Activity Log, February 21, 2001 After their failed attempt to pass the great worm, the subjects spent the rest of the evening in a flurry of activity. Upon regrouping the following evening, they had managed to obtain some jury-rigged large syringes, a homemade poison, and some quantity of conventional weapons and explosives. Even they realized that their equipment was insufficient to defeat the great beast. However, they simply wished to use Vassily as a decoy to lure the worm past their entrance to the tunnels; they would then dart past the worm to the Cathedral with Nathaniel, where they could perform the ritual they believed would restore him to relative sanity. Descending yet again through the sewers, they gathered in the tiny crack leading out into the beast's path. Ari removed the stake from Vassily and pushed him out into the larger tunnel, having previously ordered him to walk toward the pit and away from the Cathedral. Vassily seemed quite distracted at first, both from his own madness and from what I must assume is the mind-control of the Tremere. When he realized that he was being sent to certain death, however, he simply smiled at the group as if to say they were playing into his very plans. Shortly after he disappeared around the curve of the tunnel, the beast's characteristic rumbling was heard, and it sped by the group after the departing Malkavian. Ethan and Ari pursued it with the poison, possibly hoping to slow it down, and managed to inject it from the rear before it disappeared into the pit in the ground. In the meantime, Parker was leading the newly-awakened Nathaniel toward the cathedral - wisely, in my opinion, as they both lack Ethan's advantages of speed. Quickly, though, the tunnel began its characteristic rumbling; as Ethan and Ari fled the pit, they overtook Parker and Nathaniel, but the worm was also overtaking both groups. Thinking quickly, Parker tossed a charge of the explosive behind the group and detonated it just before the worm reached the charge. This brought down quite a large portion of the tunnel in front of the beast, causing it to stop in its tracks for only the second time since I have been monitoring these subjects. The group ran for nearly a mile before they heard the first dull rumblings of its renewed movement, and by that time they had reached the Cathedral - one of the greatest wonders I have ever seen, and one I am not certain I trust myself to describe. If the powers of the Camarilla encompass the creation of this work, perhaps we have far more to fear from them than we ever suspected. The tunnel they were in opened up to a large natural chamber perhaps fifty feet high and half again as long, lit only by the light of their flashlights and covered with a strange slightly reflective slimy substance. At the far end, doors carved directly into the solid rock rose thirty feet, decorated with inlaid ivory and silver. Though I could not see the details of the carvings, they seemed to be telling stories from the Bible: I recognized the casting out of Adam and Eve and the first of the Ten Plagues, even in the dimness. At the touch of the young Malkavian, the doors swung outward and the group slowly stepped inside. Inside, a great vaulted arch of stone led perhaps a hundred feet or more down to a plain stone altar at the end. A great rose window over the doors (which, oddly enough, was not visible from the outside) stood behind them; from twelve windows, six on each side, dark faces looked down on the tiny figures who had dared disturb their rest. But it seems the subjects were not the first to disturb this place: there was no dust on the floor, but rather more of the slime from outside the Cathedral. Additionally, the elaborate benches and pews were broken and tossed about the room. Pages from gorgeously illustrated manuscripts fluttered about Nathaniel's legs as he moved toward the altar, as if in a dream. Nathaniel moved unerringly to the altar and took Ari's hand. Though through his Tremere magics, Ari appeared as Vassily, Nathaniel spoke to him as his friend, begging him to drop the disguise and sacrifice him as was necessary. Ari nodded and helped Nathaniel lie back on the altar. Nathaniel looked into Ari's eyes and smiled, as Ari raised the thick dagger above his head and plunged it down into Nathaniel's heart. Nathaniel gasped in pain as blood ran out from around the dagger and into shallow grooves carved into the altar, where it sank into the stone and disappeared. But despite his vampiric nature, the blood did not stop or slow as he healed himself, but rather spurted more and more weakly as the seconds ticked by. A few drops of blood trickled from his mouth, his eyes closed, and he lay flat: even I could determine that he seemed to be truly dead - dying a mortal death, not crumbling as the Kindred do. I am still not certain how this transformation occurred, but I will most certainly have to study my records of this event further. At the time, however, my attention was distracted by the fabulous changes in the Cathedral that his death produced. A faint music began to play, and light - sunlight, somehow, even this far below ground - began to shine faintly through the windows of the Cathedral. More surprisingly, this light did not harm any of the vampires gathered around the altar. More disturbingly, as these changes occurred, I found that I could not use any of my extraordinary abilities to help or harm the subjects; in fact, I was limited to the