Deck of Five Shapes

Playing cards are popular across Creation, as a source of amusement and for gambling, sometimes even collected for their artistic value or used in questionable methods of divination. The Deck of Five Shapes is the most common set of playing cards in Creation, most popular in the Realm but found across the Threshold as well.

Suits

A Deck of Five Shapes contains 76 playing cards, typically drawn or painted to have identical backs and differing faces. The deck contains five suits, each identified by a colour and a shape:

Circles – Blue

Squares – Black

Octagons – Yellow

Hexagons – Green

Triangles – Red

Cards

Each suit contains fifteen cards, ten number cards and five face cards. The numbered cards each depict the suit’s shape in a number matching their value. The five ‘face’ cards vary widely in what they depict, with the most aniconic and Immaculate-accepted depicting 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 shapes. Most, however, depict historic figures matching their name and certain patterns of imagery:

Ace (1) – The shape on the Ace is very large and usually hollow.

Deuce (2)

3

4

Pentagram (5) – The Pentagram card is a ‘unifying’ card, featuring a pentagram and all five shapes, with the shape of its suit on the top point and all shapes in the suit’s colour. As the pentagram is the symbol of the Realm, some Threshold decks exchange it for a Pentagon and roughly the same layout.

6

7

8

9

10

Sorcerer – The Sorcerer is sometimes nicknamed the ‘Demon’, featuring a Dragonblood (in Realm and Immaculate versions) with a summoned demon. Other versions skip the sorcerer entirely, using only the demon, or even an Anathema.

Chumyo – Called the Strategoi in the Realm and the Chumyo in some of the Threshold, this card depicts a warrior resplendent in armour and military uniform, wielding a weapon of jade: a daiklave for Triangles, a goremaul for Octagons, a direlance for Hexagons (some, particularly in the Threshold, also include a mount), a set of razor claws for Squares, and a set of chakrams for Circles.

Daimyo – Called the Prefect in the Realm and the Daimyo or King in parts of the Threshold, this card depicts a ruler on a throne wearing gilded robes and a crown. By tradition the Daimyo of Circles studies a map, the Daimyo of Triangles holds a sword, the Daimyo of Hexagons holds a blossoming flower, the Daimyo of Squares holds a scroll, and the Daimyo of Octagons has white, sightless eyes.

Maiden – The Maiden is depicted as a beautiful woman, often below a night sky. The Maiden of Circles plays a musical instrument in a field of flowers, the Maiden of Squares reads a book by a moon pond, the Maiden of Octagons holds a bloody dagger and stares out a window in a wall of stone, the Maiden of Hexagons cries a stream of tears in a flame-gutted ruin, and the Maiden of Triangles stands on the deck of a ship holding a mirror.

Dragon – The Dragon is a powerful elemental creature, massive and coursing with energy. Circles has the Dragon of Air, terrible amidst lightning and clouds. Squares has the Dragon of Water, swimming the dark ocean depths. Octagons has the Dragon of Earth, wrapped about a gemstone or a mountain spire. Hexagons has the Dragon of Wood, coiled about a nest of eggs. Triangles has the Dragon of Fire, laying waste to armies.

Calibration - In addition to the 75 suit cards, each deck contains a single Calibration card, which does not belong to any suit. This card is sometimes called the Darkness Card, as it is typically a black card with a white image incorporating all five shapes. The exact nature of this image varies widely, and can be amongst the most artistically creative cards in a deck.

Taxation

While cards are not illegal in the Realm, gambling is considered a social ill and iconic imagery is deemed heresy by the Immaculate Order. In acknowledgement of the fact banning cards was notlikely to succeed, the Scarlet Empress instead settled on a system of control: a tax.

The Realm’s Humble And Honest Assessors Of The Imperial Tax impose a tax on printers and artists for each deck of cards produced. By law, each deck must bear a mon or mark identifying its maker, and in the Deck of Five Shapes this mark is placed at the center of the shape on the Ace of Circles. When the tax is paid, an Imperial tax collector stamps the deck to render it legal for distribution, at the center of the Ace of Octagons.

Games

A deck of playing cards is not a game in of itself, and the Deck of Five Shapes is used for a variety of games depending on region and social groups, some limited to a single village and some found in gambling dens across Creation. Games using this deck include: