White Putnams

For long years the partner cabal to the Ebon Noose, the White Putnams have embodied the quieter, subtler side of the Secret Concord. While the Noose exudes a threatening menace, the Putnams soothe hurt feelings and find diplomatic solutions. They are the velvet glove to the iron fist. Still, there has long been a vocal minority within the Putnams who felt the pact with the Noose was ill-advised at best and a blasphemy at worst.

Now, the cabal is slowly coming apart, with the more conservative elements cleaving to their Silver Ladder heritage, while those willing to fall by the wayside (such as Provost Chain Parris) have embraced the way of the Mysterium, putting aside worldly ambition for the sake of scholarship. Still, united by faith, the White Putnams do what they can to reconcile their differences. Certainly, on a purely political level, should the Ebon Noose disappear and the Concord fall, none of the Putnams, not even Chain Parris, would shed a tear.

However, there is a catch, or at least, there seems to be. While Chain Parris will not speak directly, he intimates that the consequences of losing one-third of the Secret Concord could be too awful to imagine. Parris’ critics within the cabal have not yet gone so far as to accuse him of lying to hold onto his flagging authority, but the day when such a claim is made draws ever nearer. For his own part, the Provost appears sincerely frightened at the prospect of violating some unknown tenet of the Concord, and perhaps offending the third signatory.

Sanctum: The Putnam Estate

Sanctum Size ••••; Hallow ••••• The sanctum of the White Putnams since the time of the Secret Concord, the Putnam Estate is a humble Christian collective in the center of Boston’s wealthy Back Bay. Many of the city’s old-money movers-and-shakers know where the place is, even if only a very few visit it. No one can quite be certain if it is Catholic or Protestant in denomination, but the Putnams themselves deflect such inquiries with assertions that “all are one in Christ.” The house is walled in with high, unadorned stucco-covered brick, and is itself rather plain in appearance. Humble flower gardens and short, neat hedges, line the walkway leading to the front door. The sanctum’s furnishings are plain and functional.

The Putnam Estate’s Hallow is located within the chapel on the third (and top) floor of the building. Every day at dusk, a heavy stone basin must be filled with wine — tass that becomes saturated with Mana (a 5-point shared Hallow). A small chamber off to one side holds heavy crystal bottles in which the Mana that is transformed into tass is stored. The Putnam’s shared library is also here, located on the second floor, in a room filled with sturdy oak bookshelves. Within are texts covering the following subjects: Boston High Society, Christian Mysticism, The History of the White Putnams and the Silver Ladder.