Open Broadcast.

[fridgeninja]

I know the Trumps sometimes use Liminal Space to send us messages, but I'm not at all sure what this one means. Does anyone have any ideas?

I think the last one meant that the Hierophant, Fortune, Temperance, and the Star are dead.

Comments

[leftbehindagain]

...That's a heck of a conclusion to jump to.

[shiroganeheir]

[Naoto's mental tone is highly dubious at best.]

What brought you to that conclusion, senpai? What is your evidence?

[fridgeninja]

There were symbols of death, and things that belonged to the dead - and stars, crosses, wheels, and cups.

[fridgeninja]

A reading Margaret did. Something strange happened at the end, and we discovered four of her cards were missing... and their symbols were all around us, on the shelves.

[leftbehindagain]

Okay... well, the stars and wheels are pretty obvious, I'll give you that. [Sadly, Naoki's not really up on overall tarot symbolism.] Did you get this from Margaret-san?

In any case, four of them being... missing at best doesn't sound like a good sign. Four of anything's not exactly a great place to start.

[creativefool]

[Fortune. Temperance... gone?]

The... the hell? Look, I'm new to this crap, but ... from what I've heard... if these guys are just that powerful and something's killin' them off... what could-

What's that gonna do to us?

[amadine]

If you're right, that's four dead and...it's been four now who've claimed Travelers, hasn't it?

[fridgeninja]

She did the reading that started me thinking about it, and those cards were missing from her deck as well.

[fridgeninja]

Unless any of them made claims before Moebius, yes.

[fridgeninja]

We haven't seen anything more powerful than them, yet.

But we have seen things that are their equals.

[shiroganeheir]

[Naoto is silent for a moment, before her mental voice returns.]

And it would be difficult to manipulate someone with as much power as Margaret-san for a joke. I had not thought about the symbolism around us, however, I can see that.

That also has... interesting implications for me. Perhaps that is why my Arcana is switching so easily.

[leftbehindagain]

Huh. She doesn't strike me as the type to carry around an incomplete deck. It'd be unprofessional of her. [And while he's only met her the once so far as he's aware, Margaret struck him as anything but unprofessional.]

So what is it they want us to do? Find them? Restore them somehow? But I guess that depends on whether they're actually dead or just missing, doesn't it.

[creativefool]

Alright. Fill me in. Who're we talkin' about? Or what?

[fridgeninja]

I thought of that.

But for us, I think, the arcana are mostly archetypes. If a Trump dies, what happens to the archetype...?

[fridgeninja]

Well... a long time ago, on a very advanced space station, we found out that the technology there could detect and hack the psychic network.

And more recently, something else shut down the network and Liminal Space for half a jaunt. A...

I'm not sure how to describe it. A monster trying to get into that world was involved, but I'm not sure if it shut things down, or if the Trumps did, to keep it out, or if something else happened.

[fridgeninja]

I'm not sure it matters. I don't really want to do what they want me to do in any case.

[shiroganeheir]

It does not seem to me that it is something that could simply disappear. I am wondering if this death or disappearance has something to do with our mission. Are we here to help stabilize something that is destabilizing itself? Are things falling apart because these specific archetypes are missing?

There are too many questions.

[And to be honest, she's now more than a bit nervous about it.]

[leftbehindagain]

Not even if it gets you home faster?

[wholeheaded]

If I could see a blasted thing I might have some ideas, but this fog is not letting up for me.

[ trying very hard to keep this casual but... he's a bit alarmed. dead trumps isn't a thing that had even occurred to Ambrose, and he's not sure if he wants to buy the idea. ]

[fridgeninja]

There's that.

But if I start thinking that way, then I think less about the damage we might be doing to the worlds we visit on the way. We're not always good for them.

[amadine]

We can burn that bridge if we come to it.

If the numbers do match, it could be a sign that the conflict between them is more direct than we might have expected. Which might be better than the alternative.

[fridgeninja]

It's a zoo.

[fridgeninja]

That would mean... they've been killing one another?

[fridgeninja]

I haven't really seen any sign of that in our missions so far...

Well. Maybe Harrogate.

[creativefool]

So if there's somethin' like that out there... damn. Could that've been what got to them, then? Or was the damage done before all this even started?

[This isn't good.]