The Groom

The day wears on…

We make good time through a meadow of twisting flowers, stopping only briefly to drink from a nearby stream. As we sip, one of us spies something glimmering from the stoney bed. It is a wedding band.

We fish out the humble ring, wondering at its value. But even as we lift it from the ground, the stones beneath seem to hum in strange harmony. They sing in voices high and silvered: "Long ago, a groom came to this Wood to meet his bride. They sought to elope together. He stopped at this stream to wash his face, and the bride’s ring tumbled from his pocket. He searched and searched, but the ring was nowhere to be found. Ashamed, he remained here, searching — and thus, the marriage never was."

We inspect the ring and discover an engraving. "For my beloved," it reads, but the name of the bride-to-be is long-eroded. Perhaps if we can learn her name, we can conjure her spirit to our cause.

Otherwise, continue below.

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The Challenge

This wedding ring was intended for someone. But what was her name?

  • Clockwise starting with the Reader, travellers take it in turns to guess the name of the bride in alphabetical order.

  • The Reader begins by saying a name beginning with ‘A’. The next traveller says a name beginning with ‘B’, and so on through the entire alphabet.

  • If any traveller takes more than five seconds to say a name, or says a name beginning with the wrong letter, they are eliminated. The game continues even if there is only one traveller left.

  • The game ends when the final traveller is eliminated, or when the travellers reach the end of the alphabet. You may use a visual list of the alphabet to help you.

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If any traveller carries a RING, they may skip a turn of their choice by calling: “I do!”

Success. If the party reaches the end of the alphabet before all travellers are eliminated, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If all travellers are eliminated before reaching the end of the alphabet, the Challenge is failed. 

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If the Challenge is passed, the last traveller still in the game receives the Blessing of the Groom. If more than one traveller remains in the game, the one who most recently attended a wedding wins.

If the Challenge is failed, all travellers suffer the Curse of the Groom. 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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Respectful of the ring’s provenance, we return it to the stream whence it came. The stones whisper back at us: “Yes… That was her name… It began with a Z…”

Turning our backs, we walk on.