Queen of Pentacles


 * AKA: The Hierophant Queen, The Quicksilver Regent, The Gazer of the Beyond
 * Follower’s Epithets: Priest, Priestess, Prophets, Judges
 * Kingdom: Crystal Heril
 * People aren’t afraid of the future. Yes, the future is uncertain and little speaks of what it holds. However, despite that uncertainty, people are not afraid of the future. More appropriately, they’re afraid of the past.
 * See, it goes like this: People make their mistakes in the past, which leads to them regretting them and they stop themselves from making the same mistakes again. Even though the past was different circumstances, that was enough to leave scars that clouds their judgment and makes people miss opportunities because they’re afraid as they were then. When the same event happens, it’s not the circumstances that creates failure, but rather the person is making the notion preconceived by default.
 * So, ready to break from the chains of the past and look to the bright future?

The Queen of Pentacles believes that the Light is present already within humanity, but she believes that it can be found by those who look down the right path. Her nobles follow suit, looking in all directions for gleams of information that can better the world and set it down the right path wherever it goes.

Tales of the Crystal Heril
The Queen of Pentacles looks out from the crystal towers and palaces of spyglass from the temple of Crystal Heril. On a throne of Silver does the Hierophant Queen sit upon, listening to the disputes of her Kingdom and advisor to the Queens of other Kingdoms. The Queen sees far and wide and with the help of a jury of her Priestesses, she finds the guilty and works out the truth to the problem. She dresses in appropriate clothings for any time, always having a sense of "right place, right time" for such events in her Kingdom.

A conversation with the Queen of Pentacles often sounds out easily like a dispute. It can take from hours to minutes depending on how much time is on the Princess’s hands. Both sides come up with their factors and positions as well as the circumstances of the trial. Sometimes these do become a bit emotional, but these are only within limits and if the Queen senses it clouds the Princess’s judgment, then she says such and leads back to normal conversation. She normally doesn’t stand outbursts and either patiently waits until the Princess cools down or leaves.

In all forms of the word, the Queen of Pentacles is a peerless ruler to her Kingdom, fixing most, if not all of the problems that would plague it. As such, she often joins her Princesses and other scholars of the Kingdom not to dispute the fates of the material world, but rather to dispute the definition of the Light and Good, to find out what that is in the world. They are as much Philosophers and Theologians as they are Judges.

Philosophy
The Queen of Pentacles calls for understanding and wisdom as well as judgment to carry out what the princess believes is good for the situation.

Eyes Like a Clear Sky
Perhaps the most invaluable tool to judgment is nothing more than a clear head and mind. After All, if prejudice or worry clouds a Princess’s thoughts, then there’s no way that she can make an unbiased and just decision. Therefore, should a time come that she is required to make her decisions, then she shouldn’t be biased or else her decision is pretty much already made for her.

Clarity of Consequence
It’s a simple thing, Consequentialism. That the ends serve to justify the means. If a bad consequence should come along due to someone else, then the princess should be able to do what needs to be done or find how it should be done for a good outcome.

That’s not to say that you should murder willy­nilly if you foresaw ten future Hitlers. The ends are not an excuse. Princesses are empowered of hopes and magic, and like everyone else they have a will. Where there is a will, there is a way. And where there is magic in a Princess and belief in this philosophy, the Princess is capable of magical solutions and prophecy to figure out a better solution.

The Nature of Good
Perhaps the simplest philosophy of Pentacles is the factor that behind everyone’s lenses lies a different meaning for “good”. It is hard to make a completely objective society because of the matter that “Good” is subjective to each person. What does good mean to a poor person with good friends or a lonely man with all of the world’s riches? To a priest who has lived a virtuous life or the addict who thrives on heroin and prostitutes? It is up to each individual to attach meaning to what good is, and nobody should need to decide for another what that is, nor for any meaning of any subjective matter.

Duties
A Prophet’s duty is to be wise and to make judgments. Often this leads them to take up positions where it is the hardest to make decisions, yet thanks to their power of precognition can they can make them with near crystal clear accuracy.

Champions of Pentacles often work to practice the best policies and often end up in the line of fire as much as they stand outside of it. With their magic, they hit from far away or even before a problem has a chance to become one. Lines of work often set them up in law enforcement, such as working as policemen and women.

Graces of the Court of Pentacles often live up to the emphasis of Judgment, finding most of their work as judges with the ability to lead their courtroom and make crystal clear judgments as well as to inspire those in the room to keep their heads clear of nothing but the facts. Another tendency of Graces in this court is to work as Priests or Priestesses, spreading the light through sermons and teachings.

Menders of Pentacles tend to work with more than just unhealthy bodies. More often than not do they help those with broken minds and sickened consciences, finding work within mental institutions and centers for criminal rehabilitation.

If the Seekers of Diamonds are Engineers, then perhaps the Seekers of Pentacles are the Theologians to that statement, as given the powers of Vuoto they can see far along the future as well as venturing into parts unknown before to man. They also debate on “what is good” rather than “what will work”.

The Troubadours of Pentacles seek to envision clarity of sight in their artwork, helping people look to the future with a brightened mind and to destroy the chains of the past.

Background
The people who have joined the Court of Pentacles tend to have known the values of caution and wisdom. Some have formed it from the simple sense of decency whereas others have often had a sense of the predestined or of mystic proportion, always on the edge of the supernatural but never actually getting through until they have blossomed and finding the Court of Pentacles much to their liking. Often those of religious upbringing find themselves in this court the most as it helps them make sense of the world now through the lenses of the Hopeful.

