Lauren Ellsworth

**Lauren Ellsworth** was the assistant and magical apprentice to The Cagliostro. After his death on his January 31st performance, Lauren inherited the title of Cagliostro.

## Personality

As Cagliostro's assistant, Lauren was eager and ready to serve, sending a barrage of emails during her first week. As her relationship with Cagliostro strengthened, she showed that she could be fiercely loyal to those she considered to be friends. Lauren is very persistent, stating she "doesn't like unfinished business" in the December 6th email. Lauren does also seem to have a reckless side, having risked the cold during Fragment Six to unlock The Monarch Papers Volume Three's secrets and having nearly burnt down Morgan Library during Fragment Eight.

## Biography

Lauren was born with magical potential, particularly the gift of  telemancy. She had a brief incident with magic while visiting her aunt and uncle in Virginia, when she and her sister, Jen, were lost in the woods. After unintentionally mind controlling her sister into coming to her location, Lauren 'broke' her mind, sending her sister into a catatonic state . Lying about her magic abilities, Lauren told people that her sister had fell, a story that Lauren herself seemed to believe in time. Until the Cagliostro hired her, she seemingly had no other magic encounters of note.

Lauren was first encountered by recruits in Fragment Five as the assistant to The Cagliostro. November 17, 2016 appeared to be one of her first days as his assistant, with her first email thanking him for the opportunity. Her primary tasks seemed to be tending to Cagliostro's New York City loft, including receiving pieces of The Translation as well as the  Magic Practitioner's Journal. Lauren scanned the pages of the journal, initially only finding a few that were filled with writing. Determined to unlock the secrets of the journal, Lauren discovered more pages had appeared a few days later. As the days passed, Lauren continued to check the journal, finding the pages slowly unveil themselves. She soon realized that the pages unfading was connected to Yule - the fast approaching date of December 21st.

Yule approached and Lauren continued to be fixated with the journal. Staying in the loft overnight, she found no change in the journal. She came to the conclusion that something had happened to the journal en route to the loft that unlocked the initial pages, eventually realizing it was related to the temperature change . After unsuccessfully attempting to put the journal in the freezer, Lauren wandered outside and found herself walking several blocks to The Ramble, where she buried the journal. Leaving it in the ground proved successful and Lauren informed Cagliostro of her success.

After Lauren unlocked the journal, Cagliostro magically transported her to Turin. It was revealed that unlocking the journal was a test of her abilities, one Lauren had passed. She became Cagliostro's apprentice, and grew a magical bond with him. In the subsequent email, she described her skin as "electric. No longer mine… it’s shared with you, bound with yours" .

In the weeks leading up to the performance, Lauren continued to learn and grow in her magical ability, performing tricks like conduit foretravel  and spectral fog. At the same time, she grew ill, dealing with an intense fever. Cagliostro suspected it may have been due to Lauren's reaching out to his mind, which he described as "not such a hospitable home as of late and I fear the reason for your illness" . During her illness, Lauren had a vision of the Cagliostro's final dinner and his successor. The Cagliostro explained the truth of her vision and what would happen to him after his final performance. Then, Cagliostro moved on to explaining the details of his performance - he wanted two added guests, Martin Rank and Lauren. In response to Cagliostro's immenent demise, Lauren explained her history with magiq and how grateful she was to have finally met someone who understood her. She pleaded with him to find some way to disobey his captors and keep living. In response, Cagliostro told Lauren that there was nothing to be done, but that he wished she would indulge him by helping him bring out the full power of one of his most mysterious tricks - The Translation.