observational magics that I had set up long before they entered the Cathedral. Fortunately, however, this magic was to prove enough to show me many wonders in these rooms below the earth. After a few initial moments of amazement at the Cathedral's transformation, the group's attention returned to their friend. It quickly became apparent to them that he was dead and that he had died a mortal. Ethan grieved loudly and even attempted to embrace his friend again, with no effect. Ari took it rather calmly, even though his had been the hand to slay his friend: Nathaniel had wanted it this way, he reminded the others. Parker insisted that they bury him, and so they wrapped him in the altarcloth and began to look for a place to leave his body. The first room they entered was down a long flight of spiral stairs. It seemed to be a colombarium much like the one below Radu's haven: I wonder whether the parallel was intentional on the Tzimisce's part? Most of the niches on the walls were empty, but many contained small and lovely jars which seemed to be filled with ash. One wall, however, had full-length niches in it, sufficiently long to hold a person. The lower six of these had figures in them, and so the three friends decided to leave Nathaniel on one of these burial slabs. Each of the three said a few words about their friend and turned away - not without a few tears on the part of Ethan and Parker. However, no grief for Nathaniel could stop them from exploring the wonders of this strange place - just as I would have done in their position. The next door they chose also led down stairs: a small room containing a huge keyboard for an elaborate organ whose pipes hung behind the altar. A metal utility door led down more stairs into a dusty basement holding crates and the like, but the group chose to pursue more interesting things. Another door led into a large garden, each of whose flowers appeared to be carved from stone. Even the slight breeze of their passage caused the petals to bob and turn independently. Truly a miracle of craftsmanship as well as design! A small stream poured through the garden and into a reflecting pool at the bottom. Each of the three remaining subjects paused to examine their reflection in the pool before passing on. The final door led into a large set of galleries full of various forms of art: original paintings, sculptures, manuscripts and the like. Each of the subjects took a book with them: Parker chose a Gutenberg Bible (though I confess myself surprised he even recognized it), Ethan a First Folio of Hamlet, and Ari a book of the Zohar. The galleries also displayed a fine collection of scientific instruments (where Parker stole an astrolabe), a similarly fine one of arms and armor, an enormous orrery whose planets were fitted out as jewels, and a room devoted entirely to the sense of smell. What I would not give for a chance to ponder the mysteries that are surely locked beneath the city! Perhaps I will have to venture down to this secret library before the vampires have the chance to return to it, though it would be a grave risk if I were discovered there. Strange and wondrous though the objects were, I saw nothing created later than fifty years ago: I can only assume that the Sabbat did not have access to this cathedral or else they surely would have either added to the works here, looted it, or simply destroyed what they found. Perhaps the beast in the tunnels guarded this place from them? But then who or what set it here? It certainly seemed incapable of making its own decisions. And who destroyed the main part of the cathedral, while leaving the far richer things here untouched? These are questions I must find the answers to, but I do hope that I will not have to descend into the bowels of the earth to do so. Perhaps I can send Elizabeth. In due time the group had explored the entire cathedral - including the small chapels below each of the twelve windows, which were disappointingly empty - and returned to the main hall. Studying the altar and the rose window, both bore patterns that they recognized! It seems that the scrap of paper they found in the Tzimisce's lair was merely a piece of this larger symbol. I have never seen anything like it, though of course the seven component symbols (six around the rim, and one in the center) are quite well-known. Perhaps this and the other windows have some symbolism? I include a description of the windows below, starting with the pair closest to the door. On the left wall, a human wearing an elaborate wolf mask, holding it up to his (or her) face. On the right wall, a wolf holding a human mask before its face in its coarse paws. Both bodies are obscured by forest foliage. On the left wall, a person in white robes stepping from the earth into the clouds as sunlight streams around them. They are turned away from the viewer; as in all the other windows, their face is not visible, and their form does not reveal if they are male or female. On the right wall, a red-haired person in black robes stepping from a grave onto the earth. On the left wall, a person juggling three small globes colored as the world (three different views, so all the continents are visible), with their head tilted back so their face is not visible. They are dressed in patched and ragged clothing. On the right wall, a person in ragged clothing sits cross-legged with a giant globe in their lap, contemplating it with their head tilted forward. On the left wall, a knight