#hope this gets across that they use skull masks to represent they are beyond mortality

[curoopeez]

This is my @dreblrsecretsanta gift to @rainystressed247 who asked for immortal emerald duo adopting a newly immortal Dream.

I hope you like it, I loved making this gift so much I couldn't wait to share it.

[elvensemi]

The Curse Ongoing (Part 2): The Fortune Teller

Sometimes I write things for my D&D campaign. Weary uses a neopronoun because using they/them was too goddamn confusing in the context of a group, and you all just have to cope with that, okay.

[Part One] 

Weary had trouble believing they'd actually gotten out of the town of Barovia with so little trouble... in the relative scheme of things, in any case. Some wolves, which had gone poorly until it hadn't. Ey ran idle fingers across the letter they'd found on the corpse in the woods that the wolves had been so curious of. From the old Burgomeister, about Strahd. Pieces of a puzzle, but ey already knew what the picture would look like when it was done.

And now ey was here, in some tent with an old woman who knew who ey was, knew who they all were. Why had ey agreed to a fortune reading? Ey knew eir damn future already.

She gestured to the card on the right. "This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy."

"Sounds neat," announced Chara, reaching forward to flip over the card. It was eerie to behold, a hooded figure looming over two undead with pentagrams on their horned skulls. Weary wrinkled eir nose in distaste. Ey needed no occult arts to tell em eir enemy was a damned undead. Didn't they all know that by now?

"The Necromancer," the old woman informed them. "This card represents unnatural events and unhealthy obsessions; those who follow a destructive path... A woman hangs above a roaring fire. Find her, and you will find the treasure." Her voice had gone weird, neutral and droning, her misty eyes had grown mistier. Ey did not care for it. Then, she gestures to the card closest to em.

"This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope." Ey perks up, curiously, reaching out to the card. Ey hadn't been certain ey'd take part in this little game, not when the children seemed so interested, but a holy symbol certainly caught eir interest. Ey flipped it; the card underneath bore an image of a large man, some kind of lord by his garb, pointing at a thin man, who was hiding a dagger behind his back.

"The Traitor," she told them. "Betrayal by someone close and trusted; a weakening or loss of faith." Ey stiffened, fingers curling hard enough they nearly tore the corner of the letter. Eir jaw twitched; she'd seen eir symbol, even knew eir name. She was surely doing this on purpose. As if faith had ever been eir strongest suit, hmph. "Look for a wealthy woman. A staunch ally of the devil, she keeps the treasure under lock and key, with the bones of an ancient enemy."

That boded ill for em getting eir hands on that holy symbol, then. Ey wanted nothing to do with any ally of the devil in Barovia. Disinterested, ey looked away, scowling. The others, however, were entranced as she gestured to the card on their left.

"This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight."

"Weapons are my strong suit," announced Zur-snag, who had been watching curiously from Weary's back, leaning onto eir shoulder. Now he scrambled forward; Weary leaned forward accommodatingly so he could flip over the card. It showed a picture of an odd man holding a mask, winking and smiling.

"The Charlatan... Liars; those who profess to believe one thing but actually believe another." No one here, ey suspected, but ey couldn't help eir eyes from drifting slightly over to Phin, the young paladin who stood in the back corner, arms crossed and scoffing. "I see a lonely mill on a precipice. The treasure lies within."

They all perked up in unison at that. "The mill!" Chara exclaimed. "Lil G--"

"She just said his name," Weary said, frowning.

"That was a name? I thought she was dying."

"Chara!"

"No, I get that a lot actually," the boy in question, more often called Bambam but more accurately called an adorable little brat, interjected.

"Anyway, you got a deed for a mill, didn't you? In that fuck--"

"Language," Weary said, automatically. Chara rolled her eyes.

"In that weird house," she corrected, then stuck her tongue out at Weary.

"Yeah, I totally did! It's legally mine now and everything!" Bambam said proudly.

"There is only one mill in Barovia," the fortune teller, Madam Eva, informed them.

"I guess we're going there first," Weary decided. "Do you know how to get there?" This, ey directed at Madam Eva.

"Follow the road." It was Weary's turn to roll eir eyes. There was only one damn road. No shit they'd be following it.

She gestured next to the card closest to her. "This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness."

"Oh, new friend?" Horse asked curiously, reaching forward to flip the card over. They were still in their marionette get up, mask and everything, but it didn't seem to bother the fortune teller at all. The card was as unsettling as the first one had been, a gaunt, cloaked, undead figure on an equally gaunt mount, wielding a sword.

"The Horseman! Death! Disaster in the form of loss , a horrible defeat, or the end of a bloodline."

"Oh, great, it's good news," muttered Phin sarcastically from behind them.

"I see a dead man of noble birth, guarded by his widow. Return life to the dead man's corpse, and he will be your staunch ally."

"Um," Weary said, clearly uncomfortable. "That's actually kind of the opposite of what I do, so."

The woman simply gestured to the final card. "Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!"

"Finally, the good part!" Bambam exclaimed, moving forward. Wincing, Weary blocked his hands, which prompted a very angry glare. Ey didn't want to know where Strahd was, except maybe in order to avoid em. If this lady thought otherwise, she was out of her mind... well, she clearly was at least slightly, ey supposed.

"You can barely see onto the table, let alone reach," Weary said. Not a lie, though a rude observation. "Let me help." Ey lifted the child--always so light, alarmingly so--onto eir knee, then flipped the card over emself. This card held the picture of an androgynous figure in tight clothing, a fan covering half of their face, smiling eyes looking over the top.

"Ah." The woman grinned wickedly up at him. "The Tempter. One who has been compromised or led astray by temptation or foolishness." Eir jaw twitched in irritation again, more at her grin than anything. And this was meant to be a card for a child? Ey held the boy a little tighter, glaring back at her. "I see a secret place-a vault of temptation hidden behind a woman of great beauty. The evil waits atop his tower of treasure."

A place to damn well avoid, then, though Bambam lit up at the mention of a 'tower of treasure.'

"Let's go there!" he announced.

"We'll go to the mill, if it's on the way." Weary said firmly. Ey stood up, placing Bambam back onto the ground. "Why don't you go see if the Vistani would be kind enough to share their food and camping spot with us tonight?"

The others filtered out, murmuring amongst themselves about the reading, already debating meanings. Weary stayed behind, eyes drifting over to the old woman.

"Madam Eva, was it?"