As Lauren spent more time with magiq, she grew into her powers - bending blood to create dragon wings that could fly her over the city. She told Cagliostro that she was confident she was powerful enough to save him from his fate. Then she noted that the journal, with its talk of protecting someone from magiq, must contain the secret to protect Cagliostro from the people who were controlling him. She became even more determined to solve the journal's puzzles, in the hope that it might help her save her mentor. Cagliostro resisted this plan, however, stating that he had "lived too glorious a life to treat it as if none of it mattered," though Lauren countered by saying that she would remember and help him relearn his magiqal skills. Lauren persisted with her search for the spell, realizing Sullivan had hid it in Morgan Library. She sought the book at the same time as Cole Sumner did, during Fragment Seven, with the Cagliostro guiding her through emails. She took Seven Cradle Songs from Cole, nearly setting the library on fire as she escaped, but did not realize that Cole had taken the note hidden inside the book. Without it, the book held no magiqal spells within. Realizing there was no hope, Lauren turned her thoughts towards The Translation, hoping to honor Cagliostro's final wishes. Lauren helped Cagliostro realize that The Translation was not working properly because it was not just a spell, but a song, and she knew the correct melody. It was hidden in Cagliostro's head the entire time, and Lauren's telemancy helped her pull it out of him. In addition to the melody, Lauren saw an image of Cagliostro and herself bound together, forever, realizing that he had a plan to free himself from those who controlled him. She affirmed that she would follow him to the six corners of the Earth, always.

On January 31st, The Cagliostro gave his final performance in the Rosicrucian Temple in Central Station, with the help of his apprentice. The two successfully performed the full Translation and Cagliostro revealed that it was not a portal to the undead, but a sacrificial altar for a god. He sacrificed himself on the spire with Lauren close to him, transferring his powers as Cagliostro to her. After Lauren inherited the power, she fell back and was picked up by Martin Rank, who carried her out of the chaos of the building. She turned to snow in his arms and blew away, disappearing from the scene.

After his death, Cagliostro arranged an email to be sent, telling Lauren he had always known the true purpose of the Translation. He had awaited his true successor for centuries, knowing that she would free him from his shackles. He left her with the final words of warning - "No one is your master now. Not me. Not them. They will either cower or come to claim you. But what you do with the power you have now is up to you." In addition, he comforted her by saying "Don't grieve me, my dear Lauren. Perhaps I have traveled beyond the lying veil, to the source of all this power. Or perhaps I am atoms scattered in the dark. Either way, I am free".

### Phase Three

In Fragment Nine, Lauren briefly communicated with recruits to share a note that she found in Seven Cradle Songs. Adding a button that said "I believe this is for you," to the Cagliostro website, she posted the scanned pages.

These passages were written on the envelope:
Thirteen volumes, the foundation of our universe until a revolution changed our position.
At the whim of the master clock, Shepherd Gate shows all time. And in the courtyard the Astronomer Royal observes from here.
Because of the tenth there now are eight. When Xena fell, discord rose in her place.
What sees what we cannot? A giant, a Titan, a dragon, and all great light combined?
Three ancient stones mark the midwinter’s sunset, their faces toward Corra Bheinn and the mountain of the sound.
Borne from Ida to serve the wine, who waits in the celestial court between the whale and the eagle?
And these pages were inside.
I hope you find what you’re looking for, and have as few regrets as possible.
Yours Faithfully,
LE

### Phase Four

During Fragment Fifteen, on the Day of Change, Martin Rank gathered as many allies as possible to help the Mountaineers destroy The Churning Storm. Lauren joined the Basecamp 33 Forum under the name FKALauren and told recruits that she would help keep an eye out of the events, because Martin claimed she owed him after saving her life. Lauren relayed events to the Mountaineers as they happened. When Deirdre Green struck down the Storm, she told Mountaineers that "in the old times a witness would be allowed to name someone whose actions they know will live on in stories" and asked if she could name her. After several recruits agreed, she named Deirdre "Deirdre of the Isles. The Mountain’s Will. And Stormslayer." She ended the naming by saying that it was fun, and Cags never got to name anyone. After the events of the day, she congratulated the Mountaineers and sent her condolences for Martin, who she believed had been swept away by the Storm.

## References

1. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/123
2. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/68
3. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/72
4. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/103
5. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/108
6. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/114
7. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/123
8. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/132
9. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/133
10. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/149
11. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/154
12. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/182
13. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/195
14. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/203
15. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-day-of-change/1509/40
16. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-day-of-change/1509/261
17. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-day-of-change/1509/272
18. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-day-of-change/1509/283