The Day of Revival (Open)

[Tsavin]

Tsavin had little doubt what the future had in store for him, but he was curious none the less. Determination did not always mean one would have their way, but if he was to have it it would be nice to know in advance. Perhaps this was a bad idea though, as his future might reveal things some people might find unacceptable. He knew his path would most likely cause him to do terrible things.

But, all that aside, Tsavin was curious. And though he shouldn't be wasting the money, he found himself digging a gold miza out of his pocket. "I'll have the full deal, please. If I'm going to learn the future, I'd might as well learn it all." He smiles, but behind that smile she might notice a look of aprehension. This could turn out badly, and he knew it. But, as they say, curiosity killed the cat.

[As'Fien]

"Oh... how fuuuuuun!"

Her nose wrinkled in a mischievous glee. A rare smile of focused intent graced the human in front of her. She took the gold meza and placed it in a box under the table, next to the feet of her father. Cracking her long fingers, she re-positioned the crystals on the table in order to better fit the time line positioning. She shuffled the cards several times before putting them in front of her customer.

"Alright... have a seat and cut the deck as you like it. Here is how it works. I am going to draw nine cards. Four on each side with the middle one which is the 'keystone'. That card represents us... here... and now having this conversation about the future. The four to the left are key events of the past which are leading to your current future. At which point, I will turn the keystone... that card will tell us what will happen to you if I do inform you of the rest of your future."

She pointed upward, looking rather sage despite having shown that slightly glassy gaze of hers.

"Here is why... if you know the future, you have the power to change it. If you know that there is a toll bridge with bandits, you are not going to get killed by them if you take the other gate out of town. The keystone will tell me whether telling you those events would be a good thing... or... something you really are better off not knowing. If you decide not to continue, I give you an extra sugar candy because we really didn't finish... For instance, if you knew a friend of yours was going to die and you rush over to them to see them, something along that way could kill you as well and... well! You see the point, right? You have to decide if the price of the knowledge is worth it..."

She wiggled her finger as she made the rest of the explanation, but noticed her finger was still in the air and stared at it for a couple of seconds before curling it slowly back into its normal position on her hand. She looked back to her customer and waited for him to cut the deck of cards in front of her.

[Akela]

It was an established fact that in Mizahar, things always started with two strangers bumping into each other. Sadly, in Mizahar people had been killed for less, too. None among the mortals would ever know if Akela had let herself get hit on purpose or not, though the man's towering mass was definitely hard to miss. And truth be told, the girl did not want to cause ruckus in town, if only because that might damage Kavala and her business. It would not do to have to flee the village at a furious gallop with arrows hissing everywhere. She just wanted a little excitement that did not involve bedding someone. She'd gotten enough of that with the Zith to last even a Konti's lifetime.

Akela looked up at Xander and noticed he was reaching for his weapon. She had to wonder what would have happened, had he been the one bumped into rather than the bumper. 'Excuse me, small one?' The girl blinked at the statement, as if doubting there could be people left in this world with that kind of vocabulary. She'd come to expect pretty much anything of the Akalak, probably because of the female scarceness in the area. They usually came in two varieties, often depending on which half was in control: emo or brooding. Sometimes emo and brooding at the same time. This one looked like he was of the brooding kind, which at least Akela liked better than the emo.

"Well, big'un," she quipped back, hand reaching for the hilt of her own sword (and without a guilty conscience as he had started it, after all), "mind paying some attention to the underwood when you walk around? 'Cause there's not much hope for me to grow any taller than this, but it doesn't take so much to shave a foot off those seven of yours, you know?" And she stood there, taking him in and struggling to keep her grin in check. Because there was no fun in poking a snake with a stick if it wasn't dripping venom from its fangs, and this one looked dangerous enough for her.

[Tsavin]

Tsavin watches with interest as the Konti shuffles the cards and explains how the fortune telling will be done. It didn't seem to be anything unusual, from what he'd heard about fortune tellers, but since he'd never actually had his fortune told he wasn't sure. He wondered how the keystone would tell her anything, since it was just one card. But she was the fortune teller, and so he did as she told.

Splitting the deck he nods his head to her. "I understand. I might hear something I don't like, but I'm willing to take that risk." He pauses for a moment, wondering if this was a bad idea, then shoves that idea aside. "I'm ready when you are."

[As'Fien]

"Alright, here we go!"

All nine cards were placed in an arc in front of the bowl. She flipped over the first card, which turned out to be a card symbolizing ability in the supernatural. She looked a little surprised for a moment before crossing her arms.

