Sanctuary

"Sanctuary" is defined as the collective dwelling place and meeting place of a group of mages stationed on Earth.

— Excerpt from the Terra Doctrine

Under the strict controls of the Terra Doctrine, mages living on the planet of Earth cannot often interact with mundanes. But those putting the Doctrine together quickly realized that there would need to be a place for the mages to live, work and study, as they could hardly do these in mundane places. That led to the formation of the Sanctuary system, where mages have their basic needs covered in a safe place away from the demons and mundanes wandering the landscape.

Services Offered

Sanctuaries are meant to provide for any mage's basic biological and magical requirements, alleviating any need to travel out into the dangerous world outside in order to do things like purchase clothing, food, or sleep. Mages living at a Sanctuary have assigned rooms that are often apartment-like in amenities and size. The contents of a mage's room can be changed at will, meaning they often become a reflection of the occupant's taste in decoration and fashion. These rooms have the name, Affinities and occupation of its owner for identification in case of an emergency.
In addition, Sanctuaries also contain important areas and rooms that help with the more magical and academic needs of its population. This includes furnished laboratories for the theoretical scientists, classrooms where mages can learn and teach, and libraries where texts can be stored and referred to. Many Sanctuaries also have storage spaces where the accoutrement of a mage's trade - foci, ritual chalk, alchemical ingredients - are kept.

Population and Hierarchy

Sanctuaries are, naturally, mostly populated by Terran Humans, being the sole known sophont on the planet. That being said, thousands of mages from the other worlds of the multiverse also work and live in these places, bolstering their numbers in case of emergencies and providing crucial perspective. The members of a Sanctuary cover a variety of professions, from scientist to warrior to medic to alchemist to illusionist to engineer, not to mention the sheer variety of mundane jobs they might have had in the past.
The Director of the Sanctuary is the highest rank that a Sanctuary member can hope to attain without leaving their homeworld. This person handles the administration of the Sanctuary, requisitioning supplies, reading field reports and handling emergencies when they come up. In larger Sanctuaries, there might be more than one, forming a Directoral Council. Directors are chosen by their fellow Sanctuary members according to their own specific way of election - some choose the most administratively-oriented, others the most powerful, still others the bravest or one who completes a specific task.

Building Type

Resting Place/Educational Complex

Parent Location

Earth

Ruling/Owning Rank

Director of the Sanctuary

Owning Organization

The Seven

Related Article

The Terra Doctrine

Locations of Sanctuaries

In short, every large town or city on Earth has a Sanctuary in or around it. In many cases, the Sanctuary is located near the edge of the town in question, or more often underneath it. Very large cities (those with over a million people) often have multiple, with the largest human city, Mexico City, having the most at 36. For those looking to find Sanctuaries, they are often hidden:

• in old buildings that are "condemned" or "to be demolished" but nothing is ever done with them;
• underground, often using unserviced or unmarked caves, catacombs, or subway systems; or
• using apartment complexes that never post vacancies and appear to be heavily locked.

Part of the reason for the secrecy is that they don't want mundane visitors, but they also don't want to attract the attention of any demons or magical creatures in the area. If a powerful demon was to find the location of a Sanctuary, they could use the information to foil missions or attack mages coming and going from it.