multiversallogs | I want my money back.

Who: OPEN
What: cheap Tarot card readings
Where: Aspic, on the edge of the bazaar
When: all day!
Notes: Balthazar's permissions, especially important if your character has any supernatural aspects
Warnings: Balthazar is a creep! But he is also pretending to be someone else so he may be less creepy. Who knows.

Divination is an industry in Baedal: seers and those with farsight are fairly commonplace, and if you're looking for reliable, there are better places to go than Aspic's bazaar.

But if you're looking for cheap, or just for entertainment, then this teeny booth is promising. Many of the props Balthazar is using are real; for example, the tent, table, the chair, the deck of Tarot cards, and the sign with the prices ("past/present/future - ₭2") are all real and exactly as they seem. But the person lounging behind the table is covered with illusions. On the outermost surface, which is a thin glamour, it's a young lady with long red hair and dark eyes. She's wearing a heavy, shapeless black dress made of wool with tights, an overcoat, and a bright yellow scarf.

Beneath that layer is a middle-aged woman with fading red hair and tired eyes, in the same clothing. It's a much stronger illusion, more realistic than the pretty top layer, and has its own scent of bitter tea and harsh soap.

Beneath that layer is Balthazar as he often appears, a businessman in a three piece pinstriped suit, perhaps in his mid to late thirties. And beneath that, of course, is his true self, the rotten face of a demon. Anybody able to see that far in may pick up hints of sulfur. He's sure there are people who can see him as he is; some of them hurry past, some of them don't care. Some of them can only see the aging woman. It doesn't much matter to him. He huddles in the scant protection the tent covers, though of course he's never cold, watching those that pass him by, and tapping his fingers next to the worn deck as he waits.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Just this. It's safer. More psychological and helpful, less actual delving into —" She wiggles the fingers of one hand to denote mysticism, then sets the cigarette at the end of the table. "— farsight."

Once she tucks the money away and the cards are picked, she turns over the first. A crowned man sits on a throne, holding a sword.

"This, representing your past, is the King of Swords. It shows a man with a quick temper, a man of passion and conviction. He may have been harsh at times, but he was no fool. He could be trusted to follow through. He was brave and effective. Ambitious and commanding."

Martha leans forward a bit when the card is turned over. She loves stories and for her having her cards read is just another form of that. A simple little thing for fun, and nothing more than that. No worried about things being deeper or anything like that.

Her eyes widened a bit at the description of the man in her past. It was a description that could fit more than one person in her life, but only one whom she would ever count as her past. Sitting on her hands a bit, Martha waited for the next card that was her present.

Her smile at Martha's lack of comment is a little sardonic. "It is good, that you don't tell me I'm right. I can see that I am, but you don't want to give your fortune teller material to work with. You want them to work for you, not use your own reactions to con you."

That advice dispensed, she turns over the next card. A man on a horse, armored but with his face plate raised to reveal a younger face than the previous card's figure, holds a disc with a star inscribed on it. "Here in your present we have a knight of pentacles. Another man in your life, but a different one. He is younger, an honest, responsible man — dependable. Some people may think he is dull because of this. It's true, he tends towards methodical means, but he is as determined to reach his goals as the previous. This is not a romantic connection, but he is still important."

Martha couldn't help but smile at the compliment, and she inclined her head as a way of accepting it. "It seemed polite not to talk." There was no argument about her being right, because it was clear that she was.

The second card and the explanation made her frown a bit as she attempted to figure out who in her life that it could have been. At the moment, Martha couldn't place him at all in her life. "Can you tell me more about him?" At least it wasn't a romantic connection; that was the last thing on earth Martha Snape-Jones wanted or needed.

This time her smile is playful. "It's someone you're overlooking, of course." How incredibly convenient! "Alas, Tarot works with archetypes and common experiences. If the cards could tell you what he looked like or his name, they'd be more than just Tarot cards, let me tell you."

Turning over the final card reveals a man of indeterminate age holding a parcel of sticks, upside down. "Here your future gives you a warning in the form of the ten of wands, reversed. Like this it means that you may find what you think is a shortcut, but it is a trick. It reminds you that you may be duped and led astray by deceptive appearances, that getting involved in intrigues is often more complex than it initially seems."

"I see." Martha accepted and appreciated the joke about it, and she shrugged a bit in response, though she was still thinking about it. Not romantic and boring; there was only so many people around her whom it could be, and Martha wouldn't describe any of them as boring. No one she knew was boring or unimportant really.

But she focused on him in rapt attention when he mentioned her future. At the moment her goals were simple in definition but large in scope. She wanted to find Mozenrath and she wanted to go back to her proper home. However, she had started to become involved in things, and it made her think with her fingers around her lip for a moment. "Hmm." Was all she offered.

I want my money back.

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