How long have we waited in this place? It is hard to tell. From all sides, the Wood grows closer, darker, the air thick with whispers we cannot understand. There is someone here with us, but when we try to renounce Him, we find that we no longer know His name. We know not our own names — not who we are, nor what we seek in this darkness. We are nothing. We are His.
We are all His.
There is a shadow — then a flash — then a terror, spreading like a stain. There is a darkness deeper than thought or dread.
Then, at last, there is nothing at all.
Our commiserations, travellers. The Elder Wood is perilous and you have paid the ultimate price. You have all perished.
Somewhere, however, you are not forgotten. The news of the Wood’s latest victims travels far and wide. And certain people are more interested to hear of them than others…
Clockwise from the Reader, each traveller takes it in turns to describe someone who remembers their character in the outer world beyond the Wood. Give as much detail as you want; it’s your world! Think about:
Who is that person? How did they know your traveller?
How do they hear of your traveller’s demise?
How does your traveller’s death affect this person? Do they mourn your traveller? Or are they glad to see them gone?
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————Finally, though your souls have been claimed, your stories need not end here, for your spirits live on in the very fabric of the Wood. You have the option — should you wish — to make your characters into Elder Cards, ensuring that their ghosts haunt future games of ELDER. Perhaps, since you are a group, you might even choose to make a single card between you.
Thank you so much for playing ELDER! Please send us your feedback below. Otherwise, take a moment to reflect on the terrible luck you just experienced around this table. Then remind yourselves that this is just a stupid, forest-themed choose-your-own-adventure game. There! Doesn’t that feel better?
The ELDER team