Ch 31: Major Arcana

No one is certain of where Tarot cards first emerged. There are decks used across Drakthiss, among the orcs and elves, and even some massive stone carvings used by the giants. One day, they simply were.

• Bartholomew Castile, The Unknown Origins

There was a moment of blackness and then sudden light. Unlike the last time he’d arrived, he wasn’t simply a formless mass of mana, but was instead shaped as himself with the deer mask already secured to his face, antlers extended. He wasn’t in the ballroom and common area as he had been last time, but was instead standing on a small podium with five raised daises in front of him on which sat three figures he recognized and two he didn’t. All around them he could see stars, moons, and worlds spinning as if he’d been plucked up from the ground and placed into the night sky with them.

Death, The Lovers, and The Empress were looking down at him. Next to them was a man wearing the red robes of a magistrate holding a heavy stone in his right hand. Solomon presumed that he was Judgement.

In the center of the five, sitting in a seat that was slightly higher up than the rest of them, was a man wearing a crisp blue robe covered in stars. He had a long white beard and above his head floated the symbol of infinity. His eyes were constantly shifting colors and his body seemed to radiate pulses of mana that came off him as arcane symbols and shapes. Solomon immediately identified him as being the one in charge. While he had expected it to be The Emperor, or perhaps, The World it made sense that in a secret society that revolved around the arcane the leader would be The Magician.

Solomon bowed to them formally before righting himself.

“Clearly a member of the nobility, but I wonder which?” asked the Lovers in two voices.

“Whichever one you like best,” responded Solomon. He wondered if he really wasn’t aware of his true identity.

“He doesn’t know,” said The Magician. His voice was surprisingly high and fine.

The others all went silent when he spoke.

“This space does not allow us to fully comprehend one another. Your identity is safe unless it decides that you’re a threat, or you share it freely.”

Solomon immediately began to cast Mental Fortification with a focus on The Empress’s beauty mark.

The Magician smiled, which seemed to set the others at the table on edge.

“Do not worry. I am not reading your mind. That is also not allowed here. I have simply inducted enough new members to guess at what you are thinking.”

Solomon nodded.

“Your offering,” said Judgement in an even tone as he gently tapped the dais in front of him with the heavy stone he held in his right hand.

“Does this space reflect the same rules as the real world in the case of demonstrating spells?”

“Yes,” answered Judgement simply.

Solomon nodded, pricking his thumb on the horns of his mask. He felt no pain, but blood began to drip from it. He infused it with his mana and extended his right thumb and pointer finger, folding his middle finger two thirds of the way down and his remaining fingers halfway, then he shaped the blood into a lance. He then dismissed the spell and clotted the wound.

“A very simple spell,” remarked Death.

“Too simple,” added Judgement. “Blood manipulation such as that is a trivial thing among the Arcana.”

“I believe it meets our standards,” chimed the Empress. “It’s a forbidden spell, and the basis of much stronger ones.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Even if the spell itself was lacking, his control with it… he will have value,” added the Lovers.

Solomon listened carefully. He had the mana transference spell in his back pocket if he needed it, though it would be a difficult thing to demonstrate within the meeting place of the Arcana, he felt that its value would more than meet their standards. The decision hadn’t been made yet though, and he turned his attention to the Magician.

He had an odd look on his face, a kind of concerned smile.

“His offering is worthy. I welcome you to the Arcana.” He turned to his right. “Judgement, I have other matters to attend to, please assign him a suit and explain to him our principles.”

Judgement frowned, but nodded.

The Magician turned to look once more at Solomon with that same strange look, and then vanished in a plume of purple flame.