Last night, you dreamed there was a hole in your room.
It went straight through your carpet, deep into the soil. The earth was warm—it radiated warmth—and to look into it felt like nestling into a pile of fresh laundry, or new mulch. You were almost sure there were angels at the bottom, flapping around in the blue. There was one in particular who sounded like your mom, hand bell choir voice resounding phonic ophanim. It was almost her, but her body was like the sky. (Dreams are pretty weird sometimes, huh?)
Anyway! You are a kid! You're in elementary school, it's summer break, and your skin is hotcold with sunburn and freckled with bug bites. There are strands of grass stuck to your bare feet, and your tongue is stained purple with popsicle. You live in a house, which is in a neighborhood.
You're not sure why you feel the need to specify that, but you guess it never hurts to remember the big things. Sometimes you get too busy thinking about onion grass and sidewalk chalk to remember that you're on a big rock going very fast around the sun and that you're made of quarks and molecules and things. (Quarks are those tiny particles atoms are made of, as you know.)
Anyway, you had plans today.
Big, definitive plans.
You've been day-dreaming about the culvert lately. Outside the rubble of the abandoned factory near our house, there is a staircase that leads down to the stream, where a wide culvert is built into the riverbank.
You would always go down there with the other kids in the community, but you were never able to get in deeper than a few yards before someone screamed, the sound pouncing on you from the deep, and you all scrambled out, breathless and giggling into the cool water. But you always wondered what was down there. A black void in your mental map of the neighborhood. Lately, you can't get it out of your head. So, today, you're going to explore it, all by yourself.
You put on your ama's blue sweater (which is too big, even on her) and your bright yellow backpack with the hip strap. You look around the house. A proper spelunker needs good equipment.
What will you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk!]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A paper crane necklace!]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower!]]
(set: $name to "Willow")
The voices and the clanking of metal shoes grows louder. Rounding the bend, lit by the glow of a golden lantern, you can see two people. The one talking is a man whose head is a cloud. He wears a suit of bright gold armor, and it reflects the light of his lantern.
His companion is wearing robes that look like a carpet and has a dimly-glowing street lamp where his head should be. They're pretty funny-looking.
As they clank down the corridor, the cloud man is saying, "—agenda is not going to accomplish anything! We need to take action into our own hands. If we've learned anything, that starts with securing the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal]. It should be defended, not hidden."(if: $kasjhfkjdh is "yeeeego")[
There's something strange about his voice, the way it resonates. It's clear he's not speaking English, but you understand him perfectly.
]"They've never made clear their intentions fully clear," says his companion. "We oughtn't jump—"
"There's no jumping involved! Their blasted 'intent' is fully clear to anyone with the brain of so much as witless imp rat whelp. And don't speak to me of 'oughtn't's! You sound like the Madrigal with 'oughtn't.' The surfacers have no respect for—" They see you standing in the middle of the hallway looking confused and scared. "Who do we have here?"
"Oh you're so small!" The lantern-headed person says. "What's your name?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Me?"->Me?]]The voices and the clanking of metal shoes grows louder. Rounding the bend, lit by the glow of a golden lantern, you can see two people. The one talking is a man made out of clouds wearing a suit of bright gold armor reflecting the light of his lantern. The other is wearing robes that look like a carpet and has a dimly-glowing street lamp where his head should be. You think they're pretty funny-looking.
The cloud man is speaking: "—is not going to accomplish anything! We need to take action into our own hands. If we've learned anything, that starts with securing the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal]. It should be defended, not hidden."
"They've never made clear their intent fully clear, we oughtn't jump—"
"There's no jumping involved! Their blasted 'intent' is fully clear to anyone with the brain of so much as witless imp rat whelp. And don't speak to me of 'oughtn't's! You sound like the Madrigal with 'oughtn't.' The surfacers have no respect for life, and if we intend to survive, then we need to change our sapless tactics and be the ones to strike first!"
There's something strange about their voices, the way they resonate. It's clear they're not speaking English, but you understand them perfectly.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Keep listening.]]You dig around in your pockets for something expendable to hurl across the room. It's your old beanie baby: Slippers "Shoes" Slippers.
You hate to do it, but you have no other choice. You look Slippers straight in the eye. "Cadet, your sacrifice will never be forgotten," you whisper.
She soars about ten feet from the statue and lands across the hall with a squeak. The cloud man and the lantern man look down the hall, then back at the bird statue.
(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[Your infallible plan has failed!]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Run for it.]]"What was that?" says the cloud-man.
"Probably nothing," says the lantern person.
"Is there really nothing I can say to convince you that this is a palpable threat? They've covered every continent, they've blasted open mountains and filled the groundwater with poison. Their buried waste is responsible for the Fulcrum itself! As soon as they find out there's more real estate down here they're coming to get it. And now we finally have the power to at least—*at least*—send a warning."
They begin walking down the quiet corridor again, past the arches facing out into the courtyard. Click, clack, click, go the cloud man's armored boots.
The lantern-headed person sighs and looks at the cloud man. "I—I don't know. Starting with violence will only doom us quicker. You only have to look at a hundred years of their history to see that. We may have tens of thousands of years between us, like angels, but I still believe that they're capable of being reasoned with. We're not *too* dissimilar. Just like you and me."
They round the corner, and you cannot hear the cloud-man's response.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Walk around.]](set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))"$name. Oh that's a lovely name," says the lantern-headed person.
"Sounds made-up," says the cloud-headed man. "Like a spy name."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Um. Okay."]]
Quicker than you can say "quiet coyote," the cloud man grabs you by the back of your shirt and holds you up like a kitten that got in the yogurt.
"Luma, it seems we have a rat."
"Oh don't be rude. Look at how little she is. She must have gotten in by accident."
"He's too intelligent-looking. Look at his eyes. This must be what their spies look like. Perhaps . . . their advance infantry?" He holds you up and you stare directly into his golden-grey eyes.
There's all sorts of glittering medals and ribbons pinned on to the cloud man's armor.
"She—he can't possibly—. Cirrus! Put them down. They're shaking."
"Absolutely not. This is a prime example of the demonstrable threat of the imminent human invasion."
"They're clearly a child, Cirrus."
"You can’t know that for sure. I’ll be putting them in the library until we can show the council."
"That's really not necessary. Child, what should we call you?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Me?"->Me?]]"Protecting your own is what it's called. You and the Council just need to realize the degree of the threat we're facing."
Luma says nothing.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay."->Questions]]"It's really only a demarchy in name these days," says Luma. "We've fallen back on a more representative . . . well—It's still much better than it used to be, that's for sure! There are other factions here, of course, but we constitute one of the largest and most diverse. Our interests tend to represent those of the larger G.S.E."
You have no idea what any of that meant.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Ji-uh-see?"]]"That's enough questions out of you," says Cirrus. "Honestly, for a spy, you seem very poorly informed, but—you will be excellent proof of the surfacer's militarization."
He picks you up by the back of the shirt and carries you like a kitten down a short flight of stairs. You descend deeper into the building and the light grows brighter and warmer until you reach an enclosed little library. He tosses you inside.
"Be gentle, Cirrus!" Luma says.
"We have a council meeting to convene." He closes and locks the door, then turns and marches back up the stairs.
"You'll be safe here, little one, don't worry," Luma says, "We'll be back soon." He reluctantly follows Cirrus up the stairs and the light from the window fades black.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]
(set: $library to "yes")"The . . . Grand Subterranean Empire—or the 'Giesie'—if you're feeling vernacular. Not really much of an empire anymore, hasn't been for, oh . . . about a hundred years."
The cloud man scoffs. "Because no one has been strong enough to re-unite it around a common cause until now."
"I will never understand how quick you are to forget the tyranny of the Chorus of Progression."
"Don't get your oil boiling, Lumina—I just mean that if the Assembly ruled this place we wouldn't leave the Backwaters lousy with moon spiders and marauders."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay . . ." ->Questions]]"So, um," begins the lantern-headed person, "I'm Luma, but, $name, you should know, now probably isn't the best time for you to be down here. We are currently ahm . . . well? Deliberating. There is a great deal of internal strife around here: suspicion, in-fighting, and how would you say it," here they give a pointed look to their friend, "warmongering? Cirrus?"
Cirrus shrugs. "Call it what you will. I call it defending the Demarchy. It's the right move to be on the offensive with surface folk."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Warmongering?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's a demarchy?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's surface-folk?"]]"Surface folk are people like you," Luma says. "People who, a long time ago, chose to leave the Subterranean Assembly. I still like to believe that we're all still one people, even if some of us have forgotten that."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay . . ." you say.->Questions]]"This place seems very big and I am beginning to feel scared and lost! Do you know anything? I feel like there's a depth to the world that I can't fathom and that it just keeps going down and that the earth is hollow and full of life! I want to hold someone's hand!"
That's not exactly what you say, but it doesn't matter. You call out across the gap and your voice is swallowed by the water.
She throws something across the gulf to you. It lands at your feet. A compass. The needle points toward her. You pick it up. (set: $compass to "yes")
Her eyes shine as she turns and disappears into the shadow.
You work your way across the wooden bridge, carefully, probing for rotted boards. The passage on the other end is made of stone blocks. There are empty torch slots on the walls.
You look at the passage the girl vanished into. Then you turn and melt back into your passage, becoming a ghost yourself.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Press on.]]"You seem important and I love you in a way that I can't express! Even though we've never met I don't want to lose you in the same way that I don't want to lose anyone I've ever loved!"
That's not exactly what you say, but it doesn't matter. You call out across the gap, but your voice is swallowed by the water.
She mouths something and chucks something across the gulf to you. It lands at your feet. A compass. The needle points toward her. You pick it up. (set: $compass to "yes")
Her eyes shine as she turns and disappears into the shadow.
You work your way across the wooden bridge, carefully, probing for rotted boards. The passage on the other end is made of stone blocks. There are empty torch slots on the walls.
You look at the passage the girl with the striped sweater vanished into. Then you turn and melt back into your passage, becoming a ghost yourself.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Press on.]]The library is small and dark and warm, lit by candles. There is one door and one window. The window provides a view over a small garden glowing with luminous mushrooms, little blue flowers, and tall bushes many stories beneath you. Way off in the distance, you can see a massive white bridge stretching off into cavernous darkness. It spans a dark, coursing river.
The books here are big old things, almost too big for you to hold. There's two lying open on the table. There are several boxes here too, covered with a light layer of dust. There's one box that's not so dusty.
The candles flicker.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Pry open a box.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Read the book on the table.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Check out the shelves.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Open not-so-dusty box.]]
