The Power of Trump

The Nature of Trump

The first thing to say about trumps is that they are supernatural pictures allowing communication in all the senses of that word. One can use a trump of a person to contact that person. One can use a trump of a place to go there. Trump contact opens direct spiritual and physical links between viewer and object. You can stab or shoot through a trump contact. You can conduct a contest of wills that can be just as deadly as a physical contest.

Trump use and trump creation are associated with Water - the element of connection. Water is the key element for artists of all kinds. It is the element of spirit, which fills the body as liquid fills a container. A trump artist can create an image of the container that allows access to that which is contained.

Using Trump

You do not need to have the power of trump artistry to use a trump. If you have a water score of 2 or better (Amber scale) a trump card will feel cold to the touch, and colder as you concentrate on making a connection to the image.

Creating Trumps

Trump artists can create trumps in various forms, but the most handy and durable trumps are cards that can be carried in a high-impact travel case. These trumps are usually painted in acrylic or oil on thick cardstock and coated with a protective sealant. A well-made, well-protected trump of this kind can last for eons. Such a card can be added with other trumps to a fortune deck and used for divination. Trump creation does not require "magical" materials. But for divinatory purposes, it is best if a card's materials and backing design match those of the rest of its deck. Otherwise there is a danger of skewed results.

The most reliable trumps are made with a live subject present, one whom the artist knows well. From commencement to the final sealing can take a month in wet weather. Happily, not all of that time need be spent at the easel by artist or subject. Much of the time is spent waiting for one coat to dry before applying the next. Indeed, a trump artist could produce multiple portraits during that period. Rush jobs are done at a disadvantage. Further disadvantages accrue for more fragile materials (paper and water-based inks), unwieldy materials (sharp spoons and rock walls come to mind) and unknown or poorly-known subjects. The Corwin saga presents no known successful trump of a shadow being.

Someone will point out that Dworkin was able to dash off two sketches with a sharp spoon on rock that worked for years. That person is invited to meditate upon Dworkin's likely Water score.

Buying Trump Artistry

Trump artistry is a learned ability. You must have a teacher. The only known trump artists during the Corwin saga are Dworkin, Brand and Merlin. There is good reason to doubt that Bleys, Caine and Fiona can make trumps then, though perhaps some have learned the art since that time. Consider that after the events of Patternfall that neither trumps nor trump artists may be fully trusted.

Each of the trump abilities below costs one point. The first power purchased must be Sense Trump. Without it, the artist has no feedback to guide his creation.

Sense trump - You have a feel for what makes a trump a trump. You recognize the trump quality even in unusual trump creations.
Create trump - You can make your own trumps.
Trump defense - By holding a trump and concentrating, you can fortify your spirit against intrusive influences, including magic and chaotic energies. The best (and safest!) trump for this purpose is your own.
Create trump-powered artifacts - Some artifacts use trump - the power of imagery - to achieve effects not otherwise possible.
Trump memory - You can imbue the mental image of a remembered place or person with trump energy, enabling the image to function like an actual trump picture.
Extra points - Make you better at the abilities above. They may also allow you to use them in vastly more impressive ways.

Beyond Trump Artistry

There may exist trumplike abilities crosslinked to other elements, like trump dance linked to Fire or trump massage linked to Earth. Or maybe not.

We do know that people like Caine have shown the ability to use trumps in special ways without being able to create them.