Deck of Staves

The dark elf's face was overcast, torn to shreds by long days on the road. Sergei rummaged in his pouch, "How about a game of cards?"
Where his grin failed, cards succeeded. Something in the card window gave a new glow to their amber eyes. "Kemdal owes you, stranger," they said. I leaned over to look. Back home, The Foundation was a castle, not a tree. I scoffed, convinced it was from Sergei's backwater village, and thought no more of it.

The Deck of Staves (known simply as "Staves" colloquially), is a deck of 68 cards each with their own name and number. Each deck of staves has 30 cards in common - called the Base Cards - that don't change in either purpose or design. The rest have regional variants, which can include changes in name, image or role within a game. It's usually only Base Cards that are used in popular games or gambling.

Manufacturing process

The cards are cut from sheets of pasteboard. In commercial sets, the base image is printed onto the card using a woodcut. The black ink outline is then filled in with coloured paints. Cards made for royalty and nobility often use gold leaf and more vibrant colours for their cards, some handmade or commissioned directly from an artisan. Monasteries are prohibited from selling cards due to their sinful uses.
Cards made by common people looking to expand or repair their decks are either made in a similar fashion to commercial products (instead forgoing colouring and simply using a home-made woodcut design), or drawn by hand. These efforts result in unique decks, all varying in style and quality.
Historically, the earliest examples were made from vertical planks of wood called "staves" that were cut to the dimensions of a modern card. From there, they were either engraved or painted. It's from this style of deck making that the game derives its common name.

Significance

A humble game of cards can bring down livelihoods. The difference between going home hungry or sleeping well in a tavern can lie in a single turn. Not the pursuit of the wealthy (or so they would want commoners to believe), it doesn't have a polite lustre to hide behind. Every tear, every beer stain, marks out a hardened adventurer from the unassuming traveller.
For some, it serves as a greeting. To others, the final farewell at the boundary of the Wilds. Whatever their memories, they hold more power than a lost sword ever could. The people have taken ownership over their decks, with as many variations as they are creatures under the sun.

Wiccan Soothsaying

Reading the cards is best left to Wiccan, as the saying goes. Such practises have been taken up by those who aren't Wicca, eager to unlock some inner secrets within themselves and the world around them. Predictions made by amateurs turn a lot of profit, but have no real powers of divination.
Wicca are said to be able to use the Staves to divine the past, present and future. With their kind in hiding, few real practitioners have offered these services. Some are welcome in Camelan under the Witch Redemption Programme to make a living off these gifts, but it's a profession frowned upon by wizards - the more culturally accepted of the aether-gifted in Camelan.

The Foundation - Shelter for the Shal

In commercially licensed Stave decks, The Foundation has an illustration of a tall, indomitable fortress. Not part of the Base Cards, it is allowed to be altered in decks for personal use.
With allies hard to find in the war-torn west, the Shal look for them under the noses of the light elves. In their decks, The Foundation shows the ancient tree of their people - Viambre. They believe anywhere this tree's boughs overlook are lands belonging only to the Durmok. Unwelcome even amongst their own kind, they appeal to other races for assistance in reclaiming their home.

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Recognised Base Cards

| 1. Growth | 2. The Lovers | 3. The Fay | 4. The Dream | 5. The Hare | 6. The Fox | 7. The Tempest | 8. Aether | 9. Conquest | 10. The Mountain | 11. The Desert | 12. The Father | 13. The Drake | 14. Vigour | 15. The Sun | 16. Flames | 17. Penance | 18. Wrath | 19. The Magus | 20. The Blight | 21. Abundance | 22. The Hunter | 23. Miasma | 24. The Mother | 25. The Cavern | 26. The Beast | 27. Providence | 28. The Ocean | 29. Rest | 30. The Moon | 31. The Glacier | 32. Frost | 33. The Wraith | 34. The Hermit | 35. Judgement | 36. Death |

Component Cards

The Foundation

Item type

Miscellaneous

Related ethnicities

• Camelan
• Shal
• Sinari
• Vandrere
• Wiccan

Rarity

A popular past-time in Poraile, especially for gambling. The first versions of the decks were made by hand, either by artisans or monks wanting a distraction from prayer.

Weight

96 g

Dimensions

10 cm x 6.5 cm / 3.9" x 2.6"

Base Price

10 copper pieces

Raw materials & Components

Pasteboard (cardstock), paint, ink

Tools

Woodcut template / quill pen, scissors, paintbrush