Log Date: 6/24/97, 6/25/97 Log Cast: Kar, Aislinn, Slithe Log Intro: The dancing had gone badly this week. The weather had been poor -- and accordingly, few had lingered on the streets of Coronet, and of those that had, few were willing to linger long enough to watch a single ragged woman and her tiny troop of young beings, even if Roki piped as though he had been born to do nothing else, and Tog's drumming was as sure and rhythmic as a heartbeat. Not even the tiny form of Elette, silently imitating Aislinn's grace, could hold attention for long. Disheartened, the woman known only as Aislinn turned to the other source of her income -- the reading of the cards. With the children safely under guard on the one day the shelter-keeper could spare to watch them, the young dancer ventured out again into the city. Her feet were not tired; she'd long ago grown used to the need to walk everywhere. But sun over the park was a welcome enough change from the weather of the past several days that she did not mind in the slightest taking the time to occupy a corner of pavement, lay out her cover-cloth of silk, and deal out her deck, hoping that this time, the reading would carry more promise.... ---------- Kar comes northward from the south. Kar has arrived. Kar enters the park with a slight crowd and glances around before continuing farther in. Kar looks at you for a moment. Sitting cross-legged on a square of silk near one of the fountains, a dark-skinned, dark-haired girl appears to be thoroughly engrossed in dealing a deck of colorful cards out before her. Kar's gaze falls on the young woman and he stops as he watches her curiously. Coronet Park -- Coronet Amidst a suburbanite jungle there exists this refuge of nature, a large park. By galactic standards Corellia is fairly vegetation heavy, though this only means a few trees seen here and there within windows, or perhaps lining a laneway. However, here is the prize of Coronet City, Corellia's capital. A huge park, stretching from one district to the other, centered in the middle of it all. Roads criss-cross, spring out of nowhere, and weave amongst the multitude of gardens, fountains, statues and benches located without the park. Several huge Salbralt trees tower to the sky, displaying their purple coloured leaves to the Corellian sky. A variety of flowers can be found at the feet of the various trees, and are arranged neatly within stone surrounded gardens about the park. Fountains sprinkling fresh, clean water shoot up all over the park grounds, errupting from statues, basins, or even the ground itself. Benches, mainly located by the fountains, are there for those weary in the feet. Four main laneways, paved with stone, lead from east to west, and north to south, meeting in a crossroads at the center of the park where the largest of the fountains is located. Contents: Kar Obvious exits: ast leads to Pendari Hospital -- Coronet . est leads to Underside Way -- Under Coronet City . orth leads to Greeting Gallery -- Corona House . outh leads to Trader's Way -- Coronet . Kar A human man stands before you. He is wearing a pair of dark glasses that have a black wire frame. He has black hair that is fairly short and parted neatly down the middle. He is about 5' 7" and has a muscular build. He is wearing a dark blue button up shirt with long sleeves. He is wearing a pair of black slacks. Around his waist is a black leather belt with a holster on his right hip. In the holster is a blaster carbine. On his belt is also a rather large looking knife that hangs on his left hip in a brown sheath. On his feet are a pair of old worn black combat style boots. Carried Objects: Blaster Carbine Blue-violet eyes lift a moment, peering out from under near-black curly bangs. Her wrists jangle a moment with the thin, colorful crystalline bracelets she wears, simple circlets that catch the light and glint against her dark skin. If she is aware she is under scrutiny, the girl gives no sign of it, but there is perhaps a rather more apparent smoothness and grace to the way she deals out the cards, as though she is making a ritual of it. Kar slwoly starts toward the young woman curiously. He stops in front of her looking down at the cards she is dealing. The silk upon which the dainty dark girl is perched is a wide, somewhat faded square of bright red shimmery stuff, interlaced with gold threads; the cards, rectangular things with rounded edges, and intricate pictures worked upon them, in bright colors. Up close to the young human, it can be noted that she is murmuring under her breath, low rhythmic words. A chant, perhaps. Kar stands quietly in front of the cloth without standing on it himself. He watches the