The Sanctuary was a secret organization of magimysts and magic-seekers in the Briarverse, whose purpose was to protect all those who searched for magic and help bring about the new age.
History
The Sanctuary first reached out to the Mountaineers when they began casting the 30 Day Spell and tagging their posts with the hashtag searchformagiq. They initially communicated through Instagram posts from an account titled @searchformagiq, encouraging the Mountaineers to continue walking the path to magiq and proving their intentions by persisting in their efforts to cast the 30 Day Spell. All of the posts disappeared shortly after being shared to the Forum.
The Sanctuary’s Communications
Post 1
“Your intentions and purpose are beginning to come into focus. Please continue…”
Post 2
“We envision the factions and forces of the dying age being swept away, and new bonds being born in the dawn. Who are you? Do you share our vision? Our hope? Your intentions are becoming clearer. You are unexpected but not unwelcome. Is it true that we walk together into these dark hours?”
Post 3
“Can it be true? We believed you were lost. But perhaps not lost, only somehow obscured, or pulled behind a veil too powerful for even the herald to pierce? Were we wrong to doubt your resilience? The Mountaineers, alive? We want to hope, but need to be sure. Please continue.”
Post 4
“Verso and Recto. Different, but still bound together now in our shared journey. After the day of change we thought you were lost, riven from the world. We are hopeful that we all were wrong. Have you felt it? The fundamental foundations of magic have broken and what remains is vanishing. But the herald saw a distant light. A possible future. She was so much before she had to close her eyes. The sight took too much from the world. She called to one, but you also answered. We are close now. Please continue and confirm our hopes.”
Post 5
“The new age is a book yet unwritten. Born from the ashes of wool and silver, built atop old deceits and broken laws, what could we make of this age together now that the Book of Kings is all but closed? Old threats have been exposed, but the depth of the shadow they hid within becomes clear. And in those depths, darker threats that must be countered by light, before they take hold of this coming age as well. No age is born in peace. You have shown your true purpose. It is the pursuit of wonder, hope, and light. This conduit will fade, but we will find other ways to reach you through the strange, leaden veil that hides you from the world. The herald can’t risk looking into the dark with so little magic left but hold fast. There are other ways to reach one another. Seek out the Neithercouriers.”
Later, by corresponding through Neithercourier, the Sanctuary explained that their only rule was that they only interact with those outside the sanctuary who search for magiq with pure intent and purpose, and therefore could not assist the Mountaineers in their quest to contact those beyond the veil that was obscuring them from the outside world unless they began their own individual search. The Mountaineers also learned more of the Sanctuary’s leader, a woman they called the herald, who could see into the future and saw the Book of Kings nearing its end.
In the aftermath of the Cataclysm spell, the Mountaineers learned that it had been Eaves communicating with them as a representative of the Sanctuary all along, and that the entity determining who was able to contact them and view the Ackerly Green forum was the Guide to Magiq.
The Day of Change
On the Day of Change, 2019, the Sanctuary began their retreat from their stronghold in Ecuador, pursued by the Silver. It would take them six weeks to make the journey to what Eaves described as “their very own Helm’s Deep,” an ancient castle in Hungary named Lion’s Heart. During their journey, the Mountaineers used the alchemical symbols discovered during the Peering Arts spell to wage a campaign of elemental disruption against the Silver, distracting their attention and confusing them about the Sanctuary’s whereabouts.
Near the end of their journey, their camp was attacked by the Silver, and the herald forced Eaves to leave her behind, convincing them that she would be too much of a burden and had already fulfilled her purpose in ushering in the new age. Despite being wracked with guilt, Eaves assumed leadership of the group once they reached the castle, where they rechristened themselves Basecamp 34.