Spooktober 2022: Oracle Cards

still from video by Cottonbro from Pexels. All else by Shanda Nelson

The Evenacht is the evening lands of the continent of Talis. Millions (maybe even billions) of ghosts inhabit the lands, making it an ideal place to set Spooktober 2022.
There are numerous oracle card decks used in the Evenacht, created through thousands of years of religious observation by thousands of cultures. While it is generally accepted that the only true divination comes from the Sun Oracle sect, that does not prevent beings from other religious orders from trying to delve into their own current plights and futures.
Oracle cards have anywhere from 13 to 31 framed cards (often refered to as the Sun-touched cards), then four decks of 13 cards each, in which the suits represent the four most important syimlin in the Keel pantheon: Sun, Death, Light and Darkness.
Oracle Makella created this deck; you will meet her in the Evenacht opening video (when I get it done. These cards show up in it, which is why I'm making them). She uses them to see into a particular Evenacht situation, so the cards reflect that situation and are not an official set approved by any religion. However, she's broadens their scope because she likes them.
Artwork by Shanda Nelson unless otherwise stated.

Prompt #17: Shadow

The syimlin of the Sun (Ga Son) first recognized the connection between Darkness and Light. He noted that no shadows existed without light, and light held no meaning without shadows. Previous syimlin of Darkness and Light did not like each other well enough to explore the possibilities within this link, but Talis and Veer Tul decided to see where it led.
Darkness and Light walk hand and hand through the Evenacht. Katta and Qira represent the syimlin of Darkness (Veer Tul) and Light (Talis), and acolytes consider them avatars. Those in the know hold deep respect for these ancient and powerful ghosts.
Not all spirits believe them avatars. Some wish to harm them to harm the syimlin they channel. This is especially true of Katta; the previous Darkness, Rezenarza, resides in the Evenacht, bitter about his fall from grace and vengeful enough to extract his revenge on one that Veer Tul holds most dear.

Positive:

• light creates shadows, shadows soften light
• comfort
• contrast, in a good way

Negative:

• light burns shadows, shadows swallow light
• differences
• contrast, in a bad way

Prompt #1: Portrait

Kjaelle (pronounced Shale) is an elfine Darkness acolyte beholden to Katta (and therefore Veer Tul). Before joining the Joyful Caravan, she traveled the Evenacht with Vesh bringing enlightenment to the populace, in the form of exposing fake fortune tellers and those hawking miracle cures for spiritual ailments. Not all appreciate the realization a scam artist took advantage of them, and they tend to focus their rage on the one who forced them to see the Light.
She is kind and generous, but as Vesh says, don't piss her off unless she likes you. You will regret it because she sees nothing wrong in holding grudges for millennia. She will go to the Final Death to protect Katta and Qira.

Positive:

• justice
• skilled
• protective

Negative:

• uncouth
• stubborn, unwilling to change
• wed to violence

Prompt #8: Howl

The vox are the sacred animal of Death. The small canines have black fur, red feet, and enjoy howling at the Moon as much as their vulfen brethren (Moon, it must be said, does not appreciate either).
The vox are quick on their feet and blend into shadows as readily as Darkness. They are considered the perfect representation of the current Death, Erse Parr, because they live on both Talis and in the Evenacht, which reflects the fact that Erse Parr is the Living Death (as far as any know, she is the only Death who did not die previous to their claim of the mantle).

Positive:

• joyful in a rambunctious way
• duality
• sneaky
• heralding something good

Negative:

• melancholy, mourning
• refusing to change
• concealment

Prompt #27: Echo

Carolings are palm-size, ugly avians with black fur, ratty feathers, bony legs that end in white talons, black eyes, snub nose and a fang that grows from the middle of their upper jaw to well past their chin.
Their physical ugliness is counterbalanced by their singing. While they typically chirp and tweet like any bird, when a flock decides to sing, it is the sweetest sound in the Evenacht. Several sing in unison, a fifth apart, and are echoed, an octave lower, by the rest. While beings can train them to sing in other ways, they prefer their native way.
Carolings are sacred to Darkness, and they LOVE Katta; they also have a fondness for Death and Passion. They will hang around acolytes to all three, to the point of being nuisances.

