(no subject)

[abbatis]

Who: Edgar and everyone else.
What: Local vampire does tarot reading for everyone.
Where: In public places.
When: 26th and 27th (before relocation.
Warnings: None so far.



The last Gods' mishap had passed and life at Hadriel returned back to normal. Or at least as 'normal' things could ever get in the city where manipulating emotions was regular occurrence. Edgar himself had been doing.. well, not as well as he wished. Before his arrival he had believed to understand the world, it was both unsure, capricious yet predictable. Here? Things were different and part of him felt like he could never learn the ways of this world, to understand it whims.

Maybe that's why the deck of tarot cards forgotten in one of the ruined shops caught his attention. It was old and used deck, some of the pictures were almost completely faded away.

Now, whether Edgar truly believed in the power of cards or not was... Well, complicated. He never consulted the cards in serious attempts but just to pass time. Then again, back in his world he rarely had matters that he wanted to ask from the cards --- or whatever higher power was behind them, black magic and such. Here things were different, of course.

He can be found from various places, doing readings just for fun mostly. He's sitting by the river bank, under the tree in the Orchards or in the Speakeasy during the silent nights. When he sees someone to close to him, were they either approaching him or just walking past him, he flashes them a friendly smile followed by an invitation:

"Hello. Ever wanted to have your future told for you?"

[ooc: Everyone come and get ic tarot readings. 1-3 decks only, sorry! I don't know much about tarot myself and I will be using random tarot card generation. If you want something more specific your character to find out/learn etc pm me or hit sparklepire]

Comments

[unheeled]

"Not really."

She's walking by the river -- she misses being within sight of the coast, and aside from the lake, this is the best they've got -- and although she answers in the negative, she's pretty relaxed.

"The future's what you make it." She arches an eyebrow and smirks. "But I'm pretty bored, so." She looks around, finds a mostly flat, dry rock to sit on, and shrugs. "Do your thing."

[abbatis]

Ah. Edgar recognizes her immediately despite never having confronting her personally. The adventurous woman on network, lover of werewolves and nonhumans. The one with broken tongue like him. Her white hair makes her stand out of the crowd, no questions about that. It wasn't like the silver hair that he had seen before, on her sister and the charming lady during the feast, it lacked the health and vibrancy -- it looked dead.

It made him only more curious about her.

"Never?" He asks, a light tease lingering in his voice as he starts to shuffle the deck. "Not curious about what stars might have in store for you or any of that?"

[unheeled]

That's zombie chic to you, okay? --no, it's not. She doesn't want this. She may have her hair back now, but she's still not herself.

"I was when I was little." Most kids are, aren't they? They plan their futures, like anything's possible. So few achieve anything remotely like those dreams. "But it's a little late to wonder what I'm going to be when I grow up."

God knows zombie had never been part of the plan.

[abbatis]

"Don't say that. It's not too late for you," although if his suspicious are correct it might very well be. He doesn't think she's a human. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised to find out she's dead, too. But whether she's a being like him is a whole new story.

"But let's see what we can learn here." He offers the deck to her. "I need you to think of a question and then take out three cards, place them on ground face down."

[unheeled]

"Maybe you're right."

Maybe she'll survive her dad's latest murder attempt and live long enough to find a cure. She's not dead, even if that's how the virus presents. She's sick, which she has to remind herself of every so often. She's not a monster, not dead, not even another species. She's a sick human waiting for a cure to this thing her father inflicted on her.

"Hmm." Face neutral, she takes the deck and decides to just go with that childish question: what will she be when she "grows up" -- what does her future hold? That done, she sets three cards on the ground in front of her, from the top of the deck. No cutting, no skipping. Just what's right in front of her on the path, so to speak.

Done woth her part in this, she holds the deck back out to him. "Do you need me to tell you what I asked?"

River bank

[thelastjoy]

"Do you believe in that kind of thing?" Girl answers a question with a teasing question. She slows from her brisk pace, standing in front of Edgar's set up with hands in her pockets. The night air is nice, if not chilly, making goosebumps prickle her arms. It's not so cold yet to remind her of nights at home, but it's a shade close enough to put a warmth behind her smile.

"You never said you were psychic."

[abbatis]

Edgar is just picking up the cards from the ground and about to shuffle the deck again when the girl arrives.

