[This serves to clear up some of the timeline confusion we had at last game]
As 2016 ends, the Ark finds itself at significant crossroads. After working with the Sin-Eater Peter and his associates, the cabal's intervention prevented a fanatical branch of the Seers from opening a gate to the Underworld on Halloween and summoning up armies of minions from the realms of the dead.
Given the previous shattering of the old Concilium, the previous Lex Magica that required order membership by a certain deadline is gone. So over the next two months, Phoenix (Jae) met the two Councilors who are members of the Free Council to discuss her possible membership. However, they remain wary. One of them going so far as to say that Libertine magic was incompatible with the archaic practices of the Atlantean Orders. It remains to be seen if this is true or not, and if the Cabal could maintain "Metaphysical Synergy" within the Cabal if some of their members joined the Libertines (term for Free Council members).
In December, yet another member of the Cabal's extended social circle, Jeff, awakened, and after a shocking introduction to the truth and the mysteries that followed, took the shadow name Donatello. Terragon (Lauren) traded completing a vulgar spell for Lyssa, the only Mastigos known, so that Donatello could receive basic instruction. According to mage tradition, Donatello is now indebted to the Ark.
