reference.md

Appendix: All the cards

If you wish to print the cards yourself, you can find online a copy of high-resolution, two-cards per deck, designed for printing as 11x15 photos.

If this is how you read rules, you may safely consider this section as a reference guide, skimming it for the moment, and returning to it whenever you want to double-check something from the rest of the book.

I. The Big Bang

Default interpretations:

• Overwhelming force?
• Something new is born?

The Big Bang is the current best scientific theory for a beginning to the universe. The Big Bang itself is described by scientists as the instant before the beginning of time, space, light or matter.

The image The white on this card may symbolize purity, or a blinding light, or simply the color white. Overwhelming force The force may be in favor of the characters, or against them, or simply something that they witness, such as a storm in the distance, or opinion polls predicting a landslide victory. Something new is born It could be a person as well as an animal, or an idea, or a technology. It could be beneficial, detrimental, or both.

Example: The temple.

The characters enter some kind of temple. What do they see?

Drawing the Big Bang:

• Either side
  • there doesn't seem to be anyone in the temple, but they feel the divine presence, radiating in this place;
  • there doesn't seem to be anyone in the temple, and somehow, the divine presence that they expected is... missing;
  • oh, look, they're celebrating a marriage!
• Overwhelming Force
  • the presence of the divine is so strong in this temple that it's almost physically tangible, making every movement difficult;
  • this cult is obviously extremely rich, you can feel it in the golden ornaments, the tapestries, the glassworks, the heavy incense;
  • all the villagers are standing, silent, many of them mouth agape, while they listen to the preacher – he's a powerful presence, a powerful orator, and he's carrying a powerful message... Let's draw a second card to find out which one, exactly!
• Something new is born
  • there's some kind of big commotion in the church, men are being shooed away and sent to fetch hot water and clean clothes, oh, it looks like a woman has entered labor right in the middle of the temple;
  • apparently, it's some kind of silent celebration of whatever local tradition introduces either babies or teenagers into the local community (say, a baptism, circumcision, etc.);
  • the temple is mostly empty, except for two old men discussing in the back – their discussion seems to be somewhat animated, they gesticulate a lot, and you overhear something about the Earth being round. That sounds like blasphemy.

Example: The desolate island.

The characters are stranded on a desolate island. What do they see on the horizon?

Drawing the Bing Bang:

• Either side:
  • they see nothing, but the force of the sun, and the immense isolation of the sea (GM decides to advance the story by a few days while they despair);
• Overwhelming Force:
  • the sun, their thirst is crushing the characters, they need to find water and some kind of refuge away from the sun;
  • the tide is rising – oh, the tide seems to be rising a lot, is that the reason for the moss all over the island?
  • there seems to be some kind of storm on the horizon, and it is either growing or coming this way;
  • look, that's the fleet of Dread Pirate Roberts, the one you were hired to stop, they are passing by the island, and if you can believe your eyes, it's even stronger than what you were told (the characters might be able to get their attention or swim towards one of the ships).
• Something new is born:
  • it seems to be birth season for some birds on the island you hear the chirps of all these newborn birds and you see their parents flying towards prey (the GM adds, both as a threat and as a suggestion to help the characters escape, that these are giant birds);
  • it starts with the earth shaking, but now, you clearly see some kind of green light coming out of a hole in the ground – and there's something very large below (what is it? I'm sure you have ideas, but you can draw another card, if you wish)

Example: The space station.

The characters have finally managed to open a security door on a space station. What do they find on the other side?

