A month passes by slowly. Colt nurses his brother James to health in body and mind. He keeps him at the sanctum, locked in his bedroom where the tormented screams are unheard or unremarked upon by the neighbors. Colt is haunted by the damage to his brother's mind and the growing cancer within his body. He focuses his efforts on seeking a cure to that more mundane threat. Meanwhile Adele has spent much of the month in prayer in her oratory achieving the necessary focus to undergo the shaping of her soul. Valkyrie and Mammon continue in their normal pattern, with Valkyrie looking forward to another school year for Evan.
The Convocation is almost upon them and the Order's preparations begin in earnest. Mammon is busy at the Promethean where the staff is setting up for their visitors. While there, he overhears an loud argument between two members of the Arrow. Lealtad and Black Dog are having an angry dispute over who should handle the task of Stick, a job concerned with security and one prized by the Arrow. Lealtad brings up the usual complaints about corruption while Black Dog points to his record. Decima furious at this distraction declares the job will go to the visiting Ontario Sentinel.
Meanwhile Adele gets a call from Goes, who wants to go over her duties as a Page at the Convocation. She also needs Colt to discuss his tasks. Once there the two get an overview of the event including their duty to watch over the guests from the foreign Concilii. Adele will be with Goes, taking care of the Gary delegation. She warns her that Apollo, the Heirarch, is older mage who still holds the old prejudices against those of the Moros path. Colt meanwhile is expected to meet several of the mages from Ontario who are coming into O'Hare.
Valkyrie is caught up in the security plans. They are working in teams of two to ensure no Seer or Sleeper threatens the Convocation. With latest hostilities within the Arrow, there is a growing rift between the heroic idealists of the Monastery and the pragmatic but corrupt Iron Hand. Forced to choose which side of the growing divide to team up with, she sticks with the idealists.
The attendees begin to arrive. Tommyknocker and Colt go to meet Callahan, Hummarabi and Loki at O'Hare. Along the way they discuss their issues with families and magic. Tommyknocker feels a bit left behind magically and belonging to a Proximi dynasty has given him a unique perspective on the situation. Along the way they get stuck in traffic though there doesn't seem to be any occult involvement. Eventually they make it to the airport where they meet the foreign mages. Callahan in particular talks to Colt about the state of the local Arrows.
Meanwhile the delegation from Gary arrives. Apollo and his Sentinel Xeno immediately retire from the long drive but the young mage Thalia decides to go visiting in the city. Adele is assigned to watch over her which becomes troublesome as the evening wears on and the foreign mage starts hitting the bars. Desperately trying to keep track of her, the underage Adele phones Goes who sends Samson to cover the trouble seeking Acanthus. Later the rest of the delegation arrive via portal.
Except for Pseudologia, a Guardian with a habit of showing up late.
Valkyrie in the meantime is approached by Callahan seeking an impartial opinion on the relations within the Arrow. He is particularly interested in his old mentor White Ash, who brought him into the legacy called the Tamers of Fire. He hints that Valkyrie might also be interested in their legacy. Then as things break up for the evening, Pseudologia teleports directly into the Promethean's lobby. At the bar, Loki remarks that the Guardian has a habit of grand entrances and might have been here for some time. After calming the security, Mammon takes him to his room, where it was very apparent he had indeed been staying at the hotel for several days...and using room service.
Finally the Convocation begins with the Day of Silver. Ishtar announces the day's agenda in her role as Chancellor, while al-Hajar-ul-Aswad presents the ceremonial mace. Enchanted and made of perfected silver, it represents the lost Atlantean Kings. In a closed session, the Silver Ladder discusses various court cases in an effort bring the laws into agreement across Concilii. After presenting the results to the rest of the Convocation, they break up for a formal dinner. On the way over, Colt realized something was missing. The mace.
The cabal quickly alerts al-Hajar, who locks down the building. Investigating in Shadow, Colt and Mammon find signs of food spirits nibbled on by something, leaving a trail out of the building. Meanwhile Valkyrie and One, along with the Free Council Harlequin Binary notice a strange resonance near an exit. Searching around they spot the mace lying outside. Moments later it disappears. Soon all of the cabal are searching the streets for the mace and whatever took it. Binary begins muttering about weird theories and mysterious disappearance when they spot it atop a nearby building. By this point Colt and Mammon had determined they were dealing with a trickster spirit.
They race up the fire escape to the roof, leaving Binary behind. On top of the building they find not only the mace but a spirit in the form of a large gray rabbit. Mammon tries to force it to stop but it quickly hurries down the the side of the building, sticking its tongue at them as it goes. Still panting from the climb, they chased it back down, with Adele getting Merlin to find them a shortcut. Valkyrie makes her own shortcut, jumping off the building and using Forces to slow her fall. The spirit meanwhile paints an exit on the wall at the end of the alley. Valkyrie tries to stop it by placing a forcefield between it and the wall but it passes right through. Mammon arrives in the alley with the rest and investigates, hitting his head when the illusion fades away.
Seemingly at a loss, they then notice some muddy footprints leading away from the scene. They follow the prints for hours until Athaliah calls Mammon. She tells them to rush the spirit when it starts shouting. Soon after they find the path leads to the river and an odd man walk out along the water surface. Suddenly the transformed spirit began shouting "20", "19", '18", counting down while standing in place. Mammon rushes in and grabs it, hanging out over the river. Adele begins to pull him back from the waters edge, while One jumps out and grabs the mace. At the same time Athaliah pops in and aids them. The spirit tries to dematerialize but they were already grabbing it spiritually. Quickly Athaliah teleported the trickster into sky, leaving the mace in One's hands...hanging over the river. While he pulled himself from the muck, the others surrounded the crater made by the fallen spirit. Violently Athaliah beat the truth out of it, revealing Loki and another had summoned it. She then stuffed it into a soul jar.
Returning to hotel they find the dinner was canceled. With the evidence of the spirit, Loki is arrested. But the cabal can't help but think there is a larger plan at work.
The mace returned the the Convocation continues with the Day of Swords, a discussion of threats to the Awakened. As the Convocation regroups in the morning, however another problem presents itself. One of the mages, Hammurabi, is missing. He was last seen taking a smoke late in the previous evening. Searching the alleyway, Colt finds signs of dog droppings and a spiritual blood stain in Shadow. He begins to wonder about the rumored trouble in the other Concilii, of Werewolves and Wendigo. Meanwhile Callahan takes Valkyrie along with him as he looks for his comrade. Trusting to Fate, they soon find themselves in a bad neighborhood where a huge man and two dogs block their path.
As they decided what to do, a snide voice behind them tells them to come peacefully. Callahan shouts to Valkyrie to run and forces the dogs to stay with his magic. The huge man shouts to his friend Kelt and charges the scarred policeman. With a swift punch the big man knocked Callahan senseless. Valkyrie thinking quickly, telekinetically picks up the smaller man and hurls him at his partner. Hound easily shrugs off his partner and attacks Valkyrie with a series of jabs. As she fends him off, Kelt attacks her mind with magic, causing a splitting headache. Callahan comes to his senses and quickly the two begin to flee. Kelt gets Hound's dogs to chase them but the two Force Adepts increase their speed to inhuman levels and made it safely back the hotel.