"There is a lot you don't know about me," he says with a laughter in his voice, countering the same kind of light teasing as her. She looks much better now than what she did the last time they met, for which he's glad.

"Want to give it a try?"

[thelastjoy]

"Guess you gotta play up the mystery and keep people interested." She raises her eyebrows watching him move the cards around. She has no idea what he's doing or what the cards are for. At least, not unless poker is somehow involved. But she's got nowhere to be and the idea is too amusing to pass up.

"Why not? At worse I'll just be provin' you wrong."

[abbatis]

"You see right through me," he jokes and winks his eye at her. After hearing her approval he speeds up his shuffling. When he's done with that he picks up three different cards from the top of the deck and places them on the ground between them, face down.

"Is there something specific you'd like to know. Maybe a question you have?"

[thelastjoy]

"Don't worry. I'm not plannin' to talk and ruin your secrets." She watches him with interest. She likens it to every card game she's seen and the three cards remind her of some strange version of blackjack.

Girl's taken aback by the request for a question. It turns this into something she needs to be involved in rather than a something to be an amused audience for. What questions does she have? Many. There's a uncertain future to be faced when-if- she returns home. The responsible thing would be to ask about that future, arm herself for the trials to come.

"Will she remember me?"

But Girl leans on the selfish instead of the responsible. She's concerned with a different fear of returning. She's worried about the woman who gave her fire and the eyes she still sees in the mirror.

[abyssalarcana]

The riverbanks are one of Caedra's favored spots - a place where she can sit and write unbothered, with the sound of running water to tune out the city's denizens and their idle chatter. The river has a certain poetic appeal to it, too. It runs around and over obstacles, never stopping for anyone. The waters swirl and run full of sediment and the thrashing fins and teeth of tiny creatures, which have no thoughts beyond how to feed and survive and multiply. And over time, rivers like these change constantly, cutting deeper into their banks or snaking broad and wide and slow, transforming the world around them over the millennia.

Which is why it's troubling when one of her favorite locations on the river seems to be occupied by one of her least favorite people. And what's this about the future? She snorts and looks over what he has on the table. Cards. Great.

"No," she replies disdainfully. "Are you trained in divination?"

The worst school of magic. Even if the future were set in stone, stone can be eroded and crushed.

[abbatis]

Edgar honestly didn't believe that Caedra would do as much as pay ear to his words, they weren't exactly in warm or even friendly terms, let alone to talk to him. Well, life's full of surprises he supposes.

"Not in a traditional way," he replies keeping the smile glued on his face. That is to say that he hasn't had any training and mostly just picked it up himself through the years.

"What about you?"

[abyssalarcana]

"Of course not, it's an utter waste of time," she says, grimacing just a little. "Much like you, in fact."

Honestly, the very suggestion that she would have any interest in the lie that mortals call fate is absurd - but at least it tells her that Edgar is either naive enough to think there is truth to it, or finds entertainment in conning those here who are that ignorant.

[abbatis]

'Yet you're here talking to me', he wants to say but decides to let the insult go ignored.

"That's true," he laughs in agreement and begins to shuffle the deck again. "But at some point one learns to enjoy little things. It's not so bad to waste time once in a while."

[abyssalarcana]

Sometimes it's worth a moment of suffering to make someone else feel bad.

Caedra logic, everyone.

"What are you trying to do, then, by playing at this?" she asks. "Do you honestly find it entertaining to pretend there is such thing as a future that can be foretold?"

It's tempting to fire on the cards with her magic and destroy them. Not for any reason, nothing would be gained by it, they aren't hurting her, but she doesn't like them and this place has been too lacking in destruction for her tastes lately.

orchard!

[pocketspa]

Taako ends up here a lot, to be frank. He's either collecting spices or herbs for a new dish, chasing Merle out of a tree to come home and take a fucking bath already, or just kind of enjoying being out of the sharp sunlight. Either or, he's distracted at first until Edgar's voice meets his ears, and he turns, his grin already sharp.

"Fortune? Really? Didn't take you for a, uh, divination type." He spins his finger just a bit Edgar's direction. "Unless you just want an excuse to touch my hands more."

[abbatis]

Well, Taako isn't the only one who's 'regular' to the Orchards. Edgar spends more time here among the flowers than he does at his so-called home but for different reasons than him.

