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Tarot is a simple way to divine the future, and it has a lot of meaty history. But that would get boring to explain, so here's the skinny: Tarot is not pagan; it's simply a tool that is used for divination. There are 78 cards to a standard tarot deck: 21 major arcana, The Fool, and 56 minor arcana. The major arcana are: The Fool (he's an exception, but we'll group him with the major arcana for now) The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgment, and The World. The minor arcana are then divided into four suites: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (coins). The suites are arranged like normal playing cards with numbers two through ten, then the Knight (Jack in playing cards), Queen, and King. The Page is the Ace in tarot.

Readers of tarot cards either use the descriptions by the deck's author to decide the meanings of the cards, or use their own interpretation. I personally prefer to toss the book out the window; however, there are several overlying meanings to the major and minor arcana. For example, The Fool represents a journey, sometimes of the intellectual sort, but everybody who studies tarot knows of the different interpretations of The Fool's Journey. Usually, one looks at The Fool when making a decision to purchase a deck. Also, The Devil in Gilles' deck shows a man with his thumb pressed to a closed eye, which symbolizes going through life half-blind, not seeing what's coming next, or maybe purposefully shutting out certain things. Though The Fool's meaning is universal, The Devil has room for interpretation. The Moon, which is also pictured in this post, represents the ending of a stage in life, or a changing in balance. All major arcana represent a large turning point in life, hence the 'major' part. It should also be noted that the major arcana are said to represent The Fool's Journey, each part of it is shown in a card.

On to the suites. Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles each have their own meanings, as well. Wands represent creativity and hard work; Cups represent, emotion and spirituality; Swords are power; and Pentacles are materialistic things, such as money. Even numbers represent balance, odd numbers imbalance, tens are completeness, aces, new beginnings, Pages are youths, whether they are male or female, Knights are usually male and older than pages, Kings and Queens are usually adults. However, none of these meanings are definite, and many readers interweave them with their own impressions of the art.

Basically, tarot is a history through art, a story through art, and a glimpse into the future through art. Decks are constructed to be aesthetically pleasing, traditional, or are pieces of art for the collector.

Gilles' deck is the Tarot Art Nouveau, which contains mostly women in the suites, and many women in the major arcana, while the Rider-Waite deck (the most famous and widely used deck, sort of a 'control') contains mostly men. To see the major arcana cards of this deck, just scroll down and be equipped with some sunglasses. :3

Name: Chikara Rizumu
Birthday: November 24
Gender: Female
Font Color: Dark Orange
Eye Color: Hazel in Gaia, Orange in Catalyst
Hair Color: Orange
Significant Other: Gabriel Otome (??)
Family: Parents, Haruko Rizumu, Michiru Rizumu; Step-Father, Phillip Davies.
Friends: Kokoro, Shizuka, Mitsuki, Kyoukai, Renko. Basically everybody. xX;
Likes: Oranges, puppies, kittens, birdies, fluffy things, instant ramen, peas, Jell-O, books, chocolate, happy things, orange things, Gabri, cake, bunnies...
Dislikes: Spicy things, cold weather, permanent marker, masking tape, tape of any kind, staple guns (don't ask), purple hair, junk mail, mail in general, closed amusement parks...
Current Card: The Star
Quote: "I dunno, it looks like it's gonna explode to meeeeeeeee..."
Thought-of-the-Week: If there are two oranges, then he has five oranges, steal his oranges and you have seven oranges. Yay. Oranges.
Biography: Chikara shouldn't exist by our standards. Chika Ra'dano was the adopted daughter of Kiyrau, a priestess of the goddess of birth and fertility, on the world of Catalyst, or Kolan. In order to insure her daughter's safety, Kiyrau performed the traditional separation rites of Kolan and split her daughter in halves. Instead of sending her daughter to Kolan's sister-world, Dievan, as tradition dictated, Kiyrau decided to free her daughter of the worlds that had ruined her own mortal life and sent her to Gaia. Chika Ra'dano is nicknamed Chikara.

