A Harrow Reading in RotRL

[Paris Crenshaw]

Hey, all.

One of the players in my PbP Runelords campaign is paying a visit to Madame Mvashti at the beginning of the adventure. He has just asked her to tell him about his parents, who apparently abandoned him in the wilds as a youth, leaving him only his strange golden eyes as clues to his heritage. He was raised by a kindly druid and has taken to following the Green Faith.

For a lark, I decided to give him a Harrow reading. I'm not using the game mechanics or anything (although if someone has done that I'd love to hear your ideas). Anyway, the results were totally random, but quite surprising:

Role Card: The Marriage - Very appropriate considering his question

The Spread:
Top Row (left to right): The Owl, The Uprising, The Lost

Middle Row: The Peacock, The Juggler, The Demon's Lantern

Bottom Row: The Locksmith, The Courtesan, The Liar

The top and middle rows actually apply pretty well to the character, himself.

Spoiler:

Top Row: The owl representing the kind and wise druid who raised him; The Uprising indicating that he is in the clutches of an overwhelming force that may be a force for good; and the Lost, in its positive sense, as an indicator that he will find clarity and regain what he has lost.

Middle Row: The Peacock is an admonition to accept what has passed before and an indicator of someone stepping outside of societal norms; The Juggler indicates that the character's fate is still unclear (duh...first level character!); The Demon's Lantern represents either trickery or deceit or an opportune moment...perhaps both

It was the bottom row (the "evil" cards) that floored me. Keep in mind those were chosen randomly. All cards are interpreted negatively, based on their positions.

Spoiler:

The Locksmith: Something taken and locked away, particularly power (Karzoug?); The Courtesan: Someone or something is not as it seems (They just finished meeting with Lord Foxglove); The Liar: Treachery and deep obsession (Lord Foxglove, but also...wait for it...the card actually has a lamia on it!)

I would love to be able to post an image of this spread, because the visual impact is pretty cool. Anyway, if you have a Harrow deck, lay out the cards above and check it out.

The funny thing is that, based on this reading, I may actually give these things a try for divination. I've been reading Tarot for a long time, but I was surprised that these cards that I picked up for a game actually seemed to be "speaking" to me.