Y: Yarborough & yestertempest

Yestertempest (noun): immediately preceding the last tempest

Yarborough (noun) hand of cards containing no card above nine

In my research into the Free City of Jubylon, there have been a couple mentions of a supposedly magical ritual or card game called ”Yestertempest Yarborough”, which was rumoured to have the ability to predict or cause storms. I will therefore include this entry as a potential suggestion to it’s origin.

“We had just finished up the meeting and were sitting around enjoying the last few cakes and drinking what was left of the herbal tea. Most people had hurried home due to warnings of an upcoming storm, but the four of us had stayed along. No worries or hurries for a Friend of the Fiery Foundation after all.
Jessica, Giles, the lovely Lucien and myself. We began playing cards, where one hand took the other. It was simple and quiet fun in good company. We talked about the last storm before this one and how it had coincided with the Dancing Rebecca.

The storm picked up and so we quickly decided to stay the night in the old theatre. Jessica found a couch long enough for her and Giles improvised a place to sleep out of the pillows, leaving a tantalizing warm bed for Lucien and myself (though it could have been cleaner, the company and cuddles were excellent). But before we went to bed, we went out into the weather! Lucien had found four heavy cloaks in dark scarlet red, which perfect matches the yellow and orange leaves outside and our masks. We went out and saw the city almost disappear beneath the rain, the wind and the dark. The moon was gibbous and bathed the city in a beautiful light (though I mostly focused on Lucien’s laughter and smile). We finally got to the harbour, where the red, orange and yellow show continued. I had only heard of the Dancing Rebecca, but we saw it that night! I was not really scared, but I saw an opportunity and used it to slip into Lucien’s arms (which he later thanked me for).

In the early hours of the morning, we sat around and invented a card game, “Yestertempest Yarborough”, only to be played after a tempest and where winning depended on not having a card with a value over nine. As I left the following morning, Giles made a private joke to me that the next time we played it would be after mine and Lucien’s wedding. He proved out to be not corrected, but not entirely wrong either. As it happened, we played it again after our twin daughters’ baptisms, when a massive tempest was rolling past (I am not sure if the fact that they were conceived on scarlet sheets played a part or not). Our fence didn’t survive it, but we certainly had a grand time. One day, Lucien and I might actually get around to enjoy a full night’s sleep in our company.