You pull out a book with a solid, black cover and open to a random page.
It reads, ". . . most important conclusion to be drawn is that there is no self among the aggregates. Indeed, mind and body function perfectly without a doer of deeds and a thinker of thoughts. What we call the person is simply a process, a chain of causes and effects, driven by the engine of karma. To perceive a self amid this process, to posit an owner whose possessions extend to the mind and the body and then out into the world, driven by desire and protected by hatred, is simply to forge more links in the chain of rebirth. To put an end to suffering, it is necessary to perceive an absence, to see that the self that seems so real was never there in the first place."^^2^^(mouseover-replace: "2")[ (D. S. Lopez: //The Story of Buddhism.// p. 26.)]
There's something strange about the books on the far shelf. They seem unorganized: there are three books of wildly different subjects: //Toadstool Management//, //The Redacted Histories of Failed Pre-Empress II Revolutions//, and //Trash Collection and Reuse: It's Exactly What You Think!// Books should be organized by subject; something is clearly wrong here.
From left to right, the books are (text-colour:navy)[blue], then (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], then (text-colour:red)[red].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take the yellow book and put it at the beginning.->(1) Put the yellow book at the beginning.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take the red book and put it at the beginning.->(1) Put the red book at the beginning.]]
The book order is now: (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:red)[red].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the red book at the beginning.->(2) Put the red book at the beginning.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the blue book at the beginning.->(2) Put the blue book at the beginning.]]
The book order is now: (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the blue book at the beginning.->2Put the blue book at the beginning.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the yellow book at the beginning.->2Put the yellow book at the beginning.]]
The book order is (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:navy)[blue]. You hear a faint click. The books set in place. You feel like they'd sing a little song if they knew how.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Push on the bookshelf, like how they do in movies where there's a secret room behind the bookshelf.]]The book order is now: (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:red)[red]. You hear a subtle click and the books won't move anymore. You get the feeling you messed with them too much.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]The book order is now: (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the red book at the beginning.->3Put the red book at the beginning.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the yellow book at the beginning.->3Put the yellow book at the beginning.]]
The book order is now: (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:navy)[blue].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the red book at the beginning.->(3) Put the red book at the beginning.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Put the blue book at the beginning.->(3) Put the blue book at the beginning.]]
The book order is now: (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow]. You hear a subtle click and the books won't move anymore. You get the feeling you messed with them too much.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]The book order is now: (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:red)[red]. You hear a subtle click and the books won't move anymore. You get the feeling you messed with them too much.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]The book order is (text-colour:red)[red], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:navy)[blue]. You hear a faint click.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Push on the bookshelf, like how they do in movies where there's a secret room behind the bookshelf.]]The book order is now: (text-colour:navy)[blue], (text-colour:yellow)[yellow], (text-colour:red)[red]. You hear a subtle click and the books won't move anymore. You get the feeling you messed with them too much.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]You push on the bookshelf, like how they do in movies where there's a secret room behind the bookshelf.
Your little heart fills with joy as it reveals a staircase descending into the lantern-lit depths, spiraling down, slick with darkness.
Although . . . Cirrus and Luma *did* tell you to stay here. And they did seem nice . . . or at least Luma did.
On the other hand: Secret Passage.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stay in the library. At the very least, it's safe.->Take a little nap.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Secret passage!->Stairs zenith]]
(set: $nappy to "time")Deeper.
It just keeps going (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[deeper.] Fighting the course of it would be fighting something ancient. Bigger than just gravity. A (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[katabasis]. It feels good to go deeper. It fulfills the part of you that just wants to keep going without looking back. Even when the cave walls are getting too narrow to breathe in, you keep finding cracks. There is always a way forward.
(if: $compass is "yes")[The compass changes direction with you as you loop down, down, down the stairs. It's pointing straight, just in the direction of the steps. ]The stairs end at a small wooden door, just large enough for someone your size to fit through. (if: $breathofthenadir is "yes")[You hesitate here for a second, remembering the parcel that the Madrigal gave you.
You unwrap it. Hidden behind the paper, attached to a thin chain, is a bright blue gemstone. You've never seen anything so blue. Down here, even attached to an amulet like this, is that last place you'd expect to find something so . . . sky-colored.
You stare at it for a moment, and then figure you should hurry along before people start looking for you. ](else:)[You push it open.
]On the other side of the door, the thundering of water fills the space at full blast. You feel the spray of cool water on your face and in your hair. You realize your eyes were itchy from dust as the dust is washed away. You rub your eyes.
You are at the base of a massive, white stone bridge, the one you saw from out the library window. There are bright lights far above. The scattered remainder filters down to where you stand, at the edge of the river. Other than the falls thundering to your right, it's calm and deep.
The ground here is featureless except for some shrub grass like the kind you've seen at the beach, some leafy plants, a lot of moss.
There is a small raft bobbing on the other side of the river.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Cross the river.]]You take off your backpack and shoes and swim across, just managing to keep them above the water. You wonder if this counts as a bath.
You set your stuff down on the other side. Apart from the initial shock of cold, the water is kind of nice. You stand up in it.
Fish nibble at your feet. They're like koi, big and orange, but they phosphoresce (which, just like luminesce, means "glowy," though from Greek "Phosphoros").
There's something glinting at the bottom of the river. You can't quite make it out in the fish-light, but you dive for it, pinching the silt at the bottom of the river with your eyes screwed shut. When you come back up, you're holding a small golden chain, like one that you would make a necklace out of. You float in the water there, examining it, turning it in your hands.
One of the links is broken, and the chain dangles in a long, pendulating line. Each of the links has a letter, almost invisible.
"Signal 22. DL HL. Ptr's Unn Rep: Ardent Joy," you sound out, awkwardly. You wonder what that means. It must belong to someone. Or must //have// belonged to someone, long ago.
You dry off and put it in your pocket. Maybe you can find who it belongs to further down.(set: $chain to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Dry off and set sail.->Take the raft.]]You didn't expect her to hear you through everything, but the sound carries over the roar,
"A friend!" she yells.
And she's gone.
The pounding water echoes in the dark.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you drift on.->Drift on.]]You didn't expect her to hear you through everything, but the sound carries over the roar.
"Different directions!" she yells.
You start to say "I mean, I can see that, but—" but, she's gone.
The pounding water echoes in the dark.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you drift on.->Drift on.]]A few more minutes of floating, and the passage opens up to a massive cavern glowing with purple lichen. There is a city ahead, a city built on top of itself reaching up to the roof of the cavern. Part of it is carved into the rock itself, houses are made from wood, stone, rope, and rubble. You don't know anything about building codes, but this is for sure not up to any of them.
The docks in the inlet creak with every shallow lap of river water. A hollow drip, drop.
There, on the pier, back against a post, foot dangling in the water, is a little, marble-grey goblinoid. He notices you staring, and he smiles. You look away, embarrassed.
The goblin's about your height, with dull, slate-grey skin and a flat cap with holes for his big, big ears cut into it. There's a jar to his left filled with pink, glowing beetles. You think he's . . . chewing on one of them?
He hauls a groaning net from the water, stirring up the silt like a slow, grey sandstorm. The net is filled entirely with trash, which delights the goblin, spilling out the contents in the middle of the pier, careful that none of the rubbish spills back into the water.
"Hello . . . ?" you say. Your raft drifts up and strikes the dockside.
He tips his hat, revealing a dull white moth that you mistake for hair.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the city.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask him about himself.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Inspect the trash.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the girl.]]
(if: $nappy is "time")[They did say for you to wait here for them after all . . . You suppose it wouldn't hurt to lay your head down for minute. Besides, Luma seems nice. You trust that things will be okay.
]You capitulate (you surrender) to the awesome power of the nap and lay your head down in the softest looking book that you can find.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Dream.]]"Could you tell me where—" you begin.
"As the Open Hands. Like an arm in a bonehouse." His voice is gravelly and slow. "Long way'm home, aide'a?. What's . . ."
He stands up and starts fixing your little raft to the dock with a bit of rope.
"Hhp." He sits back down. "You, you. Pipe turnacates, truncates. An' ol bone get rust'if: Swap of—No—of Trick—No . . ." He pauses and mutters to himself. He looks at you and says. "Aeh . . . The Ground? The Water?"
"The ground and the water," you repeat. Your eyes flick over to his very visually interesting jar of beetles.
"No. The Ground. The *Water*," he says. "That's who's machine-heavy ground is in. The ground so heavy with light the Ground is water. And Water—" He takes his pointer finger and plants it violently in his palm, "—Seat."
"Okay . . ." you say.
"No. No. Sight—Stight-Heat," he says, and points a finger at your nose. "In her wordhouse—hoard. Deeper you go, deeper, deeper you go."
"The deeper I go?" you say.
"Deeper you go," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask him about himself.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Inspect the trash.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the girl.]]"Did you see a girl come through here?"
"Gone down already. Oh. Yes." His voice is gravelly and slow and nearly unintelligible. He looks at a beetle drawing on his hand. "Two bells. Already gone up in the town in gone up in smoke in patient in for ferment. Gone down. Fixin things. Looks . . ." He looks up to the river, which cuts through the city, then looks to the city, which falls up and up above him, roof by roof. He doesn't say anything else, perhaps lost in thought.
"Did you see which way she—?" you ask.
"That buys time. That buys . . ." he digs around in the pile of trash. He tosses a piece of rusted metal, an old shoe, some moldy plastic film, and some kind of huge, corroded battery up onto the land, but he doesn't find what he's looking for.
"Are you collecting trash?" you ask.
"Oh what's right. Haha. Like that's Hrunting. But your's is an old string? She's here, here's too. Too, too, too," he sings. "That's should be's. Might be. You know her. Gotta catch up and feed that wolf. Charm that have. Feed that wolf. Know her? The wolf?"
You're not really sure what he's talking about. "I've seen her before."
"Have. Have have."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the city.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask him about himself.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Inspect the trash.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow where he pointed.]]"It's nice to meet you," you say. "I'm-"
"That's $name. Gypsum's Eye"
"You're named Gypsum's Eye?"
"Mm. Hyh, could say." His voice is almost unintelligible.
"How'd you know my name?" you ask.
"That's that's trembles in yur Hive yours. Get upt'n. Somethin."
"What?"
"Like that(if: $pocket is "paper cranes")[ cranes you'll got](if: $pocket is "flower")[ flower your carry](if: $chalk is "yes")[ colors you'll have]. And what compass. Keep on."
"Keep on?"
