Swamped

"Well, is there anywhere else people go?" you ask. "There's the lounge, there's here..."

"There's the auditorium," Lisa says. "Sometimes people use that as a meeting place when they don't want to be somewhere crowded. Or they just stop by the memorials."

You head to the auditorium, and while there are indeed a scattering of people around, Penelope isn't among them.

However, Lisa's attention seems to be drawn to someone sitting at one of the memorials.

"That's Nora," she whispers to you. "You might remember she was going to be our third judge. Guess she's got a lot going on right now. I'll introduce you to her sometime, she's a lot of fun... well, when she's in the mood for it, anyhow."

"Doesn't help us find Penelope, though."

"Guess there's a chance she didn't take losing well and went to her room. We'll head there next."

Lisa leads you to the barracks, down the halls, and knocks on an unassuming door.

Penelope sticks her head out, looking annoyed.

"What is it? I'm busy."

Lisa gives you a little nudge. Apparently she wants you to do the talking.

"Um. Well, something odd seems to have happened in your game with Rushy a while ago. We're trying to look into it."

"Oh. The cards." Penelope rolls her eyes. "I honestly don't care. Even if it turns out she cheated, I'll forfeit. The game was fun and all, but I've got to look over Tom's notes tonight."

"Would that be Tom Eighth?" you ask. "The one with the noisy project?"

"He's almost done, or so he says. He expects three days to properly waterproof it, then he wants to test. I'm double-checking his work to make sure there's no other problems. And his notes are a mess, so this is going to take me a while. So, I don't have any time for games right now."

"Shouldn't you eat? No one had seen you in the mess hall."

"I'm not hungry. Thank you for your concern, but I've got too much to do right now. Goodbye, and please don't bother me again."

She shuts the door on you. Well, now what?

Well! Guess she's busy then. Now it's time for YOU to eat! TOgether! as friends :D

"We didn't actually stop to eat, did we."

Lisa laughs.

"Well, I wasn't going to mention it if you weren't. Still, seems we've done all we can if Penelope won't cooperate. We'll hear what Rushy has to say and decide if we need to disqualify her."

You head back to grab some swamp mush, though not without a bit of good-natured ribbing from Tom First about how you broke his little heart when you walked out without eating. You tell him Penelope's skipping dinner as he fills your bowl.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Tom laughs. "If she's too busy to come down here, I'll just have to deliver her dinner myself. Enjoy your mush, and I hope the tournament goes smoothly. I might even have time to watch the next round tomorrow!"

Just as you're about to sit down, Grey walks in and gets his dinner. Lisa waves him over, not that he's thrilled about it. She fills him in on what happened.

"Still have to make a decision on Rushy," he mutters in between bites of swamp mush.

"Well, I'm right here," she says suddenly. "Figured you judges would be back to eat sometime, so I stuck around. Now let's get this sorted out. What exactly is the trouble?"

"Your deck was missing a Four of Leaves," Grey says simply. "But I noticed you played three fours with a leaf card early in the match."

"Right. I was taking the leaves out before Penelope shuffled. I noticed one was missing, so I added one in from my own deck. Put it back after the game finished. That's all. I figured it wouldn't matter, since the leaf cards aren't in the deck."

"And you didn't say anything about Ron's extra leaf?" Lisa asks.

She shrugs.

"My mind was on other things. I just handed over my deck when you asked for it without thinking further. I'm sorry I didn't say anything, didn't think it would make a difference."

"She did hand over a deck," Grey says. "It's the last one I have to return. I looked through it already, didn't see anything unusual."

"Is that all, then?" Rushy asks. "Because I'd like to just relax for the rest of the evening. I hope I can play again tomorrow, but either way I'd just like this settled."

Lisa and Grey look at each other and shrug. Lisa turns to you.

"What do you think, Marshall? Any holes in her story to take a closer look at, or are we done?"

The card backs on her deck was different, wasn't it?

Are you /sure/ that was a card?

Well, given Penelope doesn't want to play anymore anyway, I think we're done here. All problems solved!

"Can I take a quick look at her deck?" you ask. "Just to see for myself."

