Rise (Card Game)

I play the Hermit. Upright. I get to look at the top three cards of my deck and rearrange them however I want.
Wait! You're forgetting something... look here: Death. Reversed! Ha. Looks like your Hermit won't be dispensing much knowledge this time!

— Excerpt from a Rise match between two Pentarchy players

History

Tarot reading was a practice in ancient Akran from long before the Spark was inflicted upon the world, and the use of its elaborately drawn cards in games has been even more common for just as long. The game of Rise is a more recent invention, dating at the very oldest to the years shortly following the Wars of Sovereign Independence, where the Pentarchy attempted to politically dominate all other peoples on the Sovereign Isles. Because of its origins, the Church looks down upon the people who play it and, had they the power, would eradicate it and its decks from the Isles completely.
Alas, its popularity has spread in spite of this distaste (or perhaps even because of it).

Execution

Each faction has a traditional opening to the game that they recite before play begins. Church players recite dictates of the Pentarchy Fool, Primal Players chant an ancient poem in a language none actually understand today, and Spark players are free to do or say whatever they wish (given the Spark's nature to destroy customs).

Components and tools

A full set of the Minor Arcana is required for each player in Rise, though the Major Arcana change based on which faction the player is a part of. Church players use a set of Major Arcana drawn to directly represent the Pentarchy Faith (and it is perhaps for this form of minor idolatry that the Pentarchy looks down upon the game). Primal players use Major Arcana representing the Old Gods of Akratia, long dead from long before even the Akran Imperium existed. A new faction has arisen in recent years, though its inclusion is argued against by many given its... unsavory character. Spark players use a Major Arcana built out of the most horrific Sparks of all recorded history and seek not to claim victory over Church or Primal players, but to ensure that everyone loses everything.

Sets of these Major Arcana are sold just about anywhere there's an artistic underground to a town or city.

Observance

Rise is played most places in the Sovereign Isles except when a member of the Pentarchy is near, given their distaste for the central tenets of the game. As such, the game is particularly rampant in the seedy underbellies of most major Sovereign Cities, given the upper crust of those cities are highly intertwined with the ranks of the Pentarchy.