Session 6 · the great tent at Tser Pool
The Reading
Madam Eva's reading at Tser Pool, word for word: five fates we drew ourselves, four personal threads, and one card that is blank to everyone but Sirius.
The cards as we drew them with our own hands, and the words as Madam Eva spoke them. If we ever argue about what she said, this page wins.
The five fates
-
Knowledge of our enemy
The Healer
drawn by Lily
Look to the west, far to the west. Marvel at high water aglow with the light of the sun, hidden behind the walls of man.
healing; a disease or curse; those who practise the healing arts.
-
Protection, the boon of faith
The Paladin
drawn by Osric
I see the house of a dragon, and a heart once pure, corrupted by hatred. Bring light to the house and peace to the heart, and you'll have your protection from the devil on high.
just and noble warriors; those who live by a code of honour.
-
Power and strength
The Avenger
drawn by Sirius
Ah, I see the shrine of murdered gods. Help the land find its peace, and it shall reward you with the power you seek. Start in an amber palace of darkness.
justice and revenge for great wrongs; those on a quest to rid the world of a great evil.
-
An ally
The Executioner
drawn by Fëanor
Look for a mighty predator, a hunter of hunters. He stalks this land in hope of slaying the mightiest prey of all. Perhaps you and he share an adversary.
the imminent death of one convicted, rightly or wrongly; judge, jury and executioner.
-
Where the devil lies
The Broken One
drawn by Drew
When it is time to face your fate in the eyes of your deadliest foe, pursue him into the depths of darkness. You will find the devil in the tomb of the only man he ever envied.
defeat and despair; the loss of someone important, without which one feels incomplete.
Our own threads
Osric
The Dictator, then The Tempter
Ah, you carry an old conquest at your back. Your blood marched beneath that banner.
Temptation is contemptuous of weakness. You carry your banner to the house of the fallen dragon, where the shadows do the cruellest work. Cast off temptation. Kneel and answer for your blood, and win an honour that is yours alone.
Now: those who rule through fear and violence. To come: one led astray by temptation.
Osric had his fortune told at a fair a couple of years back, and wanted to see how this one compared. His whole answer: "All right. I will."
The banner is the one his uncle Steven left him. The same sigil is carved over the Gates of Barovia, and it was on the devil's letter in Death House.
Fëanor
The Wizard, then The Mists
You channel the power of a god you scarce believe in. The stone in your pocket remembers a fire you have never felt.
The sun only hides in this land behind the mists. In water it glows still. Stand there at dawn and choose.
Now: mystery and riddles; those who crave great knowledge. To come: a great quest that will try one's spirit.
Before he drew, Fëanor asked whether a fortune-telling would go against his faith. "That is for you to answer. How strong is your faith, really?" Did he have to cross her palm with silver? "No. This reading is given freely." "Then it can't be devilry."
To the first half of his card he said "I just told you that." When the line about the stone sank in, he asked her to say it again, and then: "Who told you?"
Lily
The Charlatan, then The Beast
Something sweet has taken root in you, little one. Starve it. It is not yours.
The tooth you carry mends what otherwise cannot be healed. Far to the west there is a den of beasts. One who howls there will need it.
Now: those who profess to believe one thing but believe another. To come: something bestial hiding in plain sight.
Lily asked whether there was a card for the past. "No. Your past should be known to you."
The something sweet was Granny's pies, and she did starve it, tied to a tree and then to a bed, until one morning in Vallaki it was simply gone. The tooth came from her great-grandmother Euphemia, who told her it would keep mending what cannot otherwise be healed. It is a dire wolf's tooth.
Drew
The Necromancer, then The Raven
Oh. A secret sealed in amber stone. Your blood has carried the question for generations.
The Raven, the messenger. It purveys the message sealed in amber deep in the mountains. But mark me, child, knowledge there is bought, and bought dearly.
Now: unhealthy obsessions; a destructive path. To come: a hidden source of information; a secret potential for good.
The table, as the Raven turned over: "It's so on point." "Follows you in all dimensions." Drew: "Thank you for your insight."
Her amber has runes that move inside it. According to her Nana, it unlocks secrets. Nana did like a drink.
Sirius
A blank card
Even if you wanted a reading, I could not give you one. Your fate has already been read.
She held out a card to him anyway. "Of course, I'd never say no." He stood holding it up and staring at it, and wouldn't answer us. Drew looked over his shoulder. The card was blank.
Outside the tent he told us what he saw on it: "a lady of ravens… who is tied into my present and past, and I think is part of a secret towards addressing the land." And she spoke to him:
"What was stolen is not fully owned, and the land can be reclaimed."