"Keep in. Keep that. Keep to and following. Ferrowing. The deeper you go the deeper is. You'll circle back what the Wasps but down and down. And stray from the Fulcrum. Wherever she does. Stay from that is. Deepest you go, where the body."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"It's no such thing."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the city.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Inspect the trash.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the girl.]]You walk over across the rickety dock down to the section of sidewalk where the dock-keeper pointed. There's a hallway here that slopes down between the houses, like those hallways they have in big sports arenas. You follow it down, feeling the wind that roars up through it.(set: $goblindocks to "no sir")
At the base of the cracked steps there's a cleft in the wall. Deep, deep below the cleft, houses and big public buildings and streets all tangle together for blocks and blocks, making the far away buildings look tiny like toy houses. There's a building with marble pillars, a little lake where the river pools, a marketplace, and a grassy oval that must be a park. The houses you passed through were just a tiny bit of the whole place—and if this is only part of the Giesie then this place must be very big indeed.
You can see people moving around down there too: Goblins, like the dock-keeper, people with clouds and plants and tea pots for heads, sheep on their hind legs, devils, and people made of fire or air or shadows. All of them look the size of mice from where you are. Not to mention the people who *are* mice, who are even smaller.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stay still and observe.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go down and explore.]]
You fly down a set of wooden stairs stabbed into the side of the rock. The outskirts of the city are dark, but drawing closer, the streets slowly fill with noise and light and motion. People look twice at you, but not more than that. A ball bounces out into the street and comes to rest at your feet. There are some other kids, mice-folk, a little younger than you, peaking their heads around the corner. "Kick it!" they shout. You send it back to them, a little off the mark, but they cheer and gesture for you to come play with them.
You run over, but, before you reach their corner, the four of them go 'eep!' and disappear behind the wall. The street has suddenly gone deathly silent, except for one sound. A horrible, oscillating buzz. It nestles in your head like an insect trying to wriggle its way into your brain through your ears.
There are three giant wasps at the end of the market street. Vendors and mothers with children stare at the wasp soldiers with a kind of weary disdain. But they stay well out of the insects' path.
One of the wasps, a soldier, looks at you curiously as they pass, her compound eyes shining in the unnatural light.
She bends down. Three times your height, her head, half the size of your body.
"Curious," she says. "She didn't say there were more of you down here . . ." Her mouth-parts freak you out. "Should I kill you now? Or should I deliver your paralyzed body to her in person . . ."
"Antiphony!" shouts the foremost wasp. "Let's get moving."
The wasp scoffs and leans away from you, her and her disturbing mouth parts, and flies back to her superior. You can hear them whispering indistinctly. Her superior looks you up and down, but then turns and briskly flies away with her subordinates.
And, like that, the buzzing recedes, and life slowly comes back to the marketplace.
"Wow!" shouts one of the mice kids. "You scared them away!"
"Well," you say, "I don't know about that . . ."
"You're good at kickball, do you play Oneiros? It's a card game."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How do you play?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'd better keep moving . . ."]]You dangle your legs over the edge and watch the masses of people going about their days. You sit there for a few minutes. The busiest area is the market square. You don't see any humans, but it's hard to tell.
You look around the dust-covered alcove. There are corroded I-beams and bundles of rebar here in the stone—mechanical tools, unlaid train tracks. Among the bits are scattered and broken crates, although a number of them are unopened.
You hear muffled voices coming down the path, and instinctually you duck behind the crates.
"That's just it, why young folk understand better than us, the care for objects. There ain't a factory anymore makin cheap fishin rods. Gotta glue it together, or solder, fix it, somehow."
"Calca gum," says another voice.
"Yeah, that's it."
Climbing down through the path between the houses are three figures dressed in waders and patchy shirts, carrying fishing rods and buckets. The one who was talking is a large humanoid toad with a straw hat. His companions are similar: a bat-person, and a person with the head of a mushroom.
They walk past you down the stairs, their buckets swinging like lanterns.
The bat-person responds, "That's the thing though—how welln faith can our kids unlearn what was so well ingrained in us? You wanna know somethin . . ." her voice trails off as they leave the alcove.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Open a crate.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow them down.]]You wave good-bye to the mice kids, and you keep walking.
You're at the edge of the park, now. There is a rumbling sound from beneath. You stop and look around. You hear a door slam.
The rumbling sound comes again, this time from beneath the park, and, smashing upward, showering the area in rubble, is an enormous, black wolf. The whole surface of its body is covered with wide, lipless mouths, which resemble open wounds. Its patchy skin is grafted with pieces of sharp metal and crystal, and connected to some of the unbroken beams is a golden palanquin (like a carried chariot). Its mouth opens, as if to bark, but your head fills with a sound too loud to hear, a thousand church bells clattering all at once down the stairs. It looks like it's in pain.
And then you do see another human, there's that girl from earlier, with a little spear pointed at the wolf. She's circling it and it is circling her. She has a knowing grin on her face.(set: $hand to "not squid")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Ow."]](if: $charmed is "yes")[The girl is up close, dodging the wolf's paw-swipes and bites. She seems to be holding her own, but the wolf is very fast and sharp. It fights like it's cornered.](else:)[You watch, face down on the ground, holding your ears as the girl dodges the wolf's paw swipes and bites. She seems to be holding her own, but the wolf is very fast and sharp. It fights like it's cornered.]
Still holding your ears, you shout, "Hey! Over here!"
The wolf shifts its attention, but the girl yells even louder, and the wolf swings its head back towards her.
"It's too dangerous for you! I've got this!" she yells.
She rushes up to the wolf, swinging her spear. It comes down to bite her, but she jumps on its snout and runs along its spine. The wolf tries to snap at her but it can't reach.
Before she can attack, the wolf leaps, shaking its whole body, and flings her off. She lands in a stand full of oranges, which breaks on the impact.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Act decisively.]]"I'm $name," you say.
"Thank you! You have a nice name too. Where are you from?" She says.
"I came from up above," you say. "We live right next to the big willow tree. I followed the stream down the culvert, I didn't think there'd be so much stuff down here."
"Ahuh! So you really are from the surface! You're the first other human I've met down here! Do you have a quest? I'm on a quest to protect a very important fort from being taken over by Wasps. A quest is a very important job someone gives you that involves an adventure. Do you have a quest?"
You think for a moment. "No? I guess I'm just exploring."
"Nice! Exploring is good," she says. "Hey, since you don't have one, do you want to help me with mine?"
Your cheeks get a little hot. "You want my help?"
"Yeah why not!" she says. "I mean—you're clearly very brave."
"What was that thing?" you ask, gesturing to the giant hole in the ground where the wolf disappeared.
"The people around here call them Churches. They're a pretty new monster apparently. Some weird experiment left over from the old Empire. I've seen a handful of them, but usually they don't come into the cities. When they do they leave quite a mess," she says.
"A really big mess. Why a 'church'?" You look around at the scattered greenery and bricks and torn banners. People are beginning to come back out into the open, assessing the damage.
"No idea. People down here have places to worship that aren't big wolves. But they call those places 'sanctuaries.'" She kicks a few scattered pieces of wood off the cobblestone.
"Why do you think it showed up?" you ask.
"It depends. This one burrowed up so suddenly that probably someone rung a bell. Probably to use the chaos as a distraction for whatever they were trying to do. But that's not our problem."
"Why would that make a wolf come? A church."
"Well . . . it's kind of like magic. There are special objects that resonate in weird ways throughout the whole Giesie. The Oracle explained it to me, but I don't remember really."
"That sounds like magic," you say.
"Pretty much!" says Maybe. "It's very cool. Watch this—" She pulls out a tiny noise maker, a wooden one with a rigid back, shaped like a frog. She runs a stick along its back and it makes a noise like ribbiting.
You wait for a moment, stopping in the middle of the city street.
"I don't hear anything," you say.
"Look," she points.
By your feet, hopping up to you are a handful of little creatures—strange-looking frogs with tiny rusty pipes arching out of their backs. One of them ribbits. Maybe reaches out and one of them hops up in her hand.
"The tool doesn't sound exactly like a Spandrel, so it doesn't summon that many. Same goes for other things. That's all because it's core-touched, which means someone enchanted it."
"That's so cool," you say. "Wait, so, you really want me to come with you on your quest?"
"Of course!" she says.(set: $frogshownone to "yes") "We should get going right away though, we only have a few hours until the Wasps attack."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow Maybe.]]
You need to help. Before you really know what's happening, you're standing in front of the wolf(if: $hand is "squid")[ holding out the fried squid you just got from the market. It seems curious. He forgets about the girl in the striped sweater, who's now struggling to her feet in the pile of oranges, and stomps over curiously to you. He sniffs the squid, then sits down. You toss the squid up in the air and he catches it.
"Good boy!" You say.
He rolls over, panting. His tail thwacking against the ground sounds like bells too.
The girl shakes off some orange peels, and comes over to you. "Wow you made it roll over," she says.
"I guess so!" you say.
"I had it under control, but theoretically, possibly, thank you for . . . saving my life."
"No problem! It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," she drops her spear and shakes your hand. "I'm Maybe," she says.](else:)[ waving your arms to get its attention. Maybe this wasn't the most well-thought out plan you've ever had.
The wolf forgets about the girl, who's struggling to her feet, and stomps over curiously to you. It sniffs you for a second, curiously, and you think //hmm maybe he's just a big friendly guy who needs someone to play with//, and then you think //oh goodness!// as he tries to bite down on you with a mouth bigger than your itty-bitty body.
(if: $charmed is "yes")[As its jaw shatters the stone around you, there is a violent pulse from the star locket that Eno threw to you. You hardly see it—your eyes are closed—but a flash of blinding blue, like the sky in a well. There is the gong-like sound of an impact from the crystal wolf as it is repelled, staggering.
]From across the park, you hear a crazed war-cry as the girl comes running at the creature. She swings at the wolf's crystalline nose with the base of her spear, as if it were the pommel of a sword (pommel is of course a French word related to pummel, which means "to pound," but here means "sword handle" which is irrelevant, because the girl is wielding a spear) and the giant creature cries like a siren. Before you can say "spaghettios" three times fast, the wolf has disappeared in a shower of dirt and brick.
You're left lying on the ground wondering just what happened. The girl comes over and offers a hand. You accept it, and she pulls you up.
"Hey, I told you it was dangerous. Nice to meet you, I'm Maybe."](set: $notwet to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's a nice name," you say.]]You're at the edge of the park, which is dark and mostly grass with some bushes and trees.
There is a rumbling sound from beneath you, and a massive, oily black wolf-creature with purple crystals jutting out of his back at odd angles smashes up from below. He towers over the small buildings, maybe five times your height. His mouth opens, as if to bark, but your head fills with a sound too loud to hear.
