For just a moment Dancer’s wry amusement fades. She walks to the table and pulls an apple from the fruit bowl. Removing a pen knife from the sleeve of her robe she efficiently cuts the apple into eight cored pieces in as many seconds. The knife then disappears back into her sleeve and she begins to munch on one slice.

"As I mentioned earlier, the Everway Tarot is the original tarot deck from which all of the tarots are copied. By tradition it was guarded by the chief Librarian, and is used only by the Great King or the Council.

"Approximately one year ago, thieves broke into the Great Library and stole the Everway Tarot. On the way out they were discovered, and a running battle ensued through the halls. Seven members of the Librarians Militant were killed, along with three members of the invading party. Two of the Librarians Militant were able to give reports before they died, and several noncombatants were also able to give descriptions of the invaders. All confirmed the presence of the chief Librarian’s son, River Walker, with the invading party. It was also confirmed that rather than being a hostage, River Walker was actively assisting the invaders, and was responsible for the death of at least one of the Librarians Militant.

"Of the three invaders killed, two were Strangers of unknown origin, but one was a member of the Mask family. Specifically, she was Runner of the Shadow Mask clan, which is known to be skilled in the arts of breaking and entering . An inquiry into the matter was undertaken by both the Library and the Council, and the Masks were eventually confronted with the evidence of their collusion - although they were not informed of the specifics. You will most likely be unsurprised to learn that they denied any involvement in the matter, and claimed that Runner was acting on her own.

"Since that time numerous lesser tarot readings have been performed in an attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of the Everway tarot and River Walker. Thus far all efforts to locate the Everway tarot using lesser tarots have failed, and it now appears likely that the future of the Everway tarot simply cannot be predicted by lesser versions. Because of this effect, it has also proven difficult to predict the whereabouts of those closely associated with the tarot, such as River Walker and the other thieves. One card that has repeatedly appeared in readings has been the Dragon, one of the traditional cards used to represent the Masks.

"We believe that the Masks are involved somehow in the theft for several reasons. First, a member of the Masks was killed at the scene. Second, the other two individuals killed were Strangers, allowing for the possibility of ties to Strangerside, which is heavily Mask influenced. Third, there was the repeated appearance of the Dragon in tarot readings.

‘Even if the Mask is not directly involved, they may have come up with information that would prove valuable in the search. In the wake of our accusations it is virtually certain that the family launched an investigation of their own. This investigation may have turned up vital information that could help us in the recovery of the Everway tarot. For this reason alone it is important that we infiltrate their operations and recover anything they might know."

Dancer takes another bite of apple.

Flamefeather frowns, rubs her nose. "Can the Tarot be used by its new possessor to influence the fate of things in Roundwander, or at least gain useful information? That would make it invaluable to the Mask family; whether they originally engineered the break-in or not, they would by now be eager to own the Tarot. They would certainly be ready to kill to keep it. Or does it have some other value? It would make an obvious bargaining chip, but that would mean boldfacedly acknowledging the crime."

Dancer takes another bite of her apple.

"So far as we know, the Everway Tarot is a purely predictive tool, and has no ability to influence the future. Unless, that is, anything that is predicted by the Tarot is influenced to come true. Either way, I do not know that it is possible to actually influence the future, since the reading is random. Experiments have been tried where readings with preset meanings were drawn from the deck, but these did not work. It is only when the cards are used in the appropriate manner that the deck has any effect at all.

"It is also unknown how the deck will operate if taken to another Sphere. Some believe that it is specifically attuned to Roundwander, and will continue to predict its fate regardless of its actual location. Others believe that when taken to another realm it will begin to predict that realm’s future instead." Dancer shrugs. "The argument has always struck me as being rather useless. There is no empirical evidence to support either claim. Perhaps you can gather some."

"It is doubtful that the Masks would steal the Tarot themselves, though not entirely impossible. Such an act would be a great threat to the family, as it would certainly lead to a civil war against them if they were discovered . While it is conceivable that the family might want to make some sort of prognostication using the Everway tarot, it has been their method in the past to simply use extortion, blackmail, or bribery to convince the Council, the Great King, and the Library to perform a prognostication for them. If they did go so far as to steal it themselves it must be because there is some upcoming event which they fear more than a war of extermination."

Corvus starts fidgeting and looking nervously around himself into the distances, almost through the walls, with his eyes squinted and his brow furroughed. Suddenly he turns his head as if startled, and yells "What?!?" Then, somewhat calmed but still nervous, begins mumbling something to the air in front of him. "Why?...So?...I don’t know...I’m sorry. I can’t help you. I don’t know anything about being dead. Can’t you see? My skin isn’t pale, and my eyes aren’t dry." He closes his eyes. "I can’t see you any more...Shut up...Shut up! OK, I can still see you. Why do you torment me like this. I can’t help you..."

Flamefeather’s head snaps back towards Corvus, and her eyes narrow. "Can you really speak to the dead?" she asks. "If you can, why not ask the spooks whether they observed the theft of the Everway Tarot? Maybe you could even talk to the spirits of the seven Librarian Militants and the three thieves who perished in the robbery? It would be especially interesting to hear from the one dead Mask."

"Um, What or who are you talking to Corvus?" asks a worried looking Waterspider. "Anyway, Dancer, do you have any suggestions as to which masks to avoid?"

Upon hearing Waterspider’s words, Flamefeather raises her eyebrows, then looks pointedly at Corvus and Mercy in turn.

Mercy looks from the raving Corvus to the fretful Waterspider to the quizzical Flamefeather, then grins. "I love this job," she says lightly.