woman and the cards. "Three cards for the gypsy bards under the skies... seven for the star-lords in their halls of stone...." Her voice, low, musically husky, lays down the words in time with the cards that make their rows before her on the silk. "Four for the heart-worlds from which we all come... one for the Bright One, on her bright throne... " The last card drops, and delicate hands draw up together, palm to palm, as the girl stares with grave, wide eyes at the arrangement before her. Surely she must have noticed the proximity of her observer, but she has yet to look up. Kar slwoly kneels down on his knees in front of the clotk and loks down at the cards, he mumbles soflty to himself, "I've seen this before..." "Indeed, fair master?" the girl inquires, indicating that she is, in fact, well aware of her audience. "You are a student of the Pattern? You have, perhaps, seen your destiny before in the cards?" Kar shakes his head as he leans his hands against his legs, "No.. I just mean I've seen someone do this before." The girl's dark head inclines once, graciously, above her joined hands. "Those who practice the art of the Pattern wander far, fair master -- across Corellia, and aye, into the stars. Else" -- and her tone is either utterly ingenuous, or else subtly sly -- "how else could it be known what lies within the Pattern's sight?" Kar shwugs as he looks up to listen to them woman, "I've never understood this nor have I had my future told from this either." Kar says curiously as he looks back down to the cards, "What do they all mean?" "This humble wanderer" -- and the girl again inclines her curly head -- "shall be honored to explain them to you, fair master." Is that a twinkle in those twilight-colored eyes? If it is, it's at odds with the utter sobriety of her dusky features. Her hands sweep down, slender fingers fluttering over the rows of cards. "I am but an initiate to the Pattern's art -- this dealing is for me. Perhaps one day, I shall know the cards well enough to deal for ones such as you, before you arrive--" Just a touch of wistful longing in her voice, a theatrical underplaying of this odd little ritual of hers. And she goes on, "--but for now, I shall most gladly explain!" Kar nods and loks back up to the woman. A smile plays on his lips, "I would be honered to hear. I have always wondered about this art." With another light clinking of the bracelets about her wrists -- three on each, one of a completely colorless crystal, one of a deep shade of pink, and another of green -- the girl gestures at the cards before her. "See before you the rows of this dealing. It shall speak to me of my past and present... and of the courses my future might take. For you see, fair master" -- and she leans slightly forward, her voice dipping a trifle in volume, as though she is confiding a weighty secret of enlightenment -- "the future is ever mutable, and one can only foretell the What May Happens. The What Will Happens -- ahh, _they_ are the result of choices made, and only those who do the choosing can truly see the paths of their own hearts." Kar nods as he listens quielty to the woman. He looks up from the cards again and asks, "So, you can't tell the furutre for sure... just a possible path it may take?" Nearly impossible to tell what glimmers in that blue-violet gaze: amusement? Or perhaps it's simply the sunlight, reflected out of those blue depths. The girl replies with what is either demure modesty, an adroit evasion of the question, or both: "I am, as I have said, O master, but a mere initiate in the art -- a dabbler. A dancer upon the Pattern's outer paths." She straightens again, tossing her curls back slightly over her shoulders. "But. Learning where those paths may lead -- that is the art." She smiles, serenely. Kar looks to the woman's face and smiles, "This is very interesting... How do you actually learn about all this?" Completely deadpan of expression, save for that elusive almost-twinkle in her dark night-hued eyes, the girl replies, "The Pattern is the way of my clan, O Master. See before you the cards: the Three, the Seven, the Four, the One." Golden-brown fingers sweep lightly across the rows. "Taught amongst my people from our earliest toddling days." Kar nods as he looks to the cards then back up to the woman, "This is amazing. What all can the cars tell you? Past, present and possible futures?" "They speak to me of that which I already know, and murmur of things I have yet to learn," comes the ever so slightly theatrical reply -- a hint of wryness in an otherwise mysterious, mystic tone. Brown hands with their crystalline bracelets sweep across the row of three cards: the first, bearing an image