THE READING: TO DARKNESS RETURN [AUG'18GM]

[Azraeth]

INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to the August 2018 GM event. The focus of this month's adventure is on exploring a character's thoughts, history, experience, and motivations through the lens of the tarot. Each day for one week, a new card will be revealed along with a blurb describing what sort of content your responses should focus on. For each completed prompt, you will get 500 bonus RPP, for a total of 3,500 extra RPP at the end of the event (if all prompts are completed). In addition to that, those who complete all of their prompts by the deadline will receive 5 karma.

In even more addition to this, those who participated in, and completed the last The Reading, will get 1000 EXP to represent their good fortune. BUT only if they complete all prompts for this The Reading as well.

As this is an event which repeats, there will always be special prizes for those who have participated in and completed more than one of The Readings.

There is no post length requirement. Though I will be posting prompts daily, you can choose to respond daily, or get them all done on the last day if that's your desire. The deadline for completion however is 11:55 PM EST on Sunday August 12th August 19th.

To respond, please start your own thread on the Official Event Roleplay forum with [The Reading] somewhere in the title so I can easily validate participation, and so that people can follow along if they want. Please only post one thread per participant, and just make subsequent replies to that thread.

You may reply to the prompts with more than one character at your discretion, but again, they should all be housed in a single thread. You may even use this event as an opportunity to flesh out thrall characters, or new characters. Really, whatever you want.

Also, the deck used this time was released by Vertigo, so shout out. #notsponsored#pleasesponsor

The first prompt will be posted shortly.

[Azraeth]

T H E + D E V I L + R E V E R S E D

Bacchanalia. Drunken revelry. Excess. Temptation. The Roman god Bacchus has often been portrayed on the Devil card - little surprising considering the shameless, blameless hedonism he embodies. Similarly, the Devil card has also been home to images of both classic depictions of the devil himself, as well as the mythological satyr. Satyrs themselves have always represented primal masculine sexuality, the need to give into every desire, drunkenness, sloth, and every manner of other vice. As you can imagine, the Devil card is all about a life of decadence. In some ways, it can represent very real bondage - but more often than not, the things that tether people are mental, emotional, and spiritual.

The Devil card itself could be about a person who has gotten into a cycle of living centered around spending and acquiring. Looking good rather than actually experiencing things in an authentic way. Or living beyond one's means. For some, the Devil is about giving in to the demands of an image obsessed world. It can be about the chains of a partner chosen, not for love, but for pleasure. It can be about that man or woman who loses control of their life by constantly seeking out some kind of high, be it at the end of a needle or from an adrenaline rush.

The Devil is about that creeping serpent which wraps around your neck and tightens so slowly you never notice it. Until it chokes the life from you.

But this is the Devil Reversed, and the Devil Reversed is all about becoming unfettered from the past. It's about strength. It's about finding a way out of these bad situations we put ourselves in by finally breaking the cycle of spending, or accumulation, or promiscuity, or any other iniquity.

Today's prompt response is about your character's history. Everyone has experienced a situation at some point or another where they have given in to temptation of some kind. But I don't want to know about giving in. There are many kinds of bondage in life, and so many of them confine a person more tightly than rope or chain or manacles. What I want to know is about a time when your character broke free. Maybe they were with a lover who they thought hung the moon, and then the honeymoon phase wore off, and they realized too late that they were just entangled in a net of lust. Maybe your character has suffered from addiction (of any variety really), or went through that phase so many people do in college where it's all parties and debauchery. What was the moment when they realized they got in too deep? What happened to make them realize they needed a change? Most importantly, how was it they managed to pull themselves out of the clinging depths of their own personal depravity?

[Azraeth]

T H E + F O U R + O F + W A N D S

This is the card of connections. The number four holds a great deal of symbolism, because four walls can make a home. Four pillars can be used to support the weight of the world. Four poles buried in the earth can be used to string lights and garland, and chains of flowers. As you can imagine, the four of wands represents a number of positive things, such as home and hearth. However, home itself is not just a place, but people. It is not just a shelter, but also a place of sanctuary and of celebration and love. The four of wands represents all of these things. The ways in which people come together.

Humans, after all, are a social species. We were evolved to live in communities, and thrive most away from isolation. Even the most introverted amongst us needs some sort of companionship at some point.

Most people come into the world alone, and leave it alone. The moment a person is brought into it, they are already lost. The first part of life is always about finding themselves, and the second part is about finding the people they want to walk alongside them on their journey. It's a maze. It's an endless road. This means the connections people choose to make are of the utmost and vital importance. The people in an individual's inner circle, their family (by blood or choice) have the power to uplift them, support them, strengthen them. Those same people have the ability to pull them down, to harm them.

