The Triplets

We point at the beribboned girl. As the boy in the flat cap snorts disparagingly, the girl glows with approval. Hopping effortlessly down from the tree, she sticks her nose in the air and surveys us.

“Your friends...” she ponders. “What kind of people are they? I wonder, do those people think of you as a friend?


The Challenge

The beribboned girl challenges the travellers to prove they are true friends via a game of familiarity.

  • The Reader turns away from the table, closes their eyes and extends their right hand into the air in front of them.

  • Silently, all other travellers get up from the table and line up behind the Reader in random order. Each traveller shakes the Reader hand three times slowly.

  • When all travellers have shaken the Reader’s hand, the Reader — without opening their eyes — must guess who shook their hand in what order. The other travellers must not reveal whether any guesses are correct until the Reader has completed listing the order.

  • It is in the travellers’ interest to fool the Reader partially but not completely. Travellers, be wise: remove jewellery, randomise your order, and keep quiet to fool the Reader.

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If the Reader carries a LANTERN, they may check the correctness of one of their guesses (“Did Violet shake my hand second?”) and receive a truthful Yes/No answer before finalising their complete list of guesses.


Success. If the Reader gets half or more of the travellers’ order right, the Challenge is passed.

Failure. If the Reader gets half or more of the travellers’ order wrong, the Challenge is failed. 

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If the Challenge is passed and all of the guesses were correct, the Reader wins the Bargain of the Triplets. If not, the other travellers shuffle their character cards and have the Reader draw one at random; that traveller wins the Bargain of the Triplets.

HELP FROM AN ITEM

If a non-Reader player carries a LANTERN and the Reader fails to earn the Triplets’ Bargain, they may claim it automatically.

If the Challenge is failed, the party suffers the Curse of the Triplets. If this is the party's third Curse, click here.

  • 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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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 suddenly 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. The children are gone.