Like her other half, Chikara Rizumu was adopted at a young age by the couple Haruko and Michiru Rizumu in a foreign country and was brought back to Durem to a life of glamor. Michiru divorced Haruko when Chikara was nine years old and moved across the world to get away from her 'idiot of a husband', with her illicit lover Phillip Davies, who she married shortly after for huge sums of money. Chikara was then left under the care of her father, who sent her off to a boarding school when she turned fifteen.

At the school, she was encouraged by her father to make friends only of her ethnicity. Chikara, of course, was adopted. Nice going, dad. Anyway, she made friends through the daughter of the headmaster, Kokoro Kanashi. The duo were wandering the school after dark one night when they came across the upper classman Gabriel Otome, who was loitering around the language department. When Kokoro asked what the hell he was doing, he bolted down the hallway. Chikara and Kokoro followed him out of pure curiosity and ended up staring a door in it's large, ornate face.

Chikara, of course, had to open the door and see where it led. They stepped through the door to find themselves in a wood. They wandered through the wood until they came upon a very ticked off Otome, who promptly attacked them by running Kokoro through with a large, jagged piece of ice. Kokoro didn't die, however, because of the intervening of a very beautiful, blue-eyed, long-haired, and pregnant Kiyrau.

Through their escapades in Kolan, Chikara, Kokoro, Shizuka and Mitsuki (the latter two were joined after Kokoro rushed out of Kolan and back into the school) successfully revived the fourth priestess of Oron, classic fairy tale ending, etc, etc. When there were, of course, two of each. Kiyrau then explained what had happened to them at their adoption, and the plan that Kiyrau had spun: since she had plans for the expansion of Oron, she needed the four heirs to the priestesshood of the Temple to be in a stable environment. In other words, not Dievan.

The four returned to Gaia with more than a little to talk about. Chikara found Gabriel hanging around the language department a few days afterwards and they began going steady. After graduation, Chikara, Kokoro and Shizuka invested in a series of shops in Durem, as Mitsuki traveled to college. Shizuka and Kokoro eventually moved on from the Bar and Book Shoppe and left Chikara in control.

Chikara has reactions to magical persons and acts due to her molecular structure, and can become physically ill due to them.

Stuff About the Other Chikara and Catalyst~

...cause that's sort of important when there are references made. xD; This is under major construction.

"There is a place to the north where it never rains. To its south lies a grand forest from which the brilliant foliage of all kinds bursts forth to greet the sunrise, but only so long as the maiden sleeps. To the west lies the place of sunsets, where days is forever lost to night, and though the stars may shine, there never can be light. In the east, day is eternal, though all mortals perish underneath this unending sunlight; the sung glows red with the blood of thousands... The pinacle turns, turns, and slowly...her lady waits. Destruction waits...waits for the Balance to shift in her favor."


[insert map here~]

The Basics:

Basically, the run down is that there's this place called the Catalyst or Kolan (the geographical name) where everything exists in pairs in order to be stable in the universe, etc, etc. Even names and such, so many people will have a name with a double-meaning. If there aren't sets of two, the objects sort of disappear from the face of the earth. People, however, can't have two meanings, but they still have to exist in sets of two.

The easiest thing to do is to send off their children to another world, which is Kolan's sister-world, Dievan. Chikara of Kolan was found by Kiyrau on a beach, and the woman wanted to adopt her, but she didn't know if the baby was stable or not. She did some tests to make sure, but it turned out that the baby was not duplicated. The woman didn't want Chikara to grow up on Dievan, so she transported her elsewhere.
The reason Chikara reacts badly to magic is because she shouldn't exist here at all, and she isn't the 'catalyst'.

Chikara isn't really supposed to exist, but Kiyrau (the woman) was pregnant when she was eternally preserved by the heathen goddesses of Oron, so she can't ever have her baby. Chikara's kind of the embodiment of that baby.

A Brief History of Oron, as told by the Clergy of the God in Bi'omi, S'umbilan:

As of 142, Oron had all the land of the continent of Kolan from the tip of the Oron Desert to the break of the Omoni River, to the Sea of Creation in the east. It's capital was centered in the ruins of the Cove of Bones. King Ambi'Lan II of S'umbilan attacked for the wealth of resourses located in the Grand Delta and the Omoni Rivers. The Oronian State was pushed back to the Ruins near the Cove of Bones, and past the marshes of sulfur called the Grand Delta.

