Chantries in ECC[]
Chantries are the mystical strongholds created by mages. In the Technocracy, they are referred to as Constructs (always capital C). The Nephandi use the term Labyrinth, and Disparate might use terms like temples, groves, circles. As with many other names in MtA, there is no universally used terminology and troupes should use whatever fits their characters best. Chantry is the term that will be commonly used in the ECC Wiki.
A chantry's appearance, resonance, architecture and purpose depend on the group that employs it- and the resources they have to work with. Chantries are generally powered by Nodes and the most preeminent of them are connected to Horizon Realms. In Nonestica, small chantries devoted to practitioners of a single sect are the most common. The biggest exception is the Metaphysical Library in Emerald City. Most chantries are led by a cabal or small council of Adepts or, lacking those, the most experienced or charismatic Initiates.
In the ECC setting, the Avatar Storm ended 5 years before the chronicle begins. Doissetep is unheard of, except to mages who like the player characters, originate outside of Nonestica. The number of Nodes, Chantries, and Horizon Realms are higher than what the player characters are used to back Home, but less grand than stories from the Mythic Age. Each Chantry is self-governing (and this includes Technocratic Constructs in ECC) with its leader representing it (and responsible for it and its members) to the faction leadership.
Each sect has its own name for the founder or leader of a Chantry. The player characters won't automatically know it, even if they were initiated into that sect back Home. It is fairly common, however, for mages (and others) who serve as security and law enforcement within a chantry to be called Sentinels. The degree to which any specific chantry follows the Protocols (or faction equivalent) varies, but it is generally understood that betraying one's Cabal or Chantry is an unforgiveable sin that will be punished in the harshest means possible by any survivors.
Tradition Chantries - notes for Storytellers
Technocratic Constructs - notes for Storytellers
Disparate Temples - notes for Storytellers
Nephandi Labyrinthes - notes for Storytellers
The Chantry Background[]
Players will want to skip buying the Chantry Background in an ECC chronicle at creation. It might be possible for them to pool their resources and create a chantry of their own in the future, but that is probably a long time coming. Unless they intentionally avoid going there or act so horribly they are kicked out, player characters can easily obtain basic access to the Metaphysical Library in Emerald City. See the Library Card background for more detail.
Sanctums[]
A Sanctum is smaller than a Chantry and not especially magical, just secure enough and sacred enough for a mage or cabal to feel safe there. The Techocracy uses the term Laboratory instead. Sorcerers and even Night-Folk might have Sanctums (not necessarily calling them such), whereas Chantries are exclusively operated by mages. According to M20 Core, a sanctum cannot be larger than 500 square feet (the size of a small studio apartment). For ECC, we recommend increasing that to 800 square feet for a large sanctum (about the size of a 1 bedroom apartment) to give a better standard for "a room or two". The Sanctum will need to be somewhat private, with mundane traffic through it limited to prevent it from becoming too mundane.
Sanctums must be ritually prepared and maintained by the mage or cabal that uses it. They are assumed to have a stock of materials (candles, chemicals, diagrams, etc.) that support the tools a mage uses in their ritualized effects. In ECC, If a character has just created their Sanctum and stocking it for the first time, they will need access for Resources equivalent to the Sanctum's rating in order to accomplish this. Resources 1 can equip the tiny stock of goods in a Sanctum with rating 1, but not that of a Sanctum with the excellent stock found in a rating 5 Sanctum, for example.
Sanctums are generally warded in mystical, spiritual, or scientific way and designed to support the work, research, worship, etc., of the specific person or people who use it. If a Sanctum is located on a Node, it is generally a small Node. All Effects cast within the Sanctum are considered coincidental magick as long as those Effects are in harmony with the belief systems within that sanctuary. (see p. 324 of M20 Core for examples and p. 614 for a discussion of localized reality syndrome. ). At the same time, the Effects of mages with antithetical factions, sects, or belief systems are vulgar in your Sanctum.
The Guantlet in a Mystic Sanctum is one lower than it would be in the same place without a Sanctum there. Except in regards to Dimensional Science, the Gauntlet in a Technomagickal Sanctum or Laboratory is one higher.
A Sanctum's specially prepared ritual/experimental space reduces the difficulty of rituals or experiments in that area, based on the Sanctum's rating. It also has inherent Arcane/Cloaking based on its rating.
Characters just arriving in Nonesica won't have accessible Sanctums, but it is not unreasonable that they can establish one quickly. Remember that Sanctum is one of the backgrounds that costs double in M20 because of the high amount of benefits it provides. As a good rule of thumb, Storytellers can allow characters to start with a level 1 Sanctum and then raise its rating with XP no faster than once per month, and only when the character dedicates the time, energy, and financial resources to support that story-wise.