Solo There's Art In the Cards...

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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Nephti on May 31st, 2016, 3:14 pm

29th Spring 516

Nephti let her bangles jangle to the music drifting from tower of cloths, squeezing and squashing its way through the gaps where the cloth had to be joined to create such a large space. The city had been bursting with life these past days, and this newest addition to the festival of illusions seemed bring even more beauty and colour and life to the city. It was impossible to miss, even with the twisting streets, and since the morning when the noise of laughter and music had awoken her, Nephti had been making her way there, taking it in at a distance and savouring it, before it was unleashed fully onto her. With her brightest cards clutching in one of her hands, the Eypharian broke into a run, unable to contain her excitement, darting between those that went to the festival and the few that had found it not to their tastes, rare as they were, all of who flocked around her, colourful sheep moving with the crowd and gasping with wonder with what was to come.

It wasn't long until she discovered why. The tent opened in a million places, a wonder in itself, but it was the riches inside that were worth more than gold. Canvas, once white, was now anything but white. Colour could be found everywhere: here, paint looked as if it was dripping from the canvas, but Nephti's fingers remained dry as she ran her hand along the paintwork, tentatively, curious but terrified to ruin it; there, a pile of seamstresses worked with needle and thread across fabrics of the strangest colours, moving as one entity as they formed shapes from themselves in the pyramids they built and from the cloth they worked with. Any remains of silence had been banished to a land where it couldn’t, with a child on a fiddle standing beside her spinning out the fastest tunes possible while a whole band brought a slow and steady melody into the mix, joined by voices from professionals and public.

Her mouth had to fall open - it wasn't like she could help it. Jewels glistened around her, but the type that were too beautiful to be taken. This place was to be held close in the mind and never forgotten, but never repeated either. It had that sort of magic.

Lost in the art all around her, Nephti stumbled through sections, winding between dancers and spectators, not always certain which was which. Half the time, she wasn't exactly certain about which one she was either, for she seemed to move in time to at least one of the musicians in the nearby area, feet twisting and turning and bangles jangling in time as she stumbled around, searching for the next attraction. In fact, at one point she could have sworn she had gathered an audience, until she stepped aside and spotted the real dancing troupe behind her. People still applauded her anyway, unable to tell them apart either.

Finally, satisfied that she had absorbed enough of the beauty and art, she decided to add her own illusions to the mix. It wasn't as good as anything there, nor as beautiful, nor as practiced, but in her eyes, it was art. She moved to a quieter section of the tent, where a young man sat sculpting something, twisting the material in his hands until she went dizzy from trying to watch. She stepped away a little, settling down on the ground while twisting her arms as she shuffled her cards.
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There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Nephti on October 19th, 2016, 9:29 pm

They flew from hand to hand, spinning in the air as she shuffled. Colour darted around, shifting between the layers as she split groups of cards of, shuffling them separately. The six-armed girl with the flurry of cards in her hands drew the attention of a few, who gathered around, some kneeling to get a better look. Nephti grinned at them, continuing shuffling with the same manner as she had before, wildly, extravagantly. Shuffling was as much of the art as the actual cards were, as the actual card tricks were.

Then suddenly, she slammed them all together, smashing her hands together and making several members of her audience jump. Winking at them, she spread the cards out, all face-down, all waiting, gesturing for the nearest person to pick a card.

“You show the card to everyone. You remember the card. Then you place the card,” she tapped the top of the deck, smiling wider as she lifted it to show them all clearly, while catching the face of the bottom card quickly in the movement. Three of cups. “Here.”

The card was chosen, shown to others, and Nephti made a show of covering her eyes with her upper set of arms, pretending to try peek to the amusement of those who spotted. They laughed; she laughed; this wasn’t meant to be a strict routine – it was meant to be fun!

Waving the deck of cards in the general direction of the person holding the chosen card, she felt it added to the weight, opening her eyes fully with a smile. “You could have accidentally shown me – it would make this trick easy!” she teased to the audience, lifting the deck so everyone could see before cutting it once, twice, again. The cards felt good in her hands, running through her fingers as she made it clear she wasn’t intending on peeking.

Now for the boring part. She had no clue how to quicken this process up – every time she had practised searching for the card, it took forever, waiting to finally stumble across it. Her plan at the moment would take even longer, but she supposed that the audience wouldn’t mind. There was something mystical and hypnotic about the cards, about watching them move and shift through hands, searching for a hint to understand how, even when the trick wasn’t finished.

