Deck of Dragons

The Deck of Dragons, sometimes referred to as the Fatid, was the dominant oracular system in the majority of the world, with the exception of the Lether continent which used its predecessor, the Tiles. The Deck was made up of a series of cards, depicting the various members of the pantheon. The deck accurately portrayed the pantheon, creating new cards as were necessary for new members. Each card represented a specific role within a House, however non-aligned cards (Ascendants without a House) did exist.

The Deck has a Master, Ganoes Paran, who can add cards and sanction new Houses.

During a reading, cards were dealt one at a time, with the resulting divination dependant on which cards came out. Different patterns could be used to lay down the Deck, e.g. in a spiral or in blocks, which could show what would be the focus of attention of the other cards laid down or in what way the local powers would oppose each other. The look of a card could change slightly of its own accord depending on the where the reading was performed, depicting how the world and pantheon were unfolding. For example, during the events of Gardens of the Moon, the card of Oponn would probably show the Twins no matter where the reading was performed. On Genabackis, the card would however also show a spinning Coin next to the Twins.

However, not only the attributes or background of a card could change, but also the focus point of a card. Most position in the Deck of Dragons are taken by only one person, usually an Ascendant. When this card shows up in a reading of the Deck, it refers to a person who is in the local area or theatre and is close the position portrayed. During one reading on Seven Cities, for example, the card of the Assassin of High House Shadow showed up, referring to Kalam as the local Assassin as opposed to Cotillion, the actual Assassin. 

Houses in the Deck of Dragons

• High House Life
• High House Death
• High House Light
• High House Dark
• High House Shadow
• High House Chains
• High House War
• Unaligned

Known Users

Though anyone may have picked up and used a Deck of Dragons, not everyone had the capability to utilize its predictive powers. The following were known users within the Malazan Book of the Fallen series:

• Tattersail
• Fiddler
• Tayschrenn
• Tiserra