of three carven staves, turned upside down; the second, a young woman poised at a window, gazing out into a daylit sky; the third, an ethereal image of an older woman, superimposed against space, her features wreathed in nebulae and stars. "They advise. They counsel. The Art, O master, is in the interpretration of their song." Kar nods as he remains quiet and listens to the wman speak. He looks back down to the cards and looks at them, "This is amazing... I could never understand this.." Blue eyes glitter, very subtly. "You realize, O Master, that I am... as I have said... but a mere student myself. Perhaps you would be better suited to seek one of more wisdom than I." Kar looks to her, "One of more wisdom? Could you point me to this person?" Kar adds, "Or anyone?" A soft, low chuckle emerges from the dark girl... though, strangely, perhaps, with a touch of wistfulness to it. "This humble one could tell you of the elders of the clan that once housed her, O master... but only they, and perhaps the gods, know what paths their ships follow in the vastness of the stars. To find them would be a difficult quest; to seek wisdom of this one, aye, that, too, would be difficult." A faint smile curves her lips as she concludes, "But the attainment of wisdom, O Master, is rarely easy." Kar nods slowly, "I see." He looks down to the ground, "They are always on the move, then? Where did you last know them to be?" Utterly solemnly, the girl replies, "One might well ask where the wind was located ten years ago, O Master." She sits still, now, those slim brown hands gracefully placed within her lap. Kar nods slowly again, "Allright. What is the extent of your knowledge on this?" He swweps his hand iver the cards, "You have to know enough to understand them." Serenely, the girl informs you, "I can speak of what this dealing whispers." Kar nods, "Please.. if you don't mind.. would you do that?" Does the girl seem pleased? Again, it is perhaps impossible to tell, with the modest set of her features. But she does incline that curly head once more, her eyes closing, her hands lifting to just before them, and sweeping out and down again in a slow arc lent sound from the clinking of her bracelets. "Know you then, O Master, that the Row of Three speaks of past... of present... of future. From this Row is set the reading's own Pattern, a subset of the greater whole..." Kar nods silently as he listens to the woman and looks to the cards then back to the woman. "The Past: the Three of Staves, reversed. The Present: the Dreamer. And the Future: the Queen of Stars," relays the girl with the curl dark hair, her hands describing a quick gesture in the air above each of the cards she names. "The Staff is the symbol of wisdom; Dreamer, of creativity, of thought; the Star, of happiness, of enlightenment... of one's place, in life." She leans back a bit, allowing a better view of the row of three. And she asks guilelessly, demurely, "Perhaps you would wish to offer an interpretation, O Master?" Kar hmms softly as he reaches up and rubs his chin slowly with his right hand, "an interpretation?" He looks down at the cards. He murmurms softly, "Staff is wisdom... dreamer is creativity.. thought.. the star is happiness.. enlightenment.." He puases again as he thinks for a moment longer, "Perhaps.. the was naivity in the past.. put some dreaming has started and thoughts have filled the mind.. and the future will hold much happiness and enlightment... the dreams will be met.." He looks up to the woman, a slight grin on his face. a look of suriousity remains in his eyes. The dark girl's eyes glimmer again, just a trifle... perhaps with approval. "It may be a knack you have for the reading of the cards, O Master. This then, is the mystery..." And her delicate forefinger taps the Three of Staves. "Naivete in the past... or a warning that to depend upon the past is folly? Only she for whom the cards are lain can know which is the true twining of the Pattern. Do you see?" Slithe comes northward from the south. Slithe has arrived. Kar nods slowly, "I see... only the one that the cards are lain for can truly understand the meaning..." He looks up from the cards again, "Very.. very interesting indeed." Slithe walks along touring the sights of the fabled trading planet. Slithe goes into the northern district. Slithe has left. Slithe enters from Corona Park. Slithe has arrived. Slithe has left. Slithe emerges from the underground. Slithe has arrived. Slithe goes into the southern district. Slithe has left. Still sitting placidly cross-legged upon her square of silk, apparently indifferent to the comings and goings of those also within the park, the girl inclines her