The Harrowing Deck

Hey all! Just posting something to keep the threads and whatnot alive. I recently acquired a Harrowing Deck from a nerd-herd store that was closing down, and it served rather well as the inspiration for this piece! I've no idea where to go with it from here though :/

#1 of One-Offs and "Not Sure Where I'm Going with This"

She flipped the card again, and the fox watched in small bemusement. This was the forth card she had held in cool regard, only to shuffle back into the raggedy deck she held in her hand.





"Remind me again... it's a Harrowing Deck...?" the fox asked, chuckling softly as he set his hands in plain view on the table.





"Yes." The witch replied simply. The fox had little trust for humans-- particularly ones that adorned themselves in such... He found it difficult to describe.





The lace was little more than feigned modesty-- falling low on her collar, but riding high on her neck. The brooch was gold with an inlaid emerald, but both were such luxurious and deep shades Jericho had thought them fake until he sat across from her.





Otherwise, the self-proclaimed soothsayer wore a regal, flowing black dress that made her pallor features seem vampiric to comparison. Red lipstick, alarmingly green eyes and far too much manners to be living out of the back of a wagon-- the fox felt as if he had stepped through some sort of bastard's penny dreadful.





"And each card---"





"Has a personality their own." The woman explained, cutting him short with an amused smirk. "I am simply searching for your benefactor."





Jericho felt his ears twitch, and his eyes narrow. "My benefactor...?"





"The card inside of this deck that exemplifies you, young Master Fox." The witch said articulately, her gaze turning to Jericho for only a moment before she returned to shuffling the cards. She stopped, then smiled a discomforting grin.





"Here we are." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.





"The Wanderer." The witch said, cutting Jericho's question short. "Studious... and you mean to do good, even if it means you must compromise your moral code with the laws of the land." Jericho grunted softly, the fox's gaze narrowing.





"And if I find your description perfectly vague...?"





"Then I shall have to read more into you." She said simply, smiling as she pushed the card forward on the ramshackle wooden table. She surrounded it on all sides with four cards, face down, only to place four more in the corners-- creating a neat, three-by-three square with the cards.





"Mysteries around us all, of course." The witch indicated the eight cards surrounding the Wanderer in the center.





"The Brass Dwarf." The witch continued, flipping the first corner card-- the closest to Jericho's right. "You come from a family that followed the laws... But remained neutral throughout conflicts. One could assume you were trained to see both sides of the argument, and that is why you are a detective now."





Jericho scowled softly. "What are you trying to accomplish...?" Jericho snapped. "I don't care about some damned cards. I am here investigating a--"





"The Locksmith." She said, smiling as she flipped the next card-- a pattern moving to Jericho's left. "Always searching for the middle ground. Always opening the doors that others wish locked." The woman tutted softly. "Who knows what skeletons come spilling out from the doors of mankind."





"Witch, I am warning you."





"The Beating is next...?" The human stood, smiling softly at the fox. "Abused as a child, were you?"





"I have had enough of this!" Jericho hollered. He didn't realize he was standing until the witch sat. His fists were balled, and the fox felt his ears flat against his head.





The woman before him smiled-- a nearly plastique expression worn by mannequins that caused Jericho's spine to tingle as she flipped the cards directly next to his 'benefactor'.





"The Avalanche, and Marriage." The witch said softly. "The unity of a mountain of rock, dirt and trees... Stoic to some..." The human set her hand on the center card. "But... are you ready to collapse under the pressure, Master Fox?"





"I said enough."





"Indulge me." the woman ordered simply.





"And if I don't?"





"The cards are laid, and they will say what they will about your future. Do you crave guidance, or perhaps even something to jest about in the wee hours-- your alcohol addled mind to laugh over...?" The woman said simply-- her grin not fading.





"Are you enjoying this?"





"Endlessly."





"If I indulge you, you will help me?"





"I can neither help you, nor harm you." the witch explained. "I am simply the one holding a lamp at the crossroads of your life."





Jericho considered the thought for a moment, only to grunt softly and glower at the human. "Out with it."





"The Desert, the Big Sky, and the Eclipse." She said, flipping the cards over without even glancing down at them. "Chaos... but for the best... and Law, but for the worse." Jericho scowled at the woman, who simply eased herself back against her chair-- looking more like a vicar still.





"I shall enjoy our next meeting, Master Fox." The witch said, as if dismissing Jericho from her presence.

"I have questions for you with regard to the death of Lawrence Griffin."





"And I have but one answer."





"He was seen exiting your... establishment days before his death."





"He too saw his future in the Eclipse."