Today's focus is on the concept of home, and the people who make it. Rather than looking at a specific memory or personality trait, I want you to take a look at the people who help define your character by association. The ones who are closest to your character. What are they like? Who are they? How does their regular interaction with your character impact that character's life? What is the nature of that relationship? Is it healthy or toxic? What traits of your character have those people adopted? And what of the reverse? Why is that deep connection there in the first place? These are all things to ponder as you write your response to this prompt. Most importantly though, consider home, consider family - these are some of the most integral aspects of a person, and therefor character's being.

[Azraeth]

T H E + T E N + O F + S W O R D S R E V E R S E D

Ten long blades sticking from your back. Blood trickling on steel. Oh how hated must you be for not a single friend to come to your rescue. Swords in the tarot represent a number of things. Action. Intellect. The place in the mind where beliefs are held. The ten of swords, to this reader, represents a long and slow fall from grace. You made a choice at one point and that choice was destructive, and it rippled through every single thing you did afterwards. Nothing seemed to go right. It was like the world stopped giving a **** about you. Maybe you isolated yourself, shut people out. Something painful happened for sure, and for a long time you had this open festering wound as you spiraled out of control.

This card is reversed though and those swords which push through your flesh and organs also impale you as you look up to the sky. You have hit rock bottom. You have let your life fall out of your control. You have let yourself become reviled. You have lost everything. You have become absolutely nothing. But there is hope in that. There is power to be found at the very bottom in the gloom and the darkness. Because the only way you can go is up. What this card means in this orientation is that you must come to terms with your situation. You have to see with clarity where you are so you can know who you are.

Because you are the master of your own fate. It was your dark perception of yourself which put you in this bad place. Now you must embrace what you have done and who you want to be. This is your opportunity, more than at any other point in life, to drag yourself up. This is your turning point, but only if you see your worth and your value. Now is the time to act.

For today's prompt, you need to focus on a point in your character's history when they hit rock bottom. Not everyone's has looked totally the same, of course. Different people have different levels of tolerance for the things life can throw at them, after all. The attention should not be on the fall though, but on the moment when they realized they needed to make a change. I want to know about what went through their head as realization struck, and then what they did to fix their situation. I want to see their strength. I want to know how those moments defined them and helped them to become who they are today.

[Azraeth]

T H E + T E N + O F + P E N T A C L E S

The idea of finding a place of equilibrium is as ingrained into western culture as capitalism and the love of money. Maturity is often synonymous with the ability to put aside the wild spending habits of youth, in favor of saving and making wise investments for the future. Of course, that's easier said than done, and in a life which has been described numerous times as a 'rat race' it's not shocking that there are some pretty hefty fees to cross that proverbial toll bridge (and then you have to worry about the trolls). A person could believably indebt themselves by the thousands or hundreds of thousands just to get a level of education necessary to find a good job, and even this is no guarantee for success.

Of course, it's also true that everyone has a different metric for measuring such things.

The ten of pentacles represents the finish line and beyond; it represents that point in your life when you've arrived at the goal. You have enough abundance not only to take care of yourself, but the people you love. This is not some magical windfall, not some random inheritance. This is real and true stability, which will not only effect you, but the generations to come after you have long turned to dust.

The focus of today's prompt is on legacy. Every character has something they want to be remembered for. Those who seek the spotlight may desire to go down in history for a performance, or hit singles. Some people are more politically driven, and simply wish to be be written into historical for centuries to come. There are the darker and more twisted individuals, who live for the acclaim of a good crime spree, who take lives and hide their misdeeds to thwart cops for decades. There are a precious few who, grounded by age, just wish to be remembered fondly by those they love, for the things they have given rather than what they have taken. It's up to you to decide exactly what your character's legacy is. Consider this piece alternative universe. The future. A chance to delve into what could happen rather than what has happened or what is happening. Most importantly: Is that legacy which your character left behind the one they actually wished to be remembered for?

[Azraeth]

T H E + H I E R O P H A N T

The Hierophant card often depicts what seems to be a religious authority surrounded his tools of office, by the Church itself. In truth, what this card represents is institution and tradition. Getting this card could mean one of many things depending on the other cards around it, though most often, it acts as a hint as to the best way to handle a problem or opposition. Sometimes it is easy to get drawn into the fire and passion of immediate action. Sometimes there is this deep call when travesty occurs, to riot, to march as if to war. But not all battles can be won with guerrilla warfare. Sometimes the best move is to work inside of a system creating slow and deliberate change.

