The Butcher

The day wears on…

We press over hills of alpine woods, dipping and rising in an endless snaking path. As we crest one height, we look back to spy something moving in the trees behind us. As we stare in horror, we cannot believe our eyes. It is a leviathan serpent, fat and coiling, its head huge as a carriage.

The beast snakes towards us, eating up the hillsides with astonishing speed. Even as we turn to flee, it is upon us. For a moment, we are running. Then all is suddenly darkness, as the serpent’s jaws close over us.

There is the feeling of wetness, of momentary speed and suffocating closeness. Then all is still again. With horror, we realise that we are inside the belly of the serpent itself. But before we can truly panic —

A light, pale and ghostly, flares within the black. It is a butcher, her skin shining with a phantom glow, the apron of her trade still tied around her waist. She crouches beside us, the serpent’s innards spread pink above and below. “Good,” whispers the butcher. “More travellers to aid my escape attempt. Long ago, I tried to hunt this serpent, but was swallowed instead. Many years have I waited for help to escape. But now you are here…”

She draws something from her apron: blades, cleavers, knives. Handing them between us, she issues commands. “The serpent’s heart is just through that wall. If we can carve through, we will be free. Quickly!”

Heaving her cleaver, she chops her way into the snake’s flesh. At once, the glow from her skin fades. We are plunged into darkness.

The Challenge

We must race to cut our way blindly to the heart of this snake, or become a permanent fixture in its belly.

  • Shuffle the Butcher back into the deck. This card now represents the serpent’s heart.

  • Spread the cards of the deck facedown in the middle of the table so that none are touching.

  • Set a timer for thirty seconds.

  • All travellers close their eyes. With their eyes closed, travellers pick up cards from the table one at a time and gather them into a pile in front of them.

  • The aim is to find the Butcher’s card — although since travellers will not know where it is, the best strategy is to simply try and gather as many cards at possible. Players may not pre-discuss a strategy.

  • If two travellers’ hands touch, they accidentally cut one another with their cleavers. Both travellers are eliminated and must call out: “I’ve butchered it!” Eliminated travellers may open their eyes, though they can no longer participate in the game.

  • The game is over when all travellers are eliminated or when the timer runs out.

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If any traveller carries a KNIFE and is eliminated, they may re-enter the game once by saying: “I’ll take another stab!”

Success. If, when the timer runs out, any traveller (including eliminated travellers) holds the Butcher’s card in their pile, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If all travellers are eliminated or no traveller holds the Butcher’s card in their pile when the timer runs out, the Challenge is failed.

————
⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖
————

If the Challenge was passed, the traveller who holds the Butcher earns that card as a Blessing.

If the Challenge was failed, the party fails to find the snake’s heart and gains the Curse of the Butcher. Place the Butcher’s card in the designated Curse area of the table so everyone can see it. If this is the party’s third Curse, click here.

————
⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖ ⧖
————

As we hack blindly and desperately through the creature’s innards, a great shudder runs through the beast’s body. We are thrown bodily from our handholds as, in mass of bile, the serpent vomits us onto the hillside.

Crying out with relief, we pull ourselves free of the acidic mass. The serpent, hissing, coils away over the hills. We do not think of the butcher, still trapped in its belly, until dusk is already falling.

  • Re-form the deck before continuing.