• Either side:
  • there is absolutely nothing on the other side – apparently, the bad guys seems to have packed meticulously and left – maybe the unmovable station terminals know more about it;
  • there is a white room, dedicated to assembling highly dangerous components, two shape dressed in white suits are hunched over something very delicate-looking, they haven't seen you yet;
  • this is some kind of laboratory, full of equipment you do not understand, and people focused on their terminals. In the center, a large glass column seems to be holding in suspension some form of matter that is so dark and odd that just watching at it makes your eyes hurt. There's a large countdown on top of the column: "Big Bang minus seven hours".
• Overwhelming force:
  • apparently, it's the central reactor – it's a bit strange that it was not clearly labelled as such, isn't it? Also, this reactor seems to be odd, you aren't entirely sure, but it seems to be powered by... let's ask a second question to the Space·Time Deck;
  • this is it, your instruments clearly indicate that this is the source for the galactic tide that you have been searching for the entire story. It's in that room, about three feet in front of you. How comes you see absolutely nothing in that white room?
• Something new is born:
  • you enter a large hangar, full of cages, themselves full of odd creatures from all over space. You're pretty sure that some of these creatures are sentient. A crew of five hulkish figures is going round the cages, using some kind of cattle prod to keep the figures away while they collect eggs... and babies, too, apparently.
  • this is clearly some kind of lab, a maze full of apparatus, and full of corpses of odd-shaped creatures floating in jars. You can see labels: "Experiment 17 – failure", "Experiment 2048 - failure"... At some point, while exploring the maze, you stumble upon "Experiment 31415 – success – seeded on Sol 3". It seems to hold a human being.

II. We were having so much fun!

This is the central part of the Garden of Earthly Delights, a painting by Hieronymus Bosch from the end of the 15th century. While this painting is somewhat enigmatic, as many of Bosch's works, it is generally interpreted as human beings having way too much fun on Earth, instead of taking care of their soul.

The image Dozens of naked people, in a state of bliss, eating from impossibly large fruits or animals, or with parts of their body turned into these large fruits. Also, naked dancing, naked riding, naked boating, and strange creatures. This image may easily be interpreted as drugs, or sex, or orgies. Without being so extreme, it may be a rave party, a night clubbing, a rock & roll concert, a fever dream, an overful buffet. Innocence Typically, someone or something that has no responsibility, perhaps because they have done nothing wrong, or perhaps because they do not realize the gravity of their actions. Children or animals are typically considered innocent, but natural phenomena would work here just as well. Someone who doesn't know is typically considered innocent, too. Sin The definition of "sin" depends a lot on the setting in which it takes place. Sinning against a given religion is not the same thing as sinning against, say, the Maffia. In a realistic European 18th century setting, a woman in trousers would socially be considered a sinner. More generally, a "sin" could be anything against the prevailing mores of the time and place, or against the personal ethics of a character, or it could be anything that they feel they are going to regret.

Example: King Arthur

King Arthur is away with his army and knights battling Sir Medraut. He left the characters in charge of watching the realm during the few weeks that he's expecting to stay away. However, the characters have somehow managed to provoke the generally peaceful Sidhe to war, and they haev invaded the defenseless Camelot. How does King Arthur react to the news of the invasion?

• Innocence:
  • King Arthur knows of the peaceful ways of the Sidhe. He refuses to believe that such innocent, fun-loving creatures would hurt Camelot in any way. In fact, he would rather believes that either the messenger is a liar, or that the characters are conspiring with Medraut and against him.
  • King Arthur was wounded during the battle. He's lying unconscious in his tent, and none of the healers was able to wake him up.
  • The spies of Sir Medraut managed to intercept the messenger and the message. King Arthur knows nothing of the invasion, but Sir Medraut does and will act upon this piece of information. You probably want to draw a second card to find out what Sir Medraut is planning.
• Sin:
  • As the messenger arrived to the encampment of King Arthur's army, what he saw was anything but an army. Naked soldiers everywhere, enjoying the summer, the fruits and each other's flesh. The messenger fled this cursed place and returned with the news that King Arthur has been enchanted by the Sidhe!

Example: Meeting an informant

The characters have an appointment with Toady, one of their informants, who knows something about the supply lines of the arms dealer. They'll meet him behind a pub. What do they see when they arrive in the back-alley?

• Either side:
  • A group of teenagers high on something seem to have decided that this back alley was the best place to make out, or perhaps pass out, they don't seem to be quite decided yet. Toady is trying to remain inconspicuous at the end of the alley, and would clearly prefer being anywhere else than here, but he doesn't seem ready to actually step on the bodies to get out of there.
• Innocence:
  • When you arrive, the first thing you see is a hooded shape, who looks back at you and runs in fear... when you manage to catch up with him, you realize that it's not Toady, just a kid who had picked that back alley to smoke a joint. When you return to the meeting point, Toady is there, pretty nervous, but also quite unhappy that you made him wait so long.
• Sin:
  • When you arrive, Toady is here. He's also very, very, very drunk. Not only can't you get anything from him, but you also can't leav him here, otherwise he might drown in his own vomit, or perhaps stagger back in the pub and babble to everyone about your planned meeting.

