The Alternative [Volans]

[Liar]

The moment of the turn always thrilled Ren, and it was apparent on her face as she watched him. She held her breath as his hand reached out, as the card scratched against the wood of the table and whispered to its other side. She chuckled. She should have guessed that he would draw staves; given the shimmer of his horns and the blood on his back, it was not surprising that there were three. They faced Volans, right-side up. The little man in the illustration stood between them, gazing at the sea as an ethaefal might. But were his eyes full of sorrow and longing, or of foresight and resolve? “You have lost something important to you,” she observed, eyeing the spirals that sprouted from his head. “But that is much clear. You overcame your hardship and emerged hopeful.” She tapped the card thoughtfully as her mind wandered between its meaning and what little she knew if her guest. “You must have had help; you would not have survived this long, if you had not. But the suffering we address on this night must be one you faced alone. An internal one, perhaps. Can you say what the powers want you to remember? You do not have to share it, if you prefer it.” She sat back, wondering how much he knew of the process, the cards and he fortune they told. When his musings were complete, she would nod to the two stacks he had made and say, “Choose one and split it again.” OOCI figure we’ll do a basic three-card reading. I know Volans’s past, but you might choose the present card since you know his current situation better than I do.

[Volans]

Now and forevermore, he is... ...the one who dwells in the recesses of night. Black irises settled on the fine surface of the tarot card, inspecting the minute detail the three of staves held. It was almost ironic, in fact. That man standing there, it could have very well been Volans. Divested from the sea and standing on its edge, looking out with - but what was that expression in his eyes? Volans sighed. "I'm homesick." he said at last. "I've been torn from everything I've ever cherished - my love, my god, everything. Spat back out into a world I no longer recognize...why am I here? How was I torn away from my lord's realm? I ask myself these questions everyday." "But I can never find an answer..." by his sides, Volans's hands balled into fists. "Why can't I find an answer?!" Silence. Volans's head was turned to the side, a shadow having fallen across it. A trembling hand pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbed the temples from which horns tapered forth. Then, with a focused intake of breath, Volans looked back at the table, his countenance devoid of any expression. "The second card." he murmured. With his right hand, no longer trembling, Volans grabbed one of the decks and split it again. And then, he flipped one of the cards over. Plants flowered beneath an outstretched hand, which grasped a star in the depths of its palm. Volans stared at it for a moment. And then; "The ace of pentacles. A fresh start, new responsibility. A chance to start anew. Ah, but to take this opportunity, one must let go of the past. To plant new roots one must first shear old ones." Volans sighed again. "I must let go of what happened if I'm ever to adjust to this new life." Volans's eyes glazed over, repressed by some bittersweet memory. He shook his head once, twice, and then his eyes cleared. They refocused on Ren with an almost reverent expression concealed within their depths. Barely paying attention now, Volans took the last stack and split it. "...the third, and final, card."

[Liar]

Ren frowned, tipping her chin into the bend of her hand. She paused a moment before she continued, contemplating. It was the Chariot: man, horse, wheel, and carriage. It was a formidable force, but only when all the pieces worked in unison. And it was reversed; perhaps an endeavor of his would fall apart, or he would soon discover that he was missing a part, a detail in his plans. Here in the present, he was taking his chance to start again. In the tenuous and distant future, his efforts would be thwarted. He must know what it meant, given what he had known about his second card, but she would not let him see it as a despairing omen. If he dared to speak first, she would interrupt him. “There will be a battle between what you want, your renascence, perhaps, and what you must do. You will fight, but it seems you will fail.” She leaned forward and gripped her elbows, glancing between the cards for a light in the darkness. “But the world goes in circles, and your staves will guide you. Let go of the past, for certain, but do not forget it. Learn from it. Do not face this challenge alone. With others—friends, enemies, lovers, strangers—to help put your pieces together, you will survive, and maybe even be victorious.” If only to distract from the peculiar fortune, Ren changed the subject, a bit too quickly. The observation lilted like a question. “You know how to tell fortunes. Not many in this city can boast as much.”