Rushy hands you the deck and taps her foot impatiently as you look at the card backs. Nothing unusual, it's a different pattern from the deck in the game, but you don't see any sort of markings. And even if it were a marked deck, you can't see how that would help with a Four of Leaves.

Something's bothering you in the back of your mind, but as far as you can tell, it's got nothing to do with this game. A vague memory... your father... a deck of cards... talking to you about fortune-telling and omens. What did he say that night? What did the Four of Leaves mean?

You pull yourself back into the moment. You can try to remember later. For now, you've got to settle this dispute, and you can't see how it was anything other than an accident and forgetting to inform the judges. At most, you'll just have to give extra attention to Rushy in the second round in case it was somehow a trick. It's not as if Penelope is bothered by it.

"Yeah, looks fine to me. Sorry for the trouble." You give her deck back.

"Good. Now when's the second half of the first round starting? I've got to check out the competition."

"Won't be long after dinner," Grey says, before digging back into his mush. You realize you haven't eaten a lot of yours yet either.

Rushy seems satisfied, and heads back to the lounge. Once you all finish your swamp mush, you go there as well.

The second half of the round is rather uneventful. Roger Stilts isn't even in the room, so if he and Jared were plotting anything, it doesn't seem to be going on this time around. Jared's actually doing quite nicely, giving Tom Seventh a fierce challenge.

There's so little to watch for that your mind wanders back to thoughts of your father talking about how fortune-tellers use decks of cards. You can't recall why he brought it up, maybe Henry had asked a question. But there were a few specific cards that stood out to you at the time.

Now, though, it's mostly forgotten. About all you can remember clearly is what the suits mean. Blades are generally about conflict, Leaves are about growth, Wings are about inspiration, and Stones are about recuperation. Like picking up the pieces afterwards, that was how Father described it.

But the individual numbers, those you're not as clear on. What does the Four of Leaves mean? You know that card in particular came up.

"Ace is the aspect, take two to reflect; three is a stasis for four to clean cleft."

It's a not-completely-airtight ditty to remember the less-charismatic cards in the deck, but it holds across the four suits.

The Ace of Leaves is capital-g Growth, passive-inherent yet physical change to contrast the active, sought change wrought by Blades. A sense of destiny, fate, or other mystical happenstance also wends its way through the suit.
The Two of Leaves is that which makes growth possible, either a caregiver or other source of nourishment, or more abstractly opportunity and circumstances.
The Three of Leaves is the product, the harvest; fruits borne less of your labours and more commonly from providence.
The Four of Leaves, to round out the Leaves Anteminor*. Senescence, wistfulness, and selfish want.

Of course, few of the Minors standalone are earthshattering portents - you can always glean more based on the company they keep.

*wherein 1-4 are the Anteminor, 5 and 6 the Divide Diametric, 7-10 the Postminor, and finally the three Faces (aka the Majors).

3 and 4 are numbers that are in the public consciousness as "luck" and "death", respectively. Both are possible readings, but don't really capture the full nuances of the draw.

Three is a number of inherent instability, a situation that may appear stable but cannot continue indefinitely. The balance will tip, and it may be to your benefit or detriment. Three's an uncertain sort of number, in stark contrast to the worldly inevitability of four.

Four's a number of seasons and cycles, often likened to a spinning wheel. It speaks to inevitability and is the number of completion (of the individual matter) and continuation (of the whole).

Four of Leaves could mean something like... something's coming to fruition (ha ha) that will open opportunities for something else to grow.

Your recollections are still vague, but a few key points come back with enough effort.

You can recall that the ranks are sorted into groups. Ace through four are the Anteminor - there's also the Postminor of 7-10, with 5 and 6 being the divide. Those cards rarely have firm meanings in isolation, at least in most approaches; fortunes tend to be more about a series of cards.

The face cards are an exception. If you draw a Scholar, Knight, or Monarch, that's said to be significant all on its own.

So why are you trying to read so much into a Four of Leaves turning up unexpectedly? Depending on the other cards, it can mean a selfish desire, or a sense of loss, or simply deteriorating with age. But here, it turned up...

Well, not in isolation. Ron did have other cards in hand, now that you think about it. You didn't see them, and it probably doesn't mean anything... but you really are curious what sort of reading you'd get.

