Order Concilium]

[Kaimuund]

Overview:
After the Blackout, almost every mage from Chicago was missing. The Concilia of Chicago as a prt of the same as that of New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. These cities regularly had pentacle mages moving between them to share information, trade favors, help with finances, and protect one another. With the loss of the Chicago Concillium, the others began to panic. Chicago could not be allowed to go empty, as it was the center hub of the Concilia (a group of allied Concilliums, which are mage societies) as well as an international travel and finance hub. New York put out the call and quickly sent cabals from the five boroughs to investigate the Blackout, to lockdown the assets of those mages who vanished, and to keep the Seers and others out of Chicago.

As such, the current mages of Chicago are 'middle management' cabals from New York, and are out of their element. They are in desperate need of aid in finding lost artifacts, hallows, sanctums, relics, and magic, while keeping enemies at bay. Additionally, those few Remainers who are still here after the Blackout can see how New York has already begun to leech resources from Chicago, and bringing it in as merely a satellite of its powerbase.

A cabal of mages focused on politics, finance, and maintaining influence over mortal and supernatural power structures in Chicago. The Conclave operates in the shadows, leveraging wealth, media, and political influence. While their power is significant, recent disappearances and murders have shaken the organization, leaving members wary and paranoid.

Name Arcana Rank Role Notes
Rowan Ashcroft Adamantine Arrow Praetor Leader Focus on safety, planning, surveillance
Marcus Calder Silver Ladder Council Politics, finance Public-facing, manipulative, controls funding
Leila Nguyen Silver Ladder Council Media & Communications Controls press, shapes narratives
Cyrus Blackwood Thyrsus Senior Security & Counterintelligence Magical protection, threat identification
Selene Martinez Obrimos Senior Finance & Magical Infrastructure Controls money flows, corporate influence

Chicago Conclave Leadership Dossiers
1. Hierarch [acting] / Leader – Adamantine Arrow

Name: Rowan Ashcroft – “Ironveil”
Represents his unyielding caution, protective nature, and hidden strategies.
Profile: Mid-40s, calm, calculating, always thinking several steps ahead. Rowan prioritizes the safety and cohesion of the cabal over personal ambition. Experienced in covert operations and magical espionage, Rowan has a reputation for predicting threats before they manifest. Recently, Rowan has been increasingly concerned about a series of disappearances among Conclave mages.

Ashcroft was personally chosen to become the Hierarch of Chicago by the Hierarchs of New York and Boston, while another was chosen by San Francisco and Seattle. They preferred a Free Council who they said would better adapt to the fluid state in Chicago. Perhaps they are right, as Ashcroft is busy 'locking down the city' instead of establishing a new base of operations or reaching out to others who may help. He is strongly aligned with the new York Concillium, and despite being a good soldier, he has not established a history of independent action or diplomatic relations.

Path: Obrimos
Order: Adamantine Arrow
Style: Prefers secrecy, surveillance, and indirect action. Rarely engages publicly, relying on proxies and careful planning.
Goal: Ensure the survival and longevity of the Conclave, rooting out threats before they destabilize the group.
Specialties: Magical wards, foresight spells, espionage, counter-intrusion.

2. Council / Operational Head – Silver Ladder
Reflects his financial control, influence over networks, and ability to weave events together.
Name: Marcus Calder – “Goldthread”
Profile: Late 30s, millionaire investor and political donor. Marcus wields influence through financial leverage, campaign contributions, and strategic investments. He is deeply networked into both mortal politics and the vampire hierarchy, using charisma and subtle manipulation to achieve his ends.

A New York elite, Marcus seems more interested in 'absorbing' assets from Chicago than actually creating a Chicago concillium or helping the order mages there. He has a very transactional attitude to all interactions, and there must always be an upside for him.

Path: Mastigos
Order: Silver Ladder
Style: Public-facing, charming, persuasive, manipulative. Often acts as the cabal’s diplomat and negotiator with outsiders.
Goal: Steer legislation, elections, and corporate outcomes to protect and expand Conclave interests.
Specialties: Social influence, mind-altering magic, network manipulation, political foresight.

3. Senior Council Members

Leila Nguyen – Silver Ladder – “Whispering Quill”
Master of media and messaging, spreading influence subtly like ink on paper.
Profile: Mid-30s, media mogul and communications expert. Leila controls newspapers, online platforms, and key social media channels, shaping public perception to favor the Conclave.

Leila is very busy keeping the papers clean and covering the missing persons with side stories, buying and burying, threatening journalists, and hunting down leads first. She needs the others to figure out what happened fast, as the media is starting to notice a large swath of prominent figures missing, and soon people will start asking questions and looking for them.

Path: Mastigos
Order: Silver Ladder
Style: Calculated, persuasive, creative in messaging. Operates both publicly and behind the scenes to sway opinion.
Goal: Influence citywide narratives, maintain secrecy of supernatural affairs, and protect the cabal’s image.
Specialties: Glamour magic, information control, propaganda, public manipulation.