Example: Surviving a fall

One of the characters just fell from a cliff in full armor. The GM could decide to roll for damage, but decides that it would be pointless: killing the character because of a missed agility roll wouldn't be very interesting. So, how did Desmond survive?

• Innocence:
  • At the bottom of the cliff is some kind of monastery of monks and nuns sworn to silence. Desmond doesn't remember the landing, or how he was found by the monks and nuns, but he does remember, vaguely, how, gravely wounded, he was stripped from his armor and tended to in silence. For several days, he remained between life and death, but within a few weeks, he eventually regained sufficient lucidity and mobility to start pondering his next step.
• Sin:
  • A Dark Angel appears in front of the character, offering one, last, chance at survival, if only the character is willing to trade their soul, or perhaps to swear to own one favor to that Dark Angel, and to deliver upon it at a later date, no question asked.
  • One of the enemy harpies jumps after the character, grabs him in her claws and drops him in a safe place. When asked why, she smiles enigmatically, claiming that she had the intuition she would regret not doing that.

Here again, each of these interpretations introduces interesting Facts that will help you build the world and the plot.

XI. Right on schedule!

Default interpretations:

• The pretence of success?
• Too much of a good thing?

This picture depicts one of most spectacular train accidents in history, in 1895. The train, which was running at the impressive speed of 60 km/h, failed to decelerate fast enough, and hit the train station at 40 km/h. While a mechanical failure was suspected, the judge decide to fine both drivers. Getting the train back in position was a complex operation, involving heavy engines, 25 horses and 3 goats. Yes, goats.

The image An accident and an engineering failure, which may or may not work in favor of the characters. Also, a distant crowd of onlookers, representing curiosity and the spirit of investigation, while the hard-to-notice policemen, may represent the ability to keep this curiosity at bay, perhaps through conformism or obscurantism. The destruction involved in this accident may apply to anything, buildings, objects, pieces of art, or even ideas or causes. The attempts made to rescue the drivers and to contain the accident may speak for the ability of people to help each other during crisis.

The pretence of success Something that appears to work doesn't, or someone who appears to be rich, influential or powerful isn't. It could mean ruin, an electoral defeat, but also the mark of a con artist, or simply of a vanitous person, or of a blind bureaucracy. It could also mean prestidigitation or illusions.

Too much of a good thing Something that is good or useful in small amounts may become dangerous in larger amounts, or addictive, or toxic, or destructive. It could be drugs or power or technology or faith. Has a character overused something? Has an empire overextended itself? Has a group become over-reliant on something on someone?

Example: Robbery at the bank.

The characters are gangsters robbing a bank, in Chicago during the 1920s. They are now ready to leave. What awaits them outside?

• Either side:
  • In the street, traffic is stopped by an accident. A tramway, or perhaps a bus, has rolled on its side, injuring several passerbys. Onlookers are packed tight, while several volunteers are trying to help the wounded as best as they can, or to rescue the passengers of the tramway/bus. It's easy to stay unseen in the crowd, but the escape vehicle is unusable.
  • While the characters run towards the door, they realize that the director of the bank has just pressed a hidden alarm button. Fortunately for the characters, the alarm will fail. It may be an engineering problem – or maybe they're not the only robbers around.
• The pretence of success:
  • While the characters exit the bank, attempting to reach their escape vehicle without attracting undue attention, they find themselves in the middle of some kind of commotion. A famous Hollywood actor/actress is walking that same street right now, surrounded by admirers and journalists. Oh, and photographers are taking as many pictures as they can. How many of them show the characters?
  • The characters leave the bank, manage to pile up in their escape vehicle, and prepare to leave. That is, until one of them realizes that the ink on the banknotes is still wet. Somehow, someone just pulled a fast one on them.
• Too much of a good thing:
  • The characters were extremely successful. They have ten large bags full of currency, jewels and treasure bonds. The characters run at the escape vehicle as fast as they can, but too slowly. Someone in the street screams. A constable notices all these suspicious people leaving the bank in a hurry, and starts blowing in his whistle. The driver starts to panic. What do you do?
  • Some people react strangely when they're pumped full of adrenaline. One of the robbers, up on adrenaline, (could be a PC or NPC) draws his gun and starts shooting at the sky and and yeeeeaaaaaahing in the pure tradition of litterary cow-boys. That's bound to attract unwanted attention. Armed attention.

