#every so often someone comes along and reminds me why I’m a lurking hermit

[pinkys-plan]

Hey man. What the fuck?

[angelsndragons]

WHO IS BARONESS ANASTASIA DEVORAK

AKA: PORTIA’S ROUTE IS AWESOME AND Y’ALL DON’T APPRECIATE HER.

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS FOR PORTIA’S ROUTE

So, let me get this out of the way first: I am something of a sucker for tarot cards. I'm not someone who thinks they tell the future or whatever; instead, they help a reader get a different perspective on a situation. They tell stories. Worried about this move? The Fool card reminds you that life is always changing and that it is okay to mourn the loss of what came before. Trouble with your romantic partner? The Empress asks if you are letting yourself be in the relationship, existing and experiencing it. I have fun with these cards of mine, gaining a different angle to view my questions and situations from.

As you can probably tell, I love The Arcana Game. Its storytelling and character writing are top-notch. But what I love most about it, what actually got me into the game in the first place, is the devs' in depth knowledge of tarot, the major arcana, and the fool's journey. These people get it on a fundamental level. My friend started posting screenshots and explaining the characters, their stories, and their roles. Asra the Magician, Nadia the High Priestess, Muriel the Hermit, Julian the Hanged Man, Lucio the Devil, Portia the Star, and you, the MC, the Fool. As my friend continued through their chosen routes, again and again I was struck by just how thematically resonate and appropriate each character's assignment was and how the assignments even factored into their relationships with each other and their route endings.

So, before we get into Portia, Tasya and their deal, we need to take a step back. As I know not every Arcana fan has a background in tarot, we're going to start by defining some terms. 

TAROT TERMS

Upright and Reversed: It is important to note that each term in tarot is not necessarily good or bad. Some people don't bother reading reversed cards at all or some individual decks refuse to do so. Why? Well reversed simply means that the energy associated with a particular card is stuck. That is all it means. Something is blocking that particular domain or whatever and needs to be resolved.

The devs of the Arcana game are using this definition for the story structure. As you get closer to a reversed end, you will note the increasing desperation, hopelessness, and the growing idea that you cannot change or go back in the Reversed endings. You are stuck and have to deal with the worst aspects of each character's assigned card. Asra cares for nothing beyond his immediate little world, Julian is stuck and can't see a way out so he wallows and does nothing, and Nadia rejects the High Priestess and the subconscious world for the materialistic power and control offered by the Devil. Whereas the closer you get to the Upright ending, the more you see a sense of movement and change as the challenges strengthen the MC, their LI, and the people around you both. That is what the Fool's Journey is all about.

Now let's talk about the cards' relationships to each other. In tarot, cards can have one of three relationships with each other: neutral, opposing, and reinforcing.

Neutral: these cards do not oppose or reinforce each other. Their place in a reading is dependent on other cards and the question posed.

Reinforcing: These are cards which reinforce each other and deal in similar domains. They get along, so to speak. If you see reinforcing pairs or triplets in a reading, the deck is basically screaming at you about the issues they represent. For example, the High Priestess reinforces the Hanged Man in their shared domain of potentiality. The Hanged Man is waiting for something unknown or perhaps a revelation, both of which the High Priestess guards. Now is not the time to act, they say in a reading together. Now is the time to wait and let the potential grow into the kinetic.

Opposing: Opposing cards are tricky because there are two major groups of opposition: balanced pair or antagonism. A balanced pair is basically when two cards form a yin-yang relationship while antagonistic cards have no common ground and deal in opposite domains. The difference between a balanced pair and an antagonistic one is often in whether one card can use the energy of another or not. 

For example, the Magician and the High Priestess form a balanced pair. She is the guardian of the subconscious and potential of the unknown world, which the Magician needs in order to act. In turn, the Magician brings that potentiality into the real, material world and makes something of it. The Magician needs the High Priestess just as she needs him. They balance one another. In contrast, the Magician and the Hanged Man are antagonistic cards. The Hanged Man's whole ideology is wrapped up in waiting, in letting go, in allowing things to happen to you. “Victory through surrender” is one interpretation I've seen and it is fairly accurate. In contrast, the Magician is all about doing. He knows what he wants, knows how to get it, and will not let anyone stand in his way. He does not wait, he acts now, strikes hard, and damn the consequences. The Hanged Man suspends action, the Magician acts. There is no balance here, no place where they can work together.