Positive:

• music, arts
• creativity
• beauty

Negative:

• ugliness
• pettiness
• uncreative

Bats by Serrah Galos from Unsplash. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #25: Possess

What is an avatar, but a mortal possessed by their syimlin? In this instance, the card represents Qira being "possessed" by Light (Talis).
Katta and Qira are considered avatars of Darkness and Light, respectively. Those who know them accept they speak with the voice and authority of the divine.
Qira and Talis have an especially close relationship due to being forced through the same magical gauntlet created by the Aristarzian people to find only the most worthy earthly representatives of Light. You can read more about that here.

Positive:

• divine authority
• acceptance
• divine intervention

Negative:

• possessive
• overriden
• weak

Prompt #19: Relic

For millennia upon countless millennia, the different incarnations of Death have used a plain wooden spear with a blunt tip called Life's Gift as a symbol of office. Religious myth has many stories of why, the most prominent being that Sun gifted it to the first Death as a peace offering.
This changed with Erse Parr. She defeated the previous Death, called the Beast, with her father's sword. She uses this weapon in place of the spear to represent her as Death. Life's Gift has disappeared, and no mortal knows where the ancient relic is or why Death got rid of it. Makella knows more about the why of it all, but she's not talking.

Positive:

• symbol of authority
• gift
• friendship

Negative:

• disappearance
• shattered relationship
• plainness

Lightning by oraziopuccio from Adobe Stock. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #31: Drown

Laken, a Condemned head, must sit in the Fields of the UnRedeemed and wait for a Finder to Chose him as a Candidate and take him on the journey to find the rest of his essence, which was sundered by Death as punishment.
He is (in)famous in Finder circles as being UnRedeemable, because numerous Finders have attempted to find his body parts and Recollect him into a whole spirit, and all have failed. Vantra is the next one to attempt it, but he has no hope of her success.
He drowns, under the weight of millennia of despair and anguish.

Positive:

• hope despite setbacks
• mental strength
• bearer of great weight

Negative:

• despair, hopelessness
• hardship
• broken
• revenge

sundays [sic] through kelp by joebelanger from Envato Elements. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #23: Door

Doors can whisk someone inside, or block them outside. Some are backdoors, some conceal the secret from prying eyes.
Some are large enough to swallow one whole.
Doors in the Evenacht will close on one opportunity, but open the way for another. It is an ancient elfine belief that transitioned into common evening lands culture during the reign of the Beast. While not all appreciate it, it is a hopeful look to the future.

Positive:

• open/opening
• protection/defense
• guest
• new opportunity

Negative:

• barred, kept out
• conceal, hide
• secrets

orig rock wall by mikhail nilov, sulfer by Atypeek Dgn, both from Pexels. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #21: Shatter

What happens when an oracle, which proceeded century upon century as expected, is suddenly shattered? Does the entirety of it die? Is there anything salvageable? Did it hold true in the past, or was it always a fiction? How do those who believed in its authenticity continue along the same path if the core of it failed?

Positive:

• hope
• the future
• guiding light

Negative:

• shatter/sunder
• destroy
• failure
• disaster

chains by nosorogua from Adobe Stock. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #9: Mirror

The twins, Mera and Tally, were best friends in life, and chose to mirror each other in death (in fact, they are so close, when Mera died at 94, Tally said 'I'm coming, sis!' and followed). They lean to Light, and are Qira's bodyguards in that capacity, but enjoy life on the road as Joyful Caravan drivers.
The twins took the Evenacht's promise to heart. They act as they wish (young and energetic), they look as they wish (young and energetic), and they refuse to care what long-dead family members think of their defying traditional grandmother roles.
The vox on their outfit is a red vox, whose bright red fur reflects Light's red hair.