Example: The Poetess.

Europe, the 19th century. The characters are bodyguarding a witness in a case that involves dark sacrifices. This witness is a Poetess. What is she like, in private?

• Either side:
  • The Poetess is a wreck. Whatever she has seen has broken something in her. Now, she has taken to start up screaming at all hours, yelling at invisible critics and jumping in fear at any noise. She hasn't fallen into alcohol or drug yet, but she looks longingly at the bottle of absinthe on the console, and carressing it with imploring eyes.
• The pretence of success:
  • The entire world knows the works of the Poetess. In private, she's a bitter woman, who has come to hate poetry and all its trappings. Perhaps she aimed to uncover a part of the human soul and was entirely misunderstood by her readers. Perhaps she just can't write anymore. Or perhaps she never did write her own pieces.
  • Every week, the doctor comes. Every week, the news remain bad. The Poetess is dying. Nobody knows that she is, except the doctor, the Poetess and now the characters. But before she dies, she has one last book in her.
• Too much of a good thing:
  • The success of the Poetess means that she's always moving. One night, she's expected to give a reading in a famous Salon, while another night, she's to show up at the Opera. Tomorrow, she will take the train for Vienna, where she was invited by the Archduchess herself. The Poetess is a target, but she won't let a threat to her life change her ways.
  • The Poetess spends hours, days even in the company of the Ancients, reading and declaiming the books of Ovid, or Homer, or poets of lesser fame. Whenever she is with the Ancients, she will forget to eat, to bath, to sleep. She also won't listen to anything or anyone, not even when the characters tell her that a private reading of a poet on the rooftop or in front of a window is the best way to get herself killed.

V. Hello, you gorgeous!

Default interpretations:

• The futility of running away from Destiny?
• The burden of knowledge?

This picture depicts Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes facing – or perhaps embracing – each other. In Greek Mythology, Oedipus is the son of Queen Jocasta and King Laius of Thebes. Before Oedipus' birth, it was prophecized that he would murder his father and marry his own mother. To avoid the fulfilling of this prophecy, Oedipus' parents had him wounded at birth and abandoned to die in the wilderness. Of course, Oedipus survived and was adopted by loving parents – the Queen and King of Corinth. When, as a young adult, Oedipus eventually learnt of the prophecy, not knowing that he had been adopted, he fled his home to, once again, forestall the prophecy. Oedipus ended up meeting and killing King Laius, his real father, defeating the Sphinx of Thebes, and, as savior of Thebes, marrying the recently widowed Queen Jocasta. This unknowingly incestuous marriage cursed the city of Thebes, but it is only years later that Queen Jocasta and King Oedipus realized, after a series of coincidences and revelations, that they were mother and son. In shame, Jocasta killed herself, and Oedipus blinded himself, walking the roads as a blind beggar. Just to make sure that this story couldn't have any kind of happy ending, their children continued the curse - life was hard in Ancient Greek Myths.

As for the Sphinx, she was a guardian of sorts, who choked and ate whoever could not answer her riddles, until she met a man who could, at which point she killed herself. In a later version of the story, she actually gave Oedipus the answer to the riddle, because that was her only way out this role of evil monster.