Suddenly, she stopped, scaring the audience again before they started laughing at the girl’s show. She placed the pack of cards in a lower hand, hesitating with her fingers just brushing the top card, which hung precariously over the edge.
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There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Nephti on October 21st, 2016, 8:49 pm

Then suddenly she started flipping them, moving each card up through the hands as she pointed it in all direction: first, to the other lower hand, sweeping it flat towards those seated, then in each middle and upper hand as she twisted it to the left, then the right, placing it finally in the last upper hand where it balanced, alone at first but slowly the pile moved up.

The audience watched captivated at each card’s journey, tracing its movements before choosing the follow the card that just followed it, eyes open wide for the card they wanted. Nephti was careful to make sure they never saw it. When her card appeared, the three woman holding their cups to the sky in plentiful celebration, she knew their card lay just under. Instead of picking up the single card, she gathered them both up in her hand, spiralling them carefully so they wouldn’t slip and reveal her secret. Rather, she covered the card so nothing could be seen. The moment before she placed them, she tucked the card under the deck for safekeeping.

Then, she continued the mad flipping and sweeping and turning until the lower deck was exhausted and everything was at the top. Faking a frown, she tried to appear very confused. “You gave the card to me, yes? Where is the card? Where did you hide the card?” She gave a giggle at the end, joined by the crowd, who had been starting fascinated at the cards. Their response was the one she wanted – the correct card was missing, misplaced under the deck. Bringing the pile on her upper hand closer to her, then placing all six hands around it, shielding it, she pretended to focus hard, even humming a little. Carefully, she pulled the card into one her hands, tucking it so it wouldn’t be seen behind her fingers, before moving it and another hand to rest in her lap as she shuffled through the deck again, pretending to focus even hard. “It is not here. Who has the card?”

Her eyes flickered through the audience until she spotted a man about Sayana’s age, wearing a long coat with a multitude of pockets. He seemed mildly amused, smirking a little at her performance. She pointed towards him, gesturing for him to come closer. Curious, he took a step, watching her rise from where she sat, still obscuring the card. “Why did you take the card?” she questioned, the man looked perplexed. She shook her head, pressing one finger to her lips before reaching into one pocket with the wrong hand. “Nothing,” she stated, trying another with another wrong hand, “Nothing. Where did you put the card?” Stopping to focus a moment, Nephti brought a hand to her chin, before reaching the hand hiding the card into the lowest pocket. Suddenly, her face lit, flipping it through her fingers as she revealed it, pointing the face towards the audience. “Is this your card?”

She couldn’t help a laugh escaping as the audience applauded, obviously delighted by their response. A few moved over to hand her handfuls of coins, others simply congratulating her on her performance. She thanked each and every one of them the same, glad to have provided her own illusions for this city.
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There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Nephti on October 21st, 2016, 9:21 pm

The man who she had pretended to be the thief of the card frowned, confused how she had found it there. “I never took it, I promise-”

Nephti pressed a finger against her lips, shushing him, “The cards – they like to... have fun. I have one trick. The cards do not like to stay still.”

Interested by the prospect of another trick, most of the crowd lingered, returning to their positions as she sunk to sit back down in her own position. This trick was harder, mainly because she had never performed it, and it was one of her own invention. Unlike the previous one, it wasn’t something tried and tested with an audience – hopefully, they would all find it as captivated as she hoped they would.

She shuffled through the pack, realising her mistake at once. She always prepared the cards before she performed to her imaginary audience. Cursing her luck, she struggled to adjust them to suit her, flailing her arms and winding into a long story, trying to distract the audience with her story while she rifled through the cards. “Before many years, there were four men. One,” she found the card, displaying it for all to see, “Was a Magician, who could do magic. His magic was strange, not like magic now. It could change anything and do anything – he was very powerful. He had a friend, the Emperor, very wise, very... powerful, but in another way. The Emperor, he had very many men, and one was the Hierophant. This man spoke to gods. He was given mark by them all.”

The last card was the hardest to find, until it slipped out of the deck, landing on the three waiting below as if she meant to have it fall out like it did. Smiling at it, she showed the audience the card clearly. “Another man was the Fool. All thought he was stupid, but he was clever. He did own thing. He always learned, always traveled. One day, he met Magician, and he told the Magician about the Emperor. The Magician wanted to know about Emperor’s power, so he asked Fool to travel there with him.”

