A forum for the Port Luskan role play

The doorway to the side room of Ye Olde Book Shoppe now sports a sign:


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******Tarot Readings******
~~~~~~~~~~~~by~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceridwen Rowanstar

Please indicate if you want a general reading,
or you can ask a specific question.
Readings can be made in a three-card spread,
a five-card Simple Cross, or ten-card Tree of Life.
Please indicate your preference.

Now with Faerie oracle readings!
***New cards and layouts!

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Inside the small room there is a large well-polished round wooden table, several comfy chairs, and a cozy fire in the hearth. On one side of the table are a quill and inkwell, and a small leather-bound blank book ready for questions and comments.

***A fair amount of time later -- though who can say how long, in Dream? -- new cards are left by a giggling visitor. And so Ceri adds a new line to the sign on the wall.

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Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Alyra arrives back in the bookshop and the first thing she notices is Ceri's sign. She smiles to herself, then goes to the table and lifts the quill.

In Ceri's blank book, she writes the following:

I would like two readings, please, one for the island and one for myself. I think the Tree of Life would probably be best, as detail is important. For the island, I would like a general reading. For myself,

Here Alyra pauses and thinks for a long time. At last she sighs resignedly and finishes the note:

a general reading as well.

Many thanks,
Alyra

Ceri slips in and checks the book, grinning a little to see that Alyra has found a way to ask the same question in two different ways. One reading specifically for herself -- and true to Alyra's nature, one for everyone to share. Well, probably best to do the general reading for the Island first, it was only proper. She could come back later to focus on Alyra, after the influence of the first reading had left the cards.

Ceri sits in one of the comfy chairs and shuffles, while focusing on the Island around her, all the people she's met, the stories of past events that Alyra has told her, soaking up her surroundings as the cards slip through her hands.

First card, in the center. Second card sideways beneath it. Third card above, fourth below. Fifth on the left and sixth on the right. Then cards seven, eight, nine, ten lined up on the right side, laid down bottom to top.

Setting down the deck, Ceri flips over the first six cards in order. King of Swords, reversed. Page of Cups, reversed. Judgement, reversed. Four of Coins. Ten of Swords, reversed. Eight of Coins. Studying the cards for a long moment, Ceri pulls the book over and begins to write:

There have been many dark times in the past, and those who find shelter here are still effected. It will be difficult for many in the coming days to settle down, to find peace and realise that they need not jump straight into fighting. Strangers to the Island will arrive along with those called to return. Be careful, some may fall into the trap of mistrusting anyone they do not recognise, others may be too trusting, and this could lead to unneeded hostilities. Those returning have gone along with the flow, unable to affect events as the tragedies hit the old Island and flung people far and wide; don’t lose heart, now you are not against overwhelming odds. Now your efforts can and will effect events and your surroundings.

Ceri sets down the quill and turns over the last four cards. Two of Wands. The Empress, reversed - which makes her blink; 'too easy going' for environmental factors? Then the Four of Wands, reversed. And finally.... Ceri slowly turns over the last card, and smiles. Then she picks the quill back up and continues to write:

Welcome home to Port Luskan, one and all. Come find friends old and new, reach out to others and let them reach out to you. This is a new Island, and everyone here can influence it and make this place into whatever they wish. This is our collective goal and all our accomplishments. Welcome home to both the reality -- and the Dream.

And Ceri smiles again at the final card. The Moon.

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Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Glenn looks around the Shoppe and see the sign, Coolies he says, hey Miss do you give readings to little folks to, Thinks to himself think i gotta ask for one in this book thing. Glenn looks round for the book, then sees it and opens it he writes inside, Hi ya this is Glenn can i have a reading thingy please well i would like a reading about all the animals not worried what way but if you got things with pictures of animals on that will be fine, i got no money but i leave you my fav whistle as payment thank you Glenn.

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Search for the hero inside yourself

After a trip to the docks for a fresh baked, warm blueberry muffin, Ceri returns and is a little surprised to see a whistle sitting next to the open book. Reading the somewhat messy scrawl, Ceri grins and makes a mental note to send the whistle back to Glenn via Murry, her messenger-albatross (he could carry much heavier and larger packages than the messanger-pigeons, and fly farther too, even if he was rather ornery and inclined to steal your fishsticks). Ceri was perfectly happy to accept food but had little need for money or possessions - she made enough coin from busking while wandering away from the Island. Besides, she never worried about money in her Dreams.

At any rate, she would get to Glenn's reading after Alyra's. Deciding now was a good time to do Alyra's personal reading, Ceri sits back down and begins shuffling her deck. This time she concentrates on Alyra, how she looks, the sound of her voice, Alyra and her friends, Alyra at the Bardic Circle, Alyra the mage, bard, priestess, fighter, friend....

Ceri lays out the cards in the Tree of Life formation. Card one, Two of Cups, reversed. Card two, The Hermit. Card three, Six of Coins. Card four, The Lovers. Cards five and six, Knight of Swords and Five of Wands, both reversed. She sighs, "Oh Alyra, you're thinking of Cel again." And she begins to write in the book.

After looking at what she's written, Ceri thinks for a moment, and carefully tears the page out of the book. "Probably best to send this to Alyra privately." she mutters.

Pausing, she flips over the last four cards. Queen of Swords. Six of Swords, reversed. Three of Wands. Eight of Swords, reversed. She finishes writing out her interpretation on the torn out page, folds it carefully, and slips it into an envelope marked 'Alyra Moondancer'. After a few moments indecision, she goes to the window to call a messenger pigeon and sends it off.

