Instruments: Tarot Deck
Game Description
You have lived more than once, and you will relive your memories and experiences again to see how they will change your future.
Game Content Warnings
These are content warnings that are from the game prompts and are present in all playthroughs.Playthrough Content Warnings
These are content warnings specific to this playthrough only.
Word Count: 2,238 Played: Nov 19, 2024
Swords, What is your greatest challenge?
5 of Swords: Unbridled Ambition
I want to become the best mirror maker in Europe.
Wands, What is your calling? Who does it serve?
Queen of Wands: Courage, Determination
Me. I want to be the best, I work so that I might attain fame.
Cups, What relationship do you treasure most?
Three of Cups: Friendship, community, happiness
My closest friend, Trinidad, we met when we were apprentices without one another neither of us would have succeeded.
Pentacles, What is your most prized possession?
Six of Pentacles: Charity, Generosity
The first Mirror Trinidad made, which he considered a success, he gave to me. It hangs in my bedroom.
Character Archetype
The Sun: Joy, Success, Celebration
Whenever others share my space they feel
At ease, I am a very personable person and I get along with others easily.
Because of my Archetype I am skilled at
Hosting grand parties
The dark side of my Archetype means I am prone to
Bouts of depression when I am alone. I need to be around people
When I meet someone new for the first time, I am likely to think of them…
As an opportunity for a new relationship, either friendship, business, or romantic.
Nine of Swords: Resilience, Grit,
What was your vocation in your past life?
A military doctor
How long ago was this?
This was during the height of the Roman Empire c. 200 AD
How did your Archetype show up prominently when you were this person
I spent long hours with generals in their grand feasts and celebrations.
10 of Swords
What was the straw that broke the camel's back?
Too many deaths I couldn't prevent. Campaign after Campaign after Campaign, I tried new techniques, tried experimenting with new tools, new medicines, but nothing seemed to work. Soldiers and civilians kept dying and eventually it became too much and I retired into obscurity.
I too have been experimenting with new techniques, new tools, and I fear that I too will fall into obscurity. No matter how hard I try, the equipment is too expensive for me to simply experiment at a whim. I need to be careful, I need to get things right.
Knight of Swords
Some part of you knows it needs to flee. What are you fleeing from? Why is it difficult?
It was a losing battle. I knew my company wasn't going to win and I would either have been taken hostage or killed. But fleeing would mean cowardice and if I was caught I would be tried in martial law.
But I did so anyway. I abandoned my company and fled into the woods and then to the nearest town. I regrouped with a different company and made some excuse as to being lost in the confusion. I never got caught. No one from the company survived.
I cannot leave this place. The king forbids it, I am hardly allowed to leave to see my family and even then it is under strict supervision, lest I reveal the secrets of our techniques. Living out and becoming the best mirror-maker means leaving all of that behind, but I wonder if it is worth it. Sometimes I think about fleeing for just a night, but I doubt I will be so lucky as to not be caught.
Two of Swords
There was a place you belonged until you chose to leave. Where and why?
Eventually as I grew older, I saw men half my age die because I failed to save them, and eventually it became too much. My hands weren't as steady, my nerves began to fray, and I petitioned for my retirement and it was granted.
I retired to a small villa and lived out the rest of my days with wines and servants.
I think about my own retirement. Where it will lead me, who I will be with, or if I will ever get to retire without the king deciding to off me in order to keep my secrets.
I think I will need a contingency plan if that ever becomes the case.
What does this past life have in common with your current?
They were an ambitious doctor who, despite their best efforts, died in obscurity, even though they were well regarded in life.
What wisdom does this life hold for you?
Perhaps legacy is somewhat secondary to what is currency before me. Perhaps I should throw more parties.
Ace of Wands - Creation, Willpower, Desire
What animal were you?
I was an octopus.
Was this before or after your past life?
It was after.
How has your Archetype showed up in your animal?
Octopuses are very social, and a bit confrontational, they use a lot of body language including color.
5 of Wands
You had a rival, what did you fight over? Who do you remember winning?
The other male was in my territory, displaying dark, threatening colors. We fought, and we fought, making ourselves darker and darker until eventually it turned physical. I won eventually, but some of my limbs were damaged.
I must remember that sometimes are worth fighting for, and I need to not back down when faced with a challenge or a rival.
Page of Wands
You once accompanied a human on a long and arduous journey. Where were you going and why did you stick with them?
I found myself stuck in a the net of a fisherman. He didn't realize that I was in with all of the fish as he let it trail behind him for days on end. I was able to gorge myself on fish in the meantime and didn't mind so much the ride. He was surprised when he emptied out all the fish onto the deck and I scurried overboard back into the ocean.
Even in adverse times I can learn to take advantage of the situation. Stagnation sometimes means I need to look at something from a different perspective.
