World Description and Timeline

Introduction to Tarot Card Background

There are 78 tarot cards, of which 56 are small arcana (common cards) with 4 suits and 14 cards each and 22 major arcana (main card). Each card has its own symbolic meaning. There is a card called "The Fool" in the Major Arcana that has the most special meaning in the entire series of Tarot cards. It represents the beginning and the end of all tarot cards and symbolizes infinite possibilities in this world. Each Tarot card has equal status and occupies an absolutely important unique position during the divination. However, only the Fool can serve as both the top trump card or the blank card that can represent any of the 78 cards.

Tarot card divination is divided into an upright position (cards placed upright) and a reverse position (cards placed upside down). Generally speaking, cards placed upright have a positive meaning, while cards placed upside down are negative. 

World Setting and Timeline

In 4000 BC, as one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the ancient Luna region established a series of city-states. The ancient Lunans began to establish their own civilization, including the creation of written symbols and social systems, and for the first time proposed the concept of “Upper Existence”(the God). Perhaps in order to look for the comfort of the fragile soul or the meaning of life and death, more and more residents in the city-state choose to follow the God called Scorpion and believe that he/she can bring answers to all questions.

In 3427 BC, the King appeared on this land, quickly conquered all the city-states, and unified the Ancient Luna through his tricks and leadership. Later, he re-divided ancient Luna into four city-states: the city of creation; the city of holy; the city of gold, and the central city.

In 3410 BC, there was a severe drought in ancient Luna, which led to successive years of famine. In order to save this land on the verge of extinction, the desperate people had to place all their hopes to their God. They prayed sincerely, hoping that God Scorpion could bring new life and hope. But their God did not respond to his people's expectations, and the drought did not disappear. The ubiquitous hunger and deaths wiped out King’s spirit. The fanatical God believers urged the King to believe that his sincerity to God was not enough, and this was why God did not come to the world and bring miracles. Finally, the King decided to use the most direct and ultimate way to show his supreme sincerity in order to save his people: sacrifice.

Continued: Sacrifice requires 56 people’s eyes and 20 people’s hearts, but no one even those fanatical believers has the courage and determination to actively sacrifice their vision or life although everyone believes that sacrifice is the best way to solve the problem. Therefore, to be fair, the King decided to draw lots in the four city-states. The 14 people who got the red letter in their respective cities would be forced to have their eyes cut off, and the 5 people who got the black letter would be killed. This rule must be followed by all ordinary people and high-ranking nobles without any exception. Ironically, on the last day of drawing lots, the King got the black letter from the central city, and he had to be killed under the effect of his own rules amidst the shouts of soldiers, civilians, and nobles around him.

In 3402 BC, the sacrifice was held. 56 sets of eyes and 20 hearts were placed in a circle surrounded by raging flames at noon. Most of people thoughts it was the end of their suffering. Desperately, when the last heart is about to disappear, the world has not changed in any way. People became restless and began to cry or curse loudly for their misfortune. When almost everyone was immersed in loss and desperate for everything that happened to them, a strange thing occurred. Some people in the crowd saw the back of a little girl and a little boy holding hands together and walking quietly into the fire. No one knew who they are, and they didn't stop their steps or cry out. They just walked along and disappeared with the flames. Soon, the moment the flame went out, a long-lost rain suddenly appeared in the sky. A miracle finally happened.

In 3400 BC, two years after the sacrifice, the city-states returned to normal with the arrival of the first rain (miraculous), and people gradually adjusted to their new lives, but the nightmare did not end. One day, people discovered that more and more indescribable strange creatures appeared on this land. They have a peculiar appearance that seems to be independent of everything in this world and can only move in the dark. Although they are different in appearance, they all have one characteristic: they seemed to have a strong hatred for this world and its people. In order to describe these creatures, people started to use Terror as a general term to define them. In order to protect Luna, the King’s son, Luna’s second dominator, ordered his priests to make palm-sized portable slates called Tarot and use slates to seal these creatures in them.

In 3390 BC, finally, after ten years of hard work, 85 creatures were sealed in their respective slates. In order to prevent future generations from being persecuted by these monsters again, the dominator decided to bring these slates into the pyramid along with his coffin. Furthermore, in order to prevent these creatures from getting rid of control and appearing again to harm people in the future, he additionally added the 86th blank slate to 85 slates to be used by future generations to find a way to deal with them. However, what the dementor did not know is that his decision about the black slate accidentally created a chance for preserving a special existence, the secret 86th Horror that did not even appear yet, for thousands of years with other sealed 85 known creatures. 

In 1470, the Eupia explorer John heard the ancient legend about the Ancient Luna’s Tarot and came to Lunia, the modern Luna, to enter the pyramids to explore the truth of the Tarot. Through five years of discovering and researching, he finally discovered these slates under the third biggest pyramid on the south of Lunia and was deeply attracted by the different patterns drawn on the slates. He took all these slates out and shipped them back to Eupia for further in-depth study. Strangely, on the night of the third day after John returned to his country, John disappeared from his room in his home. Almost all the slates were gone, except for the blank slate on John's bed...

Image Credit: stable diffusion, https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion 

Creation Time: January 2021

Document Time: October 2022