Outside the window they hear the priests chanting and swinging their thuribles. They crane their neck and peek out the window to see the people lining up in front of the wide shallow oil bowl. They will go later with their family.

A scream is heard by all from outside. They stand up and run outside despite the calls from the professor and the classmates. There are ancient-looking arrows jutting out of the stone leading back towards the plaza. There he sees the bodies for the first time. 

Liam is floating in the fountain, surrounded by a halo of blood. Another classmate, Kurshid, lies next to him, slumped over the side. 

Besides the bodies is the cashier at the juice stand. Xe look up at them and shake xeir head. 

“It doesn’t know how to use it,” xe say.

Card: 10 of Pentacles Something has been left with the victims 

They hear more screaming coming from another hallway and they rush towards it. Down the open corridors they see more bodies. Tyoma, a local Altar is dead, the thurible still smoking beside him, and Lala, another student, her eyes are closed and an arrow in her chest. 

They approach them recklessly, rushing over and shaking them. They notice something on the arrow embedded in Lala there is a flowing script which they cannot read. They spend a moment trying to figure it out before leaving.

Card: The Magician A murder is unusally gruesome, showy or ritualistic

They find themselves approaching one of the Blessed Trees, the one nearest to the university. Upon it is pinned a person with a tattoo on its forehead. That is all they can tell about it. Their features are blank and they forget what this person looks like when they take their eyes off it. 

Below them are more bodies, Salima, and others they do not know. They are shaking, and crying, and do not understand and then they too fall along with Squ’hev.

The city knows of the tragedy, but they are one of many instances. They are a number in a report handed to the rulers of far off land who read with a heavy sigh. They are mourned together as a tragedy against humanity and not as an individual.

They know of an object of great power.

Possibly the Cashier 

Salima, Avatar, and Liam were all classmates.

Avatar and Lala were classmates in another class. 

They are walking through the crowded streets and over the bridge towards their university. They see them, on the roof high above, a person standing and watching. They bump into someone else on the street and have immediately forgotten about the roof-watcher. 

They talk with Liam again about his expulsion. They smoke and this time they take Liam’s hand in theirs. They say nothing, and leave when they finish their cigarette. 

They pause and consider Liam once they are out of view. Altar Tyoma is there, having a pleasant conversation with another student. He sees them, excuses himself from the other student and speaks with them. They talk briefly about the festival and they promise that they are attending with their family by the tree in their neighborhood. 

Outside the window they hear the priests chanting and swinging their thuribles. The festival has begun. They know Altar Tyoma will be the one preceding on campus. They wished they could anoint the tree here instead of with their family. 

A scream is heard by all from outside. They stand up and run outside despite the calls from the professor and the classmates. There are ancient-looking arrows jutting out of the stone leading back towards the plaza. There he sees the bodies for the first time. 

Liam is floating in the fountain, surrounded by a halo of blood. Another body, the cashier from the juice stand, lies next to him, slumped over the side. 

Besides the bodies is Kurshid, another student. He looks up at them and shakes his head. 

“It doesn’t know how to use it,” he says.

They try for a while to get him to explain but all Kurshid does is repeat the words over and over, his eyes glazed and looking at the space beyond them.

Card: 5 of Cups Another Character reacts strangely to the murder

They leave Kurshid and hurry down the open corridors where they see more bodies. Tyoma is kneeling over the body of another student, Lala. 

He is examining the arrow coming from her chest. He looks up as they approach. They ask him why he isn’t at the tree, and he responds he doesn’t know why, but he needed to be here. 

They kneel beside Lala and close her eyes. Altar Tyoma doesn’t notice her body but continues to read the arrow. They yell at him and demand answers but he doesn't look at them. 

All he says is, “We will seal it.” He repeats this endlessly every time they try to talk to him.

Card: 3 of Cups another character reacts strangely to the murder

They wander in a daze and find themselves before the tree in the courtyard. There are bodies around and they recognize Salima, a classmate, and Uriah, a healer. Before them is the tree in the courtyard, a large banyan tree, like many others in the city. The same as the tree they painted before. 

They approach the tree, but hesitate when they see the body of Beracha. They fall to their knees and hold her tight. They had loved her once and still did as friends. Her clothes were intact but her skin was rotting and stank. 

They looked up at the tree and saw the person tied to it. It was watching them and whispering something. They let go of Beracha and approached it. As they approach it, it’s mouth opens wide and out gushes rivers of black ink. 

It filled their vision and choked their lungs and they too fell along with Squ’hev.

The city knows of the tragedy, but they are one of many instances. They are a number in a report handed to the rulers of far off land who read with a heavy sigh. They are mourned together as a tragedy against humanity and not as an individual.

The city itself sustained massive damage, mostly to the astute university, libraries and other such places of power.

They know of an object of great power.

Possibly the Tyoma 

Avatar and Beracha are ex-lovers. Avatar possibly seeks a relationship with Liam.

They wake up at 8 am, get dressed, and head downstairs. Their two siblings are already awake and their father is making coffee. They sit down, eat some cereal and have a mundane conversation.

Their father struggles with the coffeemaker before muttering to himself, “maybe I don’t know how to use it…” This elicits a sharp dread in them and they don't know why. They are unable to finish their breakfast.

They leave the house at 9 am and ride to their first class which begins at 10.

