List of harrow cards

A harrow card is one of the 54 individual cards that make up a Harrow deck, used in a form of divination among Varisian fortune-tellers. Each card symbolizes a creature's six basic abilities, its moral and ethical stance, and the outlook of events past, present, and future. Although the basic symbolism of each cards is briefly summarized here, the cards have additional symbolism and meanings, especially when they are misaligned or in an opposite match.

Strength (hammer)

The Forge.

The Beating.

The Cyclone.

In the Harrow deck, strength is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented as a hammer. Strength represents a creature's muscular and physical power, and its ability to fight in melee combat. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes war, battle, and honor.

The Paladin

This is the lawful good card of strength. It represents standing resolutely against trouble, without backing down.

The Keep

This is the neutral good card of strength. It represents quiet, unshakeable strength that withstands any hardship.

The Big Sky

This is the chaotic good card of strength. It represents momentous change, as when all the slaves of a nation are emancipated.

The Forge

This is the lawful neutral card of strength. It represents strength through diversity, or strength from many sources united against a single trial.

The Bear

This is the neutral card of strength. It represents pure strength that cannot be truly tamed or trained.

The Uprising

This is the chaotic neutral card of strength. It represents overwhelming strength that catches the subject up in something much more powerful.

The Fiend

This is the lawful evil card of strength. It is a devil who devours the masses of the innocent, and can represent the deaths of many in a disaster.

The Beating

This is the neutral evil card of strength. It represents an assault from all quarters, or the mental dissolution of the self.

The Cyclone

This is the chaotic evil card of strength. It represents an unstoppable, destructive force unleashed through the plots of intelligent creatures.

Dexterity (key)

The Cricket.

The Rabbit Prince.

The Crows.

In the Harrow deck, dexterity is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented as a key. Dexterity represents a creature's agility, reflexes, balance, and skill with ranged weapons. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes trouble, children, and entertainment.

The Dance

This is the lawful good card of dexterity. It represents a complicated framework that requires the cooperation of all to avoid collapse.

The Cricket

This is the neutral good card of dexterity. It represents the grig, quick travel, and the reward at the end of a journey.

The Juggler

This is the chaotic good card of dexterity. It represents destiny, deities, and those who play with the fates of others.

The Locksmith

This is the lawful neutral card of dexterity. It represents the keys the subject needs to unlock his fate. The card grants the tools needed to unlock some new place, puzzle, or hoard.

The Peacock

This is the neutral card of dexterity. It represents a great beauty that can only be preserved if petrified and frozen in time for eternity, as by a cockatrice's glare.

The Rabbit Prince

This is the chaotic neutral card of dexterity. It represents the quirky vicissitudes of melee combat. The Rabbit Prince is the personification of the capriciousness of battle, and his broken sword indicates that defeat can come to anyone. The card sometimes represents younger members of royal or noble houses.

The Avalanche

This is the lawful evil card of dexterity. It represents disaster: an unthinking panic and destruction that overruns all.

The Crows

This is the neutral evil card of dexterity. It represents murder, theft, and the violent loss of that which is loved.

The Demon's Lantern

This is the chaotic evil card of dexterity. It represents an impossible situation of traps, mind tricks, and sleight of hand.

Constitution (shield)

In the Harrow deck, constitution is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented by a shield. Constitution represents a creature's health, stamina, and increased ability to survive injuries or disease. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes health, the home, and pain.

The Trumpet

This is the lawful good card of constitution. It represents an archon who dives aggressively and righteously into danger.

The Survivor

This is the neutral good card of constitution. It represents a creature that has managed to survive a terrible ordeal, when everyone thought him lost.

The Desert

This is the chaotic good card of constitution. It represents an environment too difficult for anyone to survive without help. The sphinx may represent a source of salvation from plague.

The Brass Dwarf

This is the lawful neutral card of constitution, showing an azer. It represents a creature invulnerable to a current threat.

The Teamster

This is the neutral card of constitution. It represents a external force that drives the subject on.

The Mountain Man

This is the chaotic neutral card of constitution. This giant represents an encounter with a physical power outside of the subject's control.

The Tangled Briar

This is the lawful evil card of constitution. It represents a historical thing or creature that will have some influence on the question.

The Sickness

This is the neutral evil card of constitution. It represents corruption, famine, plague, pestilence, and disease.

The Waxworks

This is the chaotic evil card of constitution. It represents a place of torture, imprisonment, helplessness, and paralysis.

