Gaelic/Welsh/Celtic folklore. I'm guessing the monk (KoC) could be Saint Patrick. The KoD could be King Arthur, but more than likely King Conchobar mac Nessa, or Math fab Mathonwy. The QoH is most likely Aoifé, the wind demoness. The QoS is probably Deirdre, daughter of Fedlimid mac Daill.
Swans are pretty prominent in Celtic folklore, but the JoH could be the Children of Lir. The QoD could be Morrigan, but given the prominence of stars, it is more than likely Arianrhod with her Silver Wheel.
The ten of hearts is just a ten of hearts.
Or I could be completely wrong. Except about the ten of hearts. Still pretty sure it's just a ten of hearts.
Edit: After think thing about it, I'm pretty certain the KoD is King Math fab Mathonwy and QoD is Arianrhod, given that it seems you went out of your way to ensure that King is depicted standing, and that it seems the suits are related characters and stories. The Diamonds seem to depict the story of Math and his testing of Arianrhod with... unfortunate results. Makes sense given that the Hearts depict the story of Lir, his children, and the evil stepmom Aoifé.
Further edit: Just noticed the scar on the KoD's forehead. My first instinct was right, it's mac Nessa. But, I am still certain on Arianrhod, Children of Lir, and Aoifé. The QoS has to be Deirdre, given that, other than Saint Patrick, she is the most prominent Irish folklore character today.
Coming back to this, once again. This is most certainly a Celtic folklore/mythology themed deck. However, most of these stories have also been syncretized (hey, I learned a new word) or created for the Irish-Catholic mythos, not unlike Santeria or Vodun.
Some changes were seamless, like Saint Patrick (duh). Some changes were made thematically; the story Lir, Aoifé, and the swan children went from themes of "nature" and "trust" to one of "faith in the divine". And some changes were pretty hamfisted, like King mac Nessa and Deidre, in which the story now ended with mac Nessa getting baptized by the blood of his exploding head (fun!), so that it was a better parallel to David and Bathsheba.
The only one that doesn't seem to fit that theme is Arianrhod, as she was part of a Pantheon, and those never seem to translate well into Catholicism. Unless the QoD is Morgan le Fay or Morrigan, but even then it fells like a stretch.
So, theme is either Celtic folklore/mythology, or possible a more specific theme of Celtic-Christian mythos.
Daisho wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:22 am
Gaelic/Welsh/Celtic folklore. I'm guessing the monk (KoC) could be Saint Patrick. The KoD could be King Arthur, but more than likely King Conchobar mac Nessa, or Math fab Mathonwy. The QoH is most likely Aoifé, the wind demoness. The QoS is probably Deirdre, daughter of Fedlimid mac Daill.
Swans are pretty prominent in Celtic folklore, but the JoH could be the Children of Lir. The QoD could be Morrigan, but given the prominence of stars, it is more than likely Arianrhod with her Silver Wheel.
The ten of hearts is just a ten of hearts.
Or I could be completely wrong. Except about the ten of hearts. Still pretty sure it's just a ten of hearts.
Edit: After think thing about it, I'm pretty certain the KoD is King Math fab Mathonwy and QoD is Arianrhod, given that it seems you went out of your way to ensure that King is depicted standing, and that it seems the suits are related characters and stories. The Diamonds seem to depict the story of Math and his testing of Arianrhod with... unfortunate results. Makes sense given that the Hearts depict the story of Lir, his children, and the evil stepmom Aoifé.
Further edit: Just noticed the scar on the KoD's forehead. My first instinct was right, it's mac Nessa. But, I am still certain on Arianrhod, Children of Lir, and Aoifé. The QoS has to be Deirdre, given that, other than Saint Patrick, she is the most prominent Irish folklore character today.
That's some very specific guesses! You a Celtic folkore buff? Pretty cool and I'll be looking up those stories.
This looks to be a passion project and I believe the passion translates well into the deck of playing cards. Even so I have a feeling you'll be doing it without much assistance from the US based backers though. Royal mail costs about half that for up to 2kg to the US and we know it.
Look closely at the last photo and you can see the textured surface of the cards.
Something to consider. Perhaps, in this case, a clickable link to a nice high res photo of an entire card for the visually challenged would be a welcome addition to your campaign. Helps those of us (there are a lot) who aren't as blessed as the rest the sight department.
I wish you the very best and I hope you have massive success with this campaign!
TL:DR It's completely up to you. We can still be friends. I actually like playing cards. We live in interesting times.
Fes wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:57 am Royal mail costs about half that for up to 2kg to the US and we know it.
Where are you getting these figures from?
Royal Mail have increased their prices twice this year so far.
It now costs £9.84 without tracking and £12.34 with tracking for a single deck to be shipped to the US.
I got this from right here on royalmail.com. Also last time I ordered from JP it was, what 7something. I had not been aware of further price hikes toward those astronomical numbers. This is very unfortunate to find out. It's just not an option for single deck at that shipping price, simply isn't. Maybe I'll ask a pal just outside london back your campaign for me. Then bulk ship some gear over all at once and make it a viable shipping fee.
TL:DR It's completely up to you. We can still be friends. I actually like playing cards. We live in interesting times.
We were so close to funding last time so it made sense to lower the funding goal slightly to (hopefully) ensure funding this time around.
We were also able to lower the pricing slightly, although shipping is still ridiculously expensive, but the early bird prices are a very good deal especially if we are able to unlock our new 2021 deck.
The deck(s) will be printed with Ivory Graphics in the UK who did the Time is Magic deck.
Whilst not quite cardistry material they are more than adequate for playing with.
Yes, Unfortunately shipping is stupidly expensive which is why we're allowing backers to combine orders from our website.
Combined shipping definitely helps as it isn't too much extra to add additional decks.
With regards to the New 2021 deck:
We will release images once the Lir campaign reaches its funding goal and it will be available through the campaign as a stretch goal.
All tiers have the option to split the decks 50/50 should the stretch goal be reached.
. I like your persistence. Make it happen 