From the examples above, I hope you can see why I look at the game, its relationships, and plot through a tarot reader's eyes. Asra and Julian's problematic relationship, Nadia and Asra's friendship and easy working relationship, and Nadia and Julian's whole deal with the murder are all appropriate for what their cards stand for. This branches out to all the other characters, by the by, including Lucio and the Devil. Muriel and Asra get along because their cards reinforce each other; the Hermit is all about knowing your own power and what you want while the Magician is about getting it.

So, finally, after all that, let's talk Portia.

THE STAR

Portia is the Arcana Game's Star. In tarot, the Star is

Beacon of hope and inspiration

Clarity

Truth 

However, importantly, the Star card is not a card of action. It is a card of seeing and knowing. That’s why getting Portia to act on her truths and speak her mind is key to her Upright Ending, knowing is not enough.

In her route, we can see that Portia fulfills all these criteria. In fact, her whole route can be summed up by her line:

Portia has been badly burned by secrets and lies, the ones people have given to/kept from her and the ones that she keeps and tells. 

We start her route with the following secrets, which she has been desperate to tell someone, anyone:

Julian Devorak is her brother

She can read and write

She came to the palace explicitly to clear her brother 

Nadia has been asleep for years and has awoken with no memory

She has written Nadia's sisters and invited them to the ball

Her insecurities regarding her place in the world

All the lower level palace gossip about the count, the other servants, and the courtiers which indicate that something is amiss

She cannot remember the shipwreck which killed her entire family save Julian

Over the course of her route, not only do these secrets come out but Portia begins pursuing the truth in other areas of her life. She loves detective novels, pulls the secret of the dungeons from Volta, learns more about Julian's work than even he knows, and becomes more confident and honest about her feelings towards the MC.

Portia inspires those around her to be and do better. Her dedication to Julian, for example, leads to Nadia growing closer with Nasmira and her siblings. She inspires great loyalty from the palace staff despite her relatively new appointment. Julian, who spends basically every other route trying to get hanged, is inspired to fight against the charges because of Portia's belief in him. Hell, even Volta gets a few moments peace from her curse thanks to Portia and Mazelinka's soup. 

Of all the characters, Portia is the one who sees things, and others, most clearly. She makes the connection between the MC’s missing memories and Nadia's.

She connects the ghost to Lucio, her brother, and the plague. Also, notably, Julian’s handwriting is so bad, most people can’t read it.

She knows everyone in the palace and what makes them tick.

She calls out Valerius, Vulgora, and Vlastomil at the trial and nails them all to the coliseum doors ala Martin Luther.

Portia just knows.

With all this in mind, let us return to the central question (yay): Who is Anastasia Devorak?

Tasya Devorak is the Moon.

THE MOON

Oh, wait, you want me to explain? Okay, sure.

Earlier we talked about opposing and reinforcing cards. The Star has three primary opponents: the Devil, the Tower, and the Moon.

Need more? Fine.

Portia has already confronted the Devil via Lucio and tried to punch him out.

Twice.

She fought Vulgora in Julian's trial.

The only opponent left to reveal is the Moon. Just for funsies, let's see what it represents:

Secrecy

Illusion, both self delusions and people putting on illusions

Confusion

Fear

While a characteristic of the physical moon, it should be noted that the moon's light drowns out the surrounding stars, obscuring them from view. It is also associated with water and tides.

Still need me to explain?

Fine. Let's go over Tasya's appearances with a fine tooth comb. We're all nerds here, it's cool.

The chief question that has to be answered is also the most obvious: why hasn't Tasya shown up in the other routes? Arguably, it is pretty simple: Portia's route is the only one where Portia reveals herself to Vesuvia and declares herself Julian's sister. This indicates to me that Tasya is here specifically for Portia, as does the evil lady's attitude towards Julian, which is dismissive at best and manipulative at worst. For all we know she has been lurking in the other routes under the assumption that Portia is dead.

Now, you may be asking, what the hell does she want with Portia? What could Portia offer her? Oh I don't know, an in with the ruling countess, an in with the two most powerful mages in the city, and knowledge of the entire court structure and all the secrets within it? Which Tasya gets? Oh, that was a rhetorical question? My bad.

Back to Tasya and how she links up with the Moon card:

Refuses to answer questions/Keeps secrets

This is the big one

There are so many questions she just dodges

How did you survive?

Where have you been?

What have you been doing?

Why haven't you contacted the siblings before now?

No, seriously, Julian DEVORAK was a famous, well respected doctor before and during the plague.

