#empress deck

OOZE, ADVERSARY, ABERRATION

"I promise, we won’t be mad.”

Even with their assured voice, kind face, and straightforward words--there’s a part of you that doesn’t believe them. All you asked is if you could take a little time for yourself, maybe even sit this one out. You winced internally, bracing yourself for a scoff or an eye-roll. For them to question your need for a break. To tell you that you’re fine and that you don’t need it.

But they don’t.

“You deserve it! You do so much for us... take your time.”

You practically stare in disbelief as the smiling face before you doesn’t change or waver, doesn’t hold malice. Your instinct is to go back on your request--what if something happens and they need you?--but their expression stops you. They really mean it. Rest, relax, collect yourself.

“We’ll be right here when you get back. We love you!”

This must be what family feels like...

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card descriptions below!

SORCERER, OOZE, CELESTIAL

How could someone so incredibly talented be so impossibly miserable at taking care of themselves? Their entire existence, given up for others. Is it selfless? Or is it because they don't actually believe they're worth as much as those around them? It's almost impressive, really. Watch them take a compliment and turn it into guilt, or take a kind gesture and warp it into a debt they'll never be able to repay. All because they don't believe they have value. Someone did a number on them once. Someone told them they weren't anything more than filth; they would never be more than a nuisance, a bother, and a burden. Perhaps this person reduced them to nothing because they knew they were actually the best of us all.

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card descriptions below!

UNDEAD, MONSTROSITIES, BARBARIAN

Start over; try again. The taste of iron spreads across your tongue--either you bit your lip hard enough to bleed or your level of focus is making your senses go haywire--and you struggle to your feet. The weight of the world feels like it’s crashing down on you. Every memory of every moment just like this one, of every pivotal instance of adversity comes crashing against your skull like a storm-wrought sea threatening to drag you under. Do it. Come on. You’re scared of history repeating itself--your history, to be exact. But if you don’t make a stand here and let go, other people will get hurt. This is it; this is the showdown between you and your past. This moment is suddenly less about fear and more about defining who you are. About harnessing the chaos. About protecting them.

You take a deep breath. Try. Again.

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card descriptions below!

FEY, FAMILIAR, MONSTROSITIES

Growth is...different for everyone. Sometimes it feels like pain. We like to reject pain. Sometimes it feels like a gasping breath, as if you had gills this whole time and suddenly woke up as an air-breathing creature breaching the surface. Sometimes it feels like nothing; you don’t even notice it until someone points it out for you years down the road.

Growth is inevitable. It is what plants will do. It is what emotions will do. It is what shadows will do. It is what light will do.

Growth is possible on your own. A prairie will seed itself, flower, wither, and die in perfect repetition if left to its own devices in ideal conditions. 

Growth is best when encouraged by a friend.

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card descriptions below!

COMPANION, SORCERER, ABERRATIONS

Everything can change in a heartbeat. Your best friend could be by your side and then... gone. Doesn’t matter why. Doesn’t matter how. You’re alone. Did you tell them you cared? Did you tell them you loved them? Did you tell them you needed them? Because you can’t, now. Were you too busy keeping yourself in check to let your guard down? Seems foolish now, doesn’t it. But maybe you can get them back. Maybe you can see their face again, hold it in your palms and tell them how much you cherish your connection... But not until you allow yourself to change.  And not until you find them, first.

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card descriptions below!

ARTIFICER, PLANTS, UNDEAD

What’s missing here? Perhaps searching for new sands will bring you the fresh horizon you need. Maybe it’ll invoke that spark you’ve been missing. Who knows; maybe the solution to your problem is just…not here (wherever “here” is).

What’s there to be afraid of? After all, Death watches you around every corner. No need to worry about your old friend. He’s along for the ride. He wants you to take the risk. —

card descriptions below!