Positive:

• reflective
• revelation
• illuminate

Negative:

• hidden
• blinding reflection
• false depiction

Prompt #3: Abandoned

The Finders began with good intentions; Aeshren Gerant wanted to serve Death by founding a service-oriented group within the Hallowed Collective that helped Redeem the punished spirits languishing in the Fields of the UnRedeemed. He tasked Finders to search for the sundered essences and make ghosts whole again. Twelve thousand years later, the good intentions of the founder are but a thin sheen. The hierarchy of the Hallowed Collective has abandoned his ideals and carved their own path, one of greed and power, and the Finders, like children, follow at their heels.

Positive:

• do something with happy abandon
• leave a bad situation
• reassess

Negative:

• abandon
• cowardice
• false promises
• forsaken

cloaked woman by captblack76 from Adobe Stock, lightning by Keli Black from Pixabay. All else by Shanda Nelson

Prompt #15: Mist

Mist fills the Evenacht. They hide the bright rays from the sun, they hide the night sky. Everything is bathed in a soft, silken haze because mist is the energy source for spirits in the Evenacht. Ghosts absorb the mist, and it powers their soul. Denying a ghost the mists is tantamount to sending them to the Final Death.
Mists are everywhere, but they are not evenly dispersed. Places like the Snake's Den desert have scant amounts in disparate places, while Greenglimmer jungle has them filling every nook and cranny. Greenglimmer and other mist-heavy areas have attracted ghosts for tens of thousands of years. They create settlements that fall to ruin for one reason or another, and even the once-residents forget they existed.

Positive:

• cooling down (tempers as well as temperatures)
• softness
• energy (ghosts absorb mist to re-energize)

Negative:

• fog of war; uninformed
• blind/blindness
• forgotten

Prompt #7: Thorn

Vesh is a Darkness acolyte who, among other impressive abilities, creates Great Seals. Seals were a staple in Talis offensive magic between five thousand and three thousand years previous, and they made their way into the Evenacht through ghosts who practiced them. Their continued popularity stems from the fact ghosts more easily grasped their foundational intonations.
Regular Seals house a small bit of magic for everyday use; Great Seals house enormous amounts of magical power used in grand offensive attacks. These attacks come in various manifestations; Vesh prefers thorns, a reference to a Darkness and Death tale. Darkness planted a single rose near Death's temple, and when Erse Parr finally accepted her role as the new Death, they grew into a protective hedge that surrounded the enclosure. To this day, if enemies approach, the stems, heavy with thorns, puncture and shred the unlucky, absorbing their blood to restore the energy spent.
In practice, Vesh punctures and shreds, but only rarely absorbs an enemy's blood or essence.

Positive:

• rosy outlook/optimistic
• protection
• nature

Negative:

• surprise attack
• war
• sharp, harmful words/acts

Prompt: Passion

Verryn was Erse Parr's consort long before he became Passion. He toured the Evenacht, speaking on her behalf, until the interstellar conflict one hundred years previous. When Death moved through the invaders, he stood near enough to her that he channeled the magick she shared with other syimlin. He unexpectedly became a syimlin as well.
Unfortunately for him, Erse's feelings for him focused the magic. He became Love, because that was how she saw him. He, however, did not view himself as a Lover. He thought of himself as a fighter. He chose to regard his magic as Passionate, but it prefers what Erse laid.
So he fights with himself. On top of his internal conflict, he had no magic before becoming a Great Syimlin. So not only did he obtain a great ability, he had no idea how to control it. It takes syimlin thousands of years to gain control over their newly-acquired power, and most of them practiced magic before gaining the new Gift. He has no foundation, so must learn all from scratch--an intimidating prospect.

Positive:

• Passion/passionate/motivated
• optimistic
• love
• mastery

Negative:

• undertrained
• jealousy
• anger