No, seriously, Vesuvia’s been actively looking for a DR. DEVORAK for the last Three Freaking Years, lady

No, seriously, the story of the shipwrecked kids being protected by salt seals wasn't enough of a clue for you????

Keeps Portia in the dark vis a vis her family and who they were

Okay this is cheating but where the fuck has Mazelinka been?

No, seriously, where is she, we didn't even get a reference to her when Julian was acquitted and we know she lives in the poorer parts of town 

How the fuck do you know about the ritual, the fact that the MC died, and that Asra is the one who did it?

I am not kidding, there is nothing in her backstory which indicates she should know any of this. Portia has explicitly been kept away from this plot thread until now.

Refuses to cite her sources

Seriously, most of these questions are so easy to answer that the fact that she doesn’t answer them and gets away with it is suspicious as hell.

Lying/presenting a false version of herself

The necklace (it ain’t hers or it’s far newer than she’s telling Portia)

It's not her house but she has her wine stores there?

All the gilt that follows her everywhere, aka fool's gold

She wears blue in contrast to the Devorak red

Her entire performance in the Underwater Room

Manipulating/Confusing/Frightening people

She just so happens to know Valerius and Vlastomil's weak spots and just so happens to own the one thing each of them would want

Isolating Portia

Refusing to let MC speak

Compares Portia to the mother (Tasya’s sister-in-law) she doesn't remember to create a bond

Swoops in to save Julian at the last moment, putting both siblings in her debt

Isolating Julian (dude’s been free for a week and this sounds like the first real conversation they’ve had about everything, Julian’s been working with Tasya on the canal issue)

Asking for Nadia's "approval" twice, once with definitely shady results- the bribe to free Julian, and once we are still waiting on- dealing with the canals

Trying to ingratiate herself with MC after having difficulty at the house

Somehow gets nearly the entire fucking court to attend her pre-masq ball

Water/Moon imagery

Bright clear day until she shows up then storm clouds gather quickly

Rain starts the instant Julian is declared innocent and her deals with Valerius and Vlastomil are cemented

The rain is so heavy you and Portia are:

The rain hasn’t let up once in a week

She works on/with the canals and flooded areas of Vesuvia

She owns a merchant fleet

Her entire family dies in a freak shipwreck in a freak storm after her brother refuses to join said merchant fleet

The bath salts she gives Portia 

The Underwater Room. Holy hell the Underwater Room. 

This line after her party:

I have to give Tasya credit. She manages to squeak by three different characters with great BS detectors: Portia, Julian, and Nadia all seem content to just let Tasya into their lives without questioning or vetting her. However, there is one character who might see through Tasya's bull: The Fool. Let me draw your attention to the Fool card:

Notice the light prongs. 

Now look at the light which peeks out during these important Tasya scenes:

They are identical.

The Fool (meaning you bc I assume I am not the only one hissing and spitting nails at this lady during her scenes) is the only one to see through this illusion even a little. This is because the Fool's Journey is to travel through and integrate all the cards’ lessons.

Okay, so now hopefully I have convinced you that Tasya Devorak is Portia's Moon and will have to be overcome for Portia to get to her ending, whichever end that may be. Whether Portia fully overcomes or falls into acting like her aunt is a matter of upright versus reversed. But I am about to go one step further. Buckle up homies because we are going back to the beginning:

WHO IS ANASTASIA DEVORAK?

Anastasia Devorak is the representative of the Moon Arcana. In the same way that Portia represents the Star and Asra partners with the Magician, Tasya will have to represent the Moon.

Yes yes I hear your objections.

"Navra is the Moon card!!!!!!!!!"

"Wtf are you smoking??"

I hear you, chickies. And I don't smoke, benadryl sends me on a trip, can't smoke anything with that kind of sensitivity. Here's the thing. Nadia's bad route demonstrates that a person can shift their Arcana representation. She moves from the High Priestess to become the Devil. Additionally, you the MC became the Fool through magical shenanigans. There’s evidence that Lucio started as the Fool’s representative and later became the Devil’s (which is a discussion for another time). The point is that people can move between Arcana and as such, the reverse can also be true, the Arcana can choose new representatives or have multiple representatives at a time.

So. Nadia’s family. They’re fairly minor characters in the grand scheme things, beyond Nadia’s route, of course. Unlike, say, Morga, who is expanded significantly in both Lucio and Muriel’s routes, Nadia’s siblings and parents basically remain background characters. They’re colorful, they’re pretty, they’re important to the backstory but they don’t directly impact the plot beyond being available to take on roles in the ritual. Much of the fandom has already come to the conclusion that they are placeholder characters in the Arcana, that we would be willing to replace them if someone better suited to a card came along or the story replaced them for the ritual.