Character Creation
The Court of Pentacles values insight and clarity, and as such many tend to form or have high ratings in Composure, Wits and Intelligence, as they are often the most used traits in precision decision­making and to review facts and details as well as noticing minute changes. Academics and Investigation are similarly practiced, as well as Occult for those who study planes or beings beyond the normal mortal realm. Expression and Subterfuge are practiced to spread their wisdom as well as hiding knowledge lest it fall into the wrong hands.

The Court of Pentacles tends to use Mental Merits such as Common Sense, Eye for the Strange and Trained Observer, even Eidetic Memory and Encyclopedic Knowledge. However, perhaps more so than other courts the Court of Pentacles tends to practice Princess only merits if it means to understand the nature and forms of the Light even better than before.

Heraldry
The Court of Pentacles Regalia tends to have an air of dignity and precognition to it, looking sage­like in its manifestation. Religious like regalia is common as are, if almost stereotypical looking, Princess clothing throughout the ages. What a “Princess” denotes tends to vary with each Judge. The more historically minded tend to draw from the likes of the Dark Ages and fashions of royalty from the Long Night. Those more intimate to the themes of Princesses and their powers tend to draw from the themes of Magical Girls, looking with more pomp and style.

All colors are present, but often Black, White and Grey are a common theme when it comes to them.

Practical Magic
The magic of Pentacles is the path of clairvoyance and choosing the correct path, and it’s reflected within the practical magic of the Judges. The Court of Pentacles can use their Practical Magic to negate any penalties for a single roll. They may spend up to their maximum wisps per turn on any penalties. Normally, each wisp spent takes a ­1 penalty from a roll the Princess makes.

High Belief increases this effect: At Belief 8 the first Wisp takes away a -2 Penalty on a roll instead of ­1 per wisp. At Belief 9, the first 2 wisps takes away a -2 Penalty each; and at Belief 10, the first wisp takes away a -3 Penalty, and the second takes away a -2 penalty.

Invocation: Vuoto
The Queen of Pentacles value of clarity and foresight is emphasized within the invocation of Vuoto, through which her Priests and Priestesses learn better than any other. It is the invocation that emphasizes contemplation, cognition, the clarity of insight as well as the Element of Void. Unlike the Lacrima invocation, the Element of Void isn’t the Darkness that takes Light from the world, but rather it is the emptiness that constricts reality into a form and that can be passed through, where Space expands for eternity and Time runs out forever.

Vuoto applies at no cost if the Princess is standing below a star filled sky or a full moon without any sort of obstruction to it. It also applies for free if the Princess’s target is a device or form of ritual that she does to help herself decide on a conflict, or even a tool she uses for scrying, if the Princess is trying to clear her mind, to stop distractions from a cause or to aid her in judgment. It also applies at no cost if she’s trying to stop a bad action from being taken.

Vuoto does not appreciate those who let bias do their thinking for them. Should the princess let herself be swayed by someone else’s preconceived notion on a subject or let herself be kept by her own biased opinions stopping someone else from doing an action, Vuoto is banned for the rest of the scene.

Several Vuoto charms distort time and space, and while the latter is much easier to use or withstand, Time is always running and unyielding, the farther along one wishes to affect the more it’ll stand in the way of the Princess. When Vuoto charms note Temporal Flux, adjust the modifier by Longevity. This deals with both pulling from the past as well as from the future. Pentacles Practical Magic can negate these modifiers.

Stereotypes
Clubs: They are willing to stay blind to the future if they can change along with the present as well, yet they shall still prosper.

Diamonds: Relying on equations can only lead you so far, how shall you explain the nature of the Light? Take as much time as you need, I would enjoy a debate any time. Hearts: The future is constantly changing unlike the past, but they are right in the sense that history repeats itself. Spades: Such uncertain factors, maybe just by standing outside of events they are capable of acting as they please. Swords: Beware should the flame’s light be all you can see. Cups: I can show you the end of your journey, but I doubt you’d want spoilers. A journey without understanding is a hollow one indeed. Wands: Manual labor only clears the way so much, but it does help. Tears: You already know how bleak your future is. Why not just let it go? Storms: They take their duty as Judge, Jury and Executioner all at once without even listening to any of the defendant's testimony. Mirrors: A parent has the right to making decisions for the child should the child’s decisions prove to be...obviously flawed.

Vampires: There’s simply no easy answer, these beings are bound to the past by their nature. Werewolves: Be wary of what lives beyond your fields. Mages: To be able to touch a higher world and return with its power...if only the Light were as simple. Prometheans: Can we do your scrying over the phone? I don’t mean to insult but your aura alone is kind of...distracting. Changelings: They have reasons to hide. That’s all I’m willing to say about Them. Sin­Eaters: If you share a bond with something that’s dead, then you really haven’t escaped death, haven’t you? Mummies: I know for a fact that I would be a better judge than whatever is behind you. Demons: Believe me, I can handle the truth if you’d just stop lying. Beasts: You can claim to be a monster all you want, but the one thing that will always remain the same is that the monster’s threat will vanish when a hero of the light arrives. Mad Scientists: Tread lightly and warily, ye who enter here. Leviathans: ...There are just some things I’d like to forget I saw too. Hunters: Do any of you ever carry out a fair trial? Mortals: The past has passed, that’s why it’s called as such.

Inspiration
Princess Zelda