The image The fight between a hero and a monster, or a dance of seduction, or two arrogant figures, or a woman, more forward than what society expects, and a younger man, surprised. Also, a desolate landscape, the only entrance to a mysterious city. Also, a guardian of secrets, willing to shed her charge. Also, a blundering teenager, surprised by a question or a secret whispered and about to be trapped into power. Also, the clinging hand of a victim not fully dead yet. The burden of knowledge Information, but an information that comes with a cost. Maybe the cost is upfront and visible, and the heroes will have to meet it to get the information. More likely, this information comes with a responsibility that the characters should not have wanted, perhaps in the form of a choice to make, or a long-ignored debt to own. Perhaps it is time for a character to learn of a bastard they have sired, or a child thought dead, or a lover or a friend or a mentor in hardship. Perhaps it is time for the heroes to make a choice where no option is acceptable. The futility of running away from Destiny If something was hunting down the heroes, or perhaps their antagonists, that something has arrived, or at least a good reason to believe that it cannot be escaped. Perhaps a countdown had started for some doomsday clock? Doomsday has arrived while the characters were looking away. Maybe a prophecy was under way, or a paradox? In either case, it is time to tie the knot. Or maybe it is something less scary that cannot be escaped anymore, something like love, or a conversation that needs to happen now, even in the middle of a dungeon. Or maybe it is time for a character to realize their role in the story and perhaps even to accept it – a hero may be born, or a villain.

Example: Going beyond the enemy lines

World War 2 in Europe. The sarge and his men have been tasked with a secret mission. They have spent two days half-lost beyond the enemy lines, and have finally just reached the hill behind Château Maniais. They only have a few hours before the Obersturmführer escapes towards Berlin. The sarge looks at the Château from his goggles. What does he see?

• Either side:
  • The entire surroundings of Château Maniais have been turned into fortifications. Sandbags and barbwires everywhere, guard towards and machine guns. The only path leads towards the entrance and it is covered by Panzers. It's going to be a tough job.
  • The landscape is desolate, but only one of the windows is alight. At the window, two shapes seem to be dancing. One of them is uniformed, clearly the Obersturmführer. The other one is a womanm, probably his mistress.
• The burden of knowledge:
  • The Obersturmführer's retinue is getting ready to leave, that much is obvious – they are currently cleaning house. Which, among other things, means that they are taking a bunch of civilians – women, all of them – to the trench behind the castle, to be executed. The heroes have a chance to save them, if they act now, but this might come at the cost of the mission. Or the sarge can decide to stay mute, to spare the rest of the team from the responsibility of letting these innocents be murdered.
  • The Obersturmführer is getting ready to leave alright, and he's not leaving empty-handed. The sarge witnesses two trucks being loaded with paintings, gold bars, jewels. Now, some squad members could decide to go for the gold after – or instead of – their mission. This could be desertion. Or the sarge might decide not to tell them.
• The futility of running away from Destiny:
  • The sarge takes one second to focus, then drops the goggles. The Obersturmführer is right here, not twenty paces from the squad, relieving himself in front of a tree, or perhaps smoking a cigarette. Destiny has come for him.
  • It was only a matter of time before the squad was spotted. Well, while the sarge was spotting, a sentry noticed something in the bushes. A patrol is dispatched to the squad's position, right now.

Example: The shifting maze

A group of random strangers has awakened in a deadly shifting maze, in which they must band together to survive. Or not. Why were they put in the labyrinth?

• Either side:
  • It's a social experiment, pure and simple.
  • It's a rite of passage. If they manage to make it through, well, some secret will be revealed.
• The burden of knowledge:
  • One of the strangers knows more than he lets on. He's somehow responsible for everybody being here, perhaps because he built the maze, or perhaps because he's the target, and everybody else was just caught with him.
  • The maze is an interrogation device. This is not the first time the strangers awake in the maze. They have died already, and died again, and been cloned or resurrected. Each time, the maze rearranges itself, trying to get the strangers to talk and share. This will continue until one of the strangers finally reveals their secret.
• The futility or running away from Destiny:
  • Everybody is sent to the maze, at least once on their lifetime. They don't remember, because if they survive, their memory is erased.
  • All these strangers are actually dead. This is some form of purgatory or hell.

Example: What does the Alchemist want?

The heroes need the expertise of an alchemist to identify the Stone of Power that they managed to trick away from the Lord of Wind Castle. As it turns out, there is only one alchemist of renoun in the region, and she serves in the Temple of the All-seeing. What does she want?

