Monstrous Monday: The Faceless Deck

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Not all monsters are creatures; some are things. Outward signs of inward despair.

One of the countless cellae of the Gate House contains a completely blank deck of cards. At least, the other sides are blank as far as we know. The cards have never been turned over, and have never been touched. So we merely surmise that both sides are blank.

One day, centuries ago, this deck materialized inside its arcane prison cell in the Gate House. So it has to be a Monster from Beyond, in spite of the fact that it gives off no Radiance, unlike all the gods and demons in the other cellae. In fact, the cracks and fissures in the exterior walls of its cella all crater inwards. So it is possible that the cards are draining Radiance from other nearby cellae in the Gate House.

The exact nature of this deck of cards has been a subject of great controversy for centuries, but the Copyists and Visiting Scholars of the Gate House have reached some preliminary conclusions: The Faceless Deck must be some kind of Anti-Fortune Deck, a Misfortune ir Calamity Deck.

Each card is believed to be the antithesis of one of the Major Arcana, the Greater Forces that represent and govern the Multiverse, and give the million spheres their shapes and individuation. Yet they are not a true Antithesis, since the cards' energy blocks any Synthesis. There is no change, transition, evolution, growth, or development with these trumps - no Aufhaben - only the silent species named Annihilation.

These trumps have the power to make Arcana never have been.

If these cards were released from their cella - or even simply turned over and viewed  - entire worlds might disappear. The Deep Horizon might advance, consuming Otherway and numerous other worlds near the periphery. Eventually, the multiverse itself might unravel entirely.

And so the Nothing in this cella remains the Gate House's greatest secret - and trouble. Its walls are cracking; eventually they will crumble and fall.

The Copyists and Visiting Scholars who have contemplated The Faceless deck and its failing prison cell speculate that the Fall will come within 10 years - and possibly sooner. From their anonymous study chamber close by the failing cella, they have advanced possible solutions:

• Build a new, stronger cella, or perhaps a cella within a cella within a cella
• Build one new cella for each trump
• Burn the cards, one-by-one, in Dragon's Fire
• Drop the each of the cards into The Jar of the Ink Absolute
• Return the cards to their Source, each Copyist and Visiting Scholar who has seen the cards sewing one into their flesh and hurling themselves into the Radiance

Something must be done soon. A bulwark must be build against Annihilation.