arcana

Did You Know? - The Tarot

Playing Cards0092.png

As a big fan of tarot card motifs, I wanted to ensure that Zenkora had its own variant of the system. Therefore, despite being largely similar, the Zenkora tarot also features some structural differences from the one traditionally used in our world. 

The Zenkora tarot deck is divided into two sections, called the "minor" and the "major arcana", much like the traditional system used in our world. The deck can is also organized by suit, similarly to the decks that we use. In this case, however, the suits are instead: leaves, flowers, moons, and stars. Much like the ones we use, these suits are found in modern decks and have descended from different ones from the ancient past.

The minor arcana of the Zenkora tarot consists of fourteen "ranks", each with a variant for the four suits. Pictured above is the card of rank VIII, also known as "the Plundered Fortune", of the Leaves suit. Each rank has a specific set of meanings and common interpretations associated with it, which also vary based on the suit of the card. These meanings experience additional changes based on the positioning of the card (e.g. whether it is sideways, upside-down, face-down, etc.). All of these variations allow your standard sorcerer an essentially limitless range of interpretations he or she can draw from the deck.

The major arcana of the Zenkora tarot consists only of seven ranks, and do not have suits associated with them. These cards are typically treated differently by professional sorcerers than the minor arcana, due to the greater complexity of their associated meanings. In enchanted decks, the major arcana are also usually imbued with additional magical power, and so must be treated with care. Shown to the left is a card from the major arcana, rank XV, known as "The Law".

Many ancient interpretations of the Zenkora tarot have been lost to time, surviving only as myths. Some of these suggest that the cards themselves hold secrets to other worlds, dimensions, and peoples...

-Wesley