Meet the cast: 14 medieval characters with very modern problems

Every card in Crown Shuffle is a person. There are fourteen roles, four copies of each, ranked from 1 to 14. Andris Strazdīts drew every one of them, and each has a proper medieval job plus one thing that doesn't quite belong in the year 1300.

Here's the whole ladder, bottom to top.

The bottom of the kingdom

1. The Beggar. Rich in life lessons, poor in life choices. Went broke investing in “non-functional taverns” but kept the latte habit.
2. The Farmer. Harvesting likes, followers, and occasionally potatoes.
3. The Grave Digger. Grave by day, rave by night. Card number 3, emotionally a solid 11.
4. The Baker. Burns bread till she burns out. About to leave for a better job, for five years now.

The busy middle

5. The Smuggler. Imports, exports, no reports.
6. The Tailor. Threading needles, spreading rumors.
7. The Scribe. Seven autobiographies, zero readers.
8. The Bard. Still waiting to go viral… any century now.
9. The Innkeeper. She'll lend an ear, but you're paying for the beer.
10. The Merchant. Knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

The upper crust

11. The Knight. Trains hard. Fights rarely. Flexes always.
12. The Tax Collector. Taking your gold and your joy.
13. The Priest. The most humble man in town, somehow also the richest.
14. The Royal Advisor. Knows all the secrets. Came up with half of them.

And above all of them: the Crown

Two wild cards that beat everything, even the Royal Advisor. Use wisely. Or stupidly. Works either way.

---

Every character has a full backstory on their own page. Start with the Tax Collector, who has smiled exactly once in his life.