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((First a brief message: Hello, everyone. I play the Hermit. I hope I didn't word it in a too-confused manner. sweatdrop ))

July 4

The World cooked a bit of dinner; the Hanged Man popped in for a bite, and he learns of the two latest arrivals. They were joined by Meep, who met the Hanged Man for the first time, and a cup of tea was shared by all three. The scent of the cooking lamb in the kitchen attracts the Tower; while the Empress turns in for an early night, the Tower appears. He and the Hanged Man engage in a bit of sizing-up, while Death - deciding to take the rope-climb from her tower-room - also joins the impromptu gathering. Returning the World's lute, introductions are made between Death and the Tower; dinner is served, though the chef (the World) ducks out to retrieve the Tower's cape, left behind after their dance. The Tower questions Meeps ability to arrive at the castle sans card, and the World plots and executes prank; while it amuses almost everyone, the Tower takes exception at the invasion of his personal space. The World, hurt by the Tower's brusque manner, begins shedding tears; the Tower becomes - if possible - even more agitated. The Hanged Man, either trying to break the tension or make it into a telenovella-worthy drama, suggests that the two were once married; the Tower is indignant, the World has a brief outbursts and leaves, and the Tower has a good laugh at her outburst. Death leaves after the World, Meep is highly uncomfortable, and the Hanged Man - after making a casual warning against underestimating the World - excuses himself. Meep tries to mediate the Tower's point of view; Death returns the World's lyre, then retires, and the World plays herself calm, resolving to go and apologize soon, rather than be thought a "big baby." She does so, and the Tower accepts, on the terms that she never pull a similar stunt again. Meep excuses herself, and the Tower and the World move to the dining room, where the Tower explains his need for personal space, and from which the World takes her leave. (ends at top of pp.330; whew! o_O wink

Meanwhile, the Chariot is in his bedroom, reflecting on how it's been fun so far, but not too conduicive to finding out any "great truths." Taking the elevator for the first time since his arrival, he tries random floors to no avail; after questioning the need for such space when there seems to be so few people to inhabit it, he returns to his room in frustration. About this time, a young man named Apathetic is spotted wandering the castle corridors, looking confused and accompanied by a tortoiseshell cat named Cheshire.(ends partway down pp.333)

The Tower is now patrolling the outside of the castle, while the World is dancing herself to exhaustion in penance for her behaviour. Strength is walking in the forest, and is happened upon by a momentarily-but-fleetingly-feral Tower, and they have a conversation about perception and remembering their past lives. Meep, meanwhile, lies by the lake and hopes she hadn't overstepped her boundaries, lecturing the Tower. Apathetic, after wandering about, has found the library; he is momentarily occupied, though somewhat unnerved. Meep considers heading to the kitchen, the Empress looks for company, and the two wind up having scones in the kitchen. Apathetic's cat takes off, prompting Apathetic to chase after him; he spends all night trying to follow the animal, then falls asleep in one of the many empty bedrooms. The conversation between the World and the Tower ends when the World goes off to bed, but the parting is an amiable one; meanwhile, the conversation between Meep and the Empress, concerning Meep's (possible) card and the other cards by extension, begins. The Tower wanders aimlessly for a bit, before winding up in the kitchen once again; the Empress and the Tower are introduced, before the Tower turns into mist and retires. The Empress and Meep do the same.