Of course, the only people you could ask are Lisa and Ron, and you've got no guarantee they'd remember. Still, Lisa's right here, and Ron's watching one of the games, so you could give it a try.

Then again, you're supposed to be judging. It might be better to focus on that for now, just in case something does come up.

What are you going to do?

It's gonna bother the heck out of you if you can't find out what those other cards were, though. Next break, or when Ron's game finishes, you gotta ask.

Bah! it's just superstitions. Don't worry about it.

You tell yourself it's meaningless. But you can't quite shake the thought. You decide to ask Ron when the game he's watching wraps up, just so you have less on your mind in case something does come up. If he doesn't remember, he doesn't remember.

That ends up happening rather quickly, as Jared defeats Tom Seventh. There's a congratulatory round of applause, and you take the chance to talk to Ron.

"This is a bit silly, but I'm wondering if you remember what cards you had when you got that Four of Leaves suddenly," you explain. "Just satisfying my own curiosity, that's all."

"Nothing to do with the judging?"

"No, not at all."

"Strange, but all right. I had a Scholar of Stones, Seven of Wings, Four of Blades. Drawn in that order. Why do you ask, doing a little fortune telling?"

"Thinking of picking it up as a hobby," you admit sheepishly. "Thanks, and sorry for the trouble."

The rest of the matches go smoothly. Seems you dealt with all the problem cases in the first half. It's late, though, so Lisa announces that the next round will be held tomorrow evening.

"You did good work," Lisa says to you afterwards. "You don't mind judging again tomorrow, do you? If there's any problem, I can see if Nora's up for it."

"I think it'll be fine. As long as I don't have to climb any ladders."

Lisa laughs.

"Yeah, I heard about that. You're doing okay now, though? Well, I mean, considering your arm and all."

"Yeah." You nod. "Actually... I was wondering something, and you might know more. I'm a bit curious about fortune-telling with cards - not as a serious thing mind you, just for fun. You've got an interest in cards, so I wondered if you knew anything. At the least, if there's someone I could ask to learn more."

"I don't really know much about it, tend to prefer using cards for games myself. But now that you mention it, I do know someone with a keen interest in that."

You find yourself getting a little excited, not so much at the fortune-telling as at the prospect of talking to someone about it. You wonder just who she's going to point you to.

uhhhhhhh Erica Rin

Dean "The Dean" First (and only). Officially rostered on Pest Control but something of an amateur naturalist.

It's Tom First!!!!

She points to one of the spectators heading out of the room.

"That's Dean. On the books as Dean First even though he's the only one so far, and he likes to call himself The Dean. As you might guess, he's got more than a bit of ego, but if you can deal with that he's not too bad. Oh, and I should warn you he gets sidetracked easily."

"How so?"

"Well, he's on Pest Control. Early into it, he started observing some of the animals, said it was about finding better ways to keep them out of the base. But then he just kept at it, started studying pretty much every creature in the swamp that could be observed from a safe distance. He found out some interesting things, but he's also likely to start talking about his observations at a moment's notice, even if the conversation's about something else entirely."

"Oh."

"It's not that bad, but it's a bit of work keeping him on topic. Anyhow, he's the one you want to talk to about fortune-telling. But talking to him can take quite a bit of time, I wouldn't recommend trying to catch him right now."

"Thanks. I've been enjoying the tournament, looking forward to seeing how it turns out."

It's late, but you might have time to do something before you head to sleep. Is there anything you want to do, or will you just go to bed?

Catch up with Dean and get the low-down on those fortunes

Actually, if we do talk to him, let's listen to him talk about swamp animals! It'll be interesting! For example, let's learn about Swamp Spiders!

You decide that maybe you'll try to catch Dean after all. You're eager to satisfy your curiosity about Ron's hand, and hearing about some of the creatures in this swamp should be interesting too. Sure, it's late, but how long can a conversation take? If it comes down to it, you can always bow out due to the late hour and suggest meeting again tomorrow.

So you say your goodbyes to Lisa and Grey, and you follow Dean out. Or attempt to, anyhow. There's a fair number of spectators leaving, and it's hard to keep track of where he's going. And you're not forceful enough to just push your way through the crowd, even if you still had both arms.