in full armor, holding a sword in both hands with the point in the ground. Their armor bears no device. On the right wall, a person in the same pose as the knight, but wrapped in a dark and rich velvet cloak. They hold a staff instead of a sword, but mail can be seen glinting on their hands and in the shadows of their hood. On the left wall, a person sitting alone on a hill, facing away from the viewer. They have a book open on their lap and overlook a busy and bustling town. They seem to be wearing a tunic of some sort. On the right wall, a person sitting alone and looking into a mirror with a book open on the table in front of them. Where their face would be reflected in the mirror, a skull is seen instead. On the left wall, a person wrapped in rose vines so they cannot be clearly seen. A vine has grown into their eyes, and their mouth is open in a scream of agony or ecstasy. On the right wall, a shadowy figure wrapped in dark robes. Only their left hand is clearly visible, in which they hold a skull with a dead rose in its eye socket. The symbol on the rose window and the altar actually consists of six symbols in a ring around an empty circle in the center. Beginning from the top and proceeding clockwise, the first symbol (a diamond with a hole in it) means "religion"; the second means "creation"; the third, "nature"; the fourth, "mysticism"; the fifth, "control"; and the sixth and final symbol means "science". Of course, I doubt the literal meanings are intended. For example, the symbol meaning "nature" can be used to mean any growing, generative force, while the symbol opposite it, that of "control", means anything that turns force into set patterns. This will certainly require further study, and I have reproduced it here. I shall have to see if I can find an artist to reproduce the other windows for me, as I lack the skill to do them justice. Despite the beauties and wonders of the Cathedral, however, the subjects realized that they could not stay here forever, and they would have to return to the surface at some point. After arguing for some time about what to do with their newfound knowledge upon returning to the surface (Parker advocated taking the Cathedral for themselves, while Ari wanted to turn it over to the Camarilla for a reward, and Ethan suggested that no one should own such a wonder - a point of view I must say I heartily espouse), they realized that they would have to get themselves back to the surface first. Upon reopening the front doors of the Cathedral, however, they found that this might be less easy than they thought, as the great worm awaited them outside. They hypothesized that the ubiquitous slime might act as worm-repellent, but this was quickly proved wrong when it attacked Ethan. Only a heavy assault from the others wrenched him from its grasp. The fire they shot at it seemed to enrage it, causing it to shake the entire Cathedral - an effect I noticed stopped when the doors were closed. After shooting at it for some time, they realized it was unlikely they could simply drive it away, and began to search for an alternate exit. After some time, they found a hidden door in the garden room, which led into a twisting tunnel through the earth. It did, however, seem to lead generally upward, and so they went. Imagine my surprise when they emerged in Belvedere Castle in Central Park! Not as great, however, as their surprise at seeing Garou converging from the shadows of the park on the tower! I shall have to make sure to keep all news of the Garou away from Thomas: he might drop something to Lucien by accident, and then I should surely have to fight him to keep my funding here. No, my interest is solely with the vampires of the city, and so I do not have to report the activities of these others. In this case, it was a moot point. The group debated for a few moments whether to make a run for it, to bargain with the werewolves, or to call for help. Wisely, they chose to escape by air: after Ethan called Angel, she was able to divert a traffic helicopter to pick up the three subjects and bring them to her. The group told her everything, and they were sworn not to tell anyone else in exchange for her timely rescue. They spoke with her about the Cathedral for some time. Angel claimed that the Cathedral was the last great work of some unnamed member of her clan. According to her, everything in the Cathedral belonged to the Prince - something I am sure cannot be the case, as the other elders would never stand for it. I am not certain whether she was lying to them, and if so, why, but I shall most certainly keep as close a watch on her as her abilities permit. She also seemed rather surprised to learn that the small chapels were empty. She took the objects they had removed from the Cathedral from them (for safekeeping and return, I assume), and they showed her a small sample of the slime they took from the nave. I was able to watch her use her great abilities in the art of perception on it, something which was quite useful for my own research, but she was unable to determine what the slime was from other than something very old and very malevolent. Possibly the worm? I had thought it too large to enter the Cathedral proper. Perhaps if I were able to get my hands on a sample of it, I would be able to learn more. I certainly have my work of the next several weeks cut out for me. I shall simply have to hope the subjects do little of interest. Transcribed and maintained Elizabeth Kent