And then you do see another human, there's that stripey-sweatered girl from earlier, with a little spear pointed at the wolf. She's circling it and it is circling her.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Ow."]]You go up to the stand. The cook, a man made of coal and fire, says, "Oh, aren't you a cute little thing!" and gives you one of the smaller squids, which is still very large in your hands. You bite into it. It's not better than macaroni, because nothing is better than macaroni, but it's really good!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Still nibbling on the squid, you make your way to the park.->Make your way to the park.]]
(set: $hand to "squid")You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->2 right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->2 left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->(2) right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->(2) left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->(3) right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->(3) left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->3 right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->3 left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->(4) right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->(4) left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/3/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/3/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->\3\ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->\3\ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->5 right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->5 left]]
You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->A clearing]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->(5) left]]You arrive at a clearing in the hedge maze. There are a series of golden, interlocking hexagonal reflecting pools, separating you from the giant stone lion on the other end. The palace looms a little closer. There's a tree here too, off to the side.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go over the lion's mane.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's eye.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's mouth.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up the tree.->climb the tree]]
(set: $energy to 1)
You weave through the hedge maze. There's a little mouse dressed like a wizard here.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yeah we're lost.]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]Incredibly disoriented, you find yourselves back at the entrance to the hedge maze, scratching your heads in bewilderment.
I guess there's only one thing to do.
(if: $origin is "moderately enjoy mazes!")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You unfold the paper.->easy]]](if: $origin is "freaking hate mazes also, so . . ." )[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You unfold the paper.->easy]]](if: $origin is "am good at mazes!")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You unfold the paper.->easy]]](if: $origin is "do the Atlantic crossword every single day in pen.")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[From the top.->hard]]]
(if: $energy is 0)["Okay, screw this," Maybe says. "The tower's that way, right? Let's just go for it."
"What do you mean by go for it?" you say.
With a yell Maybe runs headlong into one of the hedges, swinging her weapon wildly. Suddenly, there is a triangular hole in the bush, and another and another, like a cartoon character who got thrown through a building.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow the trail of devastation.]]]
(set:$dmg to (1), $energy to it-$dmg)
You weave through the hedge maze.
Talk about far right!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yeah we're lost.]]You weave through the hedge maze.
You're really sure you're not in the right place, but you do see a toad with a top hat sitting on a log. You wonder why there is a log in the hedge maze.
Talk about far left!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yeah we're lost.]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->/4/ right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->/4/ left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->5 right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->5 left]]You weave through the hedge maze.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right->5 right]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left->5 left]]You come to a room made entirely of lapis lazuli supported only by long pillars, and by its apparent connection to one of the main palace towers. It is an entirely enclosed, stately dining room. Parts of the room are thin enough to let in light, but the entire world beyond the blue stone appears hazy and dream-like.
There is a very long dining table here, set with every kind of eating utensil you could imagine, bowls, plates, and candelabras, but otherwise empty.
"Do you think anyone ever uses this?" asks Maybe.
"I'm not sure," you ponder. "It's not dusty, but maybe they have some sort of magic duster."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear that?"]]"I'm pretty sure that wasn't it? But your memory is better than mine," says Maybe.
"I thought I saw a cool bird," you say.
Up in the tree there is a cool bird, sitting on its eggs. The bird is a canary made of colored glass.
"Yeah it's pretty cool."
"I wanna see," says Maybe.
"Come up here!"
As Maybe is climbing, you look over the hedges to a blue patch on the palace. A set of blue stairs . At the top of them is a room made entirely out of blue stone, built on stilts above the rest of the labyrinth, sort of connected to the side of the palace near an old, untended sign that says "nursery."
"Yeah that's a pretty cool bird," Maybe says.
The sunstone on the cavern roof gives the whole area the warmth of the afternoon sun. It must be around early evening at this point, but there's no sign of that here.
You are unable to get the tune '*Maybe and $name sitting in a tree . . . *' out of your head.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go over the lion's mane.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's eye.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's mouth.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take some sap.->take some sap]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze2]]Stepping through the lion's mouth brings you down a steep flight of stairs to a red stone room shaped like the inside of a lion. The floor is red and gold hexagonal tiling, there is a hexagonal table and a stool, but the room is empty other than that.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Turn back.->A clearing]]Scratching your head, you appear back in the clearing with the tree and the reflecting pool. A number of paths branch out from here, but you do remember it had something to do with a lion.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go over the lion's mane.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's eye.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's mouth.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up the tree->climb the tree]]
(if: $energy is 0)["Ugh. Okay, what were the directions again?" Maybe asks. The paper reads: Straight from the mirror. Left, right, left, left, right, through the lion's eye, down, down, back, forth, left, down.]
(set:$dmg to (1), $energy to it-$dmg)(if: $notwet is "yes")[You and Maybe walk forward through the city, following the paths down until you get to another crack in the rock like the one you entered through. This one looks down hundreds of feet over a vast, rolling meadow lit by glowing golden-yellow stones spread out on the cavern ceiling over the white, wavering grass. The strange colorlessness of the grass makes it look almost as if a frost has fallen over the meadow.
With the light coming from behind you through the black rock, you must look like two actors on a high balcony over an audience of hills.](if: $wet is "yes")[You go to disembark and notice something caught in your shoelace. (By notice, you mean that you nearly trip over it.) It's a small golden chain, covered in silt.
The girl has gone up the hill and is looking over the edge.
The chain dangles in a long, pendulating line. You look closer at the links and notice each of them has a letter ever so faintly etched into it. They read:
"Signal 22. DL HL. Ptr's Unn Rep: Ardent Joy."
It must belong to someone. Or have belonged to someone long ago.
You dry off and put it in your pocket. (set: $chain to "yes")
You follow Maybe up the hill, taking a last look at the river. There's no sign of the white bridge you fell from, but you can't be too far from it, it's just been lost in the dark. If Maybe pulled you out before you were able to drown, you could only have been in the water for a few seconds. But who knows how long you were unconscious for. A few minutes, maybe? But your dream, what you saw, feels like it took longer, and took place in real time—like you were in some other physical place.
You catch up with your new friend on top of the small hill and the view from the top takes your breath away.
The hill is not as small as you thought—on the other side of the apex, it slopes down for a few hundred feet where it flattens out into a vast, rolling meadow lit by glowing golden-yellow rocks spread out on the ceiling above the white, wavering grass.]
To the right, the meadows turn into a vast patch of black sand or ash, beyond that, there is a huge palace on a plane of white and yellow hexagons. To the left, far off in the distance, the meadows begin to look like a big fluffy quilt, and beyond that they give way to massive, quilted mountains.
Over it all, is a cathedral made of polished golden stone. Details impossible to discern on the layers that look as though they could rotate like a clock. The palatial structure of it hangs over a hole in the earth. As if it was lifted from the ground and soldered to the cavern roof.
"We're heading over there," says Maybe, pointing to the quilted mountains.
You're relieved, for some reason, that the cathedral isn't your destination.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Descend into the Great Meadow.]](if: $compass is "yes")["Do you still have that compass I threw you?"
You check your pockets. You do. "How does that work anyway?"
"Good, it'll help if we ever get separated. It always leads back to the person who gave it to you."](if: $compass is "no")["Here," says your new friend. She hands you a compass the size of your hand.
"What's this?" you ask.
"This will help if we ever get separated. It always leads back to the person who last had it."
]"That's so cool! I thought compasses always pointed north."
"This one's magic. It's a magic compass."
"That makes sense," you say.
You look back up the stairs to the city. From this angle, in the black rock, it looks almost like the city was carved into a massive, limbless tree. Pathways stabbed into the wood, the tree itself suffocated by smog, hollowed by machines, gutted and petrified.
Here toward the bottom, the roots have grown over and around jagged bits of metal sticking up from the ground. They are living roots, you suppose, but the wood has grown around the metal in gnarled, uncomfortable shapes, like a wound remembered by scar tissue.
You reach the bottom of the stairs, walking along a brown root that boarders the white grass of the meadow. The white grass is much taller than you anticipated—you feel like a toy soldier, grass up to your chest. The stalks leave a flattened trail as Maybe pushes into it. You walk beside her.
The hills roll up and down but you are unable to rid yourself of the feeling that you're spiraling down and down around whatever the center of this thing is. Like a planet caught in a gravity well, or a penny in one of those rotate-y things they have at the science museum.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["So you probably have lots of questions," Maybe says. "I know I did at first."]]You go on through the stone passage for a long while, following the compass as the needle slowly moves from pointing due west to due north. The hallway branches a few times until it comes to a closed wooden door.
On either side of the door are thin, arched windows with red stained glass. To the left there's not much to look at: a tiny stone alcove with some dangling tree roots. But to the right—the view opens up to a vast top-down view of what could be a small city. Grey stone buildings and open gardens, red-tinted by the glass. Near the middle, is a large, roundish building shaped like a star. There's a stone courtyard below it like a city square. The whole scene is dotted with mosses and flowers and flags and tapestries quivering in the wind. There are a handful of people moving around down there from building to building.
Being in this place brings you a feeling of depth you've never known before. That the Earth is a kind of hollowness, and every being living on its fragile crust—or beneath it—is part of an ancient city, full of living ghosts.
You could stare at this for hours, but at that moment, you hear voices coming from the other side of the door.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Listen.]]
(Set: $hallwaystart to "true")
"Oh, you bet I do," you say.
"I'll ask you a question too every time so we're equal. You go first."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Why are you named Maybe?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How'd you get a quest?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where'd you come from?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Are there other kids down here?"]]
You walk through the meadow over the little hills, passing different patches of plants growing out of the white: blue violets, a patch of pumpkins, a cherry tree growing on a hill with scattered pink buds in the gold and black backdrop. You hear birdsong echoing in the cavern. Birdsong and the intangible cries of bats.
At one point you stop briefly for lunch. Sitting down in the white grass, totally hidden in the stalks, sharing a sandwich."That also answers why I came down here in the first place, so really it's two questions, but I'll humor you."
You nod.
"When I was back on the surface, I could never make up my mind about anything and everyone wanted so many things out of me, right? Someone would ask me, mmm, if I wanted sprinkles on my ice cream or if I wanted to go to the movies or the playground and I would just say: 'I don't know.' I never knew what I wanted, so people started calling me 'Idaknow Huynh.' (Huynh is my last name.)"
"Hwin is a nice name. Is that right?"
"That's close enough. I like it too, but it doesn't go well with 'Idaknow.' One day I made up my mind finally about one thing, and I ran down here and never went back up. I named myself Maybe, because it sounds better than 'Idaknow.' And now every decision I make, I make decisively. Decisively means not wishy-washy."