"Wow... never saw that card in the first shot before. This is interesting..."

The second was a card of falsehood and lies, the third was a card meaning health and life, the fourth meant a journey. Her face looked confused as one of her eyebrows arched. Something... was odd about this run. Often times it would be something obvious about how the person grew up, but this one was... very, very weird.

"You're... not easy. The only obvious thing about your past is that something of magical influence was at the core of your childhood..."

She paused, folding her hands in front of her as she stared... and stared at those four cards. Whatever happened early in life in order to get him to where he was in the here and now was really puzzling. They were not cards of the lower deck either, they were very significant cards.

"... Which eventually led to a journey later in life, but those two middle cards are killing me... all four of these cards are in the higher side of the deck... phew! Man, what happened to you?"

Leaning on the table she rested her head on her hand and tapped her fingers. She was starting to pull at straws for this one as she pointed at the cards.

"Let's see... lies? Deception? ... Nononono... Secrets..."

She snapped to herself. Her gut was telling her that it was right. Trying to look at the guy, she wondered what had happened to him before going to the third card.

"Health... good health, life... birth... Waaaait... these might be chained. Secrets of... life? That sounds right."

She turned the keystone... wealth? Immediately her hands dropped and she started snickering. Traveling, and when arriving to her, there was money?

"... and you came to me hoping to make more money... I don't see anything significantly negative over the horizon. Do you want me to focus more on the past cards, or have I said enough to make sense to you? Not everyone has four of the high deck in their past, so it's pretty significant. Still, you can't do anything about the past unless you want to learn more about it."

[Tsavin]

Tsavin watched as As'Fien began placing out the cards in front of her. He was a little skeptical, though the Konti were known for their ability to see into the past and future. They were supposed to be quite good at it. Still, he'd just given her one of his last mizas, so he hoped that she wasn't just some phony card reader. When she flipped the first card, she seemed a bit surprised. He wondered what it might be. It wasn't something easily recognizable like a reaper or a king or something.

As she continued to flip the three cards each brought an expression of puzzlement or surprise to her face, and Tsavin wondered what they might be. Was she seeing his mark in the Web, or perhaps the night he tried to bring his friend back to life as an undead? After she flipped the three cards she mentioned magic, and his skepticism went away. Magic was certainly a defining influence in his life, though he did not look the typical wizard. More like a hunter, in appearance, and so he was impressed that she was able to tell that from a few cards.

"Yes... magic has been a part of my life since I was a boy."

He waited patiently as she murmured to herself over the other three cards, listening as she followed the trail to his past.

"Let's see... lies? Deception? ... Nononono... Secrets..."

He nodded slightly as she began to piece it together. There were certainly secrets in his life. Secret magic, secret ambitions, secret crimes against life itself. It was no wonder she was so puzzled.

"Health... good health, life... birth... Waaaait... these might be chained. Secrets of... life? That sounds right."

He nods again as she figures out the third card. He held in his mind the secrets of life, though they might be a false life in some people's eyes. But one day he would create true, everlasting life... or so he believed. As for the fourth card, the journey, it could only be talking of his journey from the grasslands to where he was now. Though the journey in and of itself was nothing significant, it was perhaps the most important event of his life to date.

"... and you came to me hoping to make more money... I don't see anything significantly negative over the horizon. Do you want me to focus more on the past cards, or have I said enough to make sense to you? Not everyone has four of the high deck in their past, so it's pretty significant. Still, you can't do anything about the past unless you want to learn more about it."

As she flips the fifth card, the one she called the Keystone, even he can recognize it for what it is. At first, he was a bit disappointed. Yes, he'd come there with a faint hope that she might lead him to more money. But that was more of a joke than an actual desire. But when he thought about it, wealth was something he would need if his goals were ever to come to fruition. Perhaps mizas were an important part of his life, at least right now. Magic could be very expensive, and he needed to practice his magic to get anywhere closer to his goals.

"No, the secrets in my past are all my own. I know them, though I am very impressed with your ability to uncover them. Honestly, when you pulled out a deck of cards a part of me thought I'd just wasted a miza on you. ...but you are real. Everything you said had meaning to me."

He pauses, thinking for a bit. This was real now. Did he really want to look into his future, or was he going to be disappointed. It didn't matter. Whatever she told him, it could be changed if he did not like it. He would be forewarned, and could prepare better.

"No, continue with the future. My past is behind me."

[As'Fien]

"Oookay..."

Her demeanor was chipper unlike the mystic 'I am all powerful' that most fortune tellers had. She started flipping over the last four cards, and the first two was met with a slight indifference, but the last two... made her visibly twitch.