So, it's not all too surprising to see the wizard-elf around the garden. Edgar recognizes him right away and doesn't hesitate to call him over. Their last meeting had been quite amusing, to say least. It's not every day that he finds someone with as bloated ego that they will melt just after hearing few nice words and adoring looks. Of course, that wasn't the only reason he sought his attention again. Or even the third.

He found him interesting and he still could taste that sweet blood on back of his tongue.

Laughing, Edgar rises his card deck up for him to see. "Sorry, there is no touching involved this time." A quick pause, "Unless that is what you want.

[pocketspa]

Taako earns a lot of his keep out of being interesting, so it's always a plus. But he chuckles, sliding down to where he is and setting a drawstring bag off to the side. He's not in a hurry. He's not wearing much; an oversized tank top above shorts and his wide brimmed wizard hat to block out the sun, even as freckles dot over his shoulders and cheeks from exposure. His long hair's tied back in it's customary braid, though tighter than it was at the party. Taako crosses his legs, resting his face on one arm, elbow pressed into knee.

"Eeh, wouldn't want to mess up your whole biz. So what'd'ya got? Card tricks?" He's seen this sort of magic performed before, quick readings for a coin or two in the back of most caravans or taverns. But it's never been his magical style- though after meeting (and technically being employed by) a goddess of fate, he's a little more inclined to believe them then others. "You givin' a ring to Istus or anything like that? 'Cause my fate's pretty whacked, my dude."

[abbatis]

"Something like that yes." That's where Edgar also first became familiar with the game, in taverns in some southern European country. At first he had seen men to play it to pass the time but then came the older ladies who saw the wisdom in the cards. Only after that he saw people using it to earn some money, haggling and stealing people blind. Which leads it only to be understandable for one to doubt the magic in them.

"I'm afraid I don't know who or what that is," he admits while spinning the card between his fingers. "But I would really be surprised if your fate wouldn't be exciting. So," he places card back on the deck and begins to shuffle. "Want to see if my card tricks could depict some of that. Friend."

[pocketspa]

He chuckles, settling in. Taako's one of the few people who knows his fate, intimately so, because he's lived it. But maybe that'll be a good test, to see if Edgar knows his stuff at all. He crosses his arms, looking plenty smug, and nods.

"Alright, my man. Show me what you got. Do you need some kinda question from me, or what?"

Sorry for being late!

[toiletseat_girl]

[George has hit the Speakeasy after her latest shift at the Clinic. she can't get drunk from the whiskey sours she prefers, she just likes the taste. she's sitting on a high stool, so she kicks her feet against the stool's legs idly.

the inquiry gets her attention. for the most part, she'd imagine that the future holds much of the same stuff as what the present allows. she gets up, she works at the Clinic, she goes to the Speakeasy for a drink or two, she goes home, and she goes to bed. rinse, repeat the next day.

but what the hell. why not?]

Sure, I guess so?

it's ok!

[abbatis]

[Ah well, if it isn't the small reaper girl from the network. It had been some time since he's seen her around. Although, it's not like he's been actively looking after her. He did feel sympathetic for her, sure, but not enough to seek out for the connection. At least yet.

Still, doing a tarot reading for her could be fun.

He's idly shuffling the deck when she comes near her, flashing her a playful smile:]

Ever been to fortune teller, then?

[toiletseat_girl]

[she wouldn't be surprised at the notion of her not being interesting enough to seek out. she figures that she's thoroughly boring to most people and doesn't get why the people who do talk to her regularly do so.

she looks a little nervous and tries (and likely fails) to smile back]

Nah. My parents never believed in that kind of stuff.

[abbatis]

I can understand that. [He nods. It's more aimed at relating to feeling of having to listen parents' authority even when it goes against your own beliefs and curiosities. Only God knows how many times he had been subjected to it himself.]

But they're not here now, are they? [There's a small hint of dare and mischief in his eyes as he says that, voice low with amusement.] So how about you try it now?

[toiletseat_girl]

Yeah. They were all, Santa Claus isn't real, the Easter Bunny isn't real, and so on. So I didn't exactly have the most magical childhood. [George's mom felt it would be better for her to grow up without those childlike mysteries]

I guess not? [she gets the dare and the mischief. George doesn't like to back down from a dare] ...sure, okay? Why not?