"That's really brave. I always have to think for a long time about what choice to make, and I always wonder if it was the right one," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, my turn," she says.]]"The people I first met when I came down here were the workers from a place called the Dandelion Hotel. I was going as deep as I could into the Giesie and going down the stem of the Dandelion was a fast way to do it. I was startled to find the bottom of the flower was being eaten away by these huge mites. I thought the Dandelion was pretty and shouldn't have mites chewing on it, so I scared them away."
"Oh wow."
"Raaahh!!! Like that."
You giggle.
"The workers are mostly big insects too, and they didn't have a way to fight the mites. They were really grateful. They took me in and gave me food and shelter and things and in return I've been doing quests for them. Mostly, like, protecting people from monsters and things. This one I'm doing right now is a special quest. The Quilter's Union is gonna get attacked by Wasps soon. And we're gonna stop it."
"Quilter's Union?" you say.
"Yeah, they're allied with the Dandelion Hotel. Allied means they're friends."
"Nice."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, that was two, now I ask you two also."]]"South Dakota."
"That's a long way from here."
"Well, distance works differently in the empire. You could walk underground for a few minutes and come back up in a place that it takes an hour to get to riding in the car. Um. What's your . . . favorite color?" she asks.
"Turquoise," you say.
"Nice," she says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, ask me another!"->Questions2]]"Hmm. If you had to choose a name for yourself what would it be?"
"Like a nickname? I need to think about that one."
"No thinking—just choose!"
"I've always kind of liked (if: $name is "Symphony")[the word Willow](else:)[the word Symphony]. I don't know if that can be a name."
"Anything can be a name if you make it one!" Maybe says. "Should I call you (if: $name is "Symphony")[Willow](else:)[Symphony]?"
"No, that's okay. I think I like $name. I think I like it cause my parents like it."
"Sounds good to me!"
"Does that count as one of your questions?"
"Sure why not." (if: $wet is "yes")[She kicks a rock. "Wanna see something cool?" Maybe says.
Never not down for things that are cool, you indicate in the affirmative.
"I wanna preface this with the fact that this is not magic."
"That sounds like something you would say if you were about to do magic," you say.
"What? No . . ." she grins. "Okay, I don't know exactly how it works, something about the core of this place and the water or the light . . . ? The Oracle explained it to me, but I don't remember really."
"That sounds like magic," you say.
"Pretty much!" says Maybe. "It's very cool. Watch this—" She pulls out a tiny noise maker, a wooden one with a rigid back, shaped like a frog. She runs a stick along its back and it makes a noise like ribbiting.
"I don't see anything," you say.
"Look down," she says.
By your feet, hopping up to you are a handful of little brick-shaped frogs. One of them ribbits. Maybe reaches out and one of them hops up in her hand.
"This tool is enchanted, but it's pretty weak, so it doesn't summon that many frogs and they're all super little. Same goes for other things. I found this in a little town in Backwater."
"That's so cool," you say.(set: $frogshown to "hell yeah")]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You probably have more questions," Maybe says.->Questions2]]"Not that I've seen. But I've been told that kids come down here from time to time. Grown-ups, too, sometimes, but mostly kids. Usually they're on a quest and they go back to the surface after they're done. But not me! I'm staying down here." She kicks a rock. "I get to fight monsters and eat weird food and it never snows so hard your toes get numb through your boots."
"Is that really why you like it?"
"I guess it wasn't all bad on the surface. But it was hard. I really like it down here because I can be a different person than who I used to be. No one is here to make me feel like the person I used to be. No sister, no other kids from school, and no grown-ups. Just monsters and Giesie folks." She smiles. "Plus, everything I do down here is really important. People need to be protected from monsters, and evil armies need to be trounced. It's easier to decide about important things. There's no multiplication tables or bad grades on E.O.G.s or having to choose to spend time either with Mom or with Dad. Just adventures."
"Huh," you say.
"I don't have to choose what kind of adult I want to be when I grow up. Everyone was pushing me in different directions anyway. I just get to do what's important *right now*."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Maybe that *is* what kind of adult you want to be," you say.->"Maybe that is what kind of adult you want to be," you say.]]You've come to the center of the Great Meadow. Ahead of you, there is a corn maze with an old, red barn in the middle.
"The most straight path is through the corn maze," Maybe says, "but stuff might be waiting for us in there."
"What do you mean . . . 'waiting for us?'" you ask. You step over some railroad tracks extending either way into the grass.
"Monsters like to hide in abandoned places. Especially abandoned places with tall fields. But nothing we can't handle." She pounds her fists together. "Whadya think?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's take the long way around."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's go through the maze."]]
"Oh, that's what people call this whole place. The G.S.E. It's an acronym. That means a bunch of letters that stand for words. Also, hey! It's my turn to ask a question, you've said at least two."
You pass by a clear blue lake. There are tiny salt-yellow fish that swim around under the water.
"Okay, go ahead," you say.
"Hmm. What's your biggest fear?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's a tough one."]]"Not really, mine's (text-colour:#4e3ec9)[drowning]," she says. "I mean, sorry, you say yours."(set: $drowningfearknown to "yes")
"I think mine is the future," you say. "There's no way to know what's coming. It's like walking backwards in the dark, in a cave. Every moment is stuck in that dropping-stomach feeling of missing a step down a staircase in the dark. The only thing you can do is keep crawling backwards, hoping the tunnel doesn't stop and make you bump your head or lose your footing all of a sudden and drop off into the water."
"That's messed up," she says.
"Also, I'm scared of (text-colour:#c2255c)[the dark]," you say.
Maybe nods, sagaciously.
"I don't know. That's what making choices feels like to me. I would really rather have someone else decide everything for me. I feel like honestly that's why I, uh, outsource? a lot of my decisions. I let other people choose for me. It just feels safer."(if: $chalk is "yes")[
Something catches Maybe's attention. "That's a nice rock," she says.
She's looking at a big, slate-like rock sticking up out of the white grass. A few yards off, there's a tree with scattered yellow. The wind moves through the grass like a hollow animal. "Do you have any charcoal? I ran out. We can write our names on it."
"Yes!!!!" you shout.
"Woah, okay!"
You are prepared for this and only this eventuality. You pull out your chalk.
"Heck yeah," Maybe says. She begins writing her name in every color she can.
After a minute or so, you draw back and take a look at it.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[(text-colour:#845ef7)[$name] and (text-colour:#ff6b6b)[M](text-colour:#ffc078)[a](text-colour:#c0eb75)[y](text-colour:#91a7ff)[b](text-colour:#ffff66)[e]
(text-colour:#aaa2f1)[were here]! (text-colour:#faa2c1)[♡]]
"Hmm," Maybe says. She goes up and appends more text below it.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[(text-colour:#845ef7)[$name] and (text-colour:#ff6b6b)[M](text-colour:#ffc078)[a](text-colour:#c0eb75)[y](text-colour:#91a7ff)[b](text-colour:#ffff66)[e]
(text-colour:#aaa2f1)[were here]! (text-colour:#faa2c1)[♡]
(text-colour:#fcc2d7)[if you erase this
we will destroy you!!!]]
"Perfect," you say.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's fair," she says.->Questions2]]
"When in the history of the Earth has that *ever* worked, Cirrus?" says the lantern-headed person.
"With inferior powers against superior ones, Luma. But we are strong. Or we were. We threw off the shackles of an empire, Luma. We should take every precaution against being dominated by a new one," says Cirrus.
"By becoming one ourselves? Absolutely not," says Luma. There's a sigh, and he says, "You know what the Madrigal will say."
"Damn the Madrigal. It's worth the risk. I just need to know if you're with me or if you're against me. Or would you have more interlopers like Ekphrasis?"
Your foot squeaks a little on the smooth stone floor.
Both voices stop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Create a clever diversion.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stay hidden.]]You open it, and tumble out in a cascade of water. You realize very quickly that you're not following the water down through the cloud layer. You're just floating. The wind is cold. But the sun is bright.
Cautiously at first, then with growing joy, you float down into the landscape, everything lighting up with new senses you didn't even think you had. In your room there was only a dim kind of sight, but out here the world has opened up to reveal an incredible roundness and depth. You smell the acrid scent of black walnuts, hear the sound of a crow, feel the unbearable burning of asphalt on bare feet, the itchiness of grass as if from rolling down a hill, the worse-than-tasteless, wooden feel of the last bite of popsicle.
It isn't bittersweet, that's not the word—it's . . . the fullness of sensation. Life and all its splinters, shocks, and rough edges. It's on the cusp of being unpleasant, but is so unquestionably worth it.
You feel something else.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Wake up.]]
Not only does this not feel safe, it's also invading your personal space. There's not much you can do to get rid of it, and you certainly don't want to break it, since that would mean letting whatever's outside inside.
You don't want the outside to be on the inside.
You settle on putting a blanket over it, and putting the toy trunk on the blanket. The trunk is now under the bed, and impossible to get toys out of, but these sorts of sacrifices must be made sometimes for security.
You feel something brushing against you.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Wake up.]]You crawl under your bed to investigate. It's as big as your body, like a tiny doorway, so bright that it almost hurts to look at. The light from the porthole illuminates the dark water around you reflecting off multi-colored fish and little dust motes like stars that float around your head.
Your eyes are wide, reflecting the color from beyond the glass.
On the other side, you see a landscape of clouds and twisting shapes, light enveloping surfaces from every angle, a symphony of color works on the scene. It's bright, but chaotic.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Open the porthole.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ignore the porthole.]]
You think, briefly, that you feel your dog nuzzling your shoulder, and that you are back in your room. You wake up.
Luma is gently nudging you. "Hey, little one. They're requesting your presence in the council hall."
"Mm?"
"We're interested to hear what you have to say," says Luma. "If there's one thing we've all been lacking, it's the opinion of an actual real-life surface-dweller. Come on, they're waiting for us."
You lift your head out of Jan Westerhoff's //Twelve Examples of Illusion// and unstick your face from its pages.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Yes, yes, take your time we have all day."]]Cirrus is also here.
"Let's not keep them waiting," he says.
You stand up. The two of them usher you through the narrow hallways and down a few flights of stairs. You come out in a big, round room with two rows of seats in a big circle. The room is warmly lit. There are windows showing the outside, where you can see a garden, dim and heavy with prayer flags. The council room is noisy with talking. There are all sorts of people here, none of them human.
