Deck of the Paths

Veldagrand invoked the power of the Paths and the cards of her deck swirled around her. One by one they blinked out of existence until only four remained. One by one she turned these over onto the old wooden table. Order, Darkness, Light, Fire. She then turned over the cards from the smaller deck. Knight, Mage, Assassin, King. She leaned back in her chair a lit her pipe. Deciphering the meaning of these Shade taken cards, now this was the hard part.

History

For as long as wizards and clerics have known about the gods they have been trying to find answers to the futures and to other events in their lives. Those the process has changed drastically since these early beginnings, the basic principles are the same. A ritual is performed so that the gods or magic itself can help provide answers to life's questions. During the Age of Heroes this ritual was standardized and the Deck of the Paths was born. Since then it has become a common practice for many wizards and clerics and is a esteemed profession for such types in many parts of the world.

Execution

The one performing the ritual will shuffle the cards and call upon the power of the paths. During this time, some of the cards will vanish. Those that are left are slowly unveiled by the one performing the ritual. Following this the Minor deck of cards goes through the same process and the cards are assigned to one of the Major cards. Usually the same number of Major and Minor cards are chosen however there are times when this is not the case. Despite all of this, it is up to the one performing the ritual or those watching it to discern its meaning. The magic provides an accurate foretelling of future events but it must be correctly interpreted.

Components and tools

A full set of the Deck of cards are needed to perform the ritual. There are 23 cards in the Major deck and 10 cards in the Minor deck of unaligned cards. These must be hand carved and infused with the magic from each of the paths. The carving itself goes along the outside of the card and the inside is blank. Once carved and infused with magic the cards take on an image of their own representing the Path.

Participants

Usually one must have a talent for reading the deck in order for its true power to be revealed. Any cleric maybe gifted enough knowledge to perform a simple version of this ritual to get a vague sense of the outcome of a certain choice but only those who are born with the talent can really read the direction of the paths and the motivations of the gods.
When this ritual is performed it can be alone or with a small group of no more than five persons.