Even if their focus has shifted, the members of the Hall of Aruspicy retain the title of Augurs after the original institution’s function of divining the future.
The magical substances distilled from the still-perspiring Essence humors of the behemoth corpse gather alchemists from all around Creation and the wondrous ingredients grown under magical light in Whitecrest’s hanging gardens have the same effect on enthusiastic botanists. Chimerologists come to wonder at the sorcerously bred bioluminescent nuga-centipedes that illuminate the cavernous city and summoners obsessed with Malfeas flock to Lathe after the persistent rumor that some can hear the whispers of Hell itself within its tunnels.
Initiation to the Hall of Aruspicy is a complex process that includes swearing magical oaths that bind the initiate to protect the institution and its secrets. As an interesting option, anyone with sorcerous or thaumaturgical capabilities can apply regardless of their history. The Hall of Aruspicy is willing to give troubled sorcerers a new life and a new identity if they give themselves fully to its service, weaving a powerful sorcerous working that blurs their past in the minds of those affected and binds the sorcerer to eternal servitude. Many of these bound Augurs are tasked with the keeping of peace in Lathe as an agreement with the city’s satrap, mainly patrolling the wealthier districts. These peacekeepers are seen by the population as mysterious figures floating above buildings on top of billowing sorcerous clouds, dressed in flowing cowled robes of black and violet and wearing white porcelain masks carved with five terrifying almond-shaped eyes in the shape of a star; two additional pointed diagonally toward the cheeks and one vertical on the forehead. When they descend upon wrongdoers they’ve been known to breathe out thick purple mist about them that incapacitates the unwary that inhale it. Beyond assisting with keeping order, the main duties of the sorcerer-architects of the Hall of Aruspicy lie with maintaining the tunnels, cavernous walls and other parts of the city’s sorcerous infrastructure.