All gods are carnivorous. 

 

But this is not a story about gods.

 

It could not exist, though, without another story; the story where a pair of gods were brought to earth, and to save the world from their depredations, a cabal of magicians had to make an awful sacrifice. Five of theirs and five again they blasted the minds of, to fill the gods with memories, and these five and five again, in their honor and their horror, were called the Scapegoats. 

 

But this is not that story.

 

***

 

Let’s call the Magicians “Mancers,” the cabal “Enlightened Society.”  Let’s call the gods “Eidolons.” For that is the world we live in. 

 

Of those five and five again who were sacrificed, five called themselves “Night Doctors.” Their goal was to end death, and they did it — but at a terrible price. 

 

Or did they? 

 

Their goal was to end death and they created a neuromorphic computer — a computer that could recreate, could copy and upload the human consciousness. They called it the Cathedral. Some people call it a cure for death. Others call it a fresh horror.

 

In the wake of the Scapegoat Affair, New York City’s Mancers, frequently a fractious bunch, did something unprecedented; they bound themselves to a ruling document, the Twenty-First Century Covenant, which provided for a democratic system of Mancer self-rule. But a democracy of Mancers only stands so long as Mancers abide by it and many think the Twenty-First Century Covenant will not survive its first real challenge. 

 

Hence, the Covenant’s nascent Mancer Councils have called for a referendum: not just Councillors, but all Mancers will be able to vote  on the fate of the Cathedral — both the knowledge used to build the great computer and the prototype machine itself. Expecting contention, they have called all interested in the Cathedral’s fate to the church of Saint John in the Village. There they will provide a place to engage and intrigue, politic and parlay to decide the fate of the Cathedral, and perhaps reinforce -- or tear apart -- Enlightened Society's first real democracy in the process.

 

Making the process more uneasy is the mysterious Archivist “Gallows,” who the Councils have called upon to oversee the vote. A spitting image of the lost Mancer “Central,” she’s structured the event strangely — and declared that at sundown she will lead a vigil dedicated to all those lost to the Scapegoat Affair. 

 

Are you ready?

 

***

 

Cathedral is a day-long larp set within the world of Scapegoat, tackling questions of democracy, legacy and immortality. A brief participation guide may be found here.