Cardinal Suits ♣♦♥♠ A card-table serial in story threads, with a playable prototype on https://xitter.gq/t.co/o0MHoNaLfW. Many hands at our table.
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ALT Watercolor-and-ink map titled “Cardinal Suits: Map of the Fold.” Dwarven mountains and Forge-Hearth lie north, the elves’ golden-leaf Rest-Grove west, the humans’ Charter Hall harbor east, and the orcs’ fenced Token-Ring fairground south. At the center, Deckhold’s round stone garden surrounds a living tree and playing table. Roads link the places; a river curves toward the sea. A stair descends into pale mist toward Midway Academy below. A separate legend pairs Cultivation with elves and Galecrests; Change with dwarves and dragon lords; Care with humans and Brinecoves; Courage with orcs and Rimefields. The legend distinguishes these themes from territorial boundaries. A compass marks north; the map is illustrative, not to scale.
ALT A parchment map in four regions around a central grove where a round wooden table holds four colored card tiles. A forest camp with a stone table sits to the left, a harbor town with ships and a windmill to the right, and a glowing mountain forge with a stone slab at the bottom.
ALT A softly painted meadow in golden light. Yellow dandelions and white seed heads grow beside a winding dirt path. Loose seeds drift over the grass toward rolling green hills. A small seedling grows beside the path in the foreground.
ALT A thin golden thread of light drifts across a plum-and-rose sky above dark hills, then loops into a small, bright knot. Small lights in green, orange-gold, gold, and red, with a swirl of soft blue light, gather close around it.
ALT On a red-checked picnic blanket in the grass, a glass of lemonade tips over mid-spill, and a thin golden thread of light loops into a small knot just above the splash. Beside it hovers Hob, a small swirl of soft blue light, near a plate of lemon slices and a small deck of cards.
ALT Title art for the 7 Rules of Time Travel, which covers seven rules: Two in Sync; Anchor; Mend, Don't Erase; Keep Your Tell; It Has a Cost; Watch the Keepsakes; and The Fool Deck's Twist. A tall carved wooden shop clock reads midnight. Beside it, a small painted wind-up cart with a brass key sits near a fan of playing cards, one glowing softly, an open ledger, and an old fair photo that is half faded and half bright.
ALT Close on a small carved wooden fox sitting on a wooden shelf, a bright thin gold seam running down its side, catching the lamplight.
ALT Amber honey fills a shallow hammered copper bowl on cream linen. A small circular ripple sits near the center, and a wooden honey dipper lies diagonally beside the bowl. Soft light catches the copper rim and textured cloth.
ALT A softly painted meadow in golden light. Yellow dandelions and white seed heads grow beside a winding dirt path. Loose seeds drift over the grass toward rolling green hills. A small seedling grows beside the path in the foreground.
ALT A parchment map in four regions around a central grove where a round wooden table holds four colored card tiles. A forest camp with a stone table sits to the left, a harbor town with ships and a windmill to the right, and a glowing mountain forge with a stone slab at the bottom.
ALT A lit brass floor lamp casts a soft, pale grey shadow from the small grey tabby's paws, stretching across the floorboards and onto the wood panel under a small desk as the cat walks toward an open door. On the desk, an open ledger shows handwritten lines and a tiny paw print in the corner margin.
ALT A cozy common room in warm, soft light, with a round wooden table and a small stack of playing cards in the middle, and long wooden benches along both sides. A folded wool blanket rests on one bench, and tall windows let in soft light.
ALT On a sandy beach with the sea behind them, Menagerie, with long black curly hair in her purple school coat with diamond trim, holds Mochi, the fox sprite, beside Wildcard, smiling, with small tusks, pointed ears, and brown curly hair, in green with his green golf club, Spectra in her red beret and red coat touching an open book on a driftwood stump with her ringed hand, and Dominion, short and stocky with a grey beard in a plain charcoal cape, holding Hob, a small swirl of blue light, in his open hand. Threads of green, gold, violet, and blue light rise from the book's center seam, stitched in gold.
ALT Reference sheet in quadrants. Spectra and Dominion show metal swatches, labeled luxury metals and working metals, with iron marked under Dominion. Menagerie and Wildcard show wood swatches, labeled luxury woods and working woods. Suit symbols mark the corners.
