The Fortune (2 Flamerule, DR 1372)

During the boat ride from Deepcut to Daggerfalls, along a tributary that leads north to the Tesh with short hills to the West and forest to the East, the party encounter a Fortune Teller on a gaudily-colored boat. She tells a prophesy, recorded below.

“The board of the game has, so, been set:”

“The Sage sleeps in his tower, deep.”

“The return’d-Lord prattles in his keep.”

“A black suit of armor, itself encases.”

“A black gauntlet, a black gauntlet braces.”

“A red-satin sheet caress’d the surface.”

“Where it touches, it cracks like an egg.”

“And so it is White Skull weeps and begs.”

“Pale clouds roil o’ermountain West.”

“A crown of lightning wreathes its crest.”

“The board of the game is thus set.”

“And on the tips of a six-point crown the board rests.”

“Six becomes eight.”

“And eight becomes six.”

“Six becomes eight.”

“And eight becomes six.”

“Six becomes eight.”

“And eight becomes six.”

Everyone knows the principal Gods of Toril, Faerun. Fewer know their machinations.

The black hand and black gauntlet are well-known images of the deposed god, Bane, Lord of Darkness, and who was known to have been slain in the Time of Troubles in DR 1358. The White Skull is the symbol of Cyric, Prince of Lies, and whose portfolio of remits (murder, lies, strife) overlaps in many ways with the erstwhile dark virtues of Bane (tyranny, ambition, control).