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Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Alyra comes downstairs to the bookshop (well, comes down - there are actually no stairs between her apartment and the shop) after a fitful night's sleep. She has spent most of the night wondering if she falls asleep in Dreams, does she wake up in the "real" world, or does she sleep in her dreams, too? Feeling a bit muzzy-headed, she goes to her desk at the rear of the shop, sits down and stares at the page she began writing the night before - the lead story for this week's Port Luskan Beat.

The page says: "ideas for lead story." Other than that, it is blank.

She stares at it for a full five minutes, sighs, shakes her head, and stands up. "I think I maybe jumped the gun on this," she remarks out loud to herself. "We've only just begun here - we don't have anything to make news out of yet." She frowns, shakes her head again, and goes to the fire, intending to make herself some tea. About midway across the room she realizes that the mugs are in the side room (why, she has never understood), and she changes trajectory.

As she passes Ceri's Tarot Table, she notices a whole lot of fresh writing in the book. Curious, she goes to see who else has requested readings.

She reads the first reading, the general reading for the island, almost dispassionately. She thinks it is a good reading, a positive one, but she is also well aware that the cards do not necessarily reveal all.

She notices that a page has been torn out and is puzzled by this, but before she has a chance to think this over, there is a fluttering sound and a soft thump at the door. She goes to open it.

The bedraggled pigeon (who has probably been flying around looking for her for a while) slumps gratefully onto her shoulder and drops a slightly battered envelope into her hand. Alyra pulls some crumbs from her pocket and tosses them onto the floor for the pigeon, then opens the envelope. She recognizes Ceri's hand and bets the ragged edge on the parchment matches the torn fragment in the book, but she doesn't check. She sings her spell to shift and vanishes, reappearing moments later in her room to read the message.

Ceri returns from her stroll and decides her mind is clear enough to do Glenn’s tarot reading now. After reviewing his question – a general reading for all the animals of the Island, if she’s reading the scrawl correctly – she sits down, pulls out her deck, and begins to shuffle.

She doesn’t know Glenn very well, except that he apparently likes animals a lot, since he’s asked for a reading for them, so she’s rather glad the question is not so much for himself. It is much harder to do a reading for someone she doesn’t know when they aren’t there to shuffle the cards for themselves.

Glenn had not said which card spread he wanted, so after a few shuffles Ceri decides to go with a Simple Cross just for a change. She begins laying out the cards: card one in the middle, card two on top, card three on the bottom, card four on the left and card five on the right. Setting down her deck she pauses a moment, then flips them over: Queen of Coins, Nine of Cups, Eight of Swords, Page of Swords, Ten of Cups. No reversed cards, surprisingly, and no Fire cards or Major Arcana. Ceri blinks and takes a minute to study the cards. Then another long minute. Sighing, Ceri decides to send this reading in private to him when she returns the whistle – apparently the cards wanted to send Glenn a message rather than commenting on his animal friends. She’d do a second reading for the animals afterwards.

After writing out her interpretation and sending the note and whistle with Murry the albatross, Ceri shuffles the cards back in and tries the three-card spread, focusing as best she can on the animals of the Island. The Magician. Nine of Cups. The Devil. No reversals yet again.

There is much more out there than animals. Lots of people, for one. Life is a celebration. Get back into the swing of things. Go find Stormie and – There is a largish smudge here, but the word ‘mischief’ is still partly legible. Oh, and the animals are doing just fine. Ceri adds on the end.

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Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

A tiny figure like a child,
yet not like a child,
takes a glance around the room.

Smiles at the book of readings,
leaves a handful on the table,
and giggling, skips out the window
before the girls return.

Painted leaves and peeled bark,
offerings in a little pile.

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Have you ever stopped to think and forgot to start again?

Ceri flips through the booklet made of birch bark peelings and finds a "Stepping Stones" layout -- Card 1 upright (what helps me now, or present state of being), Card 2 on its side to the right of 1 (what hinders me now), Cards 3 and 4 upright above 2 (how I can break through this hinderance), Card 5 upright centered above 3 and 4 (where this takes me). Using the leaf cards with the faeries painted on them, she shuffles thrice and lays them out, thinking hard on the question 'How will Faerie and Port Luskan mix, now that we know of each other?'.

Card 1: Spirit Dancer (reversed) -- Self-expression. Freedom. Exploration. // Self-absorbed and obsessed, unable to express onself, entangled in one's own fantasies. Angry and driven, may be unable to express feelings except through destruction.
Card 2: Luathas the Wild -- Haste. Impulsiveness. Fire. Sponteneity, Balance. Wild creative energies are being called up, energizing all around them. New approaches are called for. Go for it -- do something spontaneous, now! Follow your instincts. Go faster and take chances.
Card 3: Mikle Á Muckle (aka A Mixed Blessing) -- Everyday blessings. Play. Mixed blessings. Lighten up! Don't complicate things. Welcome adventure into your life. Open your heart and let out your inner child. Try something new.
Card 4: G. Hobyah -- Imaginary fears. Unreal hazards. Realistic caution. Look for the truth behind your fears, distinguish between what is real and what is your imagination taking over. Confront the monster in your closet and find strength in the destruction of falsity.
Card 5: Iris of the Rainbows -- Hope. Promise for the future. Light is breaking through the present darkness. Hope is a major factor in speeding this process up. There is brightness and beauty here. Something is gained from the passage through the storm.

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Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.