Oron is the only country of Kolan traditionally ruled by women. This societ is loosely based off of Old Ramyani, the First State, which was matriarchal and ruled by a council of four women. Oronians are traditionally 'heathen', worshipping four patron goddesses rather than the God, which may explain their odd government.

Oron has no written history, and no known written language.

A Brief History of S'umbilan, as told by the Clergy of the God in Bi'omi, S'umbilan:

In 138, S'umbilan reached only to the the high forests of the Omoni Rivers. In the War of the Grand Delta, S'umbilan overtook Oron, and the smaller country Aya, which was also matriarchal. Both societies were pushed back behind the Grand Delta, where their cultures combined. S'umbilan was then attacked by horses of fire and ice, which were eventually subdued by the Dragons in the south. After the horses were pushed back, Port Um'ichi and the Watchtower* were constructed in order to always watch the country of Oron, to prevent further attack.

S'umbilan is ruled by a warloard who holds the title 'Kadrah'. Kadrah Daya'umi currently rules, though he is constantly harried by assasins and raids on his palace. The Kadrach (plural) are not kind, they care only of preserving their empire, not of teh lives that people lose in their defense. To their credit, the Kadrach only attack once every millenium.



A Brief History of Yan, as told by the Clergy of the God in Bi'omi, S'umbilan:

Yan was originally a large kingdom based on farming. It was invaded and defeated first by the Oronians, and then the S'umbilans. Yan is mostly plains, making the people more likely to study the God, as culture ahas passed from us to them. Yan's Watchtower was constructed perpendicular to the Points, or the newset Oronian capital after the war of the Grand Delta and the raids from the heathen goddesses and their horses. Rumor has it that one of the goddesses was captured in order to power the main weapon of the watchtoer.

Yan has been without a solid government since the War of the Grand Delta, since every king dies suddenly within a decade of Coronation.



The Lady Kiyrau of South Point

Kiyrau's the only one you need to know about for RP purposes.

Kiyrau was married against her will in Yan, a country due southeast of Oron, where she lives now. She became pregnant after the first month of her marriage, and then killed her husband. The penalty for this action was the usual: elongating of the fingers through a painful magic (Yan is the only true magical country in 'Catalyst', official name of Kolan). After the torture, she was to be sent back to her father's house, but on the way she requested to stop at a temple to pray for the safety of her child during the voyage. Though this seemed odd to her captors, as the child would be considered an illegitimate and a b*****d, they allowed her to have a private session at the temple. She prayed for her safe passage through the other world, and then stabbed her stomach.

The baby died, of course, but whomever lives up in the heavens decided against Kiyrau's death. She found herself awake, alone, and still possessing her oversized stomach, next to the Watchtower of Yan, designed to keep the heathen magics of Oron in check. The girl decided that her best bet would be to cross through the Grand Delta, a series of large lakes and rivers that seemingly create one body of water. She crossed the shallow delta on foot for fourteen days and fifteen nights, landing on the shores of Oron still pregnant.

She then traveled north, to the first village she saw. Granted, the people there were rather surprised in seeing her, as she possessed blue eyes, which were only seen once in a thousand years in Oron. It was also obvious that she had crossed the border from the Otherlands into Oron, which was unheard of. They took her to see the wise woman of the village, who gave her the name she carries, Kiyrau, meaning "From whom the rivers bend", or, "Maiden from the water", a celestial and holy name. She then gave Kiyrau directions to the holy temple of Oron, named simply, "The Point of South", or "Where knocks the shallow gate of heaven", as inscribed on either translations of the holy texts of Oron.

Kiyrau still lives there, her body preserved in an un-ending pregnancy until the end of time. She is not a goddess, but rather a high-priestess. The woman then found a babe in the waters of the Grand Delta, who was named Chika Ra'dano dan Kiyrau, or "Water bourne by Kiyrau", or "Bending by mother's breast".