Author. Creative. Follower.

Worldbuilding Vignettes – The Sanctum

As I mentioned in my current writing project, I will be creating short vignettes to show off the worldbuilding of a urban fantasy novel set in a major American metropolitan city (location TBD). Unlike typical urban fantasy, which follows lone-wolf operators like Harry Dresden, this story instead focuses on a community of paranormal investigators, adepts, warriors etc. called The Sanctum.

The Sanctum was formed to counter the influence of the Dominion, an army of paranormal creatures that have broken into our world from a dimension known as the Veil. The Sanctum primarily recruits people who have experienced some sort of traumatic event that opens their eyes to the Veil and the Dominion, such as 12-step programs, foster homes, and those who’ve had near-death experiences (NDEs). The prerequisite qualification of intense trauma for being a member makes the community into a veritable powder-keg of conflict, as members trigger one another or compare their varying levels of trauma.

The Sanctum models itself after a hip urban church, which is also the cover it uses to hide its activities. Their headquarters is a grungy industrial-style warehouse from which various “ministries” operate. Members are divided regionally into “home groups” to counteract Dominion activity, and the magic employed by Sanctum members are drawn from Christian practice (Liturgy, Charisms, Lorica, Spiritual Warfare).

The reason for this is that I’ve noticed that urban fantasy often draws upon an archaic Catholic-punk for its aesthetic (gothic spires, gargoyles, black-collared priests) and I wanted to see if it’s possible to create an alternative aesthetic where the members of the good guys are part of a hip, v-neck wearing megachurch. Basically bringing urban fantasy into the 21st century (the early 2000s to be exact). I also wanted to use it as a fun thought exercise by imbuing commonplace aspects of church life (potlucks, youth group) with fantastical significance, similar to what Naomi Novik does to boarding school in the Scholomance series.

Some concepts that I’ve come up with include: Hospitality Ministry, Home Groups, Outreach (recruitment), Sunday Service, the charismatic concept of spiritual Strongholds, Benevolence Teams, a central Elder Board, a Statement of Faith that functions as a lore dump, Worship sessions as a means of powering protective wards, Intercessory prayer as a form of cultivation or astral projection, a role called Equipping Pastor that’s literally an armorer, a Single’s Ministry that’s used for cannon fodder, Communion as a blood pact of brotherhood/sisterhood, Tongues/Glossolalia, Word/Power/Mercy giftings, Discernment as a spiritual second-sight, Accountability Partners (accountabili-buddies) like police partners on patrol, an awkward situation where a member starts dating an outsider and brings them into the wacky world, codenames like Euodia and Syntyche, and much, much more…

 

Works in Progress

Project #1
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Project #2
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Project #3
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