"Let's begin." An old woman steps forward. Everyone goes silent. (if: $crystalroom is "true")[It's the old woman you met in the crystal room, stone skin and strawberry-leaf hair. She must be the Madrigal that Luma and Cirrus were talking about earlier.](else:)[This must be the Madrigal that Luma and Cirrus were talking about earlier. She looks almost human, but you realize what you took for sun-hardened skin is actually mossy stone, and what you took for hair are the furrowed leaves of a strawberry plant.] "Representatives Nimbus and Lappazi have been so kind as to share their recent discovery."
The strawberry-leaf lady looks over to you. Her gaze is piercing, and judgmental.
"It is a matter of some urgency if we are to mobilize, as Council-member Cirrus is suggesting, for a pre-emptive strike. Perhaps this human can give us some insight into the internal machinations of the surface." She looks to you again. "I'm told your name is $name?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Um. That's right," you manage.]]Nervously, you step forward, allowing Luma to usher you into the center of the room.
"Council-member Cirrus, would you make your case?"
Cirrus steps forward. He sweeps his arms open. "With every passing year, the humans who dwell on the surface expand their empire. No place above ground is safe from their polluting influence, and soon no place below ground will be either. The only way to prevent them from encroaching in our domain is to show them our collective strength. This human spy is proof that closing the entrances to the Giesie has done nothing. They know we are here and they are looking to expand, as they have been expanding for the past 10,000 years, as the celestials once expanded in the caverns. They may not be celestial, but humans are a restless people. They are malcontent, rootless imperialists, and they will stomp on anything in their way. And we are in their way."
"Is this true, $name?" says the Madrigal.
You think back to your lessons on Columbus, Crusades, and Conquistadors. If you knew much about pollution, poverty and oppression, you would think about those things too.
"I don't know," you finally say. "A lot of humans are bad, but a lot of them are good too."
"Stunning argument! Profound," Cirrus says.
Luma cuts in, "No, Cirrus, they've got a point. $name, what you're saying is that humanity isn't monolithic, yes?" Luma says.
You don't know what monolithic is, but it sounds bad. "Yeah . . . Plus, I didn't know this place existed until a little while ago. I don't think anyone human did either. Maybe they do and they keep it a secret. But it's a good secret."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Interesting," says the Madrigal.]]
"But I don't think you should hurt anyone because of it."
"You're saying we would just be perpetuating the cycle of violence?" suggests Luma.
"Yeah—if you attacked people, they would just attack back harder, and then who knows if the attacking would ever stop. No one likes being attacked. Sometimes fear can make you do things you shouldn't do, but you should never hurt people. No matter what you're feeling, you should never hurt someone else because of it."
The Madrigal is silent for a while. Then she straightens and says, "You make a compelling point, $name. And I agree with you that an all-out attack against your people is the wrong move. For both parties. But what assurance can we have that, as Cirrus says, your people aren't coming here next? When, in the course of their imperial march, do they stop? When are they content?"
"I—I don't know," you say.
"You don't. Know. Very well." She straightens her already perfect posture. "I propose, then, a small test. If humans are truly peace-loving creatures—or at least now more than in the past few centuries—then you may be able to succeed where all others have failed and broker peace for us in a time of need."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Broker peace?"]]"Hmmm. Okay. What's the funniest dream you've ever had?"
"Oh that's a hard one," you say. "Hmm. Once I dreamed that every time you said a word you had to squeeze a lemon."
"That's pretty funny! What's your favorite thing about home?"
"Hmm. It's safe there. I always *feel* safe at least. Everything gets decided for me and I know my parents care about me. Nothing can come inside that I don't like. If I'm being chased by a dog or being excluded from a game I can just run up the front stairs and nothing can hurt me."
"You miss a lot of adventures if you're always at home," says Maybe.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Yep. See, you know I'm right."
"Wait that wasn't—"
She laughs and punches your arm.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, ask me another."->Questions2]]It's as wide as your school's soccer field and almost four times as long. There are no railings, but you start walking anyway.
You pass two statues of giant marble cats carved on two pedestals on either side of the bridge. There is water far, far below. Dark and coursing.
You get no further than ten paces along the bridge when you hear a great rumbling to either side.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Uh oh."]]You whirl to look behind you—the two marble cats have come to life and appear to be animated by some curious, violent power—like regular cats. With a single, graceful leap, the cat from the left jumps to block your path. You're cornered. And there's not even any corners.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Appeal to their better nature.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Try to run past them.]]"Hello, Mr. Kitty. I'm just trying to leave, is that okay?"
If the cats speak a language, it certainly isn't yours. With a single, passive swipe, the carved cat sends you careening over the edge of the bridge into the river below.
With tremendous force, you slam into the water and sink like a stone. The sinking is like a stone in that stones are unconscious, which is something that you are. The dark water draws your body deeper, deeper.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1B.]]Unfortunately it seems as though being both smaller, slower, and softer than the cats is too great a disadvantage. With a single, passive swipe, the carved cat blocking your path sends you careening over the edge of the bridge into the river below.
With tremendous force, you slam into the water and sink like a stone. The sinking is like a stone in that stones are unconscious, which is something that you are. The dark water draws your body deeper, deeper.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1B.]]End of Chapter 1/6.
“For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin, //The Dispossessed//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Anamnesis.->The cranes dream.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
You move out stealthily from behind the bird statue.
"Oh I see how it is," says the bird statue. "Hide behind me and now you're just gonna leave without so much as a thank you?"
You stop and turn around. "Uh."
"No I get it. You've got places to be. It's a big empire. There's a lotta old statues to hide behind."
"Oh um. I'm sorry. You're very nice for a statue."
"Very nice for a oh ho ho. What's your name, kid?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Me?"]]
(set: $library to "no")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))"$name. Okay . . . Fun. Well don't get caught I guess. Or do. I won't tell you what to do. You're an independent agent. You make your own rules. Go wherever your non-statue legs carry you."
"Thanks?"
"Yeah, yeah." The statue goes inert.
You poke your way cautiously down the hall.
You pass through a courtyard. There are square bushes and neat rows of flowers here, prayer flags shivering in the subterranean wind. Some of the trees have flowers or fruit, each entirely crystalline. They're like rock candy, or those geometric math blocks they have at your school.
As you're walking, you have to dive comically into the bushes several times to avoid being seen by people walking in small groups around this place. Everyone is decidedly non-human. A person made entirely out of fire, half a dozen goblins, a couple of kids a little older than you like a spider and a luna moth. You don't look too closely. It's so busy down here that it's a wonder you never knew of it before.
Passing unnoticed through the echoing exterior halls, you scuttle down a set of wide, black stairs lit on either side by tea candles. At the base of the staircase, a massive, white bridge stretches out over a black river, a gateway to whatever awaits in the dark beyond. To the side, there is a little staircase.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Cross the bridge.]]
(if: $nonmin is "yes")[(set: $nonmina to "yes")]
(if: $crystalroom is "true")[(set: $nonmina to "only once")]"What do you mean?"
"I mean that if you want to be the kind of person who is decisive and adventurous, you could still be that type of person when you grow up," you say.
"I don't know about that. Everything I've seen up there told me that the adult world is either boring, sad, or stressful. The worst part is, I feel like I'm already caught in it and being drawn in like a black hole. I don't wanna grow up. I wanna be like how I was when I was a kid, playing make-believe."
"I don't think you have to be that kind of adult if you don't want to."
"I've never seen *any other kind* of adult though." She throws her hands up in mock-exasperation. "They're all caught up in their own business and it's never real. It's never actually important. My dad is an investment banker and my mom is a CEO, but, like, neither of them actually *make* anything. The world thinks they're important, and so they're paid good, but they're not changing anything real about the world. I don't want to be like them at all. I think that's why I ran down here."
"I don't think you'll be like them."
She pauses for a beat, then looks at you with open eyes. "You think?"
"Yeah. I think you made a really important choice even coming down here. You didn't run away either, I think. You ran towards who you're supposed to be. You're really brave and nothing is gonna change that."
A little unexpectedly, and without a word, she hugs you. You hug back.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You mentioned something called a jee-uh-see?"->"What's jee-uh-see?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's your biggest fear?" she asks.->"That's a tough one."]]"Playin it safe, works for me. Should still give us enough time to cross the mountains and get to the fort. Oh, speaking of," she rummages through her bag for something. She pulls out a small crossbow and five bolts and hands them to you. "Take this. For if we get into trouble."
"Oh, cool. Thanks," you say. You awkwardly stick the weapon in your bag.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Walk around the cornfield.]]
(set: $bandit to "yes")You are intrigued by the corn. Also you don't want to seem like a fraidy-cat.
"I like how you think, $name! Oh, hold on," she rummages through her bag for something. "Take this. For if we get into trouble." She pulls out a small crossbow and five bolts and hands them to you.
"Thanks," you say.
You follow her into the tall grass and then push straight through the stalks of corn. The entrance is nowhere to be seen.
The ordinary-ness of this place is uncanny. The sunstones high above seem so much like rays of sun that you almost forget where you are—deep, deep underground in some unfathomably large, open cavern. The light on the corn is amber, like the sun at the very end of the afternoon.
After a few minutes of pushing through the heavy stalks you tumble out into a small clearing (text-colour:#a9434b)[[with a bright red barn.->Approach it.]]
(if: $wet is "yes")[(set: $nobody to "yes")](else:)[(set: $keeperlightstheway to "yes")]
(set: $barn to "yes")You scoop a big gob of it into your pocket.
Your pocket immediately begins to leak. This was a good idea. (Set: $sap to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go over the lion's mane.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's eye.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go through the lion's mouth.]]You did, in fact, hear something.
With a bang, the doors at the other end of the banquet room slam open and a long line of porcelain maids and waiters and butlers stream into the room.
Maybe grabs your arm and you duck behind a stiff, lapis curtain. There is an immense clatter as the maids dust the table, the waiters set crystalline bowls and platters of food of incredible variety: blackberries, raspberries apples, honeydew, cooked meat, raw caterpillars, spearmint, sweet fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, and, in bright ruby bowls, great gobs of honey.
The butlers pull back the chairs, all in unison, as if programmed, and the room becomes suddenly silent except for your and Maybe's breath on the folds of the curtain. She's still holding you protectively.
For a few moments, there is absolutely no sound. None of the porcelain people are moving, it doesn't even seem like they're breathing.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Hold perfectly still.]]"Oh no," says Luma. "Madrigal—"
You get a sinking feeling around your stomach.
"With Ekphrasis? Pardon me, Madrigal, but," Cirrus backpedals, "I do not believe we should condemn even this spy to death."