Of course, not every situation is life or death. Sometimes the Hierophant just means that one should draw inside of the lines and not to let creativity spiral out of control. The Hierophant is all about conformity and avoiding the use of innovation. In a way, the authority figure most often seen on the card represents a very specific ideology about the way society should work. The card represents a society in which people who act out of the norm are automatically in the wrong. It is a world in which only tradition and the well worn grooves of repetition are rewarded.

For this prompt, I want you to focus on a fictitious scenario. Assume that somehow the veil of vampiric secrecy has been dropped back into place. Pretend that what has happened over the past three for years has been completely undone, that zombies are still contained and vampires still lurk out of the sight of humanity. The only difference is that your character has lived through everything, and retains each and every one of their memories. Is this some miracle? Some disaster? How does your character respond knowing what they know on this side of the issue? Does it impact them at all? Will they act differently with the return of secrecy? Most importantly, do they want to maintain the fragile new safety net? Or is it time to tear that ***** down for a second time?

[Azraeth]

T H E + S I X + O F + C U P S

This is the cup which runneth over! The six of cups represents generosity and the sort of daydream happiness which comes with a reverie of potent pleasant memories. Think, for a moment, about a time in your life when you experienced the most pure form of joy you've ever known. Maybe it was a sticky sweet day of summer in childhood, or time spent in the arms of a lover. This is what the six of cups is all about. In this way, the six of cups is like divination. You peer into the still water contained within the chalice and you can feel the past wash through you as a warm and enjoyable ripple. Beware though, because this cup is not an endless font of life, and if you stare transfixed for too long, you may find the world has entirely moved past you, and left you contemplating a single moment of satisfaction buried under years.

In this way, the cup may distract you from finding contentment in the present or working towards it in the future.

This card coming up in your reading means that you may think this cherished moment in the past must be revisited to feel the things you want to feel, but that isn't true. There is happiness all around you which you just have to reach out and grab. Remember the past fondly, but never live in it.

This card could also be about a returning point. Maybe you are going physically back to a place you once called home. Maybe you're going to run into someone from your past who meant something deeply to you. In any case, this card is all about finding delight, and that is why it's the cup that runneth over. The question becomes - do you hoard that happiness for yourself or do you share your bounty?

This prompt is fairly straight forward. I want you to explore a situation in your character's past which connects somehow to the present. It should be, I hope, a particularly happy memory, maybe their happiest. Certainly a moment which helped to define them and make them who they are. Perhaps there are parallels between the past and the present. Or maybe this memory is the only thing they hold onto in order to survive in a dark world like Harper Rock.

[Azraeth]

T H E + N I N E + O F + W A N D S

It's the final countdown! Cue Europe music playing in the background. In all seriousness though, the Nine of Wands is a card which represents a final stand. Symbolically, this could mean any number of things, like that tension you've been facing is about to reach a head. It could also be a very real battle, or a warning that someone close to you is about to betray you. Whether or not you face this adversity is entirely on your shoulders, because all that I can predict is that something big is coming in your life. How you handle it will determine if you are able to blast a victory march over the field of war, or if you will be utterly decimated and defeated.

For this prompt, I would love for you to focus on one of the moments mentioned above. Specifically, I'd like for you to take a look at a single instant in your character's life when they had to face overwhelming odds. Perhaps this came at the end of a long and drawn out affair, or maybe it was sprung on them out of nowhere. What led up to this moment? How did they handle it? Ultimately, the most important question though is - did they come out as victors are losers? Either way can be good, because failure is just as much a valid part of finding a way through life as success. How did this moment impact them in the long run? Did they learn anything from it?

Be sure to post here with links to your threads! For those who participated in this Reading and the previous one, please link BOTH threads so I can be sure to hand out any and all prizes you're entitled to. This event ends 11:55 PM EST Sunday the 19th so prizes will be handed out on Monday! Thank you to those who have participated or will be participating! <3

[Azraeth]

As a few people have expressed interest in this GM event - but lack time for various reasons (work related mostly), I've decided to extend the deadline through the 19th of August, to give people a little more time (on the weekends especially) to get the prompts done.

I super appreciate those who have been keeping up with the prompts thus far, and anyone who does complete the competition by the original end date will get something extra special to tide them over until I hand out all of the participation prizes on the 20th.

Also I LOVE the work people are putting into these and totally want to see as many completed as possible. Totally selfish motivations!

[Meara]

Thank you for the extension xoxox