(Day 2, Early Evening) A Scent of Home

[Illiam'iira]

"Go ahead."

"Now tell the cards your question, then pick three. Whichever call to you," She splays the cards, face-side down, in an arc on the the table before her.

[Whisper]

"Well, I might as well play into this destiny thing." he chuckled. "Is Sildëyuir truly the plane I grew up on?"

With the question asked, he selected three cards, all in the center of the rest.

[Illiam'iira]

"Well, I might as well play into this destiny thing." he chuckled. "Is Sildëyuir truly the plane I grew up on?"

Her eyebrows raise a moment before Illi turns her gaze down to the cards he's drawn. The first two are upright -- both cards involve halflings, the first a halfling lady surveying a grove with an overflowing basket of fruit in her arms. The second has a halfling youth ignoring the scroll beneath their hands to gaze out the window at the autumn wind blowing leaves across the horizon. "Hm," She considers. "Yes, but there's more to the story." Her finger taps the final card; she turns it upright so they can see it clearly.

A human king stands on the shore of a raging ocean, the symbol of his rule, a golden trident, raised defiantly over the crashing waves.

"This card -- the Lord of Waves -- is to be read darkly. Normally this card is about one's purpose or the council one receives in their life -- what they've been told by authorities, or those they trust." She turns it back to its original position upside down. "In this reading, it signifies misdirection, lies, or bad advice. Given you drew two Leaves cards, which are often associated with hearth, home, and childhood, I feel it's a bit significant."

"But, well, you don't actually need me to tell you your circumstances are a little muddy," She adds with a laugh. "Pretty fun you drew that by chance though."

[Whisper]

A draft pulled at his hair and he grinned. "That is interesting. I like the leaves in particular."

[Illiam'iira]

A draft pulled at his hair and he grinned. "That is interesting. I like the leaves in particular."

She smiles back, happy to have amused him so. "Yeah, cartomancy is fun, even if you don't put any magic into it -- the ability to read into its patterns and symbolism itself is considered by some scholars to be a form of magic!" Illi giggles as she returns the drawn cards to the deck and once again shuffles them. "It's a good party trick to know, at any rate. Gets people's attention and keeps them occupied, invested."

"What's your question, mister Ikkit? I can do general readings, too."

[Ikkit the Bastard]

"What's your question, mister Ikkit? I can do general readings, too."

The goblin shrugged.

"Gimme a general. Not really too fulla questions..."

[Illiam'iira]

"Gimme a general. Not really too fulla questions..."

"Alrighty!" She chirps back. Illi again spreads the cards in an arc for Ikkit to pick from.

Her eyebrows go up again with the first card Ikkit chooses, and by the final card her brow's furrowed a bit. Delicately she turns the first card and the final card rightside up.

"This card," Illiam'iira says as she slides it toward Ikkit, "Is a Fates card. It's one of the most powerful cards in the deck."

A black-skinned drow, clothed only in her flowing silver hair (which shines as the card turns) raises a wavy bastard sword above her head, its blade about to impale the huge eye of a great and terrible face -- its lascivious mouth bared.

"In its light reading, this card is a triumph of life over suffering. It promises beauty, joy, hope, abundance and comfort -- all the blessings that make life worth living. But in its dark reading," And she turns it so the terrible goddess towers above her daughter, ready to greedily devour her, "It forebodes evil and suffering. That it is the first card you drew is worrisome."

She then turns to gesture to the second card, whose saccharine imagery is made all the sweeter by comparison. A halfling girl smiles from her seat among the branches of a tree, gaze turned downward to watch a mouse drag a large piece of cheese towards its nest among the roots where its babies sleep peacefully. "You are an industrious man. One who has never had life simply hand you something; everything you've got, you got by your own effort. This is the card of hard work and its reward. Those who are patient and do not lose sight of their goals will build the life they seek for themselves."

And the last card. Illiam hums as she taps it. In this one, a human champion stands before a spring and its naiad, weapons in hand, staring defiantly at perhaps Ikkit himself as he keeps his body between the threat and his ward. "Again, a card in its dark reading. Instead of protection, one finds themself vulnerable, captured or defeated."

She takes a moment to consider all this. "It's definitely more woe than weal, but there's still light there. You may find yourself in dark and painful times but your heart will find its way back home." Illi leans back in her chair with a smile.

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Ikkit chuckled.

"Good thing I don't believe in this stuff or I'd be worried! 'Sides. I leave fate to the Fated, and they're welcome to it."

[Illiam'iira]

"Good thing I don't believe in this stuff or I'd be worried! 'Sides. I leave fate to the Fated, and they're welcome to it."

She giggles. "Yeah, they're just cards. 'Sides, Fate's a lot more changeable than most people think." Illi's pride seeps into her voice. "I hope you both had fun!" Scooping up the cards, she begins to hum as she shuffles them one last time. "I'mma join in too, I'll do my own reading. But what to ask..." The questions are always the hardest.

[Ikkit the Bastard]

She giggles. "Yeah, they're just cards. 'Sides, Fate's a lot more changeable than most people think." Illi's pride seeps into her voice. "I hope you both had fun!" Scooping up the cards, she begins to hum as she shuffles them one last time. "I'mma join in too, I'll do my own reading. But what to ask..." The questions are always the hardest.

"I'll be no help. Only questions I bother with are easy ones, like 'who are you,' 'what do you want,' 'where are you going,' and so on..."