The Courier
The day wears on…
We rise and fall with the hillsides, following an ancient road between the trees. Passing an ancient signpost, its lettering long rotted smooth, we see that something is laid in the dirt beneath it. It is an oddly-shaped parcel wrapped in brown parchment, strangely untouched by age. Even stranger is that the parcel is addressed to us — all of us, by name.
Wary of the parcel’s contents, we attempt to divine what it is.
The Challenge
Be the first to identify the parcel before you open it!
Give each traveller a small piece of paper. Then all travellers except the Reader close their eyes.
While the others sit with their eyes closed, the Reader secretly chooses an object from somewhere in the room.
Working clockwise around the party, the Reader hands the object to each traveller for twenty seconds. The traveller feeling the object must not speak, only feel the object with their hands. It is in the Reader’s interest to choose an object that is not immediately recognisable, but also not totally obscure.
Once every traveller has had twenty seconds to feel the object, the Reader replaces the object exactly where they found it.
Each traveller writes on their piece of paper what they believe the object to be. Then, simultaneously, the travellers reveal their guesses.
HELP FROM AN ITEM
If any traveller carries a LETTER, they may have two guesses. If the Reader carries a letter, they may choose to repeat the Challenge once they discover the consequences in the next section.
Success. If any traveller guesses correctly, the Challenge is passed.
Failure. If no traveller guesses correctly, the Challenge is failed.
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————If the Challenge is passed, results vary depending on the outcome:
If only one traveller guessed correctly, the Reader guarded and delivered their parcel well. The Reader wins the Blessing of the Courier.
If more than one traveller, but not all travellers, guessed correctly, the first traveller clockwise from the Reader to guess correctly receives the Blessing of the Courier.
If all travellers guessed correctly, the Reader guarded their parcel poorly. The party receives the Curse of the Courier. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
If the Challenge is failed, the party suffers the Curse of the Courier. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
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Blessings and Bargains symbolise the support of a spirit of the Elder Wood. Both offer protection against death for the traveller who wins them.
Blessings: When a spirit is pleased, it might grant its special protection to a particular traveller. Spirits who have bestowed a member of the party with their Blessing travel invisibly with them and will help to protect them when they reach the Heart of the Wood.
Travellers who win a Blessing should place the Blessing behind their Character Card so that the spirit's name and number are still visible.
Bargains: Sometimes, instead of granting its Blessing to a traveller, a spirit might instead offer a conditional protection called a Bargain. Bargains symbolise a trade between spirit and traveller; the spirit protects the traveller, but its influence affects the traveller's behaviour. The traveller must obey the Bargain rules written on the spirit's card so long as they possess the Bargain. In return, the spirit will convert its Bargain to a Blessing in the Heart of the Wood, thus helping the traveller survive.
Travellers who win a Bargain should place the Bargain card face-up to one side of their Character Card, so that they can read the card's Bargain rules.
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When a spirit is displeased by the party, it will lay its Curse upon them. Curses have dire consequences. The more Curses a party gathers, the more lives will be claimed in the Heart of the Wood. Furthermore, if a party incurs three Curses, the Wood's spirits will reject them and they will be forced to flee for their lives, ending the game.
When you incur a Curse, place it in a designated area of the table so that all travellers are aware of it.
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————Losing patience, we tear the parchment from the package. Within is a box, inside which we find an ordinary letter. The black ink on the letter’s face declares a simple address: “To the Queen…” But though we try to tear it open, it resists all attempts.
GAIN AN ITEM
The party receives the LETTER TO THE QUEEN.
Bring the object that the Reader chose back to the table. This object now represents a LETTER TO THE QUEEN.
The party jointly holds the LETTER TO THE QUEEN as an Item.
The letter to the Queen cannot be traded or discarded.
Maybe it will come in handy. Maybe it won’t.
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