• Either side:
  • The Alchemist is busy dealing with arcane knowledge. Maybe, if the heroes somehow find a way to help her in her investigation, she might make a little time to look at their babble.
  • The Alchemist is in the middle of a lover's quarel. Her companion, the professional hero, wants her tame and housebroken. She will have none of that, and she has enough arrogance to match that of her hero. For the moment, neither of the lover is willing to listen to the heroes, but there may be a way to try and get them to one-upman each other through piercing the enigma of the Stone.
• The burden of knowledge:
  • The Alchemist is old, perhaps dying. She knows so many things, and has nobody to pass that knowledge. At this stage, the Alchemist wants – needs – an apprentice more than anything in this world. Everything else is secondary, including answering the questions of annoying heroes.
  • Oh, that Alchemist? You mean, your mom? Well, I'm sure she'd like to hear about your latest adventures. Also, any grandchildren yet? No? Well, it just happens so that she knows someone your age, someone you should absolutely meet.
• The futility of running away from Destiny:
  • The Stone of Power was created by the Alchemist, dozens of years ago. When she found out what the Stone could do, she did her best to destroy it or hide it. After all these years, the Stone is returning to its creator. The Alchemist only wants one thing: she wants to be far away from the Stone of Power!
  • The Lord of Wind Castle is the former lover of the Alchemist. When they broke up, he stole the Stone. The Alchemist wants only one thing: the Stone itself.

Everything else

TBD

I know it must be here somewhere!

Default interpretations:

• Mysteries?
• Enigmas?

This card represents the Ancient Greek Hero Theseus, son of Egeus, King of Athens and descendent of Poseidon, God of the Oceans. Theseus is venturing forth in the Labyrinth of Crete. In the story, the Minean empire (which actually existed in History) rules over Athens, and requires a tribute of seven young men and seven young women per seven years, to feed the monstruous Minotaur. Prince Theseus joined as one of the young men set for sacrifice into the Labyrinth, promising to convince the Minotaur to stop eating the youth of Athens. With the help of his lover Princess Ariadne of Crete, he would find and slay the Minotaur, escape the Labyrinth, and return to Athens. Somewhere along the way, he would betray and abandon Princess Ariadne and semi-accidentally cause the death of his own father, hence gaining the crown of Athens. Needless to say, Theseus is a very ambiguous hero.

This card also represents The Minotaur, the half-man, half-bull Monster trapped in the Labyrinth. The Minotaur is a symbol of savage strenghts, as well as mark of the sin of Minos, king of Crete, who failed to hold is bargain with Poseideon, God of Seas. The Minotaur is the son of Minos' wife, Pasiphae and a divine Bull, with some engineering help of the genius Daedalus. Finally, the Minotaur itself was said to give strength to the Minoean Empire, by its sheer existence.

Finally, this card represents the Labyrinth itself. An entire palace/temple/prison, designed by the polymath genius Daedalus to contain the Minotaur and its monstruous power, and which also served as a jail for Daedalus and his son Icarus themselves. The Labyrinth was where young men and women of Athens were sent to die, consumed by the Minotaur. To escape the Labyrinth, Daedalus invented a flying machine, and flew away with his son, who unfortunately got to close to the Sun and fell to his death.

• Picture A fearless hero, or perhaps an ambitious one. The Labyrinth, both a palace, a temple and a prison, as well as the symbol of being lost – something which can apply very either literally or metaphorically, as one may be lost in their own thoughts, or in a reading, or in an illusion, or in a riddle. A thread, which may lead one to the exit. A Monster, a power beyond that of mortals, who is also a victim of his birth. Also, this Monster seems curious. Who is this man who comes without fear? The bones of those who came before. Also, a hunt, in which it isn't clear who is hunting whom. Also, a sword – violence will be shed.
• Enigmas Something unexplained, but which can be puzzled out. A riddle, a cypher, a password, or any other way to hide the truth. Or perhaps a mathematical problem, or a philosophical one, or a police investigation. Something which may be solved for fun, or for dire reasons.
• Mysteries Something unknown, but which can be taught. Generally, an aspect of mysticism, hidden to the non-initiates. Common linked to a religion, a cult, or a secret society. By extension, any skill or knowledge associated to some kind of subculture, from geekdom to poetry, from streetslang to webdevelopment. Also, a metaphor, a message in a play, or a book, or a poem.

Example: The New Drug on the Block

In a cyber setting, the characters are investigating a series of overdoses, all of them related to some new drug called Vita. What are the symptoms of taking this drug?

