[b]Intro[/b]

[i]Season:[/i] Early autumn.
[i]Current State of Pantheon:[/i] Unaware of the Haze's effects on the government.
[i]Current State of the Four Countries:[/i] Pantheon is getting on bad trading terms with Solvet (East) and Ordan (North). Folxin (West) is attempting to regain control over riots and a civil war.
[i]Current State of the Tarot:[/i] Scattered, but gathering. Distrust beginning to form between Major and Minor Arcana.

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The sun was burning bright in the autumn sky hanging above the glorious city of Damascus--the largest city in the Four Countries.The streets were filled to the brim with merchants, slaves, and citizens. The crowds would be nearly impossible to pass through without having to push your way through or to be on horseback. Even then there was no guarantee that you'd get to where you would need to go on time. In the midst of these crowds were both the Haze and the Tarot. Though neither of them were aware of the others' presence, it wouldn't be long before war between the two would break out. The tensions were high while the Haze searched high and low throughout the city in hopes of discovering the location of the Tarot themselves. The Tarot had stayed silent and undercover for many years, forming alliances with few other mage guilds that also stood against the Haze--alas, trustworthy guilds were becoming more difficult to find during this time.

The time before the Haze took total control of Damascus was coming soon, and the Tarot were running out of time. They didn't have all of the pieces to the puzzle, so hey lacked the power that was required to keep the Haze from total domination of the Four Countries, and then later--the world.

---

Atina sat upon a stool in the guild building, watching the others around her as they all drank away their troubles and cares as they returned from missions and meetings with their ally guilds. She couldn't help but pity them, because she had been requested to stay at the guild building and wait until she could sense the presence of another Tarot enter the city. Pulling her dark cloak around her shoulders and over her face, she looked like the embodiment of Death, frightening many of the others away from her. For quite some time now, she could sense that many were beginning to mistrust her, especially since she rarely left the guild anymore. She could see why they would think so, her eye patch over her right eye and her mysterious airs were enough to drive even the other higher ranked Arcana away. Many of those that were bonded with the Court Cards attempted to keep their own Suits away from her, because they were afraid that she may try to memorize their magic to benefit only herself. [i]They are fools to think that I would benefit only myself.[/i] Then she inwardly sighed at the thought, because this meant that there may be some of the Haze's influence being dragged into the guild. 

That was how the Haze always started-through deception and striking distrust among guilds and even the government, which had already fallen, but many were unaware of the changes quite yet. Then the Haze would slowly slip in through the cracks, creating a trench between those were were once like brothers. Distrust was their greatest power, and they definitely knew how to use it to the best of their advantage. As far as Atina was concerned, the Suits and the Courts were slowly being torn apart by deception. She knew that there were several of the Suit Tarot members that were most likely in association with the Haze, but she simply couldn't pinpoint which ones were the black sheep among the flock. They were clever, she'd give them that. And using the mysterious and silent High Priestess to cause distrust between the Major and Minor Arcana was a good crack to deepen and stretch.

She closed her eyes for a moment and subtly removed her eye patch before opening her eyes again. Her right eye, which was believed to be blind, glowed a vibrant ivy green beneath the hood as she saw through walls and people, viewing their auras and seeing the general amount of magic that lay inside of them. Many were mediocre, while others were rather powerful. Then she sent her Searching spell out into the city, hoping to catch the aura of someone who was of the Major Arcana, or who could potentially become one.