Still, you manage to catch sight of him a few hallways down. You speed up a bit when there's no one in the way, and you manage to catch up.

"Dean?" you ask.

"It's The Dean, but you're new, so I'll let it slide this time," he says, smirking. "Oh, you were judging the games, weren't you? Is there a problem? I didn't mean to distract any of the competitors with my handsome face, but I suppose I could wear a mask next time if it's an issue."

"No, that's not it," you say. "I just wanted to talk to you. Heard you know about..."

"About animals? Yes, the beasts in this swamp are magnificent. And I have made a habit of learning more about them. Can't hurt in case we end up with an infestation of muckdivers, after all. Oh, but they're just so fascinating! For instance..."

"Ah. Actually, before we get into that, I wanted to talk about fortune-telling. With cards. How do I explain this... well, it's something my father taught me about once, and I've missed him greatly. So I'd like to try and pick it up again."

"Ah! Sentimentality. Well, I can certainly share my considerable expertise with you. Where would you like to begin? The Royce-Garral method? Or perhaps the more traditional Venton?"

"Um, I don't really know enough to know what those mean."

"Well, then. Just tell me what you'd like to know about, and we'll work from there."

Ask if there's any schools that place significance on the number four, the fourth in a set, four of a kind, patterns in that vein.

The Four of leaves!!!!

Sort of describe the set up of the system you remember, and see what Dean knows about it

You decide that the best starting point is to clarify the things you remember.

"The system my father taught me about, er, I remember that four was important."

"It's important in a lot of them. The original system goes back to the days of the Aedran Empire, when there were only twelve cards for each suit. There was no Scholar; they were added after the revolution, since the scholars were so central to it. At first they wanted the Scholar to just outright replace the Emperor card, but as new kingdoms rose from Aedra's ashes, the Monarch card gained in favor. There's some dispute about whether there were thirteen cards to begin with and the Aedrans took one out because of their worship of the number four, or if that was just a story told to make the additional card sound more revolutionary..."

He's getting sidetracked. Lisa warned you about this.

"Did they have the same suits back in Aedra?" you ask quickly.

"Wings used to be Shields. And they called Blades 'Swords', but that's just nomenclature. Leaves and Stones were the same, at least according to the best available research. The old decks used to have the Aedran crest on the shields, the Wings were a symbol of the revolution and..."

"And what did the Four of Leaves mean?" you ask, trying to pre-empt whatever history he's about to throw at you. You're sure it's interesting, but you're also short on time.

"Well. What you need to grasp is that our modern fortune-readings, for the individual, are themselves a product of the Aedran revolution. Before that, the Emperors were said to consult the cards to understand the state of the Empire. In those readings, swords meant the Empire would advance; shields meant it was on the defensive. Leaves meant the intervention of nature, while stones meant internal matters. Now, even if you've merely dabbled, you've likely heard of the Four of Leaves as representing a natural cycle, like the seasons. On the Imperial scale, it meant that one of those natural cycles was going to be of concern to the Empire - with other cards clarifying exactly how. Naturally, they took readings of four cards at a time, due to the centrality of Four in their culture."

You think back on Ron's cards. They don't map neatly to this system, as he had a Scholar of Stones and that card didn't exist at the time.

"Has anyone ever modified that system to work with the new deck?"

"A few isolated attempts. Usually by charlatans looking to curry favor with the ruling class by claiming to know the future of their nation. The texts I read didn't discuss them in detail, not considering them serious enough to be worth documenting."

You feel like you're getting further away from what you want. So you describe what you remember more specifically, about the Anteminor and the Postminor and face cards.

"That basic structure is fairly standard across schools of reading. The primary difference of Royce-Garral and Venton, the two most common ones, is that Venton considers the order of cards essential to the meaning, while Royce-Garral regards all cards at once and only adjusts minor details based on the order. Of course, if you get into the lesser-used ones that, say, draw five or six cards at a time, they apply entirely different methods. If you drew four cards, it was likely one of the main two. Do you remember how many cards it was, or any other significant details?"

What about the fours of the other suits?
Annd there was a seven...
What's the usual meaning/order of a four-card-spread?