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The Tarot-Mages

"Most cartomancers read fortunes. Tarot-mages read the god."
— A senior cartomancer, in unguarded conversation

The inner circle of tarot magic in Cadwallon. Not a formal organization. Not a guild. A loose, semi-secret network of magicians who have advanced far enough in tarot practice to begin catching fragments of Desire's dreams directly. The Guild of Cartomancers knows they exist. The Guild does not fully control them. Some of the most powerful magicians in the city are tarot-mages who have never appeared on any guild roster.

What They Are

Tarot-mages are practitioners who use copies of Vanius's 22 arcana — not the originals, but accurate reproductions of the illustrations. The enchantment of a tarot-mage's deck is a re-enactment of the struggle between Conscience and Desire which draws on Desire's powers through ritual sympathy.

Most tarot-mages can cast at the level of competent magicians. The advanced ones can do more:

  • Catch echoes of Desire's dreams during readings
  • Sense the [[Labyrinth]] when standing near a corridor entrance
  • Reproduce, at human scale, fragments of the gods' early powers — small acts of creation, dissolution, or transformation that should be beyond mortal magic
  • Sometimes prophesy with disturbing accuracy

The Two Factions

The civil war

The senior tarot-mages who have sensed the [[Labyrinth]] are divided into two warring factions over what to do with the knowledge:

The Open Hand — wants to map the corridors, study the maze, recover Vanius, and reassemble Vanius's deck. They believe knowledge is the only defense against Desire waking.

The Closed Door — wants the corridors sealed, the cards left where they lie, and the entire Labyrinth-knowledge buried. They believe every intrusion accelerates Desire's waking.

Both factions guard the underground "corridors" leading to the Labyrinth. Both have killed for them. Both have informants in the Guild of Cartomancers. The Duke knows of the split and has tried, twice, to mediate; both attempts failed.

Where They Operate

  • The Observatory in the The Automaton fief — neutral ground; both factions meet here under guild auspices
  • The Tavern of the Tarot in the Wall of Earth district — informal contact point; free leaguers can sometimes hire a tarot-mage here for premium prices (Free Leagues documentation: "consult Vanius")
  • Hidden corridor entrances scattered across the city — each guarded; not publicly mapped
  • The Last Dance cabaret in Heaven Heights — neutral; Alizarine reads there
  • Various private salons in the upper city

Notable Tarot-Mages

  • Alizarine — reader at the Last Dance; faction unconfirmed (publicly neutral); deck of disputed provenance
  • Various senior Cartomancer council members — every official guild office contains both factions
  • Anellys (Cynwäll scholar) — long-time student of Sphinx-era knowledge; possibly aligned with the Open Hand
  • The mysterious "first tarot-mage to teach Den Azhir" when the Duke was wandering in an orc body — identity still secret; possibly a senior Closed Door figure

Tarot-Mage Tools

  • Tarot decks — every tarot-mage has at least one; serious practitioners have several
  • Onyrs (dream-stones) — used to anchor Desire's emanations during casting (see Mana & Magic)
  • Corridor markers — small stones carved with personal sigils, placed near Labyrinth-corridor entrances to claim territory
  • A copy of the Twenty-Two Songs, an underground tarot-mage textbook that does not officially exist

Relations

  • Guild of Cartomancers — official umbrella; controls some but not all
  • Voyagers — adjacent; many tarot-mages are also Voyagers
  • Sophet Drahas — feared and avoided. Drahas holds two arcana and has killed tarot-mages who approached him.
  • Duke Den Azhir — complicated. The Duke wants the cards reassembled; the Closed Door faction wants them never reassembled; the Open Hand wants them reassembled but under tarot-mage control, not ducal control.
  • The Bards of Destiny — informational partners; bards and tarot-mages exchange notes

The card-bearer

A free leaguer recovers a card. A tarot-mage approaches them at a tavern within 24 hours. The mage offers a fair price and free reading. A different tarot-mage approaches them six hours later with a better offer and a warning that the first mage works for the wrong faction. A third approaches them twelve hours after that with a sealed envelope and no introduction. They have one card and three buyers. The choice they make tells the factions who they are.

The Labyrinth opens

A senior Open Hand tarot-mage announces — in a public salon — that she can navigate the Labyrinth and return alive if escorted by free leaguers willing to follow her instructions. The Closed Door faction sends someone to kill her before she can attempt it. The Open Hand sends bodyguards. The party is offered the contract to escort, or kill, or simply observe.