head, once. She smiles, just a trifle, and her hands sweep to the next row. "Behold the Seven: Sight. Sound. Scent. Touch. Taste. Thought. And Spirit. Advice, O Master, upon the state of one's own Self... a thing which, this humble one is sure you will agree, one must surely be wise to know..." Kar nods slowly as he listens in silence and looks down to the cards. He murmurs quietly, "How true that is..." The girl on the other side of the cards gives that small mysterious smile once more. Upon the row of seven cards, she taps a dainty fingertip to each, murmuring their names: Four of Stars. Three of Ships. The Page of Stones, reversed. The Seven of Staves. The Ace of Staves, reversed. The Knight of Stars. And, finally, the Moon. "This Row of Seven," intones the card-girl, tapping the Four of Stars, the Knight of Stars, and the Moon, "advises me that my wisest coming course lies in things of Sight... of Mind... and Soul. Most particular the Soul, the especial province, O Master, of the Moon." Kar nods slowly as he listens intently to the woman talk. He watches her point out each card then looks up to her, a slight grin on his face and remains quiet, expecteing more. The Row of Four: "Land. Air. Water. And Fire." The card-girl adds sagely, "Fire may also be named as Space, O Master, for the fire that powers the ships which takes us there. Herein are represented the four locations through which the Pattern may wind its course." Kar nods again, remaining silent as he listens to the woman talk. He looks down to the cards and examines them as she talks about them. More cards with the Star symbols upon them in the Row of Four: the Two and the Three in the positions of Air and Fire, with a Five and a Nine of Staves in Land and Water, with the Nine reserved. And lastly, the single card at the top of the configuration: a handsome human male, with a beautiful female entwined in his arms, the two in a passionate kiss. "The Row of One," observes the girl solemnly, "is Destiny." Kar nods slowly as he listens to the woman talk and looks down at the cards and carefully examines them. He looks back up to the woman, remaining quiet once again. Her brown hands trace a circle about the pattern of cards, and then, in artful movements, she sweeps the outlaid rectangles up into her fingers. "My reading," she says succintly. "I hope that I have fed your curiosity, O Master." Kar looks up to the woman aand grins, "You certainly have... You've made me /very/ curious now. I hope to learn more about this." The entire deck of cards once more within her slender grasp, the girl smiles gravely -- then, her gaze flicks sideways, off across the park, at the distant passing of a security patrol craft. All at once, her movements become rather quicker; the cards are swept into a pouch at her side, and the silken square upon which she had just been sitting a moment ago taken up into her hands in a swirl of red. Standing now on her slippered feet, the dark girl frowns ever so slightly across the park.... Kar stands slowly and follows the woman's gaze, "CorSec..." He looks back to her, "A they looking for you?" The riot of brown-black curls turns back around, and the dark blue eyes once more take in the man who had watched the reading of the cards. Then, a faint, sad smile curls one corner of her mouth. "This humble one is beneath the notice of the patrols, O Master," she says, dropping a very slight curtsey by way of punctuation to her words. Kar smirks slightly, "That's good. Where are you off to now?" Another faint, sad smile curls her mouth. The silk is tucked into the belt at her waist, and in a clinking of her bracelets, she turns, murmuring over her shoulder, "I will be missed..." And with that, her slippered feet whispering soundlessly on the walkways, the card-girl hastens away.... Kar turns and watches the woman go, a slight smile on his face. HE murmurs to himself, "Yes.. you will." He shakes his head and turns to gaze around the park. Underside Way -- Under Coronet City Coruscant's underground city is located beneath the steel workings of Central City. The Underground Way is the only policed portion of this city, afterwards it tumbles into chaos. The sky is rusted steel girters mixed with the occasional rock formation. However, the main structure surrounding the whole underground region is of old buildings that were not destroyed, but simply built over. The only light in the area comes from scattered lanterns hanging from various different implements around the roads, streets, and darkened side allies. Obvious exits: outh leads to The Slicer -- Under Coronet . orth leads to Homeless Shelter --Under Coronet . ast leads to Coronet Park -- Coronet . [End log.]