DECEASED Cyrus Blackwood – Guardian of the Veil – “Nightwatch”
Ever-vigilant, observing threats and shadowed dangers.
Profile: Early 40s, former intelligence operative, now magical security expert. Cyrus tracks threats, monitors hostile supernatural activity, and protects the cabal from espionage.

Cyrus is in over his head. Chicago is a mess, and if another group moves in to clean it up the pentacle mages will never be able to recover their influence. The travel and trade hub that is Chicago is not just imperative to finance and movement, it is also the epicenter of the United States Ley Lines, with all major Ley Lines that go from East to West or vice versa passing through Chicago. Losing it to the Seers, spirits, or leaving it for vampires to nest in would poison magic across the entire country.

Path: Thyrsus
Order: Guardians of the Veil
Style: Observant, meticulous, introverted. Operates in shadows, relying on stealth, reconnaissance, and allies in both mortal and supernatural worlds.
Goal: Ensure the Conclave’s security, uncover hidden dangers, and neutralize threats before they escalate.
Specialties: Spirit binding, wards, espionage, mystical surveillance.

DECEASED Selene Martinez – Adamantine Arrow – “Coinflare”
Represents her mastery of financial magic and illuminating hidden economic opportunities.

Selene is very busy in board rooms and meeting chambers, trying to get the Governor, the city Mayor, the CEO's of banks and businesses to stay calm to continue their investments in the city, and make sure that those investments held by missing magi are not procured or auctioned in the meantime. She has been very busy investigating any financial ties the previous magi had to see if some clues to a source for the Blackout might come to light.

Profile: Late 30s, financial prodigy and magical researcher. Selene specializes in merging mundane finance with magical influence, ensuring wealth flows to benefit the Conclave.
Path: Obrimos
Order: Adamantine Arrow
Style: Analytical, precise, methodical. She prefers solving problems through magical calculation rather than confrontation.
Goal: Maximize financial power, ensure magical and mundane funds are secure, and provide the cabal with resources for both politics and defense.
Specialties: Financial magic, temporal foresight, magical investment, arcane research.

Andrew Quill – Mysterium - 'Fayne'
One of the few Remainers, Fayne was a leader in the previous Concillium. As a well respected member of the Mysterium, Fayne has academic connections with more than just the sister cities, but across the globe as well as across factions and racial barriers. Meeting with vampires, fae creatures, werewolves, and other rarer creatures, Fayne has helped collect a truly impressive amount of lore, and safekeep it despite the Blackout. This has been to the great relief of the sister Concilia, and has elevated Fayne's status. He is now a unspoken leader in the city, with the Hierarch and others often conferring with Fayne before making decisions.

Fayne runs a little shop on the west side of the city called Fayne's Foibles where rare books and odds and ends can be found for purchase or copy. He is also the Loremaster of the Mysterium for the city, overseeing the Atheneum which is a group of similar shops connected by Stygian Portals that create a large library well protected by its decentralization.

Profile: Late 30s, a reclusive academic that prefers the company of dusty tomes than people. Owns a well known store of rare and out of print books and odds and ends called Fayne's Foibles. The store is connected to a number of other book stores run by associates creating a kind of labrynthe of libraries and book shops that is much much larger than any one of the individual locations. The access to Alexandria, as they call the labrynthe, is locked by enchanted broaches that can be rented, or used as part of the Mysterium Aethenium
Path: Moros
Order: Mysterium
Style: Intelligent, perceptive, knowledgable. Fayne is absolutely obsessed with occult and cannot leave a rune or rock unturned. He has become a very influential acquisitor of the Mysterium with a breadth of knowledge rivaled by few. He often works with and is involved with other supernatural creatures.
Goal: Learn all that can be learned of the occult. Collect a library or rare and out of print books, including those written by the supernatural. Gain revenge of vampires that had tormented him in his youth. Achieve archmagehood.
Specialties: arcane research, magical library, esoteric lore, the underworld and ghosts, vampires and werewolf societies/powers/ettiquette.

Daniel Moretti – Adamantine Arrow – “Steelhand”
Tactical, disciplined, enforcer of security and structure.

Dante is the enforcer, with his cabal of 'tacticool' magi, for the Concillium. When they need someone captured, a beast slain, or a person protected, Steelhand Luke is the one they call.

Profile: Late 30s, ex-military strategist turned mage. Focused on tactical operations and security protocols for the Conclave.
Path: Moros
Order: Adamantine Arrow
Style: Direct, disciplined, prefers structured operations.
Goal: Protect the cabal and plan contingencies for both magical and mundane threats.
Specialties: Wards, combat magic, tactical planning.

Vivienne Lang – Silver Ladder – “Gilded Mask”
Charismatic, deceptive, and socially influential.

Vivienne is working hard to keep the influence of the previous Concillium alive by rebuilding relationships with other supernaturals. This is her specialty, and she has contacts and connections across many vampire societies, werewolf packs, changeling courts, spirit courts, and non-pentacle mages. She has leveraged these
Profile: Early 30s, PR and socialite, manages social infiltration and elite networking.
Path: Acanthus
Order: Silver Ladder
Style: Charismatic, charming, politically manipulative.
Goal: Ensure the Conclave’s influence over social and cultural elites remains unchallenged.
Specialties: Glamour, social manipulation, ritual influence.

