Michael Anselm

This article is about ****Michael Anselm****. You may be looking for  **the demon who impersonated him**.

## Affiliations

### Relationships

* unamed wife
* unamed children

### Occupation

* lawyer
* Lethe Board member

### Groups

Lethe House

**Michael Anselm** is a Lethe Board member and alumna of Yale University. After his graduation from Yale, Anselm worked in New York as a lawyer. In Alex Stern's second year at Yale, Anselms serves as a temporary liaison between Lethe House, the Lethe Board and the university. However, in October, the partial release of Darlington from Hell causes a demon to also kill Anselm and assume his identity.

## Biography

Michael Anselm graduated fifteen years before the events of *Hell Bent.* As a Lethe Board member, Michael was also a former deputy of Lethe during his time at Yale. After he graduated Yale, Anselm became a lawyer and moved to New York.

At the end of Alex Stern's first year, Anselm approved her request for a new bike, laptop, printer and tutor. During the summer, Anselm connected Alex Stern to his assistant to help her get a plane ticket and ride to Los Angeles.

After Alex and Pamela wrecked the Scroll & Key tomb in their attempt to summon Darlington back from hell, Anselm was called to the scene to represent the Lethe Board and take care of the aftermath. At the tomb, Anselm fielded calls from Scroll & Key alumnus, assuaging their concerns and promising the use of Hiram's Crucible to restore the society's portal table. Alex preemptively defended that they just cast a revelation casting to investigate any unsanctioned rituals, but Anselm just told Alex and Pamela that he'd meet them at Il Bastone.

At Il Bastone, Anselm asked if he could speak to Alex alone in the parlor. Pouring himself scotch, he informs Alex that he downplayed the incident to the new Praetor, before inquiring as to what really went on in Scroll & Key, knowing he smelled sulfur in the tomb. Alex tried to lie and say she broke the table on purpose, using a stink bomb from an old Lethe Days Diary entry. Anselm was unconvinced, and posited that Alex and Pamela were trying to open a portal to hell to reach Darlington. Alex gives into her anger then and tells Anselm that Lethe owes Darlington some effort to rescue him. Anselm expresses his sympathy, but firmly states that there is too much risk in trying to get Darlington—or whatever Darlington turned into—out of hell. He warns Alex that the next time she and Pamela tries something, they will no longer have their positions at Lethe.

Anselm left Il Bastone, but not before he connected Alex and Pamela to his assistant, who had them call Scroll & Key alumni and members of the Lethe Board so that the two could explain and apologize.

## Physical Description

Michael Anselm was good-looking and polished in corporate manner. He had blue eyes and slightly tanned skin.

## Personality

Michael Anselm was overall disinterested in involving himself deeply into the current matters of Lethe House but responded quickly to his duties as Lethe Board member. While not stupid by any means, he was neither scholastically interested in the magic Lethe House had to offer nor was he the type to delve into the magics that could potentially benefit him.

## References

1. ↑ *Hell Bent* Chapter 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Hell Bent* Chapter 6