Casablanca Oracle

...for In a Wicked Age

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1,Ace of Spades - A nightclub popular with tourists, expatriates, and the forces of the military occupation alike. 1,2 of Spades - The local Chief of Police; no more honest than he has to be. 1,3 of Spades - A woman with a secret -- and a past. 1,4 of Spades - A piano player, who sees more than most people expect. 1,5 of Spades - A fogged-in airstrip, with a plane idling on the runway, waiting for take-off. 1,6 of Spades - A car-load of Gendarmes, ineffectually investigating a crime. 1,7 of Spades - Soldiers of the occupying army, singing loud patriotic songs. 1,8 of Spades - Seemingly-impassive native onlookers, their faces veiled, and their eyes hot. 1,9 of Spades - A man peddling secret papers, for a price. 1,10 of Spades - Swarms of beggar-children, swirling through the crowded streets. 1,Jack of Spades - A man on the run, seeking asylum from a foreign government. 1,Queen of Spades - An illegal gambling parlor, frequented by the wealthy and those who would prey upon them. 1,King of Spades - A Limousine, delivering a beautifully-dressed couple to a fashionable address. 1,Ace of Hearts - A young girl, running through the market stalls. 1,2 of Hearts - A bewildered tourist, far from home, who has lost his ticket. 1,3 of Hearts - The blue-tiled walls and fountains of the mazelike bazaar. 1,4 of Hearts - A concealed doorway, leading to a private meeting place. 1,5 of Hearts - A balconied hotel, it's windows hung with gauze curtains that do not conceal the occupants from prying eyes. 1,6 of Hearts - A beautiful woman, who knows that her lover will return to his life across the sea -- but not this season. 1,7 of Hearts - A man strolling through the crowded streets, contemplating a crime. 1,8 of Hearts - A girl scented with incense and patchouli, her arm linked with that of a young man as she leads him along. 1,9 of Hearts - A world-map with national borders already out of date, the wash of the tides of war across it shown by trails of pin-holes. 1,10 of Hearts - A village, now an empty shell, abandoned by it's former occupants as war approached. 1,Jack of Hearts - Fishing boats going out with the evening tide, their destinations known only to their captains. 1,Queen of Hearts - A load of smuggled guns, exchanged for silver at a moonlit rendezvous. 1,King of Hearts - Well-armed rebels, waiting in the darkness on the border. 1,Ace of Diamonds - An obese collector of antiquities, well-supplied with cash. 1,2 of Diamonds - A spy, trying to survive while working for both sides. 1,3 of Diamonds - A monkey, trained to pick pockets by it's unscrupulous owner. 1,4 of Diamonds - A foreigner who has 'gone native', no longer trusted by his countrymen. 1,5 of Diamonds - Soldiers marching in step down the sun-lit center of a street, warily eyed by natives in the building's shadows. 1,6 of Diamonds - An officer, betraying his oaths in service to his secret vice. 1,7 of Diamonds - A common criminal, accused of an uncommon crime. 1,8 of Diamonds - A treasure looted in a foreign land, imported and hidden from the authorities. 1,9 of Diamonds - A woman scorned, who's fury has no equal. 1,10 of Diamonds - A bodyguard, trusted unwisely by his employer. 1,Jack of Diamonds - A gloomy bartender, wrapped up in his own personal problems, oblivious to those of his clientele. 1,Queen of Diamonds - A ghostly moon sails among the gathering storm clouds; an old man calls it an omen. 1,King of Diamonds - Enemies with sweet voices, attempting to seduce or suborn. 1,Ace of Clubs - The Muezzin's call to prayer, heard across the city from atop a high spire. 1,2 of Clubs - Pack-camels laden with dates and silk, led into town by wary Bedouin traders. 1,3 of Clubs - Veiled Arab women, gossiping as they draw water from a fountain in the square. 1,4 of Clubs - A tiny coffee-shop, where the mute Turkish waiters are guaranteed not to understand the languages of their customers. 1,5 of Clubs - A fruit-vendor, his cart overturned by a scuffle nearby. 1,6 of Clubs - Sun-dark Lascars, fresh from unloading foreign cargo ships, and looking for rough entertainment. 1,7 of Clubs - Men of rival desert tribes, guilty of a multitude of sins, eying one another warily over their sword-hilts. 1,8 of Clubs - A sudden sandstorm, driving strangers together at the only shelter. 1,9 of Clubs - Sneak-thieves, raiding a wealthy home in the middle of the night. 1,10 of Clubs - An unpreposessing and common object, reputed by the locals to be cursed. 1,Jack of Clubs - Torches flaring in the night as armed men gather. 1,Queen of Clubs - A braying donkey, overloaded with Berber carpets brought down from the hills for delivery to a rich merchant. 1,King of Clubs - An Egyptian businessman with contraband to sell.
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