The next morning, Death idles by the lake, allowing "The Hermit" to wander about in confusion. (Hermit? Who's he?) The Chariot figures out how to get his chariot working, and rides about in the fields attempting to shoot/trample various animals, to be taken back to the castle and cooked. Using all his arrows but failing to hit anything, he returns to the castle; meanwhile, Death awakens from an enigmatic dream, has a cup of tea, heads briefly to the "real world," and returns with a bootle of booze, barricading herself in her tower. In the stables, Slyabney is talking to Bob the horse; in a spare room, Apathetic falls off the bed and wakes up, wandering off to find Cheshire. Hearing footsteps, he finds Sly coming in from the stables; since they both have no idea where they are, they head out to the stables and outdoors to try and get the lay of the land. Foiled by a high wall and flat pasturelands, they wound up in the courtyard, then took the other door back into the building. In the meanwhile, the Tower appeared in the throne-room, which is where Meep - having left the kitchen just before Sly entered it - is heading. Meep bandies words with the Tower, while Sly and Apathetic make jam sandwiches with the bread and preserves they scavenged in the kitchen; Apathetic also finds Cheshire napping in a cupboard. They eventually head south, passing through the dining room and winding up back in the hallway; about this time, the World begins to work out her frustrations by playing music. They split up, and after hearing voices in the throne room (Meep and the Tower, still talking), Apathetic decides to call it a night and look around tomorrow. (ends on pp.347)

Eventually, Meep and the World individually go to bed, and the Tower is left to ponder, alone, in the throne-room; this doesn't last long, though, as he's soon joined by Death, coming off her alcohol-binge, and they speak of unpleasant memories that this place had revived. Meanwhile, Apathetic is awakened by an empty stomach, and thus treks downstairs to the kitchen for a snack, accompanied by his cat. Distracted by the voices of Death and the Tower, which he can hear in the hallway, Apathetic trudges east to the throne-room; while Death and the Tower continue their conversation, Apathetic stumbles in and stares blankly, not quite "getting it." When Death inquires if Apathetic wants anything, he stammers in the negative and turns to leave; something, though, compels him to turn around and question him about this place. Naraka exited at this point, leaving a slightly mellow Death to hand Apathetic the Hermit card; Apathetic is duly confused. Death leaves, and Apathetic - absently wishing he were back in the tower-room bed - finds himself there. Exhausted from confusion, he falls asleep... not noticing that his clothes have changed, or that his room's gained a few new accoutrements... (ends on pp.350)

((Sorry for the long stretch of time between updates; I had... technical difficulties.))

July 13th Update

Death, the World, and the Chariot spent some time in the kitchen, just talking, while the Chariot made a sandwich; the World leaves, and the Chariot discusses the past with Death. Sly meets the World, who was dancing in the ballroom, and The World explains how she read a story of a 'tarot kingdom,' held her card in her hand, and found herself at the castle for the first time. She and Sly discuss the others who've arrived at the castle, and what is known about the castle so far, and so on, while in the meantime Judgement returns and looks around the castle a bit; he enters the Ballroom just as Sly leaves, and he and the World catch up a bit. The World tells Judgement about her incident in the ballroom, during which she seemed to be seeing the coronation ball of the King of Wands re-enacting itself in the ballroom, then excuses herself; Judgement moves out into the courtyard, where he meets Sly. The World, meanwhile, is tuning a guitar, wondering if her 'tarot-self' and her 'real-world self' can actually be compatible at all; meanwhile, Sly and Judgement continue their conversation. Someone new, a young woman named Fiarias, finds her way to the castle, then meets Judgement and Sly in the courtyard; she then departs, citing her parents worrying about her, and Sly asks Judgement if his wings are as heavy as they look. Following that, both head to the kitchen; meanwhile, in his tower, Apathetic wakes up to find himself sporting the same clothes as the him on the Hermit card; taking the staff and lantern now leaning against his doorway, he heads down to get that snack he missed out on last night. (ends one-third down pp.365)