[Volans]

Now and forevermore, he is... ...the one who dwells in the recesses of night. Eyes settled on the Chariot like dying embers, subsumed in cold hard earth. There was a sort of sadness refracted through the dark opals as they looked down on that tarot card, which in a twist of irony faced him directly. But to Ren, the one who drew the card, the fate the Chariot was truly giving was much different than the one Volans saw. “I see.” He murmured in a low voice, leaning back in his chair to take a deep breath. “Thank – thank you. This reading has been most informative.” The head rose slightly to survey the woman in front as she made her observation. “I don’t know where I learned it, truthfully.” Volans shrugged. “It’s like a skill that I forgot...my mind tells me I cannot read cards, but my body can – it’s like an intuition.” He tried to smile. A question twisted the edges of his failed attempt. “If reading fortunes is so rare, than how do you know how to do it?” He tilted his head to the side, the flickering candlelight painting curiosity on the contours of his heavens-touched face. It seemed to start a fire in the glossy jewel tones of his horns, which stabbed out into the darkness in a painful wonder. Answers, that was all he wanted - Answers. That was the one thing Volans needed.

[Liar]

She seemed unable to resist the smile that consumed her features then, cast larger in the distorting shadows of the firelight, as if to tease the meager attempt on her guest’s face. Intuition, was his answer. This was exactly the man they celebrated in this little hole of Nyka, and it was infallible intuition that had guided him to them. Ren hid her excitement behind the scrape and flip of cards as she returned them to a single pile and set them aside. “My mother taught me,” she explained in a low voice, as if there were someone to hear. Still her smile remained, unhindered by apparent secrecy. “And her mother, before that. The Nine Staves are close-knit if only because our cause brings fear to those who do not understand it. As you must know, fear of the unknown brings isolation and hate to the feared. That is, until we join together and learn to love that which others cannot.” She loosed a sigh and fidgeted, glancing around the room. There was something on her mind, and she seemed to be mulling over the words. “I have told you of fear, and of truth, and of uncertainty. You are not afraid, and so your talent brings your truth in the uncertainty, don’t you think? Here, we call it the in-between. We celebrate intuition, and fate, and understanding the unknown. We worship truth, and the pursuit of it. The tarot cards are only one of many means to that end.” She waited a second too short to add, “Join us. We have rations and lodging, and you would be paid to stand sentry at this door, to receive your fellow outcasts and to read the fortunes of the brave. You have what it takes; you’ve already proven it.” OOCSorry this took so long. We should be able to wrap it up soon, and I'll give you Winter wages retroactively.

[Volans]

Letters were formed on Volans’s lips, but no words came forth. He seemed actually struck silent by this one. It was as if the invisible cogs in his head were whirring over Ren’s words, picking them up and dusting them off, looking for some sort of motive hidden behind them. It took a moment before his tenor voice managed to form a sentence. And it was lacking, to say the least; “Join you?...” A form leaned forward suddenly, his face drawing close to hers in an instant. In their closeness Volans could feel Ren’s breath tickle his cheek. “I...will. Yes, I will.” Sudden decisiveness overrode a natural hesitancy, the bold agreement accompanied by a shift backwards in his seat. “Yes...yes, I wish to join the Nine Staves.” He wavered ever so slightly then, concern coloring his voice. “I will need your help, though...” he asked in a low voice. “Intuition will only take me so far. Would you be willing to teach me how to read fortunes?” A clattering of wooden pegs confirmed that Volans had pushed his chair back and stood up. He paused there, looking down on Ren with dark eyes that seemed filled with a new flame. “I should probably get back to my room in the Safe Haven,” he murmured, “But after tonight, I would like to take you up on your offer of lodging.” He grimaced ever so slightly. “Conditions at the hostel are a bit, a bit – uncomfortable, to say the least.” Barring any further conversation, a prudent stride would take Volans back to the door. As he prepared to open it, however, a sudden though filled his mind. Volans looked back, and, perhaps for the first time, smiled. Dira’s shadow, which had been cast over his face, seemed to have been washed away by the candlelight and replaced by a measured understanding. “Thank you, Ren,” he said sincerely, “For exposing him to the in-between.” The door opened, and an ethaefal, struck by the kindness of fate, left the Nine Staves.

[Liar]

EXPERIENCE AWARD Volans Skill Points Fortune Telling 4 Running 1 Investigation 1 Lore Wheatwhip Wounds Location of the Nine Staves The Ace of Pentacles A Fragmented Future The In-Between Employment Fortune Teller at the Nine Staves (This has been added to your Storyteller Secrets thread) Housing Volans can choose to live at the Nine Staves at no cost, for as long as he works there. Notes Congratulations on Volans’s new job! I look forward to watching how you play out his fortune.