Journal

Feb 2 2022

Wow… all the twos… Some might think it’s a sign. I think I waited since November to start taking Deck Runners (a name that sounds like someone enjoys cyberpunk a little bit much) and Demon Decks (a name that sounds too on the nose to be believed) seriously. Magick is so full of euphemistic language and good vibes that hearing of something that can tap into real magic is… intriguing. We’ve seen glimpses of real magic. We’ve touched real magic. This sounds… questionable at best. But I chose today to start to try and give it the best chance of working.

First up the handwritten notebook by “Jax” says that Fortune Telling is the best way to ease yourself in… so a Tarot reading with a defaced playing card deck. This feels like kitchen witch stuff… But I’m going in with an open mind.

Basic Layout: 7C - Lack/want/need: Yeah we need money. This shop isn’t going to be able to pay rent this month… Three in a row and FORECLOSURE! 4S - Warnings: Yeah… the letter showed up today. Edna didn’t tell us but Kyle saw the letter on the counter and read that the holding company can’t just force her out but can raise her rates. 10C - A stronghold: This place is where a lot of us live. My dad kicked me out of the house for wearing makeup. Kyle rents the room above the store. Justice ran away from home and is trying to become emancipated. Shar and Kelli can’t be a couple in front of Kelli’s very Catholic parents and so really only get to be a couple while they’re here. Edna is really our group’s grandma, she helps us and guilds us. It’s really the only place any of us can go.

Wow! Thanks deck! A bunch of open ended prompts that made me cry. How very magickal.

I guess the only way I’ll be able to tell if this works is if I can perform a ritual to change this situation, and the only way I can perform a proper ritual, according to “Jax” is if the deck has trapped a demon… So I guess… Well I knew this would happen eventually… I’ve got to try and summon a demon… and bind it into a deck of cards… and then use the power of the demon to get… money… This sounds Foustian as fuck!

THE… FUCK…

Shax the demon is now housed in my 5C!I am fucking shaking! The ritual is very simple. Put four coins that can’t be stolen around a magic triangle. When a snowflake touched the card a demonic stork flew into the card… The card became a room… While within the triangle the stork spoke… he will “steal anything from the wretched kings of this Earth.” I turned to run but there was nowhere to go… He let me leave.

Feb 4 2022

I spent yesterday debating on what to do… I have a literal demon bound in a deck of cards. A deck of cards that's sitting in my backpack on the other side of the room.

I just need to design a ritual to have Shax deliver the money we need. Is it really that easy? I need to design this ritual so it doesn't give the demon too much leeway.

Ritual: The Beggar's Prayer

Goal: to obtain enough money to pay the Sage Calderon's rent. Cards: 6C for money or material wealth, 7H for kindness. We need money and we need to keep everyone safe. Demon: Shax The focus: $1.28 in loose coins from the couch cushions. Some dragon blood incense from the gas station. Chanting "Bring us enough to survive"

I have my ritual… now am I brave enough to see what could happen?

February 5 2022

I cast the ritual. The Beggar's Prayer was straightforward and the magic was simple. I could feel it swirling around me. I saw slivers of light form as I touched each card. It chanted for 5 minutes straight, trying to get my hands to pull the cards to finish the ritual. I was shaking… my breath caught in my throat. It felt like eternity as I grabbed the deck. The two cards I pulled powered my ritual and the 5C was blank for a moment. The room was still for a moment and my panic gave way to absolute quiet. And then sitting in front of me was a band of bills. $4000 dollars… enough to cover the cost of Edna's next month's rent on the Sage Cauldron plus enough to stock Kyle's fridge for a few weeks. It was exactly what I asked for.

The silence was broken as a dark winged shadow fluttered behind me. I spun around wildly but saw nothing. A deep rasping voice rang out, "that spell was beneath my abilities! Call on a lesser spirit for such paltry matters. I do not wish to be bothered if the limits of your ambition are so miniscule." The voice was ringing from every corner of the room, shaking the lights and rattling the walls. "You bound me to your service for four great tasks, four grand works. This was an inconvenience, a chore, a minor errand, not what I was summoned for. You have a divining tool in your hands. Use it! Ask how to easily gain money next time or bind a minor servitor demon into the deck for such menial jobs. If you call on me again for such trivial matters I will destroy whatever it is you're trying to save!"

Feb 5 2022

Edna was beside herself when I gave her the money. She wanted to know where I got it from. I paused, trying to think of something convincing. She wasn't going to believe that a demon brought it to me. I had to think quickly. "We raised the money at a garage sale at my uncle's house," I said unconvincingly. She frowned. We stood in silence for a while. I felt like such a heel. Here is a woman whom I trust and love more than anyone. She is more like a parent to me than those who birthed me, and I'm lying to her. I'm making her angry. But then she sighed. "Alright, Grant, you don't want to tell me the truth. At least tell me that no one got hurt." I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. "No one is hurt." "Is anyone in trouble?" "No," I said, not really believing it myself. I didn't know what this new power could do. I guess I needed to find out.