The Triplets
We point to the hooded child. As the girl stamps her foot angrily, the hooded child simply nods. Drifting down from the tree, they conjure an abacus from thin air.
“The right thing...” sighs the hooded child cryptically, “what is it? I wonder.. if you do the right thing... does it makes... everybody... happy?”
The Challenge
The hooded child challenges the travellers to a game of arithmetic.
Shuffle the deck. Divide it into three facedown piles of equal size. Place them in the middle.
Nominate three travellers to be ‘Turners’ for each deck.
Set a timer for one minute and thirty seconds.
Simultaneously, the three Turners each reveal the top cards of each pile of cards. All travellers compete to add the number values of the three face-up cards together as quickly as possible.
The first traveller to shout the correct sum takes all three cards into their hand.
If a traveller shouts an incorrect answer, they must add one of their won cards to the pile of the traveller to their left.
The Turners then turn over the next three cards, and play continues.
The game ends when the timer runs out, or when there are no cards left in one of the stacks.
HELP FROM AN ITEM
If any traveller carries a QUILL, they may automatically claim one round of three cards by shouting: “Quick maths!”
Success. If the stacks are fully depleted before the timer runs out, the Challenge is passed.
Failure. If none of the stacks are fully depleted before the timer runs out, the Challenge is failed.
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————If the Challenge is passed, the traveller who holds the most cards in their hand wins the Bargain of the Triplets. In the event of a tie, the eldest player wins.
If the Challenge is failed, the party suffers the Curse of the Triplets. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.
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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.
Suddenly, as if in response to a distant sound, the children’s gaze whips across the bog.
The girl tuts loudly. “Oh bother! Daddy’s seen that we snuck out. Let them go, before he comes and reaps their souls — or there will be no more games for any of us!”
The three children leap into the air. The colours of the Mire grow brighter — deeper — blurred. A fog descends, a cacophony of colour and —
We are standing on an island in the endless marsh. The world has returned to normal, and the children are gone.
Re-form the deck before continuing.