The Starved
The day wears on…
Trying to spare ourselves a climb, we cut through mountain tunnels. There, deep in the mount’s belly, we find ourselves passing through a vast complex of ruins — all that is left of some nameless subterranean kingdom, long lost. Now, only the elegant masonry of their stone-wrought city remains, snowy with the meal of long-decayed bones.
But… As we pass an ancient kitchen, we see a pale light within. Peering through the door, we see that a wasted man stands at the oven, wearing a chef’s apron. “Ah!” chuckles the chef. “But if it isn’t travellers, come to marvel at my people’s end. Long ago, this city was a bustling place. Then an earthquake closed our tunnels, and we were trapped. Strange, isn’t it, what men’ll do in a fix? First we ate the rats. Then we ate one other. And in the end, we starved to death.
“But see here…” He smiles a crooked smile. “Death snaps close at your heels, too. Let me cook you up a meal of your choosing — for it might well be your last!”
The Challenge
Tell the ghostly chef what foods you crave.
The Reader goes first by naming a food they wish to eat.
Moving clockwise, the next traveller names a food that begins with the final letter of the Reader’s chosen food. For example, if the Reader chose ‘tomato’, the next traveller might choose ‘okra’.
Play continues in this way, passing clockwise around the circle.
If a traveler takes more than three seconds to name a food, names something that is not widely considered edible, or repeats a meal that was already said, they are eliminated.
The game ends when only one traveller is left.
Success. If the game passes around the circle four times before ending, the Challenge was passed.
Failure. If all travellers are eliminated before going around the circle four times, the Challenge is failed.
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————If the Challenge was passed, the last traveller left standing wins the Blessing of the Starved.
If the Challenge was failed, the party suffers the Curse of the Starved. Take this spirit's card and place it in a designated area on the table so everyone can see it. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
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With a grin, the ghostly chef serves up our meals. Impossibly, the ingredients taste fresh and juicy — exactly the way we imagined them. We wipe our plates clean. But when we look up for seconds, the kitchen is empty, the ghostly chef gone.