• Either side:
  • Anybody who injects this drug loses consciousness. They find themselves lost in memories, living and reliving them over and over again. In these memories, the drug addicts can reshape themselseves, reimagining themselves are stronger, or braver, or smarter.
  • Drug addicts immediately feel themselves becoming stronger, braver, more cunning. They move with a new purpose, temporarily becoming creatures of straight ambition and power. Some become more efficient. Some turn into monsters. It's not always easy to tell the difference.
• Enigmas:
  • To one high on this drug, no problem is too complicated, no riddle to obscure. When high, a user can see patterns invisible even to the trained brain, and follow them to their conclusion. Enigma is commonly used by researchers and investigators.
  • Addicts quickly become paranoid. Whatever they know, they must hide. Any document they have, they encrypt. They come up with new languages and cyphers.
• Mysteries:
  • To partake in Vita is to become one with the Divine. To feel its thoughts, its envies, and to become greater than oneself. If the Voodoo masters of the cyberspace have taken a sudden interest in Vita, it may be because they are looking to transcend, or because they need to extinguish competition.
  • For a few minutes, whoever inhales Vita feels smarter. While they are high, they start speaking in unknown languages. Some experts, however, have started decyphering this language. Apparently, the Vita-addicts are networking with each other.

Example: The Duke returns

Word is spreading. After five long years, the army of the Duke is returning from the Crusades. Peasants are gathering along the roads to watch the army pass, and for many to take their first look at their Duke. What does the Duke look like?

• Either side:
  • There is no Duke with the army. The army returns in shame. The Duke and his personal guard were ambushed in Austria and captured by a fellow Christian noble, who holds him for ransom. The Duchess and her children will have to wait for one more year, or perhaps ten.
  • It has been many years, so many years. So many years spent in a foreign soil, outmanouvering or being outwitted by foreign foes, bartering, and loving, and dreaming in foreign tongues. The army that returns is not the army that left. It holds the same banners, but its soldiers have been burnt by the sun and it is dressed as an army of foreigners. The peasants are afraid. It looks like a sarracen army is marching.
• Enigmas:
  • Outwardly, the army looks exactly like a returning army. Tired men and camp followers, eager to return to their homes and tell stories about their heroism. The Duke, however, marches alone, lost in his thought. Something has captured his mind. Perhaps it is the allure of a treasure, buried in a foreign land, and whose secret lies hidden in the tome that the Duke won't let anyone else read. Perhaps it is
• Mysteries:
  • Who is the man who rides first? He wears no arms, no armour. He's dressed in black and white. Surely the Duke hasn't become one of the black monks. Surely the Duke doesn't return... an Inquisitor?
  • This returning is strange, and not only because they have been marked by the sun. It is an army bearing different arms and different banners. Where is the Cross worn by the knights on their chest, where is Lamb of God that was carried by the standard bearer? This army has no images. Only words, in some foreign language that not even the priest can read. Word starts to spread that the Duke and his army have all abandoned their faith and turned to the unholy worship of the Sarracens.

(TBD) Bunch of examples

(bunch of random examples to use)

• Battle for the North Wall
• Entering the crypt of the Evil God
• Overseeing the battle of Azincourt
• Car race at the stadium
• Escaping from prison
• Building a pyramid
• Dogfight
• Shipfight
• Alchemy
• Cyberspace
• Superhero leaping to the rescue
• What's in the Evil Tome?
• Supervillain's lair
• Trapped in an illusion
• Lord of the Paladins
• What the sniper sees
• What's on CNN?
• Home invasion
• Public Enemy #1
• The mad circus
• Arrival of the über-zombie
• Speech of the Demagogue
• At the tribunal
• The high-security penitentiary
• The secret library of the Vatican
• Inside the FBI's air ducts
• Hunted by the Xenomorph
• What do I have, doctor?
• City of Plague
• Protecting the final of the Golden Fist challenge
• Ascending Mount Final
• Chess game at the Embassy
• The first Aether-propelled ship
• Dinner with Dracula
• The evil sorcerer's last spell
• Duel on top of the Eiffel Tower
• Hunting Jack the Ripper
• The Cardinal's secret
• Mining for gold
• The corrupt lawyer's defense
• Poltergeist
• Bathing in the Fount of Power