Seven Horrors Inbox

[presgarddihellis]

[Action | Prayers]

Comments

[presgarddihellis]

I might.

[but no, he's opening up the book to the page about the Justice card.

taps the title of the chapter.]

Miss Psychiatrist.

[ordimame]

[ah. his grin fades, though the smile still remains]

Truth. Fairness. Balance. Right?

That feels appropriate.

[presgarddihellis]

She is from the Spectator Pathway, so it stands to reason that she has a more impartial view of things.

[flipping through the book...

Hanged Man.]

Mr. Seafarer.

Honestly, better for the card than that god I mentioned was.

[ordimame]

[frowns!!]

I don't know if I'd want to be associated with that card. . . sacrifice, right?

[presgarddihellis]

It's about sacrifice, but in terms of giving up the short term in the name of the long term. A change in perspective and waiting for the right moment in time.

He's a very active mind, so he considers all kinds of angles. And he did give up pursuit of a position with another god's Church to support mine, after all.

It was actually the best choice, in the end. That god is dead now.

[ordimame]

[hmmm. . .]

So Mister Seafarer wasn't a god himself, despite having close associations with one of the tarot. . . this is starting to get confusing.

[presgarddihellis]

I'm the only one of the original group who's gotten to that Sequence.

There's a balance to the Pathways. So the others have gotten to Sequence 1 or 2, but not higher yet.

[ordimame]

[okay, okay. . . he is starting to understand]

Okay. I get it. Though. . . now I haven't a different question.

How do people decide which Pathway they want to traverse?

[presgarddihellis]

[actually, a good question.]

Ease of availability and access, mostly.

The potions' ingredients are kept largely secret. So you'd either have to become a member of a Church and its secret organization, or be involved in the underground Beyonder markets where the chances of the recipes being fake are higher.

In my case, the Church of Evernight had access to four different Pathways' Sequence 9 recipes: Sleepless, Corpse Collector, Mystery Pryer, and Seer. [flips pages in the book, pausing on The Star, Death, and The Hermit.] As a Nighthawk, I was able to choose any of those four, but I was cautioned that they only had Sequence 9 of the Seer Pathway.

I might've gone a different route, but... something that Emperor wrote down convinced me otherwise. It was a risk of being stuck at Sequence 9 due to lack of recipes, but... it was a risk that paid off.

[probably because it was meant to... set up to...]

[ordimame]

[hah]

So you chose the-- the Seer-- as a sort of gamble.

That seems like you.

[and it seems very much like a "Fool" thing to do, too]

[presgarddihellis]

[hmm... turning the pages to Wheel of Fortune.]

Fate's very fickle. And truly... to assume we're above it is when you're asking for trouble.

[ordimame]

So you took a risk hoping that it'd be on your side? That's pretty brave.

[he doesn't sound judgmental, though. just amused]

Has it been treating you well since then?

[presgarddihellis]

[... flips the pages to The World.






shuts the book.

smiles.]

Lately, it hasn't been so bad.

[ordimame]

[HE SAW THAT!!! a quirked brow]

Is that one you, too?

[presgarddihellis]

No.

[the smile of truth telling on a technicality.]

It's funny. That one has the meaning of "new beginnings", also.

[ordimame]

[nts ask Raven the same question]

"New beginnings," but from the perspective of understanding the self from within. Versus the Fool's "new beginnings" from the perspective of the outside world's influence.

. . . or something poetic like that!

[BE PROUD OF HIM SMITH HE IS LEARNING]

[presgarddihellis]

["Something poetic"... but well. he's not wrong.]

They do say that the Major Arcana are actually more like the story of one's life journey. The zero and the twenty-first cards are the beginning and so-called end. But the others can be arranged in whatever way and can show up at any time.

And then, of course, once you reach the "end", it can result in starting back at the "beginning".

[jazz hands. TAROT!]

[ordimame]

[TAROT!!]

It's cyclical. . . symbolic for how life is a series of many journeys, not just one?

[presgarddihellis]

Exactly so.

[ordimame]

[hmm. . . giving Smith a soft, lopsided smile]

. . . thanks for sharing. It was fun, to learn something new.

[presgarddihellis]

Just be sure to use such knowledge wisely.

[he is. still vibrating internally, a little.]

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . .]

Do you think it counts? If someone were to invoke— that?

[it's vague, but. what he means is. . . if someone were to call him "The Fool," would that be considered a true name?]

[presgarddihellis]

Yes.

If it is something that people only know something or someone by, it should count.

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . . . . . well then]

[. . .]

[. . . mutters something quietly underneath his breath]

[presgarddihellis]

[... that better not be you muttering his title.]