Rhydanne fortune cards

A number of people have asked me whether I fully worked out the Rhydanne fortune cards - the ones Jant uses in The Modern World. Yes! Continuity and realism aren't the only reasons for figuring out background elements such as the cards. I do it because it helps me imagine the characters, for example Jant and Genya sitting at a table in the Filigree Spider, playing cards at lightning speed, even though the scene may not be used in the books.

Rhydanne fortune cards are a reaction to some of the nonsense I’ve heard about fortune telling. For those who are interested in the full set of 25 cards, more follows:

ICE SUIT

1. glacier
2. firn patch
3. cornice
4. crevasse
5. snowhole shelter

ROCK SUIT

1. mountains
2. cliffs
3. boulders
4. pebbles
5. grit

EAGLE SUIT

1. dead eagle
2. soaring eagle
3. ‘treading’ eagle (i.e. mating eagle)
4. nesting eagle
5. eagle chicks

GOAT SUIT

1. dead goat
2. pastured goat
3. randy goat
4. mother goat
5. kid

ALCOHOL SUIT

1. jug of beer
2. bottle of vodka
3. ‘jack’ of gin (leather bottle of gin)
4. dram of whisky
5. cask of whisky

Rhydanne fortune cards don't have a set meaning: they can symbolise good or bad luck depending on the user's interpretation with respect to their situation. Some Rhydanne prefer particular cards depending on their own experiences. For example Shira Dellin (who will appear in Above the Snowline) likes the Eagle Suit as a symbol of freedom. Most prefer the Alcohol suit, for obvious reasons.

Rhydanne play card games with these too, which Eilean Dara does in the flashbacks in No Present Like Time. The cards then do have a definite order and sometimes this influences the way they interpret the cards as lucky or unlucky when fortune-telling. Within each suit card1 is the least important or most unlucky (deuce) and card5 is the most important or sought-after (ace). The suits themselves are in this order of worst to best: Ice is worst, then rock, eagles, goats and alcohol is of course best. They are also used to play something like ‘stone, paper, scissors’ where rock crushes goat; goat drinks alcohol; ice covers rock; goat walks on ice and so forth.