Seven of Wands
You were part of a colony of other animals
We lived together underneath rocks and around the coral and other undersea life. The ocean floor was littered in shells from our meals and we flittered around, socializing and fighting. We were too wily for the larger predators to hunt us since we slipped easily between the rocks when they approached. And the smaller creatures were either not our meals or were too slow to evade us.
We will always be stronger together. I was right to foster my friendship with Trinidad instead of dismiss him as just a rival. We may be in competition but should either of us falter we'll help one another.
What does your animal life have in common with your current?
They were not a solitary creature and neither am I. Together, with those in the city, with those other apprentices and masters, and all those in between, we will strive to make our city the greatest. (And I'll be the greatest above all of them)
What wisdom does this life have for your current one?
Together, with those in the city, with those other apprentices and masters, and all those in between, we will strive to make our city the greatest. (And I'll be the greatest above all of them)
Four of Cups - Apathy, Contemplation
What plant were you?
I was a bolete mushroom.
When in your timeline was this?
Before being a human.
How does your archetype show up prominently when you were a plant?
All mushrooms are connected between a large network underground.
Six of Cups
You were living by a structure, what was it originally designed for, what is it used for now?
I lived by a large, dead tree. It once housed life for the animals, but now it houses me and my kin.
There is no place that we can live without being near one another. I remember my days as an apprentice sleeping with the other boys. Those were long nights and I do not miss them.
Eight of Cups
You lived to an old age. Longer than you remember. How does it feel to finally die?
I was eventually eaten by a deer. I was the last one out of all the others in my group and I had been lonely ever since. I felt them die one by one through our connecting roots. It pained me as much as them to feel their lives being destroyed. There is comfort knowing that it will be over soon.
To be alone is miserable. I keep thinking back to my parties, the large ones, the small ones, even the social gatherings. To dine by myself is atrocious.
Ace of Cups
What was your relationship to water?
Like all living things, I need water to live and too much of it will kill me. There is balance in all things. My group and I all share the water in the soil down through our connected roots.
Share our bounties? Share our wine. Share our joys.
What does this past life have in common with yours?
We need our community. We need our friends to share in the joys of the world. I cannot strive alone.
What wisdom does this life hold?
I keep falling back to my old habits. I need others. I need to be with them and to spend time in their company, and all my past lives have reinforced this idea. I have always been the same. I cannot change who I was or who I am.
King of Pentacles - Abundance, Prosperity, Security
What Object were you, and where were you most often?
I was the drinking horn of a prince in the HRE. I was most often at his hip.
When in your timeline was this?
This was after being a Human but before being an octopus.
How did your Archetype show up prominently?
Party, party party.
Queen of Pentacles
You had a companion of sorts, another object that sat by you day to day, why does this make your humanself chuckle?
My best friend was a small knife that was beside me on the belt. She once stabbed a guy because the prince thought he looked at him funny. She then once stabbed another guy who insulted the prince. And then stabbed a third guy after the prince had been drinking.
She liked to stab!
I was an ignorant fool not to realize how others were being used. How easily it is to be manipulated by society and both others. I wonder what I and Trinidad have both done on behalf of one another.
Page of Pentacles
Many hands held you, but who's do you recall strongly? How did they leave their mark?
I was often passed around after being filled with wine. Drinking alone is no fun! Share often and share greatly! Except when I was dropped once. That was a bummer! But I didn't break or crack so it's all good. Just a little chippy of the lippy.
I wonder if Trinidad is also thinking of making new techniques. Is he experimenting as I have? Should we join together to make something greater? But if he has no interest, then there is no point in sharing glory with someone who will not contribute, no matter how close our friendship.
10 of Pentacles
You were beautifully decorated. What imagery graced your surface, and what meaning do you now ascribe to it?
After the chippy my lip was replaced with a gold ring with an ornate rope and knot pattern. It looks nice! I feel fancy!
A new set of clothes, or a bath, or even any sort of refreshment is always good for the mind as it is the body. Sometimes I think about changing my appearance, but I wonder will it feel good or do I just like the idea of change more than how it will turn out?
What does this past life have in common with your current?
I always was a partier. There's nothing a good social gathering can't fix.
What wisdom does this life hold for your current?
When I was broken and chipped, I did not let it stop me. I lived with that setback and was able to grow and become something beautiful because of it.
What is your greatest challenge in life?
Deciding where I want to go from here. Looking back I wanted nothing more than to be remembered and achieve great things. But what is greatness if I have no one around to share it with?
What is your calling and who does it serve?
My calling has not changed, I still wish to be a mirror-maker and to be a great one at that. I still serve myself in that aspect.
Which relationship do you treasure most, and why is it so important?
It's still Trinidad, it will always be him. My longest and closest friend.
What is your most prized possession and why?
It is still that mirror he gave me. It's a symbol of our friendship and when I see myself in it I see him in it's workings.
Where will you go from here?
I will ask him to join me in my new techniques and in my experiments. We will make great things together.