Intelligence (tome or book)

The Hidden Truth.

In the Harrow deck, intelligence is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented by a book. Intelligence represents a creature's ability to learn and reason, and can indicate facility with languages or arcane magic. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes money, school, and literature.

The Hidden Truth

This is the lawful good card of intelligence. It represents the discovery of the greater truth within.

The Wanderer

This is the neutral good card of intelligence. It represents a centaur collector who appreciates things others discard as junk.

The Joke

This is the chaotic good card of intelligence. It represents a monster that can only be defeated through trickery, or the value of humor in circumventing difficult people.

The Inquisitor

This is the lawful neutral card of intelligence. It represents an immutable object that cannot be deceived or influenced.

The Trader

This is the neutral card of intelligence. It represents spies, merchants, and those who trade in information.

The Vision

This is the chaotic neutral card of intelligence. It represents esoteric and arcane knowledge, or madness.

The Rakshasa

This is the lawful evil card of intelligence. The rakshasa represents domination, mental control, and slavery.

The Fool

This is the neutral evil card of intelligence. It represents folly, greed, blackmail, bribery, or hubris.

The Snakebite

This is the chaotic evil card of intelligence. It represents poison, venom, assassination, and discord.

Wisdom (star)

The Queen Mother.

In the Harrow deck, wisdom is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented by a star. Wisdom represents a creature's willpower, common sense, awareness, intuition, and perception, and can indicate facility with divine magic. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes ancient history, morality, and the gods.

The Winged Serpent

This is the lawful good card of wisdom. It represents the coatl, the bridge of understanding between the towers of knowledge and judgement.

The Midwife

This is the neutral good card of wisdom. It represents the enabler or conduit of new creation, information, or arrivals.

The Publican

This is the chaotic good card of wisdom. It represents fellowship and refuge. The cyclops is a seemingly inconsequential figure who nonetheless has relevant insight.

The Queen Mother

This is the lawful neutral card of wisdom. This formian is the personification of knowledge, who is fond of the powerless, the underclass, and those who will show her obeisance.

The Owl

This is the neutral card of wisdom. It represents the harsh wisdom of the natural order. The owl holds a needle that can bind life together or pick it apart.

The Carnival

This is the chaotic neutral card of wisdom. It represents illusions and false dreams.

The Eclipse

This is the lawful evil card of wisdom. It represents loss of faith and purpose, and the subject's doubt about his abilities or prospects.

The Silent Hag

This is the neutral evil card of wisdom. It represents the insightful hag, a purveyor of blood pacts, treacherous secrets, and discord.

The Lost

This is the chaotic evil card of wisdom. The bodak represents the permanently insane, lost among lunatics and psychopaths in insane asylums. It is a card of emptiness.

Charisma (crown)

The Unicorn.

The Marriage.

In the Harrow deck, charisma is one of a creature's six basic abilities, represented by a crown. Charisma represents a creature's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance, and can indicate facility with spontaneously cast magic. In a harrowing, it more broadly symbolizes love, family, and politics.

The Empty Throne

This is the lawful good card of charisma. It represents those who are gone, or a ghost of the past that has taught important lessons.

The Theater

This is the neutral good card of charisma. It represents prophecy, with a true prophet acting a part as the puppet of the gods.

The Unicorn

This is the chaotic good card of charisma. It represents one who generously offers up that which is sought.

The Marriage

This is the lawful neutral card of charisma. It represents a union of peoples, ideas, or kingdoms that might be as productive or as ruinous as the bonding of a salamander and a water weird.

The Twin

This is the neutral card of charisma. The doppelganger represents duality of purpose or identity, or indecision and fence-sitting for the subject or the entire spread.

The Courtesan

This is the chaotic neutral card of charisma. It represents political intrigue and the superficiality of social niceties.

The Tyrant

This is the lawful evil card of charisma. It represents a ruler who harms those he rules.

The Betrayal

This is the neutral evil card of charisma. It represents selfishness and envy.

The Liar

This is the chaotic evil card of charisma. It represents destructive, treacherous love. The lamia signals obsession, star-crossed lovers, or unrequited desire.

Lost Harrow cards

Throughout the ages that the Harrow has existed, a number of cards have been discontinued or been lost. The best-known of these include The Great Dreamer, The Prince of Wolves, The Solstice, The Wending Way, and The Yellow Prophet.

• The Mute Hag was replaced by The Silent Hag.
• The Idiot was replaced by The Fool.
• The Foreign Trader was replaced by The Trader.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.