Elaina J. Davidson's Blog, page 72
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TINSAL excerpt: Sunflower Tower
Eventually abumpy ride ended before the forgotten chapel.
Rose had notspoken since the hilltop, and neither did Zanderin, other than the cursesrequired to awaken his driver.
This wasSunflower Tower, the chapel built in commemoration of an ancient battle. A longtime ago warriors from a neighbouring society invaded this mountain basin, torape and pillage and burn. Many died, and in the aftermath sunflowers sproutedup from this field of remains. Many still regarded it as an omen; the bodiesnow dust, the bones buried deep within this fertile field. By all accounts,every attempt to remove the dead, whether of friend or foe, met with onlyfailure. Another omen.
After the passthrough the mountains was sealed to future invaders by induced rockslides, theTower was built, but most ignored it today, as if proximity would infuse themwith dark thoughts. The sunflowers continued to flourish. No one was able to explainit. No one sought to explain it. This was an out of sight, out of mindmentality.
Zanderinspeculated whether Amaris could have illuminated the phenomenon. If anyone hadan answer, it would be her. It was a pity she was deceased. Thank the ancientgods she was.
Time to focus onthe present.
On the livingmirror she left behind.
After the eventsat the Stone, a number of the warriors present there chose the cloth. Guilt? Nodoubt. Jonah Ferntree was one; Rex was another. Jonah received the blessings ofFerntree wealth in his choice of parish; Rex chose this backwater as hisvocational home, because here he felt able to atone.
“Which card ishis?” Rose asked, speaking for the first time as she clambered from thecarriage to stand staring over the masses of sunflowers all around.
Black discssurrounded by bright yellow petals lifted their faces to the sun they werenamed after.
“The Penitent. His name is Rex. No familyname. He is no more than a labourer, but the Church accepts all kinds.”
“Ignorance won’tsave him?”
Zanderin frowned,voicing a thought he entertained when Bronwyn handed him the card. “Rex killedsixteen of Tinsal’s guard at the Stone, among them a man loyal to Bronwyn hisentire life. No, ignorance won’t save him.”
They turned asone when a voice called out, “May I help you?”
Fantasy with a twist; akin to analternate Assassin’s Creed, where tarot cards are the weapons.
Bronwyn, a woman scorned, loses herhonour, status, and her leg, and now the time has come to exact retribution.
Zanderin, a sorcerer bound toher, waves his magic over the attention seeking cards, each with a nameattached, and every card becomes a symbol of doom. This is a cosmic deck, dealingin fate. Via his swift carriage, hooded and cloaked, he is the harbinger and assassin.
Terra meets her betrothed,Rhodry, when Zanderin gifts his first card. Rhodry and Zanderin are connected,and everyone linked to them is on Bronwyn’s list of names.
TINSAL is about bloodlines, secrets,and a controlled society. As the cards are dealt, death follows, until theendgame moves to Castle Tinsal itself.