Carefully, Nephti fiddled with the deck. She placed three cards slyly behind the Hierophant, before placing the Emperor on top. One by one, she added the Fool and Magician, slipping them between the Hierophant and the three random cards. “But when Magician came to Emperor, gods were scared. The Emperor and Magician were very powerful, and when Emperor and Magician in the castle, more powerful.” She stumbled over her own words, uncertain whether she got the message across. It was hard to phrase, when she couldn’t think of the words. “So the gods asked Hierophant to make them travel away. He went to castle,” she placed the pile of cards on the rest of the deck, signifying the castle. “And told Magician to travel to Alvadas and told Emperor to travel to Ahnatep,” she listed the first two names she could think of.
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There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Nephti on October 21st, 2016, 9:32 pm

“Obviously, the Fool travelled first, far.” Taking the top card, she slipped it in right at the bottom, making it clear to the audience that she was not keeping track of it. “Then Magician, who did not understand.” The next card was slotted randomly in the middle, once again in a place that was completely coincidental. “Then the Emperor, who did not understand more. He travelled close to castle, so he could travel back quickly.” The third card was moved just under the group of the real cards, which sat waiting for the reveal.

Nephti smiled at her audience, trying to buy time. Somehow, she had forgotten the rest of the story. Yes, the Hierophant summoned them, but why? How? Biting her lip, she tried to improvise, changing her plan as she went. “But Fool knew gods and knew to call back Magician and Emperor. So he travelled back,” she tapped the top of the deck, the peeled the first card off, revealing it as the Fool as she smiled to the audience, clearly amazed, “And called Magician,” the next revealed was the same, as was the card that followed, “And Emperor.”

Blinking as the third card pulled out was once again meant to be in the middle of the deck somewhere, the audience began to clap, but Nephti quickly hushed them. With their amazement, she had the distraction to complete the sleight of hand by slipping the Hierophant to the very bottom of the deck.

“The gods, angry, killed the Hierophant as he had failed them. He was buried under the castle.” Lifting the “castle” she showed the Hierophant at the very bottom, smiling at the applause.

The audience had grown during the trick, now much bigger than the one for the last one. Even more came to congratulate her, a few even daring to ask her the secret of the magic trick. “Ask Ionu,” she replied mystically, “Illusions are not to be understood, or no longer magic.” With a wink, she dismissed the rest of the audience, exhausted of tricks. She would need some more, if she wanted to continue to amaze. Or she could just come back later and repeat it all again. Glad that she had at least managed to add her own mystery and beauty to this tent, she pocketed the cards, and returned to exploring, a skip in her step and a smile to her face, glad she had managed to mystify the masses, even with her tiny illusions.
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There's Art In the Cards...

Postby Kaleidoscope on November 6th, 2016, 7:49 pm

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Nephti

Skills:
Land Navigation +1
Running +1
Observation +2
Dance +1
Gambling +4
Acting +3
Busking +2
Storytelling +2


Lores:
✦ Alvadas Event: The Festival of Illusion
✦ Card Tricks: Hiding Cards Using Misdirection
✦ Card Tricks: Being Sleight of Hand(s)
✦ Using Stories to Stall for Time
✦ Card Tricks: Using Stories with Tarot Cards
✦ Storytelling: Magician, Emperor, Heirophant, and Fool
✦ Storytelling: Using Improvisation to Fill in the Blanks
✦ Nephti: Girl of Little Illusions


Critique: This thread feels to me to be a significant step up in your writing, Nephti. The introductory post brought me straight into the atmosphere. I could really feel the joy of Alvadas' Festival of Illusions brought to life. As the thread progressed, I enjoyed seeing how Nephti practised her craft. I have always thought it is a really neat idea to have an Eypharian 'magician', in the sense of doing card tricks and being a fortune teller and the like. You write Nephti very well in this thread, she seems youthful yet practised and toughened by her life... whilst still retaining an enjoyment of beautiful things. Quite rightly too, in my opinion!

I honestly can't think of much that I actually want to criticise. At first, it was a little difficult to follow the cards, especially when you were talking about the different hands she was using. However, that was a problem of not reading slowly enough, on my part. I think you portrayed Nephti's youthfulness well, and her difficulties with the language. Overall, I'm very impressed with this writing, and I would love to see more of it. I don't know why you feel so uninspired to write job threads, because this is wonderful! :)


Enjoy your grade, and please don't forget to delete/edit out your grade request. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM.

Stay weird,
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-Beautiful boxcode credits go to Aislyn!
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