Role

Chapter 2

One dreary evening Arinayar, a young adolescent, sits alone at a round table.
It has been aesthetically placed in the middle of a round chamber, high up in
the tower, tallest feature of the mansion where Arinayar lives with her
parents. She puts the book she was reading, titled "Elemental musings and the
Poetry of life", away into a dark-wooden cabinet within arm's reach. A fervent
enthusiast of word weaving, she has enjoyed it's inner musings, but has now
become too tired to continue.

She now turns her attention to what she would call 'lighter entertainment', a
deck of tarot cards.

Looking upwards, she softly talks to a figure perched on the sill of a higher
up window, "How am I going to do this tonight, Cornelius?".

Enthusiastically it responds "hoot! hoot", for indeed it is an owl Arinayar is
talking to. Though, it would seem unlikely that there are that many like this
one, it seems to be fashioned entirely out of earth, twigs and leaves and
whatever else may be found on and within the soil.

Seemingly satisfied, Arinayar separates the Arcana cards from the Minor cards,
"these will do, this eve" she says.

She shuffles the Arcana cards and stacks them. "First the Spirit card, right
at the center". "Hoot!" acknowledges the owl, "Above it the Ice card, Earth
below, as it should be." She continues placing cards as she described, one
above, one below the Spirit card.

"Along the horizontal axis go Air and Water, in that order", no answer from
the owl this time.

Now also silent, Arinayar continues to lay cards down, between Air and Earth
comes Lightning, at the bottom left. At the bottom right comes Ooze, between
it's two parents Earth and Water. Opposite that comes Fire, between Air and
Ice. The last card fills the hole, the Magic card, it is reversed to mark it's
difference from the Elements.

f I m
\ | /
A - S - W
/ | \
l E o

Leaning a bit back, Arinayar looks at the wheel of cards she has created. The
owl hoots softly.

"Do you think I should be brave, Cornelius?"

No answer.

"Fortune favors the bold", with that Arinayar flips the Spirit card.

- The Tower -

Arinayar cannot help but gasp as she says the card at the center of the wheel.

Slightly hesitant now, she reaches forward to take the second card as planned.
Her hand quickly grabs the Magic card and flips it.

- The World -

Now visibly shaken, Arinayar seems shocked at this revelation.

"A violent change, an end to a cycle. That does not bode well ...", Cornelius
softly howls an acknowledging "hoot!"