NPC - Niska Mvashti's page

Madame Mvashti smiles sweetly, with a toothless mouth.
"But of course, my child. I'll be waiting."

"Yes. Her new mother, she who births monsters."

Madame Mvashti shakes her head.
"I am afraid she has become a child of her monstrous mother, and the only way to save her is to kill her."
She points to "The Keep" card.
"You will find her there."

Madame Mvasti breaks into a laugh. Clear and happy, loud and innocent.
"That is what I love about mortals! A town can be in peril, all of Varisia is at risk, but love is still in your hearts! Don't ever stop dreaming! That is what makes life valuable, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"
She cleans a tear from her cheek, still smiling.
"You don't need M'ara, or me or the cards to tell you what you already know. She loves you, and she is good an innocent. Her brother is powerful and egotistical, but he loves her sister in his own sick way. You want to save and protect her, to be her white knight. And she wants that too. She wants to be free, and you want to free her. Be smart, wait for the right time, and you will free her."

Madame Mvashti smiles.
"You are quite right, son of Sandpoint. This is bigger than her, but right now our town needs saving from her before we face future challenges. But you have the blessing of Lady Luck, and with her, at your side, you will prevail in the challenges ahead."
Anton feels confidence and ease at hearing the old Varisian woman's words.
Anton gains the effect of a Bless effect with on Thistletop (+1 to attack).
Anything else you want to say to her? Or question her?

The card spread is laid up in front of Anton Ionescu. M'ara tells him the usual meaning of the cards.
The Mute Hag - It represents the insightful hag, a purveyor of blood pacts, treacherous secrets, and discord.
The Unicorn - It represents one who generously offers up that which is sought.
The Keep - It represents a quiet, unshakeable strength that withstands any hardship.
The Peacock - It represents a great beauty that can only be preserved if petrified and frozen in time for eternity, as by a cockatrice's glare.
The Foreign Trader - It represents spies, merchants, and those who truck in information.
The Eclipse - It represents loss of faith and purpose, and the subject's doubt about his abilities or prospects.
The Winged Serpent - It represents the couatl, the bridge of understanding between the towers of knowledge and judgement.
The Cyclone - It represents an unstoppable, destructive force unleashed through the plots of intelligent creatures.
The Sickness - It represents corruption, famine, plague, pestilence, and disease.
Madame Mvashti explains the lay of the cards for him, while M'ara confirms the knowledge she has.
"You have three columns, the past, what has already happened, even if you don't know it. the present, current but many times hid, and finally the future, always changing, always unforeseen."
She moves her hand from top to bottom.
"And you have three rows. What aids you, what exists, and what opposes you."
She then puts her hand in front of her, with her fingers extended upwards, and the thumb crossing her palm.
"M'ara has done a great reading for you..."
She starts to recite, almost chant, with that old voice from her.
"She who is blind and talks of the things she sees,"
"Together with a community ready to accept you,"
"Against a floating fortress that opposes us all,"
"You will find help from the ancient and preserved,"
"Knowledge that has been found,"
"Against the army raising against us,"
"But with that knowledge and wisdom you will prevail,"
"And prevent the town to be destroyed,"
"Defeating the corrupted one."
Anton wonders... How did she know what the cards were if she is blind?
She laughs a little.
"Son of Sandpoint, did you know that is an old rhyme from the founding of this town? What do you think that means? What do you see in the cards?"

Madame Mvashti smiles...
"It means he did not return to Sandpoint by coincidence. It was a stroke of luck, for us. He returned to face Nualia. He returned to fulfill his, and her, destiny."
She extends a hand towards the middle card.
"An this... what the future holds... there are more to this. There is a giant force playing with all of us. With Nualia, with Sandpoint, with you all... But right now you must go and save us before we discovering what follows. That is life, we dream a dream each night."
Finally, she slumps in her chair.
"M'ara, my daughter, do you feel like reading the cards to Anton Ionescu? He has many questions, and his heart is troubled by someone. Maybe you can help him."

M'ara and Anton Ionescu
You are taken into the reception room where M'ara's reading happened the last time, but this time Madame Mvasti is already there, waiting for you.
"Welcome, my children. I greet those who saved the town and the spirit of it. And I especially welcome him who has the blessing of the luck-lady on him. Might Desna keep blessing you, warrior, favorite son, and lover."
She moves her hand to ask you to take a seat on the other side of the table.
"So you finally know who is behind the attack on the town. And you finally know what she wants. Now you need to choose how to face her. Now you know you face The Lost One."
Her face moves down towards the table, and just at that moment, you realize there are three harrow cards on it, seemingly as old as Madame Mvashti herself, facing you.
From top to bottom.
The theater
The juggler
The lost
Madame Mvashti looks sad. You can almost imagine the only reason she is not crying is that her tears have dried with her age.
"She got lost. She, who was destined to be a force for good, is now one of her whores. She that could have brought dreams to life, has now given birth to nightmares. She will be your ultimate challenge in the trials ahead."
You can miss the fact that one of the arms in the card "The Lost" is putrid. It seems very similar to the arm of Nualia Tobyn that Tsuto Kaijitsu drew in his journal.
Then Madame Mvasti's face raises up slowly and seems to look directly at Anton Ionescu with her white blind eyes.
"M'ara, my daughter. What do you have to face the lost one? What does The theater card mean?"
A little help...

