I want my money back.

[molotovmartinis]

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.

Comments

[controlledvariable]

She doesn't reply straight away, and it makes her want to kick herself for taking a bunch of cards and a slightly strange woman so seriously. Anyone can be betrayed, and it doesn't matter how rash she might be, so are a lot of people.

"You should probably give that warning to everyone here," The woman was right, it's especially applicable in Baedal, "But I'll try not to do anything stupid."

Yes, because she got the injuries on her face from being super cautious. Steph being careful is so unlikely.

[molotovmartinis]

"I try. But you looked like you needed it." She sweeps the cards back into the deck and leans back, taking a flask out of her coat and sipping from it. "Tarot always has good advice. Whether it applies or not, that's for me to guess. Anyone can learn the meanings of the cards, but you also need to know how to read people. And now I know a little about you. But that's okay. You'll never see me again."

[controlledvariable]

"Did the bruises give me away?"

At the latter part of what the woman says, Steph quirks an eyebrow, "Wow, that didn't sound creepy and ominious at all."

[molotovmartinis]

"Maybe a little," she deadpans, and winks as she screws the cap back onto the flask. "Don't be so melodramatic. You see dozens of people every day that you'll probably never see again. I just happen to know—" Finger wiggling. "— that I'll be one of them."

[controlledvariable]

"We live in a city surrounded by fog, it seems more unlikely that I wouldn't see someone again," She wrinkles her nose a little, double negatives are always a little confusing.