The Stones
The day wears on…
A light drizzle follows us through the day, muddying our path and clinging to our boots. We are just passing a misty pond, when something skips across the water and lands at our feet. It is a perfect skipping stone.
Confused, we peer across the pool to the far bank. There is no one there — but the stone has given us an idea. Grinning, we play a game of skipping stones.
The Challenge
To represent our attempt to skip your stone the furthest, the party competes in a word game.
Starting with the Reader and moving clockwise, travellers take turns speaking random words aloud. Each word must be one syllable longer than the last.
For example, the Reader might say, “Stone.” The next traveller might say, “Yellow.” Then the next might say, “Vacillate.” And so on.
If a traveller says a word that does not exist, a word derived from a previously said word (e.g. stone/stoney) or takes longer than five seconds to answer, they are eliminated. When a traveller is eliminated, restart the game from a single syllable, from the eliminated traveller’s left.
The game ends when only one traveller remains in play.
HELP FROM AN ITEM
If any traveller carries a HAMMER, they may skip their turn ONCE by saying ‘Skip!’
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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.
Success. If gameplay reaches a five-syllable word, the Challenge is passed.
Failure. If no five-syllable word is ever spoken aloud, the Challenge is failed.
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————If the Challenge is passed, the last traveller standing wins the Blessing of the Stones.
If the Challenge is failed, all travellers suffer the Curse of the Stones. Place the Stones’ card in a designated area reserved for Curses. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
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————Finishing our game, we linger a moment to rearrange our packs. For a second, it seems that the stones on the far bank form a smiling face. But it is only a trick of the eye; there is, and remains, nobody there.