The Madrigal continues without seeming to have heard Cirrus or Luma. "Her Lady of Ekphrasis, Breaker of the Collective Will, after seizing power, has several times refused our invitation to join the Seat of the Demarchy. Despite our lack of open hostilities, we've failed to establish formal communications with her Ladyship. All of our messages have been left unanswered; none of our messengers have returned. Vespiridae's new empire grows with every passing month, violating our borders and terrorizing our allies."
You suppress a shudder.
The Madrigal continues, "There have been rumors of war recently. Ekphrasis wants something from one of our allied outposts, the Fort de Oreiller, and she is said to be mounting an attack today. If you can deliver a message of peace to Her Lady of Ekphrasis at Fort Oreiller, we'll consider it solid evidence that your claims about humanity are true."
"You can't seriously expect a child to confront Vespiridae," says Cirrus.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["So you admit this is a child, Cirrus?" says the Madrigal.]]"I . . . admit that they are somewhat diminutive in stature." Cirrus tugs on one of his various medals. "They are human. One never can tell with humans."
"Then you will have no objection, I trust."
"I—. Hrm," Cirrus says.
Ode'imin crosses the council chamber to you, and bends down on one knee. She holds out a small, round object wrapped in brown paper. She sighs deeply, and in a quiet voice, says, "I entrust this to you, as the deliverer of peace. When you greet Ekphrasis, you must activate this amulet by pressing it and spinning clockwise. Help will be on its way thereafter. And, $name, I sincerely believe that you're our last hope. With this, we may save the G.S.E. from another thousand years of tyranny."
You nod, feeling trusted, like strawberries warmed by the sun, taking the parcel and tucking it in your pocket.(set: $breathofthenadir to "yes")
Ode'imin stands up and says, "The child will depart as soon as the formal issue is drawn up. The meeting is adjourned." She walks with a bowed head towards the door, like a woman watching a coffin enter the earth. The door echoes behind her.
The resounding sound of chairs being pushed back makes you jump. Cirrus is at your side. He seems not to have noticed the Madrigal entrusting you with the bouncy-ball sized amulet.
"Come with me, quickly," Cirrus says.
"What? Where are we going?" you ask.
"Luma!" he calls. They follow Cirrus as he leads you down a side passage.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yank out of his grasp.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where are you taking me?"]]
(set: $blorbo to "from my shows")When the meeting is adjourned, Samarium hops over the railing and jogs over. You don't know where you should go, and you're grateful that someone who seems to know what's going on is talking to you.
"Hi! I'm Samarium, you're $name, right? You can call me Amari or Samira."
You've been trying not to show how overwhelmed you are, but Sam's enthusiasm is actually making you feel better. "It's nice to meet you," you say.
"Aunt Ode'imin can be quite a handful huh? That's the Madrigal. She's not my actual aunt. I grew up around her, though. She still thinks I'm a baby. But now, *finally*, I get to do my first real quest."
"It seems like she trusts you enough? At least enough to help me get . . . where are we going?"
"Oooooooh boy, you really don't know very much about the Giesie, do you?"
"I didn't even know there was a . . . jee-uh-see until . . . a few hours ago."
"Oh! My dad has a book in his desk that might help. I'm not great at explaining things. Come on, I'll show you!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow Sam.]]You reach the office.
"My dad is Councilman Samarskite, I was filling in for him today in the meeting. I was just taking notes though, I'm not actually supposed to say anything during the session."
"They let you sit in though," you say. "That's pretty cool."
"It is nice. It's a start, at least. I can't wait until I actually get to help make important decisions." Amari rummages through what must be their father's desk. "Here it is!" Amari pulls out a booklet titled *The Grand Guide to the Giesie*.
"Thanks!" you take the booklet. "Why isn't your dad here?"(set: $booklet to "yes")
"Very important trade meeting with the ambassadors to the Hell Realms."
"Huh."
"Oh, one more thing," Amari goes to the shelf on the far wall and pulls down a bronze dagger a little larger than a letter opener with a treble clef as a hilt. "In case we run into trouble on the way. I'd give you something bigger, but we're not allowed to check out weapons from Bardemoore for more than a day."(set: $dagger to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do we need to prepare?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How long will we be gone?"]]
"It's about half a day's walk to the Fort. We just need one more thing, then we can get going. Getting there will be the easy part, talking to the Wasp Queen might be tricky."
"Why is that?"
"Well . . ." they look down at their feet, then out the window. "Hey there's Luma and Cirrus! You know them, right?"
"Um."
Sam takes you by the hand and you run to catch up with your lantern and cloud-headed friends.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Oh, good! We were hoping to catch you before you left."]]Faint at first, then louder as it draws near, there is an overwhelming buzzing sound. The doors slam open again, and at least two dozen wasps fly in on either side of the long table, filling the room with buzzing. They are followed by a lone young woman escorted by two wasp guards.
The entire company salutes, using four of their six arms. The young woman sits, straightening her coat, a blue military jacket, and adjusting the mantilla which obscures her face. (if: $stupid is "true")[She's dressed the same as before, when you jumped out of a building onto her, a red blouse under the jacket. Perfectly braided hair. She's exchanged her laurels for a subtle golden diadem.] On queue, the rest of the company is seated as well. The porcelain butlers push the officers' chairs forward in a heavy unison.
There is a gust from the open window behind you, but it fails to move the stone curtain.
"Officers," says a wasp standing from her chair near the young woman. "Our hard work has paid off in the western offensive! Join the General in celebrating our victories and our latest acquisition!"
There is a round of buzzing applause from the rest of the wasps. The porcelain staff join in too, their solid hands clinking. The wasps begin eating.
Maybe looks behind you, out the window. It's clear there's no good way out. Dropping from the window into the hedges may draw attention, and would almost certainly hurt quite a bit. The window is partially open, but, this being a strange window, you don't know if its lapis hinges actually work, or are just for show. Getting out might involve breaking the window. Which gives you an important choice to make.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Try to nudge open the window.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Keep holding still.]]
As the wasps eat and make conversation, you try to nudge the window. When you push it, the hinges give a tiny *crack*. The window won't budge.
The young woman's head turns in your direction.
She puts down her fork.
At that moment, the porcelain waitress refilling her glass nearly drops the pitcher, she fumbles, spilling nectar all over the young woman's lap.
The waitress looks horrified, not in an apologetic way, but in the way you might imagine a rabbit would look if it knew the violent force beyond the gun barrel.
"My lady Ekphrasis—I—I'm—"
"Mistakes happen," says the woman.
Without standing up, she extends her arm in an upward strike, swinging out a telescoping metal rod that smashes through the servant's neck and left shoulder, decapitating her in a single strike. She falls to the ground in a smashed heap. The heap twitches. Ekphrasis crushes the still writhing clay arm with her boot. The clay underneath, while fine-grained, is incredibly thick. But the General made cleaving her in half look like cutting grass.
Her Lady of Ekphrasis—the Wasp Queen—stands up.
"Commander Song, would you mind opening the curtains? We could do with a little more sun."
"Of course, General."
The corpse of the servant is still twitching. As though perhaps she could still be alive.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You dare not move a muscle.]]
The wasps eat with a restrained ferocity, digging into the fruit, meat, and vegetables with their weird mouth parts.
Maybe examines the window, careful not to touch anything.
At that moment, the porcelain waitress refilling the young woman's glass nearly drops the pitcher, she fumbles, spilling nectar all over the young woman's lap.
The waitress looks horrified, not in an apologetic way, but in the way you might imagine a rabbit would look if it knew the violent force beyond the gun barrel.
"My lady Ekphrasis—I—I'm—"
"Mistakes happen," says the young woman.
The servant un-pales slightly (only slightly, as she is made of porcelain) and lets out a trembling breath.
"But, of course," says the woman, "there's only one path to perfection."
Without standing up, she extends her arm in an upward strike, swinging out a telescoping metal rod that smashes through the servant's neck and left shoulder, decapitating her in a single strike. She falls to the ground in a smashed heap. The heap twitches, and continues twitching. Ekphrasis crushes the still writhing clay arm with her boot. The clay underneath, while fine-grained, is incredibly thick. But the General made cleaving her in half look like cutting grass.
Her Lady of Ekphrasis—the Wasp Queen—stands up.
"Commander Song, would you mind opening the curtains? We could do with a little more sun."
"Of course, General."
The corpse of the servant is still twitching. Like she's still alive.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Uh oh.]]You and Maybe hold perfectly still as the wasp Commander, a large wasp with a similar blue military outfit, makes their rounds to each window.
"What do we do?" you whisper.
The Commander has opened half the curtains, sliding the unmoving folds of stone along their rods. A couple of the windows are partly ajar, as if they were once real windows and were somehow turned to lapis through some elegant corruption.
Maybe mouths, "We gotta jump."
The Commander prepares to open your curtain. Ekphrasis nods to them.
"Go!" Maybe says. In a stomach-turning second, she grabs your hand and yanks you through the window, sending little shards of rock scattering outward like a shower of very thin blue jolly ranchers.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And the Commander grabs you.]]"It's time to go," Maybe whispers. "The windows won't open, we'll have to break through as we jump."
"We have to //what//?!" you whisper back.
The Commander has opened half the curtains, sliding the unmoving folds of stone along their rods. A couple of the windows are partly ajar, as if they were once real windows and were somehow turned to lapis through some elegant corruption.
"Get ready."
"*No! No, no, no*," you emphatically whisper.
The Commander prepares to open your curtain.
"Go!" Maybe yells. In a stomach-turning second, she grabs your hand and yanks you through the window, sending little shards of rock scattering outward like a shower of very thin, melted-flat blue jolly ranchers.
In that split second you hear what must be General Ekphrasis' voice quietly say, "Grace?" But the sound is lost to the tumult of snapping branches as you land in the bushes below. The building has vanished in the twigs.
"Wait—" Ekphrasis rushes to the window. "I won't hurt you. I promise.(if: $stupid is "true")[" Then mutters, "What is it with kids and jumping out of windows?]"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[She jumps down.]]The cranes are floating past you, faster than you're flying. Museum artifacts incinerating their paper wings in the sun at the end of the sky.
You are overwhelmed with the feeling that everything, everything was worth it.
You're breathing in the smoke from the sun.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you're coughing.->Hauled to the surface of the water.]]The cranes are hitting the damp ground with tiny, paper-y impacts.
There will be rain soon. And the cranes will sink back into the earth. The forest will become rot, and the sugar-sinks will never see fruition. Maybe none of it should have been allowed to happen in the first place. Why would you put so much work into growing a forest just to see it rot? It always, always rots.