Which, he said, "has only added steel to my resolve." He thinks her ravens are our friends. Did he know her? "No, but she seems familiar." Then he made the connection himself: his grandfather's raven feather, always a sign of good things in his family. "I think there is some possibility that those two things are related."
Earlier he had reached for the wrong deck, had his hand slapped, and was called an imbecile. Twice. It is in the minutes.
How it was given
A large man came out of the great tent at the back of the Vistani camp, called all five of us by name, and told us we were expected. Inside it was dim: candles, black velvet on every surface, a crystal ball on a gold stand, and two decks of cards already laid out, a tall common deck and a smaller high deck.
Madam Eva knew us already. "It took you all long enough. Are you ready to learn your fate?" One of us asked if it would help us out of this predicament. "This will. You are here for a reason. It is no mere happenstance that you're brought into Barovia." Asked about the heirlooms that pulled us through the mist: "I know many things. I cannot say all. The cards will tell. I will not." She suggested we take notes.
The reading was free. Refusing it, she said, meant we would fail: "That is guaranteed."
We drew every card ourselves, one each from the top of the deck. Lily, Osric and Sirius drew from the common deck; Fëanor and Drew from the high deck. Those were our five fates together. Then she offered each of us a thread of our own, and four of us drew again: the present from the common deck, the future from the high. Sirius she would not read.
Sirius reached for the wrong deck, had his hand slapped ("You will disrupt the fates") and was called an imbecile twice. Fëanor asked for the wrong deck too, and got one of his own: "Draw from the high deck, you imbecile." Our first considered interpretation of the Healer, for the record, was "Oh, that's the west."
Her parting words: "Your threads have now been woven and drawn taut. They pull you to the future. I have read what may be, not what must be. You could still fail. But with this knowledge, you have a chance. Now, this has exhausted me. Please leave this tent."
The next morning, on the road, we were all stronger than we had been the night before. The land had noticed us.
What we made of it
- The water appears twice. The Healer's high water aglow with the light of the sun, and Fëanor's in water it glows still. We think they are the same place, and we think it is the glowing pool at Krezk.
- The dragon's house appears twice. The Paladin's house of a dragon and Osric's house of the fallen dragon. His road and ours run the same way.
- The hunter of hunters. We asked Aragal the next day whether he was one. "That seems a very grand title to give oneself." Then, the night before we found out what was in Henrik's coffins, the bard left us a chest of vampire-hunting kit with a note: "Hunt well those who hunt." We think our ally just equipped us. We still haven't managed a proper conversation with him.
- The only man he ever envied. The Vistani at the fire had no idea. The devil has been the same for about seven hundred years, and they keep their history by word of mouth. If the answer exists, it is written down somewhere.
- All five heirlooms are named. Osric's banner, Fëanor's stone, Lily's tooth and Drew's amber by the cards themselves, and Sirius's feather by the lady only he can see. We were brought here for a reason.
Roger's cards (Session 8)
Almost the first thing Roger said when Sirius sat down with the wine was "I bet you've just been dealt some cards and been told you have a great destiny. Am I right?" Then he pulled a battered handful of cards out of his jerkin and threw them on the table. "I had a destiny once. Turns out the destiny's a crock of shit."
His band had their reading from "the old woman out there", about forty-five years ago. We compared:
| Fate | Roger's band | Us |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge of the enemy | the Healer | the Healer: the same |
| Protection | the Paladin | the Paladin: the same |
| Power | the Avenger | the Avenger: the same |
| The ally | the Raven | the Executioner, the hunter of hunters |
| Where the devil lies | the Artifact | the Broken One, the tomb of the only man he ever envied |
What we took from it:
- The land's gifts don't move much. Three cards the same, a lifetime apart. Roger's band tracked their Healer card to Krezk, to a glowing pool and a powerful priest, though Krezk never let them in.
- The ally is each band's own, and it can be lost. Roger's was the Raven. Halfway along the road from Vallaki to Krezk his band met a half-raven man who said "Greetings, friend. I come in peace," and they killed him before he could say anything else. "I think it was the day we lost." Ours is still out there. We would like to recognise them before our swords do.
- The ending is each band's own, too. His road to the devil ran through an artifact. Ours runs through a tomb.
Questions
- Who is the lady of ravens, and why does she seem familiar to Sirius? Who has already read his fate?
- "What was stolen is not fully owned, and the land can be reclaimed." Stolen by whom? Reclaimed how? When Sirius said as much to the bard, the bard looked at him sharply: "That is a very astute thing to say, sir."
- Who is the only man the devil ever envied, and where is his tomb?
- What must Fëanor choose at dawn?
- Who in the den of beasts will need Lily's tooth, and what for?
- What will Osric have to kneel to, in the house of the fallen dragon?
- What will the knowledge in the mountains cost Drew?
Will we see her again? "Signs point to yes."