They approach the small fountain inside the small plaza. A classmate is there, Liam, he is smoking and beckons them over. 

They sit beside Liam and smoke with him. Liam tells them they found nothing in the catacombs last night. 

He got scared because he saw a strange woman, a terrible bow on her back  and an equally terrible knife in her hand enter before him. He followed her quietly until he saw her approach a large stone archway that was pitch black in the middle from all sides.

He shakes his head and tells them he ran away back home after that. 

He explains that today was the last day to pay off the tuition, and since he found nothing to sell he was expelled. They see something out of the corner of their eye but there’s nothing when they turn their head. They squeeze his hand before leaving for class.

They are hungry again from not being able to finish their breakfast. The juice stand in the courtyard is enticing and they decided to buy a small drink, halfway filled with small berries that taste like mangos and lychee. 

They notice behind the counter there is a crossbow and a quiver of strange arrows. They decide to ask xem about it and xe respond by saying xe saw a vision xe would need it.  These things are not uncommon in the streets but on campus it’s a little odd. 

They finish their juice and head into class.

Outside the window they hear the priests chanting and swinging their thuribles. The festival has begun. They know Altar Tyoma will be the one preceding on campus. They think of the tree and wonder how it can hold such power. They wonder what would happen if they were to use ink instead of oil to anoint it.

A scream is heard by all from outside. They stand up and run outside despite the calls from the professor and the classmates. There are ancient-looking arrows jutting out of the stone leading back towards the plaza. There he sees the bodies for the first time. 

Kurshid is lying dead on the floor of the plaza, the cashier next to him, a knife in xier back. Liam sits against the fountain shaking violently. 

They run up to him and take his face in their hands. They ask him what happened. 

“It doesn’t know how to use it,” he says.

They shake him and ask him what’s happening. He snaps out of it, looks over to the body of Kurshid and starts to weep. He tells them that Kurshid came stumbling towards him, and that he looked sick. 

His skin was blistered and around it appeared a cloud.

Liam was going to take Kurshid to the healers but the cashier suddenly shot him with a bow. Xe demanded to know if he had breathed in any of the clouds and when he didn’t answer xe almost shot him but Liam was quicker. 

They ask Liam what they mean by the repeating phrase and he doesn’t know. He says it felt like a vision, like a warning. 

Card: Jack of Diamonds, a character reacts strangely to a murder

They take Liam with them to find a safe place for them. They wander down the open corridors and they see more bodies. Tyoma, a local Altar is dead, the thurible still smoking beside him. 

Lala, another student, is standing above his corpse. 

Liam approaches her recklessly, rushing over and shaking her. He demands to know what is going on. 

She turns to him, her eyes glazed and looking at the space beyond him. 

“It doesn’t know how to use it,” she repeats to him over and over again. 

Liam looks to them for answers but they know nothing. He leaves Lala and looks at the corpse. They look too and discover the same strange arrows, the one the cashier had, and the ones on the floor, sticking out of his body.  

They notice something on the arrow embedded in Tyoma, there is a flowing script which they cannot read. Liam looks at it and tells them it is Divine Script.

Card: 10 of Cups another character reacts strangely to the murder

They leave Lala and find themselves approaching one of the Blessed Trees, the one nearest to the university.

 Upon it is pinned a person with a tattoo on its forehead. That is all they can tell about it. Their features are blank and they forget what this person looks like when they take their eyes off it. 

They approach the tree, but hesitate when they see the body of Beracha. They begin to fall but Liam holds them tight and  turns their face into his chest. 

Behind them boots pad across the stone floor. They both turn to see a woman clad in black. She has the strange arrows stuck in her chest and her legs, but she still walks towards the tree. 

She sees them and says, “Every time I am closer.” 

“The sealers will not stop me,” she pulls an arrow out of her body and throws it in front of them.

“You will not stop me,” She pulls another arrow from her body,  and draws her bow, “They are done Deciding,” and they too fall along with Squ’hev.

The city knows of the tragedy, but they are one of many instances. They are a number in a report handed to the rulers of far off land who read with a heavy sigh. They are mourned together as a tragedy against humanity and not as an individual. 

The city itself sustained massive damage, mostly to places filled with people. Libraries, market places, and the ziggurat.  Citizens were found dead, either filled with arrows or seemingly no cause of death. 

There is no true way to know why this happened. We can only assume it was a Decision.

They search for Beracha in the courtyard when they arrive. She is there, standing waiting for the ceremony to start even though she is hours early. She sees them and waves. They walk up to her and embrace her. They are still shaking, remembering the times they saw her dead. 

She tells them she’s glad she saw them. She kisses their forehead and they remember the burning pain. She looks lost for a moment and she tells them, “The city cannot be saved, but everything else can be.”

They pull away and look at her, she looks back confused. They realize she doesn’t remember what she said and they leave.

They are passing through the halls when Altar Tyoma grabs their arm. They are startled and look up at them. He tells them it is too much for someone so young as them. He pleads let him take it upon himself instead.

They shake their head and pull away. “You do not know how to use it,” they hear themselves say.

Altar Tyoma looks defeated but doesn’t stop them as they go.

They hear the priests begin to chant from the far courtyard. The festival has begun. They tremble and think of the tree and wonder how it can hold such power. They wonder if this will be the end.