The Wheel

Some believe the Deck of Sgain is just a popular set of gaming cards. That they are just used as a convenient prop by charlatans and mystics to scam people out of their hard-earned coin. Others are adamant that there is power in the cards, and wisdom hinting at the structure of the cosmos.   Emperors and beggars alike have led their lives according to the seemingly random whims of the drawings. Ever bending their decisions to fit into the vague narratives spun by those that claim the cards come alive in their hands. And just as many have mocked them for doing so.   Lively debates as to whether the drawings foretell possible futures or seal fates have raged on in lecture halls and taverns for as long as the deck has been around. But just how ancient is it? The Ailenti may know, but is their wisdom to be trusted? Would that such creatures could give a straight answer to such a simple question even if they were so inclined.   Maybe they invented the deck and the myths swirling about it as one of their grand experiments. Maybe they laugh at us and our desires to prove through the deck that the cosmos cares about us insignificant creatures one way or the other.   Maybe the cynics are right and the universe is so vast that we are but motes blinking in and out in an instant of meaningless struggle.   I do not care if that is the truth of it all. I still choose to rail against the nothingness. I still choose to scream so loud into the void that it can not help but to echo my mark down through to eternity. Cower in your smug apathy if you want. I will make my stand. And I will be heard.  

-- Elsminifus the Younger