Judgement and Sly find some pastries, but Sly soon leaves to find somewhere to sleep for the night; Meep, now up and about again, heads toward the kitchen as Apathetic arrives there, and meets Judgement. Accidentally introducing himself as "The Hermit," he re-introduces himself as Apathetic; Judgement shows Apathetic his own card, and also informs him that the woman and man from the previous night was Death and the Tower. Right after this, Meep enters; introductions all around. The Hermit mentions in passing his apprehensions about his card, but doesn't elaborate further; Judgement decides to call it a night, and The Hermit introduces Cheshire (his cat) to Meep. The Hermit leaves to go let Cheshire back into the tower, and Meep decides to go to sleep; Death, meanwhile, arrives and suits up for fencing practice, debating on whether or not she'd care to be seen practicing. The Hanged Man, meanwhile, decides to try and investigate Tower #4, which happens to be Death's; noticing his intent from the air, Death decides to land, hide, and see what happens. When he makes it onto the balcony, the Hanged Man is surprised by Death's saber before; the two bandy words, Death making it clear that she'd rather he vacate at once, while the World makes a non-focused entrance and appears several hundred feet off the ground, falling fast. Shutting the balcony doors in the Hanged Man's face, Death whisks away to catch the World before she hits the ground, a tragedy averted. After a brief bout of understandble hysteria, the World calms down and realizes she's lost her card in the fall; assuring her that it'll be found, Death takes her leave. The Hanged Man, meanwhile, has found her card; being suddenly assaulted by a rather aggressive bird in the belltower, he also comes across a small, locked box in a hollow part of the wall, and takes it with him to unlock in his room. Passing through the castle, he enters the library, where the World is reading on the second floor; he returns her card, and finds out about the "... brush with Death." (ends near the top of pp.372)

The Hermit awakens in his tower-room, does a little looking-around, and finds a large book with a map of the castle on one shelf; examining his desk, he finds a small book with pages torn out from the front, the rest blank, and decides that this will be his "Tarot Journal." Meanwhile, the Hanged Man shows off his weaponry, and the World asks about his being in the belltower; he explains about the small box, showing it to the World. The Tower and Strength arrive at the castle, in different areas, while The World goes off to do some reading and the Hanged Man gets to work on opening the box. Strength is playing in the lake; the Tower, in a playful mood, surprises her, and they speak lightheartedly about the beauty water and sunlight combine to make. Judgement, meanwhile, has made it through the maze and wound up on the lakeside; in his tower, the Hermit finishes his note-taking, puts everything back, and leaves his room. Somehow recalling the map of the castle he saw earlier in perfect clarity, he runs through the room's he's visited, and decides to try the courtyard as a destination; on the way, he hears voices in the kitchen, and finds the World cooking dinner. The Tower leaves the lake for the kitchen as he Hermit and the World exchange names, arriving to sit silently on the stove and dry off. Sly follows soon after, and comments on Apathetic's new look; Apathetic explains about his card, The Hermit, and he and Sly discuss the castle and Bob the horse, while the World and the Tower discuss how a vampire's needs differ from a human's. Both conversations end, as the food is now ready, and The Hermit and Sly (and Cheshire) begin eating; meanwhile, the Magician returnst to the castle, and - in his tower - the Hanged Man's attempts to open the small box leave him frustrated. The Magician arrives in the kitchen and is introduced to The Hermit; the Hanged Man also arrives, but decides to eat first, ask questions later. The World and the Tower leave, as the kitchen is getting crowded, and The Hermit, feeling somewhat intimidated by all these people who knew more about this place than he did, excuses himself. Judgement arrives, the Hanged Man eats, and the Magician leaves; meanwhile, the World and the Tower have a bit of a conversation and play some music together. Sly leaves the kitchen to check on Bob the horse, then lets him go; in the kitchen, the Hanged Man summarizes his day to Judgement. Death practices her swordplay in the courtyard, then is disturbed by Sly's arrival; unseen, she goes to the kitchen for some tea. Judgement leaves, Death ignores the Hanged Man's presence, and the Tower enters; tired of being ignored, the Hanged Man retreats to the basement wine-celler. Wehn questioned about her mood, Death explains about catching the Hanged Man attempting to enter her room; the Tower expresses his dislike of the Hanged Man, while in the library, the Hermit reads up on the meaning of his card and doubts he can fulfil it. Using his card, he returns to his room for the night; Meep enters the library just after, retrieves a book, then heads to the kitchen and makes herself a snack as Death and the Tower discuss the castle's extravagance, and the nature of humanity. Eventually, Death leaves, and the Tower does the same soon after.(ends near the bottom of pp.38 cool

