For many days we have pressed — through Thicket, through Mire, through Gorge. Now we come to the most perilous part of our journey.

Turning our backs to the mountains, we descend into forest thicker and darker than all that came before. The canopy closes, becoming so dense that we walk in a perpetual darkness. The air grows heavier, the trees more ancient; the very leaves whisper of magic, and memory, and death.

We have reached the Heart of the Wood. We think back on the many spirits we have encountered on this journey. Perhaps they will protect us from their Lord’s rage. Perhaps they will not.

  • All travellers reveal their Character Card.

In return for safe passage through His domain, the Lord of the Wood demands one of the party’s lives — perhaps more — as payment. Travellers who have earned the Blessings of spirits can claim their protection, but nobody is completely safe.

Converting Bargains to Blessings. If any traveller at the table holds a Bargain, discuss now whether they have observed its restrictions faithfully. These decisions may be somewhat ambiguous, in which case it is up to the party to figure out what they will and won’t allow.

  • So long as a traveller has not directly contravened a Bargain, the spirit is pleased. The Bargain becomes a Blessing, and the spirit will speak on your behalf.

  • If a traveller has directly disobeyed their Bargain’s rules, the relevant spirit is displeased. The traveller must discard the Bargain.

If it is difficult to reach a consensus, call a simultaneous vote from all the travellers. Ties are decided by the Reader.

Chapter V Bargains.

  • If any traveller holds the Raven’s Bargain, that rule should be observed and resolved now with the Bargains above.

  • If any travellers hold the Bargain of the Triplets, the Sovereign, the Moon, the Assassin or the Mystic, they may also convert these cards to Blessings now. However, the Bargain rules will continue to have an effect, as the next section will reveal.

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It is time to face the Lord of the Wood.

  • As in Chapter I, each traveller individually scans their Character Card.

  • Select ‘Chapter V’.

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