At Mvashti's, one day before...
"If this card was on your favor, yes. But this card is against you. Somebody is getting tortured, bound and immobilized. But reversed... that is odd, I don't know what to think about it... "
The old woman closes her eyes.
"I grow tired in my years, and the future is the hardest to read. Please forgive me if I ask you to leave me now to rest. You did a great reading, my child, a very profound one. I just pray Desna it helps you in the trials you are about to face. And after you deal with them please come back to me, together with your friends, and we will take a walk in the forest together."
She slumps in her chair and seems to fall in comfortable and easy sleep.

At Madame Mvashti's, the day before
M'ara looks at the next card and feels a chill on her heart.
Madame Mvashti head drops down.
"She is the purveyor of blood pacts, treacherous secrets, and discord. Right now, secrets, discord, and pacts are happening in our town. And the discord those old secrets and pacts have festered all these years will come to the light! Bad news indeed! But let's see what is against you in the present, who works against your group..."
The next card is there, for M'ara to read. Strangely, the card is reversed, with the man standing and the bubbling cauldron over his head.

At Madame Mvashti's, last day.

"A survivor?" M'ara muses, "Perhaps the white haired woman survived a tragedy....and is now alone, afraid, angry..."

Madame Mvashti shakes her head.

"In other positions, it wouldn't be a bad reading. But here the card is in the present auspices. It is something you need to do now. It is the best chance you have. See it again. The treasure. What you need is the treasure he has. He who survived the attack has something you can use. Something you should use, to triumph."
Current time
M'ara has it clearly now. How could she know? How could the cards know? Yes, there is a survivor. And yes, finding him is one of several options. And the cards told her: "The best way of action is to find the treasure the survivor has."

Madame Mvashti smiles.
"Good... a distraction by her... she of the white hair."
M'ara looks at the next card and shivers. The eyes in the card... they feel like if they are looking back at M'ara. And they are white, reminding her of Madame Mvashti's eyes.
"She made a spectacle for everyone to get distracted so she could get what she really wanted. Looks at her arms... she is ready to strike, and the other arm... there is something odd with her other arm. Can you see it?"
Madame Mvashti's grabs her right arm as if it pains her.
"But all of that is in the past. Let's now focus on the present. What do you have at your favor?"

At Mvashti's
M'ara looks at the card... What size is the enemy? Goblin size? Why? Where is it seeing? Is it really interested in Sandpoint, or looking at another thing?

At Mvashti's

M'ara's eyes flutter open and look from the second card to Madam Mvashti, "An attack....and obstacle to overcome? Peace can only come from answers..." she responds, trying to allow the words to come as they are, and not force anything.

"And what is attacking Sandpoint? Is it big or small? What does it want?"

--- At Mvashti's ----

Pulling her worn Harrow-deck from her pouch, M'ara shuffles them automatically, but without any of the fanfare or flair she might for someone on the street.
Sneaking a peak to her left, she can see Shivi watching on avidly...as she quickly plucks a card and places it in the first position...
The last card repeated, I will take the next one, as it goes well.
Card 1 - The beating
Card 2 - The mountain man
Card 3 - The dance
Card 4 - The survivor
Card 5 - The mute hag
Card 6 - The waxworks
Card 7 - The theater
Card 8 - The juggler
Card 9 - The lost

Madame Mvashti does not follow M'ara's hands or turns to see the cards.

"I am glad you know when showmanship is important in a reading. And when is not. You are wise, my child. You can learn.
The first card is what happened to us in the past that moved us forward. That taught us. That helps us grow. Can you imagine getting attacked on all sides like something good?"
She smiles. How can she know what your first card is?
"Now the second card. What happened. Not what helped us or hinder us, but what actually came to pass. What do you see there? What has just happened to our little town?"

M'ara is a bit too much engrossed in her fascination with just how old Madame Mvashi is...taking in all of the features of old age that she's never seen up close.

Realizing she was staring,...

About M'ara, we are RPing the day before... Don't mind us.

Madame Mvashti's hand feels dry and coarse. You fear it will break or fall down.
She sighs.
"Such youth! Such potential! I see you. I see what you are, and what you can become. I am glad you came to me, as I can help you see yourself as I see you. Like a mirror. Please, my child, take out your cards and let us ask them what we see."
Reading time! Roll 1d54 9 times, and if a number is repeated, roll it again.

Clasping her hands in front of her, she waits for the Madame's arrival.

Many minutes pass without any changes.

Then the first thing M'ara notices is the smell.
A unique smell. The only thing she can match it with is old flowers, their sweet fragrance just before they rot.
The old woman that arrives moves very slowly. Very purposefully. As she has to plan each muscle and each bone movement before she commits to it.
Her eyes... there is something different with her eyes. She has sat before M'ara realizes the white on her pupils means she has gone blind.
Shoanti usually dies young. Even the old ones, they normally die before the "normal" age of "civilized" people. Their lifestyle wears people out fast. And it is very hard for a tribe to care for old people. Old people with... issues.
So M'ara, as a child, wasn't exposed to very old people. To sick old people.
Later, on her travels, she found them, here and there. There were some fascination and pity mixed up with some fear when they appeared. They were a novelty to M'ara.
But she wasn't ready for this. She never thought a woman could be that old. Her back completely bent. Her skin dry and wrinkled. Toothless, her lips sunk in her own mouth. Almost bald, with only some white hairs here and there, uncombed.
Her dead eyes.
Her voice was very low. Heavy accented, maybe an old varisian dialect. M'ara needs to stop moving and stop breathing so she can hear and understand her.
"You have learned to wait, my child. You have learned patience. That is unexpected in someone as young as you. Welcome to my house. I am Madame Mvashti."
She smiles, almost sweetly, extending a trembling arthritic hand across the table, in your general direction.