Madam Mvashti's page

Gengar leans back in his chair and raises one eyebrow.

"Humph!" he snorts and then holds his breath for the next draw.

She flips over another card. This one shows a picture of a man hoarding a large pile of gold coins. In the background, his house appears faded and dilapidated.

"The Miser. Is card of greed. It usually means financial troubles. Maybe it means someone going to steal all your money. Or, who knows? Maybe it means you get rich soon."

She flips over the final card. This one shows a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. But the chrysalis seems to be an orb of blue seas and brown and green land.

"And finally the Swallowtail. This is the card of Desna. Yet another gimme card. It stands for fortune and luck. But it is luck you find or make yourself. Implicit in the card is that bad or world-shattering events happen to everyone. What that means in this context is uncertain. I think maybe it means Desna is saying 'you on your own, dwarf'."

She heaves another sigh and lays the deck of cards back on the table. Something seems to be deeply troubling to her.

"Always is it troubling when I read cards and bones. Maybe I give up reading cards. But then who will pay an old woman to just be an old woman? It's not like I have many other skills."

She trails off in thought.

A moment later, she remembers her company. "Ah, but enough about that. Why should I bother dwarf with troubled mutterings of an old woman. You come for berries, stay for cards, and bring keve for me to drink and brighten my day.

"Of course, you also bother me at my home, so maybe leaving you with troubled thoughts, as mine are troubled is best way to repay you. Anyway. Keep an eye out for goblins. And worse. But you look like a resourceful dwarf, so maybe things turn out okay for you. Because that happens a lot, that things turn out okay for people."

"So, there you go. Reading over. Hope it helps. I go lie down for a while. You maybe go away then?"

Madam Mvashti turns over the third card and lays it down.

"Speaking of bad things...."

The card depicts a human man with red horns, a pointed tail, and goat legs, surrounded by flames. In the background of the card, there appears to be an image of a tower crumbling in flames.

"The Tyrant. Very bad. The Tyrant speaks of oppression, the cruel use of power over the weak and helpless, and hard times. Another gimme card, because everybody feel oppressed some time, and hard times like leaves on trees or sand on beach. For you, I think it means you screwed.

More coming...

Gengar scartches his beard while he thinks of all the things he wants to know. Wine, women, riches, excitement...settling down with my own little smoke shop...yeah, that's it. My smoke shop...

The dwarf wipes his hand on his pants and cuts the deck three times making sure the middle pile only has a couple cards in it.

Madam Mvashti scoops up the cards and begins flipping them over one by one into a line across the table. The first card flipped shows a picture of a goblin running from a farmer's wife, carrying a sackful of stolen food and gleefully charging toward a cliff.

"I see the cards are in a playful mood today," she says. "Normally the Goblin indicates mischief, chaos, or unexpected turns of fortune. The goblin has stolen the family dinner and the woman runs after him. But in the chaos, the goblin does not see the cliff ahead of him. See how he's looking back at the farmer's wife? Unexpected events come.

"But sometimes good things can come from unexpected chaos. Look here..." She points to a small portion of the drawing on the card. "The woman's house is on fire. If she had not chased after the goblin, she would be trapped in the fire and die. Though the ruined dinner is upsetting, she gets to wake up next morning. Maybe she will be happier when she see what might have been? Maybe not, though. We all see what we want, and disregard all else.

"So that is normally what Goblin card mean. For you it means 'will be goblins soon'."

She flips over another card. This one depicts two people standing on a beach in the moonlight, holding knives to each others' throats.

"The Twins. Hmm... Not good. Not good. For everybody else, the twins indicate family in conflict. Is one of my favorite cards. Know why? Because everybody have family conflict. The Twins make every reading easier. Is gimme card. Plus? Cheap way to give hope to mark, leave on upbeat note. Look here, see how their other hands are clasped? Something to point to and say 'is sign of trust,' or 'is sign of reconciliation'. Make them think everything going to be okay. That's what everybody want to hear anyway.

"For you, I don't know what it means. Probably something bad. You got brother or sister you don't like?

More reading to come...

Madam Mvashti wrote:

She heaves a heavy sigh.

"And just as you were about to leave. Okay, I read cards for you. Two more gold. This require more keve. I put a pot on to boil, you sit back down again. And don't touch anything with your sticky hands."