Orin Vale – Thyrsus – “Sagebrush”
Knowledgeable, observant, and deeply connected to spirits and hidden lore.

Orin is very much a supernatural sage, and one may say even obsessed. He has focused on trying to catalogue the other supernaturals in the city and where they stand. He is especially focused on the spirits of the city which seem to have been even more affected by the Blackout than the mages...which is to say a complete upheaval of the status quo.

Profile: Mid-50s, academic-turned-mage, specializes in supernatural intelligence.
Path: Thyrsus
Order: Guardians of the Veil
Style: Quiet, cerebral, analytical. Focuses on identifying hidden threats and mystical anomalies.
Goal: Provide the cabal with actionable intelligence on all supernatural factions in Chicago.
Specialties: Spirit negotiation, intelligence gathering, magical detection.

[Kaimuund]

Chicago Supernatural Order Network

This document merges the Adamantine Arrow, Free Council, Silver Ladder, and Mysterium networks into a unified city-wide map showing leadership, nodes, and interconnections.

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1. Adamantine Arrow – Military & Security Backbone

Leader: Rowan Ashcroft – “Ironveil” (Obrimos)

Total Personnel: 73 mages (51 USA; 22 international)

Focus: Magical defense, intelligence, diplomacy, warding, assassination.

Primary Nodes:

The Aegis Sanctum (Downtown Loop) – Command HQ, training

The Ironhall (South Loop) – Fortress & artifact vault

The Silver Range (O’Hare Industrial Zone) – Combat & aerial magic drills

The Echo Wing (Ravenswood) – Intelligence & counter-espionage

The Bastion of Starlight (Hyde Park) – Diplomatic node

The Grey Vault (Cicero Outskirts) – Covert ops

The Argent Spire (Lincoln Park) – R&D, ward engineering

The Ember Hollow (Bridgeport) – Healing & spirit coordination

The Sapphire Hall (Navy Pier Sublevel) – Naval operations

The Crimson Veil (Englewood) – Internal investigations & discipline

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2. Free Council – Independent Problem-Solvers

Leader: Selwyn Arden – “Silverwind” (Mastigos)

Total Personnel: 54 mages (27 NY, 27 USA)

Focus: Flexible operations, research, spirit liaison, field ops, independent missions.

Primary Nodes:

Lincoln Park Sanctum (HQ) – Command & coordination

West Loop Workshop – Minor wards & field prep

Hyde Park Research Cell – Investigation & artifact study

Bridgeport Field Node – Reconnaissance & field ops

Ravenswood Spirit Node – Spirit liaison & astral observation

South Side Safehouse – Low-profile operations

Loop Annex – Downtown coordination & portal monitoring

North Side Gateway – Staging & travel logistics

Southwest Outpost – Emergency response & rapid deployment

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3. Silver Ladder – Political & Financial Operators

Leader: Marcus Calder – “Goldthread” (Mastigos)

Total Personnel: 17 mages (mainly NY)

Focus: Financial influence, legislation, corporate oversight, diplomatic manipulation.

Primary Node:

Goldthread Holdings LLC (Loop) – Front HQ & financial nexus

Secondary Node: Parity Vault – hidden chamber beneath Board of Trade for magical finance operations

Functions: Political negotiations, wealth control, campaign influence, cross-Order liaison.

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4. Mysterium – Knowledge & Lore Custodians

Leader: Andrew Quill – “Fayne” (Moros)

Total Personnel: 47 mages (8 UK, rest USA)

Focus: Research, investigation, arcane study, preservation of lore, magical artifacts, and historical records.

Primary Node:

Fayne’s Foibles (West Side) – Bookstore front and primary library node

Atheneum Network: 10+ satellite shops and research cells connected via Stygian Portals for decentralized library access

Specialists: Spirit artifacts, occult research, historical events, cross-species treaties, magical threats.

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5. Guardians of the Veil – Watchers & Containment Specialists

Leader: Rhea Vale – “Praevidentia” (Mastigos)

Total Personnel: 28 mages (mostly Chicago Area & USA, some from NY)

Focus: Supernatural oversight, containment, paradox and Veil security, sleeper monitoring.

Primary Nodes:

Praevidentia Hall (Lincoln Park) – Headquarters, interrogation, and surveillance hub

North Side Watchtower – Veil observation & low-level warding

South Loop Containment Cell – Artifact and dangerous entity containment

Hyde Park Overwatch – Investigations and intelligence gathering

Bridgeport Sentinel Node – Rapid response and field enforcement

Ravenswood Spirit Outpost – Spirit monitoring & spiritual analysis

Loop Gateway Node – Veil security, portal monitoring, sleeper vetting

Functions:

Maintain Veil security

Investigate supernatural anomalies and threats

Monitor mages, magical contamination, and paradox imprints

Intervene in Blackout residues or lingering magical disturbances