The Cagliostro

**The Cagliostro** was the alias of a man who ran the Cult of Cagliostro, up until his sacrificial death on his January 31st performance. The title of the Cagliostro now belongs to his apprentice - Lauren Ellsworth.

## Personality

Cagliostro appeared to be a troubled man, describing his position as "a solitary King whose crown devours that which makes one human" . A powerful magician, his talents caused him to feel distanced from other people, with Cagliostro stating that they may as well be another species. Despite this, he was polite and seemed empathetic towards those without magic skills, such as the journalist Martin Rank, who he invited to his final performance.

He seemed to have a strong emotional connection with his final apprentice, Lauren Ellsworth. Her skills in  telemancy comforted him in his last weeks and, during the days following up to his performance, he had in his mind "an image of [Cagliostro and Lauren] bound together, forever" .

## Biography

Little is known about the early life of the Cagliostro, other than the fact that he had been alive for untold centuries. His accent seems to indicate that he came from English roots, but where exactly he was from remains a mystery.

Cagliostro was born with magical potential, including the gift of foreknowledge . At some point in time, he inherited the mantle of The Cagliostro from his predecessor. In the process of gaining the title, he became controlled by the Cult of Cagliostro, who had some unknown power over him. He lived a presumably lavish lifestyle, performing magic shows for the cultural elite and owning properties in major cities such as New York City, Turin, Marraketch, London, and Mayfair. In an email conversation with Martin Rank, it is revealed that the cost of a ticket to Cagliostro's magic show is a million dollars .

The Cagliostro was first encountered in Fragment Five, when recruits gained access to his private email server and database. It was revealed that he was in possession of Volume Three of The Monarch Papers, which recruits were able to use to solve fragments six and seven.

Over the years, Cagliostro took on many apprentices, before finding his final, true successor - Lauren Ellsworth. During the course of Phase Two, he utilized the Monarch Papers to test Lauren's will and aptitude, with her passing the test after burying the journal in The Ramble and unlocking its pages.

He seemed to have some connection with Kemetic Solutions, as they host his email server.

### Death

After Lauren's awakening, Cagliostro reveals that a successor has been chosen to supplant him, a man who had been groomed since childhood for the role despite lacking magical aptitude. The January 31st performance was meant to be his last performance, after which he would be killed and The Cagliostro title passed on .

In an email with Lauren titled "The Book," Cagliostro described killing a Cagliostro as "nearly impossible". After his final performance, Cagliostro stated that "they" would call for him, proceeding to have one last supper before draining all the blood from his body. His successor would then feed on his blood while Cagliostro was magically transported to a location holding a device that "rends all matter, even impervious flesh and iron bone." Once he was dead, the "fire" that holds the power of the Cagliostro would be transferred to the nearest person. Cagliostro claimed to have seen the machine, though he seemed to accept his fate.

Unwilling to accept Cagliostro's death, Lauren attempted to harness Sullivan Green's spell to shield an individual from magic in order to prevent the Cult of Cagliostro from killing him. After skirmishing with Cole Sumner in the Morgan Library, Lauren obtained an Ackerly-Green book, Seven Cradle Songs, but she unknowingly allowed Cole to escape with a spell that was inside of the book.

Having failed to retrieve Sullivan's spell, the performance went on as planned. During the final spell - The Translation - Cagliostro summoned a sacrificial altar for a god. Casting himself on the spire, he was able to die and transfer his power to the person closest to him - Lauren. In an email sent after his death, Cagliostro revealed he had always known the true purpose of the spell. Using his foresight, he knew that his true successor would help him unlock its potential and end his life. At the end of the email, he told Lauren not to grieve for him. "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 Cameo

The Cagliostro was briefly mentioned in The Low Report, with the two hosts, Nathaniel and James, replaying Martin Rank's wire recording from the Cagliostro's final performance. The hosts appeared unaware of the origin of the recording, but had knowledge of both the Cagliostro and Lauren, though they seemed to have no knowledge of the events that occurred after the performance.

## Trivia

* The Cagliostro shares the same name as Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, a magician who performed for the elite in the 1700s.
* The image moving behind the "C" on TheCagliostro.com is two ouroboros interlocked, like a figure eight, doubling up on infinity symbolism .

## Gallery

Landing page of TheCagliostro.comConcept image for the Cagliostro
## References

1. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/114
2. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/182
3. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/132
4. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/29
5. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/132
6. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/154
7. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/the-cagliostro/282/203
8. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/solved-fragment-eleven-durkonos/735/1333
9. ↑ http://forum.basecamp33.com/t/solved-fragment-five-brachursis/255/96