The Chariot writes in his journal, while Strength looks for the horse that went missing (Bob); she asks the Chariot if he's seen it, which he hasn't, but he offers to help. Meanwhile, Sly is also out and about, looking for Bob the horse, and the Empress fluctuates between being alone and being around others. Strength meets the Empress in the courtyard, and the Empress agrees to help look for the horse; while Death watches them, and Judgement watches Death, the Hermit wakes in his tower and updates his notes. The Empress and Strength wander the gardens, looking for Bob; Death flies off, and the Hermit leaves his room, while Sly also searches for his horse. The Tower appears in the courtyard, which is where the Hermit is heading, since he never got there the previous day; the Tower goes for a swim, while Judgement follows Strength and the Empress, and Sly wanders around the pasture calling Bob. Judgement joins the hunt for Bob as the Empress leaves, and the Tower enters the garden-maze; he decides to nap in the garden as Judgement and Strength look for, then find, Bob the horse. Here, Judgement re-grants Strength her power, though she isn't aware of what it is yet. As they return Bob to the stables, they meet Sly; they talk for a while about the zoo before Sly decides to call it a night. In the ballroom, the Wolrd dances in silk scarves; the Tower watches from the shadows, before startling her with musical accompaniment. Strength leaves, and Judgement heads for the kitchen for a drink, while in the ballroom, the World notices that the Tower is soaking wet, and he explains that he was in the lake... and something about luckily having avoided swallowing a small fish. They find some towels for him to dry off with, and the World mentions feeling slightly guilty about being unable to tell her family about the castle; the Hanged Man, meanwhile, has awakened with a hangover, and - after waking up a bit - winds up skipping stones across the lake. The Tower mentions, again, his having killed in cold blood, and how it's finally caught up to him once more; feeling sympathetic, the World invites him to her room, where he promptly falls asleep against a wall. The World retires to the courtyard, and the Hanged Man returns to his Tower to sleep; in the kitchen, Death and the Empress have some fruit and lemonade. They discuss their past lives - what they can remember them - and their dreams; the Empress states her disbelief in the absolutes of life, and Death, nodding, exits. (ends on pp.40 cool

The next day (wait... how many days have passed?! o_o wink , the Tower appears again in the courtyard; the World, having slept in the sun, is now sunburned. The Tower offers her a ceramic jar of lotion, which helps tremendously, and they watch the sky reflected in the lake while the Tower absently begins singing. The Empress, reflecting on the previous night's conversation, listens from her tower; after a time, the World thanks the Tower and retires to her room. The next day, the Chariot works off some stress by phantom-sparring in the arena; Judgement, who happened upon the scene, applauds, and they finally meet. They tour the castle, then the Chariot retires to his room, leaving Judgement to... stand on the roof over the ballroom. In the meantime, the Hanged Man wakes, tidies up his room, then heads off to Death's tower, intending to apologize. Before he gets there, though, he finds Judgement atop the roof; they discuss why Death dislikes the Hanged Man, which tower is Judgement's, the new arrivals to the castle, and the Hanged Man learns that the castle is apparently somewhere in England. They then seperate, both heading to the kitchen for a snack; both, however, decide to call it a night right after reaching the kitchen. Judgement leaves, and the Hanged Man returns to his room, vowing to conquer that still-locked box soon.