With that in mind, let’s look at how Nadia’s siblings impact Portia. We’ll go from most important to least.

Nazali - Nazali is easily the sibling with the closest ties to Portia, save Nadia herself. Not only did Nazali train Julian as a doctor but they also taught Portia how to read, write, and care for Nadia while she was in her coma. Both Portia and Julian are fond of Nazali and they seem to get along really well with the Devorak siblings.

Nasmira - I rank Nasmira this high because she’s actually been involved with Portia’s route. She is present in Portia’s cottage when Portia confesses her secrets to Nadia, she assists with and participates in the seance which clears Portia’s brother, and Nasmira assists Nadia with calming the Vesuvians when Julian is arrested.

Nahara - has a backstory tale with Portia. They met each other on-board Mazelinka’s ship and Nahara taught Portia how to fight with a quarterstaff. Additionally, Nahara looks after Portia during the pirate fight. When Nahara shows up in the route, Portia still visibly has a bit of a crush on her.

Natiqa - Has interacted with Portia in two scenes, both of which emphasize the ladies’ mischief making shenanigans together.

Nafizah - Portia is captivated by her pet turtle and she seemingly plays along with Portia and Natiqa poking fun at the turtle.

Navra - Has one or two lines with Portia about the market.

All of this brings me to:

THE UNDERSEA ROOM AND THE THEORY

Well, we finally made it, everyone. This is the big one. Why do I think that Navra is doomed and Tasya will be fully cemented as the Moon? I mean, besides everything else I’ve said which clearly creates a giant screaming arrow that Tasya is the Moon?

So, the Undersea Room. I’ve already pointed out a few things about this but just to reiterate, look at who’s here:

We then have a conversation with Julian about food and freedom, then we get Natiqa spiking the punch and this with Navra and Asra:

D’aww. Well, it would be cute but something is definitely off. The player feels it as the seconds go by. This book is Death, Julian is alive, nothing dramatic has happened yet. Then we get this with Nadia:

I don’t know about you but that is a HUGE red flag to me. Nadia Not Knowing what’s going on in her own palace is always a recipe for trouble.

And then we get Tasya and the wine. Experienced players are freaking the fuck out right now because this is starting to look eerily similar to a certain ritual that shall not be named. She starts talking and we get this:

Wine snob Valerius reacts badly to Tasya’s wine when he explicitly liked it earlier in the story. Yeah, that’s not a red flag at all.

Then we come to the culmination of the book and Tasya so far:

Now let’s stop and think about this. Why the hell is Tasya spilling these particular beans at this particular moment? Yes, she’s a Devorak and Devoraks are known for their drama, fine. But she immediately blows the place to kingdom come after this. Literally. This lady has refused to tell anyone anything until now and here she is, revealing she knows exactly what went down three years ago and why.

Well. She’s just revealed that Asra is a necromancer. And then put him in a situation with a lot of dead bodies. And the last time we saw Navra was when she was right there with him. Oh, and we don’t know where Julian is. And in game we don’t know about his healing mark. And he has to meet the Hanged Man to push the plot forward.

At its worst, the Moon sows fear and confusion.

What better way is there to split the good guys than to force Asra to refuse to save Nadia’s sister or Portia’s brother? In the immediate panic and confusion after the explosion, are any of our friends who’ve lost someone going to take his no for an answer?

The Devil has been mysteriously quiet for chapters now. Lucio too. And now Tasya has fucked their Masquerade plans to hell and back. Were you wondering how the devs were going to tie that madness to Portia, the one character who had nothing to do with the previous Devil shenanigans? Worry no more, folks.

So, what’s next?

In the immediate future, we’re going to deal with Julian, Navra, and a ton of other people’s deaths. There is a possibility that Nadia is out of commission for a little while, adding to the chaos and confusion. Asra and Nadia will likely be at loggerheads. Portia is going to break with Julian, at least for a little while, because he kept such an important truth from her. She is going to feel helpless and alone and unsure of what to do. Why does everyone I love lie to me, she will ask. It won’t be her darkest hour, that awaits her in the Moon Chapter, but it will be close. Temperance is all about finding balance and coming together, which will happen only when the Devil makes his appearance.

tl;dr: PORTIA’S ROUTE HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTING, WELL-SEEDED, AND GROUNDED IN HER CHARACTER, Y’ALL JUST NEED TO GROW A BRAIN CELL.