The Emperor's Tarot

(Edit: If you found this post due to the Arks of Omen tarot, you might want to jump down the page, to the second half where I have added the cards from that series, by clicking here!)

My friend and regular gaming opponent Godfather Viktor went to the "Throne of Skulls: The Emperor’s Tarot" weekend event at Warhammer World, in early Feb 2017. I'm sure he will blog his experience of the event soon (spoiler: he had a great time!) but for now I want to share some images of the tarot cards that all participants were given to keep as part of the event.

The cards themselves feature John Blanche artwork and they are printed in a lovely matt-finish on pleasantly heavy card-stock. The 21 cards have no rules printed on them (just an illustration, a number and a name), but they came with a small "rule book" that described each card's in-game effects. They represent the "major arcana" of the Emperor's Tarot deck.

They are really beautiful, atmospheric, "artifacts" in their own right! They will be featuring in our Mancunius Dome games very soon!

Arks of Omen

Updated: 2023-03-17

Since this page is getting a lot of traffic again I thought I would update it to include the Arks of Omen Tarot cards. These are part of an ongoing series of atmospheric lore teaser videos for the Arks of Omen narrative that is the headline story of WH40K at the moment.

I will be adding more to this post soon, as I have thoughts about the lore, the art... and the apparent misunderstanding of how inversed cards work in tarot. I will also add the new cards when new videos are published.

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The art used on this deck is (mostly) astounding. I love the style and the atmosphere. My favourite is probably "III The Hulk" but it's not an easy choice.

I'm not really loving "IX Daemon" but I can forgive one misstep when the rest are just so good. They look even better in the videos, as the art is subtly animated in all of them. Check out the YouTube playlist on the link above!

I have transcribed the narration from the video for each card.

So, here are all the Arks of Omen tarot cards so far:

I Galaxy

[De Galaxis Profundi]

The Galaxy burns in the fire of ambition.

Another round of the great game begins.

II The Despoiler

[Hereticus Ultima]

Venom in his hearts and blood on his blades.

What new darkness does he bring?

III The Hulk

[Gargantua Perditum]

The Arks of Omen.

Monuments of iron and stone, and hate, and time.

IV The Silver Key

[Clavargentis]

Ah, the Silver Key.

New doorways.

New paths.

New possibilities.

V The Great Hoste

[De Infernum Legionis]

A blood-red tide of seeing blades, led by...

VI Hound

[Abominus]

A great beast.

Unliving but undying.

It claws at reality's gate.

VII The Shattered World

[Apocalyptus Est]

Devastation.

Annihilation.

The future reeks of cataclysm.

VIII God-Emperor (inversed)

[De Imperator Invertus]

The Imperium's end.

The fall of humanity's empire.

IX Daemon

[Malevolus]

The veil grows thin.

Malignancy bleeds through.

From one word into the next.

X Astartes

[Angelus Mortis]

And here stand the Angels of Death.

Blooded, but unbroken.

XI The Lightning Tower

[De Fulminatorum Colossi]

A great war.

Fire and wroth unleashed on sacred rock.

XII Daemon (inversed)

[Malevolus Invertus]

And yet Chaos is fickle.

Forever turning on itself.

XIII The Horde

[Beastiarius Magnefactor]

A horde descends.

Scarlet and crimson souls.

Blood drunk; blood maddened.

Flooding the galaxy.

XIV The Young Warrior

[De Bellicosa Novitius]

And a light gutters in the endless black.

It may scourge the red tide.

It may drown beneath its waves.

XV The Fool (Inversed)

[Ignorama Invertus]

Yet here, a change in spirit.

Form fury to serenity.

I cannot say.

I cannot yet see.

XVI The Tree of Life

[Vitalitus Asperium]

But hope blooms

In the garden of lost souls

And burning stars

XVII The Lost Child

[Purgator]

And here a fatherless son

Alone in the endless night

XVIII The Star

[Conjunctus Malascendum]

As wars rage

Beneath the gaze

Of a newborn star

XIX The Knight

[Palador]

He stands defiant 

His blade reflecting the light

Of a poisoned sky

XX Galaxy (Inversed)

[De Galaxis Profundi Invertus]

But everything will change

Reality bleeds

Destiny sickens

The galaxy grows dark