The Fool

The day wears on…

Mere minutes after breaking camp, a strange, high laughter drifts towards us among the trees. The cackling is both human and bestial: to some, it sounds like the gibbering whine of a wounded hound; to others, it resembles the grate of a weathercock as it swings before the wind. Try as we might, we cannot divine the source. It is as if the very trees are mocking us.

After what feels like hours, the dissonant snickers coalesce into what seems to be a single word. But each of us seems to hear a different sound. To pass the time, we pass rhymes between one another in an attempt to discover its meaning.


The Challenge

This is a rhyming game. The dissonant voices whispered a single word to us, but we were unable to hear it in full. All we can do now is try to work out what the spirit’s message might be.

  • The Reader begins the round by speaking a single word aloud.

  • In clockwise order, each traveller must then say a word that rhymes with the last spoken word.

  • If any traveller takes more than five seconds to speak, they are eliminated.

  • When only one traveller remains, the game ends.

For example, the first traveller might say: “Fox.” The next traveller might then say “box”, the next “smallpox”, and so on.

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If any traveller carries DICE, they may pass one turn by saying: “Hee hee!”

Success. If the travellers list at least as many words as there are travellers before the game ends, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If the travellers list fewer words than there are travellers before the game ends, then the Challenge is failed. 

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If the Challenge is passed, the last traveller standing wins the Blessing of the Fool.

If the Challenge is failed, all travellers suffer the Curse of the Fool. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.

  • 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.

  • 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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It is not until dusk that the giggling sound finally begins to fade. As the last shaft of sunlight flees through the trees, the Wood falls silent.