After sitting awhile, swinging his legs, Gengar begins to grow bored. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of bone those are? I bet they're human or maybe elf. Yeah, elves are oozing with arcane power. They must be elf.

Gengar looks around the room and lets out a gasps of surprise. Celestial! I bet they're angel bones...

Gengar begins to reach his hand toward the bones.

"I said don't touch anything." She returns to the room carrying a small deck of cards, and places it on the table in front of you.

"What is it you wish to know? Be careful! Vague bumblings are nobody's friend. But just because you are specific does not mean the cards will be. So choose. What one thing is it you wish to know more about?"

"Think on that, then cut the deck three times to the right, using your right hand."

"Well your bones have thrown me for a loop. What worse could your cards say? Maybe they'll tell me where them stinking goblins are? Or maybe if there is Mrs. Gengar down the road? Ok, I would like to pay for a reading. How much?"

She heaves a heavy sigh.

"And just as you were about to leave. Okay, I read cards for you. Two more gold. This require more keve. I put a pot on to boil, you sit back down again. And don't touch anything with your sticky hands."

"Now let me get this straight. You're saying your magical bones are telling me that there are goblins coming?!?" Gengar's heart starts racing, first out of fear and then excitement.

"Get help?" Gengar immediately thinks of the giant Shoanti, Mitnal.

"Bones not telling you anything. Bones tell me. I tell you. And I didn't say 'goblins are coming,' I say 'there will be goblins soon'. Who knows? Maybe you somewhere else when goblins happen. Maybe goblins already here and hiding. But you're right. Goblins most important thing I mention here this morning. You worry about goblins. Don't worry about anything else."

"Thank you for the goodberries. I wont insult you by offering money for them, but please let me give you something for your trouble?"

"You bring bitter drink for starters, but berries don't just grow on trees you know. I paid good copper for the berries this morning. Plus, I have to get up at hind cleft of morning to go down to market, and then I have to suffer through your company on top of that, and you don't even pay me to read cards. I take two gold insult from you.

"You sure you no want cards? Usually people want cards. Maybe I even tell you truth about what cards say."

"Oh and I was wondering if you could make me some goodberries."

"Goodberries! Goodberries? You no want cards? Usually people want cards."

She opens her door wider and gestures for you to enter.

"Come, dwarf. I make you goodberries. But first..." She takes the coffee from your hand. "Thank you."

She leads you from her entry hall into a sitting room off to the left, dimly lit and draped with Varisian scarves in many colors. A small table with a crystal ball on it stands in the center of the room. She gestures to a chair.

"Sit, sit. But don't put sticky cake on anything. I hate sticky."

She wanders deeper into the room and seems to disappear through draping silk. Her voice drifts back to you from some other part of the house.

"You are in luck, dwarf. I normally don't keep berries in house, but something tell me you coming, so early this morning, I go down to market and find grocer with pint of berries, and buy them from him."

She wanders back into the room carrying a small bowl of berries.

"Then again, maybe you not so lucky. Autumn berries are bitter. Berries are for spring, when the world is bright and sweet and bursting with life. Only berries hard and bitter enough to fight for long life ripen in autumn. Life does that to you. You know any happy old people? No, you don't. You know why? There aren't any."

She begins muttering a prayer over the berries.

"I normally don't make berry prayer for the day either. But something tell me you coming, and you want berries, so I make berry prayer for the day. Make twice, even. Something tell me you need it. There will be goblins, soon. And worse, after. But first, goblins. And you need all the help you can get.

She grabs a handful of bones off the table and tosses them back down again, waving her fingers over the spilled pieces, as if reading by touch.

"Yeah, you the one. Bones say you bring me bitter drink. And sticky sweet stuff. To bad you not speak the bones yourself, or you know I not like sticky sweet things."

She begins muttering another prayer over the bowl of berries.

"There you are," she says, lifting the bowl up to give the berries a close look. "I got them all, too. You know why? I am Madam Mvashti, that's why. Fifteen berries. All for you."

With sweet buns and coffee in hand, Gengar approaches Madame Mvashti's house and knocks.

"Heellloooo." The dwarf says. "I brought some breakfast out of respect for calling so early..."

A dry rattling cough comes from behind the door as a hunched figured, barely taller than you opens the door.

"I'm awake, dwarf. But I'll take your offer of bitter drink anyway. You can have sticky cake. What, pray tell, brings you round to pester old women in their homes?"