[open to all] Regarding Trump metaplot and tattoos

[howexciting]

Forgive me, everyone, I... have some announcements, of sorts.

[His mental voice sounds remarkably hesitant. Still, after a moment of silence as he waits for everyone's attention, his mental voice calms as he continues.]

Several Jaunts ago, in the Labyrinthine Shoal, myself and two others were given strange markings, like tattoos. We did not think much about them at the time, though we have noticed that each of them includes a zero symbol somewhere on them. Mine is on my left shoulder, so understandably, many of you may not have seen it. If you would like to see it, I can show you in private... but let me get to the point.

As many of you may have already discovered, there were two Trumps at this dance - who I will call the Sun and the Moon. They were wearing a brilliant gold mask and a pale silver mask with a half-moon, respectively. Just recently, I discovered that at least two of our number were given tattoos as well, one with symbols related to the Sun with the number Nineteen, and one with symbols related to the Moon with the number Eighteen. I do not know the trigger, but I do know that they spent at least some time in the Trumps' presence and were then marked with tattoos.

For those of you unfamiliar with Tarocchi decks, or Tarot decks... they are a set of playing cards, used in fairly simple games. I will not get into those here. These decks have important cards which are all higher rank than the numbered and other face cards, and are collectively called the Trionfi - the Trumps. The size of this set differs from deck to deck, but many of the decks I am familiar with contain twenty-two of them. These numbers on the tattoos match the cards for the Moon, number eighteen, and the Sun, number Nineteen. The Fool is listed as the number Zero.

I can only conclude, then, that Don Orlea was a Trump, and more specifically, il Matto, the Fool. Further, something the Sun said to me... about being "spoken for", the Moon mentioning the beginning of the cycle, and then marking others with these tattoos, all lead me to believe that the Trumps are marking us for some unknown purpose. They cannot mark us more than once, that I know for sure. But as to why...

[He pauses again, to let all of this sort of sink in with everyone else.]

If you find such a mark, I think it would be wise to let us know, especially if it is from il Sole o la Luna. If you are not comfortable doing so, I understand... but this may be an important clue as to our purpose here.

If you have any questions, too, as always I will be happy to answer what I can. Thank you for your time.

Comments

[darkhourdear]

[.......oh Phillip doesn't like this information at all.

He actually mulls over it for a while, trying to think of what to say. Finally, he settles on:]

So... the Fool, the Moon, and the Sun are the only ones that have showed up, right?

[howexciting]

... as far as I know, yes. They are the only ones that seem to have presented themselves.

[darkhourdear]

[If it was just the Fool, then maybe that could have been the only one to do things. But if the Moon and Sun are claiming people to...]

...Then there are 19 more that are going to claim people. It probably only happens on Jaunts, right?

[howexciting]

... it is a possibility I have considered. There may be less than that, though, as some decks use twenty Trump cards, including the Sun and Moon. But some of these do not include the Fool... we'll have to account for twenty-two for now, and change our estimate as we uncover more information.

It is the pattern so far. Though it only seems to happen when they are present.

[darkhourdear]

[why would you use a deck without the fool. That just seems weird. /biased]

What was the Jaunt where the Fool showed up like?

[howexciting]

Well... it was on the open sea. There were three ships and a school of mermaids that were running from the navy ship Lictor and the... well, the Kraken.

[Phillip can probably sense the shudder over the network even if he can't see it.]

We met him on a deserted atoll. He was a heavily bandaged man with a sickly dog, and one of the ships took him aboard. I insisted, in fact.

[darkhourdear]

[Oh. Someone told him about a Jaunt where there were pirates and mermaids trying to hide on an island or something. It's probably that one.

The description given though... there's a man and a dog, on the card of the Fool. He can only imagine his personality probably fit too. But maybe the fact that it was a journey...?]

Maybe some of them are more likely to show up depending on where we are. 'Cause the Sun and Moon made sense for this place, and even though I wasn't there for that one the Fool could probably fit in there pretty easy too.

[howexciting]

What made sense about the Fool being there? In my world, the Trumps are just part of a card game. There are no meanings attached to the cards. If you know what any of them represent, please, tell me. I might make more sense of this, that way.

[darkhourdear]

[Phillip frowns a little- tarot cards are not a game. Ugh.]

The cards have a story, and the story starts with the Fool. He's 0, empty, and a blank slate, and he takes a journey full of hardships that he was unaware of before the start.

[howexciting]

[You know you're jealous, Phillip. Some day he might teach you to play.]

So I take it you are from a world in which they are used for fortune telling, as well? Someone else has mentioned he is from such a world.

[darkhourdear]

[tarot is serious business!!]

Yeah, pretty much. [...and other things too, but.]