"Ooooooooh... that's... hmmm... six out of eight in the higher cards... thaaats..."

The first two were minor cards, but the glaring devil card at the third of the series and judgement at the end made her bite her lip slightly. She folded her arms in front of her and leaned back in her seat. She looked him over slightly, trying to get a better reading of him in general.

"... You're... one of those types that does anything it takes to get what you want, aren't you? ... I may be a fortune teller, but I won't pry."

Tapping the cards, she starts to explain.

"...This represents new business, as if starting a new career field. This one represents that you will likely be overburdened and might not see where you're going for awhile. Once you get that load in a place you can sell it, you'll be fine, though... here's where it gets tricky..."

She tapped the devil card and sighed, leaning in a different position as she looked the hand over.

"It's going to cater to your desires... a lot. You want something really really baaaadly... and you're going to sit in front of something to determine if it's worth it. If I had minor cards up until this point, I would have just said it would have been something trivial like getting drunk and getting jail time for it, but... you're not that simple!"

She kept tapping the devil card, looking her customer dead in the eye.

"I don't know what this is... I'll be honest with you. Even if it is merely to sit in front of a mirror and ask 'am I willing to give all for this', the decision is going to come... you're going to see if what you're obsessing over is worth the price you need to pay for this. It could be an external source doing this, or literally a court. Your future depends on that choice so much that it stops right there. It could be years down the road or next season."

Folding her hands in front of her and resting her chin she pauses in a melodramatic fashion and grins. Everyone had "that" in their lives... but his "that" from so many high cards had to be higher than others.

"Feel lucky, though. Not everyone has a choice in what happens to them in their future. Considering it was the judgement card, you will be a completely different person after that choice. If it truly is a rebirth, what you consider a good and bad choice now is not going to matter after that time comes."

[Tsavin]

Tsavin breathes deep, taking in everything she said. He had a good idea what that decision might be, and judgement could be a number of things. She was right though, he was willing do do anything to further his own ends. Even if it meant making what others might consider bad choices.

"I... I thank you for your time. It has been... enlightening." He was about to turn and leave, but stopped himself. He felt he should say something more, but didn't know what to say. Turning back toward her he says the first thing he can think of, "You.. you wouldn't happen to know anyone in need of strong hands, would you? I don't have many skills outside of hunting and magic, but I'm a quick learner and I'm afraid I'm almost out of mizas. ...my horse needs a better place to stay than tethered to a tree outside the gates, also."

[As'Fien]

Her eyes went to the ceiling of the tent as she tilted her head and placed a long finger on her cheek. Once again, she seemed lost in her own little world for a couple of moments before returning her attention to Tsavin.

"Hmmm... you're going to have a lot of competition around here for brute strength. I'm helping out at the Sanctuary which is dedicated to Animal rescue. I'm... still trying to find my specialty over there. Buuuuut... you'll surely find a place for your horse. You can learn a lot more about animals over there and expand your hunting skills with healing and other sort of things. You will have to talk to a Konti named Kavala for that."

She put away the cards and began to shuffle them, offering Tsavin one of the sugar candies since he had gotten the full reading. She packed the cards in her long fingers, looking into the bowl on the side.

"They are building a lot over there. I am there because I need more skills myself. I make candy and I read fortunes... not much to me... so I'm learning more about cooking over there. Iiiii'd... not mention that you use magic, though. I got scolded for dabbling in glyphs. Would you... like me to find her for you? I'm sure she's around the festival somewhere."

[Tsavin]

Tsavin takes the sugar candy and pockets it, not in the mood for sweets at the moment. He'll save it for when he gets back to his camp. It would certainly be a good desert to follow the rabbit or whatever random game he comes across to eat. He didn't want to spend any more money on food when he could catch it for himself, at least not until he found work.

Working with animals didn't sound like too bad a job. And anything that might expand his skills was a good thing. He might be able to help out with the building process as well. Though he was no carpenter, he was a hard worker and could learn well enough. The only catch, it seemed, was that he had to keep his magic a secret.

"So, they have a problem with you learning glyphing but they've no problem with you telling fortunes. Seems a little odd to me, as they both would be deemed magical by the common man. If it’s a problem though, I won’t mention it to them. But yes, if you could find her for me I'd definitely be interested. So far you're the only person I know, though we've only just met. My name is Tsavin, by the way.. Tsavin Deathless, because I always seem to narrowly avoid it."

He offers her one of the few genuine smiles he's given since coming to Riverfall, and waits to see what she'll say in return.