The next day! again. The World finds herself feeling frazzled, though she can't say why; the Hanged Man, back to skipping stones across the lake, is pondering strategies for unlocking that box of his. Kesin the magpie, finding his way into the ballroom, twitters at the World; the bird watches her, she watches the bird, and the Hanged Man, form the shadows, watches them both. The World offers the bird a silver ring from her finger, which it accepts and is very fond of; the Hanged Man emerges from the shadows, and they wonder if Kesin came with a card-holder while he pecks at the World's leg for attention. The World coddles the magpie as the Empress arrives; Kesin and the World semi-communicate in song for a bit, and all four (three humans, one bird) move to the kitchen. The Empress offers the magpie a cookie, which makes it drop the ring; then it drops the cookie to get the ring, then tries - and fails - to pick up both at once. They make small talk for a bit, before the Hanged Man, then the World, excuse themselves. (ends on pp.449)

The World and the Chariot meet in the ballroom, and the World goes over the "legend" of the four kingdoms; soon, though, the Chariot has to leave, and he does so. The World then makes her way to the Library, where the Wheel of Fortune soon arrives, and the Wheel of Fortune accepts the World's offer to find something to do, so that he doesn't dwell on his non-flying wings. Meanwhile, Sly meets up with Judgement by the lake, and they make small talk; the World and the Wheel of Fortune briefly discuss the Chariot, about whom the Wheel of Fortune seems somewhat apprehensive... at least, where the Chariot's drive to win is combined with the World.

The Devil arrives, and the first person he meets is the Empress; they have tea in the kitchen, and he flirts some information out of her, including the fact that she's beginning to feel resigned to her future responsibilities, which seems to irk him slightly. He decides to retire his room, leaving the Empress somewhat speechless. The next day, Strength, meanwhile, wanders through the maze and into the courtyard, while the Hanged Man hails Judgement in the courtyard. Strength joins them, and the Hanged Man reveals that he finally pried that box open; within, he found old party-announcements, a vial of black... stuff, and a very sparkly necklace, which he gives to Strength, who kisses him on the cheek and brings up the topic of servants. Yes, they seem to have just appeared, taking care of the menial chores like cooking, cleaning, ect; about this time, the Devil wakes, and decides to see if those wings of his worked. They kind of do, and he manages a landing on the roof over the ballroom, having a smoke as he watches the three in the courtyard below. Eventually, though, he returns to his room, as Strength brightly - and perhaps somewhat naively - informs Judgement and the Hanged Man that the Chariot has a large collection of womens' clothes and lingerie in his closet, which leaves them speechless. Fortuantely, though, Death appears at this time, and while she's still a little cold towards the Hanged Man, they all have a conversation about their new servants; we learn that, while everyone else has flesh-and-blood servents, Death has dis/embodied spirits. The Hanged Man apologizes to Death, has it accepted, and leaves; Strength leaves to tend to one of her new aides; Judgement leaves as well; and Death heads inside. (ends at bottom of pp.475)

Kesin, the magpie, apepars to have adopted the World, who is reading in her room when a knock on her door interupts her; it's the Tower, looking a bit panicky, and 0 judging from the sobs coming in from the hallway - he's not the only one. Apparently, he had a run-in with his new servant... and it didn't go too well. The World heads out to fix it, and while she talks to the girl - who is apparently unaware of the Tower's vampiric nature - the Hermit returns; confronted by a matron-type woman, he quickly escapes to wander the halls. The Tower tries to foist his servant off on the World, who already has two of her own she doesn't want; eventually, the Tower gives in, and tells the servant-girl to go take the day off or something, and he and the World talk about the ethics of having these people as servants. The Hermit enters the courtyard, intending to visit the garden, but gets sidetracked and talks to Meep by the lake; they chat about the day, the warmth of the day, and the Hermit smiles before his watch goes off and he has to leave. The World and the Tower decide to go outside to get away from the servants; the Magician has the same thought, and heads for the courtyard. The Devil, already there, assumes a relaxed pose and waits for them, then introduces himself when the above - plus Death - arrives. The Tower and the World bypass the scene and head for the lake to splash about in the water, Death and the Magician introduce themselves, and the Devil - reflecting on Death's introduction - thinks that some people here are just fatalistic (whilst slightly unsettling the Magician via handshake). In the meantime, Meep returns to the toy room and falls asleep; shortly after, the Tower and the World emerge from the lake and retire.

