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Chapter Summary
Omta is extremely conflicted about the PCs. On one hand, they are deck-touched, which means they have a certain bond with Omta. On the other hand, the PCs have agreed to work with Tymora, and Omta is terrified of Tymora. So in this chapter, Omta erects barriers that prevent the PCs from getting too close to the Deck, but he also makes overtures to communicate with the PCs. He will lower the barriers when he is confident that the PCs understand his point of view. This chapter is all about building trust.
When the PCs arrive back at the remains of Castle Green, all that remains is the basement. Omta has created two lines of defense: first, he has turned the basement into a complicated labyrinth where movement is only feasible with Omta’s permission. Second, he has walled off the Deck behind an impenetrable steel door.
When the PCs enter the labyrinth, they find it confusing and impossible to get anywhere. But they also feel a presence in the back of their minds, trying to communicate with them. This is Omta’s first attempt at communication, using the telepathic bond they share. At this stage, all the PCs have to do is make an effort, trying to talk to Omta. It doesn’t matter how they try to communicate, or how successful they are, as long as they make an effort. Once the PCs show that they care about establishing contact, Omta will start helping the PCs to navigate the labyrinth: he will take them where they want to go, if they just say where they want to go.
Once the PCs can navigate the labyrinth, they will start finding Green’s employees scattered about the labyrinth. An important side quest is helping Green’s employees get out of the labyrinth, one by one. It can be quite gratifying to get everybody out safe and sound - with the sole exception of Green and his bodyguards, who are trapped behind the steel door.
Eventually, the PCs will reach the steel door. By this time, Omta will be dissatisfied with his efforts at communication so far. The telepathic bond is allowing him to send vague impressions and emotions, but it’s bad at sending detailed information. So Omta comes up with Plan B: if telepathic communication isn’t working, then we can try writing! He conjures six parchment scrolls, and drops them at the PCs feet. Then, he adds six pigeonholes to the door. After the PCs decipher a scroll, they can put the deciphered scroll into a pigeonhole. When all six scrolls are deciphered, the door will open.
The scrolls contain a strange form of writing: each scroll contains several cards from the deck, arranged in little groups. The Deck is using cards as a form of symbolism. Each card has a symbolic meaning. The PCs have collectively drawn many cards. They automatically know the symbolic meanings of any cards that they have drawn. But there are also many cards on the scrolls that the PCs didn’t draw, and they may have no idea what those cards mean.
To learn the symbolic meanings of those cards, the PCs will have to talk to NPCs who drew those particular cards. This becomes the main quest of this chapter: tracking down NPCs who drew particular cards. Unfortunately, talking to those NPCs is not always easy. For example, one of these NPCs has been transformed into a rampaging beast. Another has been put into a coma. Figuring out how to get useful information from NPCs who have been drastically warped by the deck can be a difficult challenge.
Talking to those NPCs, the PCs will discover that many of them are in crisis. The Deck has turned their lives upside down, for good or for bad. Many of them need help. The PCs have the opportunity here to build relationships that will end up paying off in later chapters, when these NPCs may become powerful allies with deck-granted powers.
When the PCs finally know the symbolic meanings of all the cards, they will be able to decipher all the scrolls. This allows them to open the door, which leads to Omta’s hiding place. The PCs can then have a true conversation with Omta for the first time. When the conversation is over, the PCs are returned to Castle Green. There is no longer a steel barrier preventing access to Green and the Deck. The PCs can go talk to Green, and can negotiate to buy the Deck.