Department of Cults and Mysteries (DCM)

The Department of Cults and Mysteries (DCM) is one of six (rumored, seven) departments at A New School. Their subjects of study include cryptography, criminology, history and psychology, and they meet in the Cottage on the school campus.

Averno Bible Description
At the edge of the woods, there is a cottage. Vaguely threatening classical music drips from cracked windows. A few girls sit on the grass, arguing about cryptography, or serial killers, or the Eleusinian Mysteries. Someone watches from an upstairs window. From the front, the cottage doesn’t look like it could possibly house an entire department- or stay standing.

Painted dark blue and white, it is too tall to be stable, and it teeters spectacularly to the left. If you walk around to the back, you notice that it seems to be swallowed by the forest, trees and deep red clay dirt and moss creeping across the windows. Inside, students sprawl across maroon velvet couches, watching Buzzfeed Unsolved, cutting out articles for their conspiracy boards, arguing about who the Zodiac killer is, and doing forensic research for strictly scientific reasons. Walking further into the building, the light dims, and a strange scent fills the air. Damp earth. Rust. Old water. There is always a disconcerting moment when the students realize they are underground, that the cottage winds its way down into the earth. The air is heavier down here. Lit by candles and torches, the students sleep in the underground maze, the roots of the cottage. It is here that they talk about the darker mysteries.

Professors
Marielle Souza - Department Head and professor of... everything.

Ana Strum - Professor of Criminal Psychology

Sabita Dido - Professor of Biological Anthropology

Francisco Marez - Professor of x

Majors
The majors of this department are Cryptography, History, and Criminology. Will has a major called "History of Crime."

Known DCM Students

 * Will
 * Annabelle
 * Tinsley
 * Henley
 * Poppy

Trivia

 * The crest of the Department of Cults and Mysteries (pictured above) includes two blue mushrooms with the undersides filled in with what appear to be bleeding teeth. These are known as toothshrooms.
 * The department colors are garnet and Prussian blue.
 * The department's motto is 'consume'.
 * The Department of Cults and Mysteries is the primary subject of episode 1.5 of Live From Averno.