((Continued catch-up summaries...))


September 21st Update, Continued


(starts on pg. 607)
Strength meets Judgement in the ballroom, telling him about Deaths mysterious "illness," and Judgement volunteers to help if he can; though they can't seem to wake Death from her coma-like sleep-state, she seems to be stable nonetheless, and they hope for the best. Later that day, Judgement is still pondering, while Strength wakes from a brief nap. Justice, walking through the halls with Ammit, meets up with the Hanged Man, and they make small-talk until the latter leaves and Judgement shows up. More small-talk ensues before they go their seperate ways.

(starts on pg. 621)
In the Real World, an act of war results in the destruction of life-- including that of the Charioteer, who - it seems - is back to the castle for good. In another part of the castle, Death awakens in her room, while the Hanged Man climbs to the roof, just for kicks. Death explains to Strength that she was attempting a spell, which failed due to the lack of a power source, a soul; from the rooftop, the Hanged Man sees the out-and-about Charioteer and calls out. Introductions happen, the whole "the-Chariot-has-a-closet-of-womens-clothes" thing is straightened out, and they head off towards the arena. Death and Strength bond while Death thanks Strength for watching over her, and Judgement and Meep briefly discuss their individual reasons for being present before splitting up. During the storm that happens outside, a young woman named Rhimnie arrives in the castle. (ends 631)

(starts on pg. 641)
A young man called RT enters the castle grounds; spotting Death from a distance, he momentarily doubts his sanity. The World and the Hanged Man meet in the ball-room and have a light conversation while waltzing; RT happens in and watches quietly from the side, being mistaken and dismissed by Judgement for one of the servants. Eventually, Judgement realizes that RT is one of those who just happen upon the castle, and they head to the kitchen to get him something to eat; the World and the Hanged Man continue their conversation by the lake, and talk about faeries for a bit before heading off. The World then meets up with the Charioteer, who has arrayed himself in full armor for "battle," and rides with him in his war-chariot to the Arena, where he procedes to beat the stuffing out of a illusionary-but-real-enough opponent of the Worlds choice. Another lost hiker arrives, this one going by the name of Puss, who quickly winds up meeting the Hanged Man, RT, and Justice, the last one being half-dragged there by her dog. Justice briefly unnerves the Hanged Man by mentioning the reality of justice itself, before all three go to the music room, where RT plays Metallica until Go falls asleep.

(starts on pg. 670)
A girl called Pseudo arrives, bearing the card of the High Priestess; the first person she meets is Strength, who attempts to fill her in a little while aiding a wounded hawk in finding its mate. In the library, Puss finds a tarot card hidden in an old book; the card, and the note he finds with it, indicates that he is the Heirophant. Strength and the High Priestess meet up with the World, and Strength introduces the two before bowing out for a bit. They walk and talk, the World explaining what she knows of the cards and the castle; the Heirophant finds them, and remains apart from their conversation while he listens in. The two women walk off towards the library, while the Heirophant meets up with Justice, who shows him around a bit. They encounter Judgement, and he's introduced to the Heirophant; meanwhile, the World directs the High Priestess to the courtyard and leaves. The High Priestess continues on and stumbles across the trio, but doesn't join the conversation until after the Heirophant leaves, after which they all have an introduction-session. Sly drops by as well, and the Heirophant returns; Judgement goes off to the kitchen to get everyone snacks, and he finds the World baking. The end result is that the Heirophant, the High Priestess, Judgement, the World, Justice, and Sly have a picnic in the courtyard. And odd bit of tension, partially sparked by the High Priestess' odd connection to the World, results in the picnic being broken up; the High Priestess briefly meets Death, but the castle is soon quiet for the night. The next morning, though, the World, the High Priestess, and the Heirophant meet up with each other, then with the Charioteer; the requisite introductions are made, and the group heads off to the arena, where combat-practice takes place between the World and the Charioteer.