9
$\begingroup$

Once, when I was a boy, I went to the Carnival. The man at the {wheel of fortune} said, "Come here, boy, I'll tell you a story. Shuffle these cards."

And I did. When I was done, he began telling me his story, flipping over the cards in order from the shuffled deck at opportune moments.


"Once," he began, "there was a {king Cups} who barely escaped {death}. He traveled far and wide, seeking {judgment}. He met many on a similar path, including {The fool} and a blind man {2Swords}, as well as {The Emperor}, {The Empress}, and the {The Queen of Cups}.
As you might have guessed, The king and Queen eventually became {lovers}.

They traveled together and eventually met {the high priestess} who showed them all {Strength} and the value of {temperance}."


The man collected the cards and had me shuffle them once more.


"Far away, there was a tortured soul we'll refer to as {Hanged man}. He met someone who we'll call {Magician} who set him free and made him his personal aide; his agent of perverted {upside down Justice}. The magician exerted his diabolical influence to force {emperor} and {empress} to turn on their friends and come to him, killing the blind man {2Swords} in the process.
He then showed his true self to be {Devil} and betrayed and killed the emperor. He had been only using him in order to free the empress so that they could be {lovers}.
Hanged Man engaged his own version of {Fool} to bring absolute power to his insidious {tower}, but this only brought the wrath of {Ace of swords}, resulting in divine {Judgment} and saving {the world}."


I thought about this for a minute, then said, "Pretty neat trick, mister, but I know who you are, and I've read this story before!"


Who was the Wheel of Fortune Man?
What story had I read?


Hint:

The Wheel of Fortune Man hails from Maine.





These Tarot cards were drawn by illustrator Pamela Colman Smith, and published by the Rider Company.

$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ (Has the Hanged Man been revealed twice after the shuffle?) $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Aug 18, 2018 at 17:28
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @MOehm Never trust a Carny. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 18, 2018 at 17:31
  • $\begingroup$ any hints for this puzzle? $\endgroup$
    – 1848
    Aug 19, 2018 at 19:40
  • $\begingroup$ @1848 Hints (if still needed) tomorrow. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 19, 2018 at 21:37

3 Answers 3

5
+100
$\begingroup$

Could the Wheel of Fortune Man be

Stephen King?

And could the story be

The Stand?

I'd like to very much thank @PerpetualJ for the suggestion in the comments, below. If you liked this answer, please upvote her answer as well!!

Explanation:

The King of Cups is Stu Redman, who barely escaped death when a man exposed to the Plague crashes his car into the gas station where Stu works, exposing his coworkers to a deadly disease. Stu also avoids the government's attempts to assassinate him and goes on the run. The Blind Man is Nick Andros, who is actually deaf-mute. The Fool could be Tom Cullen, who is a kind-hearted simpleton. The Emperor is Harold Lauder, the Empress is Nadine Cross, and the Queen of Cups is Fran Goldsmith, who later becomes Stu's love interest. They eventually met Mother Abagail, the High Priestess, who did indeed show them strength and temperance. The Hanged Man could be Lloyd Henreid, who was tempted by the Magician, Randall Flagg; Randall made Lloyd his henchman. Randall then used his influence to make Harold and Nadine turn on their friends and detonate a bomb, killing Nick Andros in the process. Randall was then shown to be the chief antagonist, and he sabotaged Harold's motorcycle so that he would die in the desert. Nadine travels back to Las Vegas so that she and Randall could be lovers. Lloyd, the Hanged Man, used his own version of the Fool (not the one from before), this one being The Trashcan Man, Donald Elbert to bring a nuclear warhead back to Flagg's headquarters in Las Vegas; but the warhead was detonated by the Ace of Swords ("hand of God"), destroying the city and most of everything inside it (this is the divine judgment).

$\endgroup$
15
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You're right about the W.O.F. man, but I had a different story in mind. If you can convince me that the major characters and plot points of one of your guesses fits this story well, though, I'll mark this as correct eventually. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 20, 2018 at 20:47
  • $\begingroup$ @Chowzen how does this look? I know it's a bit of a stretch, but take a look at the link....if your story fits closer than my explanation and the synopsis provided, I'll keep searching! $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Aug 21, 2018 at 13:56
  • $\begingroup$ I haven't read this, but are you saying that the Empress could be Tyler, a young boy? Hmmm... Also, my "blind man" is literally blind, FWIW. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 21, 2018 at 17:25
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Yeah, that was my hmm moment too, @Chowzen. Henry Leyden, the blind man in this story, is also literally blind... $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Aug 21, 2018 at 17:41
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @PerpetualJ Nick refers to himself as I did multiple times in the book, and who has seen the movie and doesn't remember this fondly? $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 21, 2018 at 21:05
3
$\begingroup$

This is a partial answer; and thanks to El-Guest, we know that:

The Wheel of Fortune Man is none other than the great, Stephen King.

As far as the story you have read; I would like to begin my guess with:

The Dark Tower Series.

This is an educated guess in which:

to bring absolute power to his insidious tower card which this entire series is based around (loosely).

However, to add to the magic of this riddle:

In The Dark Tower Series: The Gunslinger, Roland has his fate read by Walter from a deck of tarot cards; in which the sailor, the prisoner, the lady of shadows, death, and the Tower itself are revealed.

$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Great answer! I think mine is a subset of yours :D great minds think alike! $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Aug 21, 2018 at 17:46
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I don't think its a subset, but it is closely related via Randall Flagg and the Crimson King. These two are notorious in the W.O.F. man's stories; also the articles about them are interesting as well. I knew about Flagg being in 4 books, but to find there are 9 total thus far!? WOWZERS!! $\endgroup$ Aug 21, 2018 at 19:55
0
$\begingroup$

Who was the Wheel of Fortune Man?

The narrator of the Princess Bride, The Grandfather AKA Peter Falk

What story had I read?

The Princess Bride

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Miracle Max the Wizard: "Turns out your friend here is only mostly blind." $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 18, 2018 at 23:16

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.