The Barkeep
The day wears on…
We are passing through a rare hard bit of ground when a small, crystal-clear current cuts through the mosses before us. On the stream’s banks, we see a barrel-chested man washing flagons in the spring. When he speaks, his voice sounds somehow distant, as if heard through a fog or over a great distance. "Please, have a drink! It's on the house."
He motions to the clear stream at our feet. After schlepping through rotten swamps all day with not a drop of water, our parched throats cannot resist the man’s invitation. Grabbing flagons, we scoop the lucent waters into our throats.
The hiccups are the first sign that we have been fooled. Then comes the giggling, then the stumbling. This stream is no water, but a spirit of some potent variety. Before we know it, we are drunk.
“Come!” says the barkeep. “Let us play a game!” Intoxicated as we are, we cannot resist his demand.
The Challenge
The Barkeep wants you to play the famous drinking game ‘Ring of Shadows’.
Fan the cards from the deck face down on the table so that they form a circle with no gaps.
Clockwise starting with the Reader, travellers take it in turns to pull a card from the circle of cards without breaking the circle.
Each card in the deck corresponds to a specific action that the whole group must perform (detailed below). The traveller slowest to perform the action is the loser, and has to take the card that was pulled. This ‘loss card’ will count against them at the end of the game.
As soon as the circle of cards is broken, the game ends.
The cards’ corresponding actions are as follows:
1 (None) — Discard this card; no one gets it.
2 (Dew) — Everyone sticks their tongue out ‘to catch the dew’. The last traveller to do so loses.
3 (Tree) — Everyone stands up straight. The last traveller to do so loses.
4 (Boar) — Everyone pushes their nose up and snorts. The last traveller to do so loses.
5 (Hive) — Everyone slaps a bee off the back of their hand. The last traveller to do so loses.
6 (Sticks) — Everybody shouts "STONES." The last traveller to do so loses.
7 (Heaven) — Everyone looks up to the heavens. The last traveller to do so loses.
8 (Fate) — Everyone makes an X with their arms over their chest. The last traveller to do so loses.
9 (Vine) — Everyone interlocks their fingers. The last traveller to do so loses.
10 (Wren) — Everyone chirps like a wren. The last traveller to do so loses.
11 (A Question) — Everyone raises one hand as if to ask a question. The last traveller to do so loses.
12 (Delve) — Everyone mimes digging with a shovel. The last traveller to do so loses.
13 (Screams) — Everyone yells, "THIRTEEN." The last traveller to do so loses.
Success. If the travellers pull at least ten cards before the circle is broken, they pass the Challenge.
Failure. If the travellers pull fewer than ten cards before the circle is broken, the party fails the Challenge.
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————HELP FROM AN ITEM
If any traveller carries a FLASK, they may now discard two of their loss cards.
If the Challenge is passed, the traveller with the fewest cards (i.e. who lost the fewest rounds, after the flask rule is applied) receives the Blessing of the Barkeep. If there is a tie, the eldest traveller wins.
If the Challenge is failed, they earn the Curse of the Barkeep. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
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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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————Queasy with drink, we at last lie down beside the stream’s banks. When we awake, the sky is darkening. The stream — and its barkeep — are gone.
Re-form the deck before continuing.