The rain comes, and you breathe it in. The cranes waste. You breathe it in.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you're coughing.->Hauled to the surface of the water.]]You are in a clearing with a bright red barn. There is a sky-blue goblin sitting on the very top of the roof.
Maybe says a swear word.
The goblin says nothing, but tips their little pink hat and smiles. Their legs swing as they dangle.
"GAAH!" Maybe veers off to the east, no longer heading directly towards the quilted mountains, trying a different strategy.
She tries to take your hand, but you pull it back.
"Wait," you say. "Maybe we can talk to him."
"//YOU// can talk to him," she says, "*I* am going back to the corn," and she pushes off into the maze.
You look up at the goblin and wave. "Hi," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The goblin waves back.]]There is a descending slide whistle noise and the little creature appears before you in a little shower of sparkles fizzing like mini fireworks. Even with their tall, pointy hat, which provides about half their height, the goblin only comes up to your waist.
From the west, you hear leaves rustling and stalks snapping. Maybe runs out into the clearing, realizes she's back in the same place she started, yells an incoherent set of syllables, and delivers a swift kick to the side of the barn. She runs off to the southwest.
The goblin watches her nonchalantly, then turns back to you. They dig around in their cloak. Very gently, they take a dried yellow rose from an herb pouch and hold it out to you.
"Oh. Thank you?" you say.
Up close you can see their eyes. Cute little dots, a green one and a blue one. The goblin stands with their arm still stretched out.
"Oh, uh . . ."
You riffle through your pockets for something good to give the goblin. You pull out something plastic. It's a one-size-fit-all green wristband from the state fair you got to go to last month. You were very proud that you were able to rip it off your wrist all by yourself. (And with only one hand!) You'll miss it, but not too profoundly. It will do.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You hand over the broken bracelet.]]The goblin takes it and turns it in their little hands. They give it a slight shake and hold it to their ear. The goblin makes expressions as if they're able to hear words coming from the band, then throws it up in the air and claps their hands together.
"God DAMN IT!" says Maybe as she reappears beside you.
At that same moment, the three of you are standing in a small wooden boat being paddled by the little goblin. The goblin is in the back of the boat, steering it down a man-made canal with a long pole. You still appear to be underground, but everything is hazy, all bright and incorporeal. On the banks to either side, there are all manner of amusement park rides, food stands, and merchant stalls. There are crowds of people walking through the fairgrounds, who all, to your surprise, are entirely human. Pop music is playing in the distance.
Ahead, a mouth of water, there is a black tunnel under a flashing electric sign that reads: "The Tunnel of (text-style: "buoy")+(t8n: "fade")+(t8n-delay: 1s)+(text-colour:#63e6be)[IDENTITY] vs. (text-style: "buoy")+(t8n: "fade")+(t8n-delay: 1.7s)+(text-colour:#faa2c1)[ROLE CONFUSION]" in bright carnival letters.
It almost looks like the later part of the sign has been altered somehow.
"What does that mean?" you say. You look to Maybe. "Where are we?"
Maybe's rage has left her and been replaced with confusion. "I've been here before." She looks at the goblin. "Where are we? Why did you take us here?"
The goblin smiles a peaceful little smile, as if singing a song in their head.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Another boat has drifted up next to yours, passing you.]]There is a single person lying down in the other boat. Maybe clambers to the edge of the canoe. "Hey! That's my sister!"
Standing, you can see in fact that the person in the boat, a young woman in her early 20s, does bear a striking resemblance to Maybe—tall and thin, but very physical, with shoulder-length black hair spread out perfectly in a semi-circle on the floor of the boat. Her shoulders are tense, even in her sleeping posture.
"Linh!" Maybe cries out.
There is no response. Maybe begins banging on the side of the boat to try and move your canoe closer to the other one before it drifts away. This is ineffective. ^^1^^
As the other boat goes downstream, you notice an array of hundreds of flowers arranged like a mandala all around the young woman, melding with the flowers embroidered on her perfect white dress. The longer you stare at her, the harder it is to tell which flowers are made of thread and which are real plants. Her dress blends into the white floor of the boat.
"Linh! Wake up! Linh!" Maybe yells. "We're supposed to ride together! Mom said to!"
The Tunnel is very close now, and it's giving you an incredible sense of unease. You can see nothing beyond the opening, as if the shadows draping it were a sheet of tangled vines.
"Linh, I'm coming over!" shouts Maybe. She prepares to dive out of the boat.
"Wait!" you cry.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stop her.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow her.]]
(mouseover-replace: "1")[(Play along at home! Which one of Newton's Laws is responsible for this?)]"Wait!" you cry again.
She doesn't hear you.
You reach to grab ahold of her arm as she jumps, but you pass right through her like a ghost.
She jumps into the water and starts swimming toward Linh's boat. The little goblin looks alarmed, or perhaps surprised.
"Mom said to stick together!" She pulls herself into Linh's boat, messing up the mandala. Linh sits up and looks at her. She seems perfectly calm, not at all like she had just been woken up.
"Well, Mom doesn't control us, Grace. You're old enough to be on your own now. You have a very special thing now that no one can ever take away from you called //autonomy//."
The sun is bright on their side of the river, hot, and summer-seeming. On your side of the river, where you sit watching the scene play out, the water is dark blue and the air is cold and thick with the silver of the cavern.
The young woman looks younger now, 16 or 17, and Maybe has lost several years as well, now 7 or 8 years old.
"Autonomy," lectures the teenager, "is when—"
"I know what autnumny means. You just wanted to ditch me so you could go make out with Adrian didn't you?"
"Possibly. And you have an external locus of control. What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Are you?" Linh says. "What would you gain from that?"]]You follow her with a splash and immediately feel like you're drowning. Maybe is a strong swimmer(if: $drowningfearknown is "yes")[, presumably learned as a preemptive strike to her fear of drowning,] and is already a few body-lengths beyond you. Something about the water is off-putting. It's like there are soft hands reaching up from the muck on the bottom and pulling at your shoes. Pulling them off. Intertwining their fingers with your toes.
You struggle to make contact with the new canoe, but it's already drifted out of reach. The little sky-blue goblin looks at you and emphatically gestures to the tunnel, then gives a 'come on!' gesture with wide-open eyes.
You need to get as far away from the tunnel as possible—you're not ready. You're not ready. But the little goblin is stamping their feet on the platform and whistling with their fingers. They hold out the pole.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Swim towards the shore.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Grab the pole.]]You fight against the current pulling you towards the tunnel. The force of it is overwhelming but you manage to swim at an angle against the river and pull yourself to shore.
You climb the smooth concrete embankment and run, terrified, further into the carnival. Everything is shifting and dream-like, the vendors' stands and rides are a maze of passages, and none of the humans have a distinct face. Everywhere you run, people are saying parts of words, but never full sentences; over the loudspeakers, you can hear only the repeated lines of a chorus from a song you don't recognize.
*Listless
truth has
too long
is all
is all*
Heart racing, you find a quiet space in the bustling fairgrounds. You're near the canal again, panicked and breathing heavily.
Calming your breath. Breathing. After a few minutes, you see the goblin walking through the fair, tiny amid the shapes of human adults. They meet your gaze and walk over to stand by your side. They shake their head, as if disappointed in you. Then they point to the river.
You shake your head emphatically.
They shake their head and then point again to the river. *Look.*
You're sitting on the very edge of the canal now, watching Maybe and her sister float downstream.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The goblin points twice, as if saying 'watch carefully.']]You grab it, and the goblin pulls you back aboard, sopping wet and shivering.
Maybe is almost to her sister's boat now.
"Maybe!" You shout.
She doesn't hear you.
The goblin plunges the pole into the river and the boat comes to a stop a few meters from the entrance to the tunnel. The other boat is still moving somehow, but is not passing you.
The goblin motions to the tunnel, then points two fingers at Linh and Maybe, as if saying 'watch closely.'
Maybe pulls herself into Linh's boat, messing up the mandala. "Mom said to stick together!" Maybe says. "You left me!"
Linh sits up and looks at her. She seems perfectly calm, not at all like she had just been woken up.
"Well Mom doesn't control us, Grace. You're old enough to be on your own now. You have a very special thing that no one can ever take away from you called //autonomy//."
The sun is bright on their side of the river, hot, and summer-seeming. On your side of the river, where you sit watching the scene play out, the water is dark blue and the air is cold and thick with the silver of the cavern.
The young woman looks younger now, 16 or 17, and Maybe has lost several years as well, now 7 or 8 years old.
"Autonomy," lectures the teenager, "is when—"
"I know what autnumny means. You just wanted to ditch me so you could go make out with Adrian didn't you?"
"Who's to say. What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Are you?" Linh says. "What would you gain from that?"]]As you draw nearer to investigate the barn, you hear the sudden clash of cymbals being smacked together from somewhere inside. Then there is an ascending slide whistle noise and a loud "pop!" and there appears a little sky-blue goblin dangling their legs off the metal roof of the barn. They are wearing a tall, pointy hat, and a little, white coat.
Maybe looks at the goblin without changing her expression, then grabs your hand and marches past the barn.
"What was that all about?" you ask, brushing past row after row of corn.
"Don't even get me started," Maybe says. She still has a tight grip on your hand, and is pulling you at a faster pace through the field.
"Was that a goblin? Are goblins bad?"
"Goblins are good," she says. An ear of corn whacks you in the face. "Most of them."
Too bewildered to ask more questions, you allow yourself to be pulled along.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The corn barrage ends and you stumble out into another clearing.]]"I don know, I . . . I don't know."
"You just want to follow me around because you think I'm cool."
"You're being mean."
"I'll let you know something: you shouldn't follow people just because they're older than you and you idolize them. Just like you shouldn't copy people who you think are smarter. You should make your own decisions. Copying older people is just the same as letting someone else boss you around—you're not choosing for yourself. Doing something just because somebody else is doing it is just the same as letting people throw you around because they're smarter than you, and faster, and stronger. You need to be strong and fast or someone else is going to make up their mind for you. For instance—" Linh grabs her sibling from under the shoulders and dangles her over the water.
"Hey!" Maybe screams.
"Like this!" Linh throws her sister overboard.
Maybe lands in the water, flailing her arms in the sick, blue water. "Mom! Dad!"
No one comes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe is sitting beside you in the boat. She's crying, softly. Her eyes are puffy.]]The goblin looks somberly at Maybe, gives a gentle smile, and then snaps their fingers.
You and Maybe are standing back in the corn field at the very northern edge. A few hundred feet from you the ground becomes quilted, and a long, slow hill rises up from the cave floor.
Maybe kneels in the soft earth.
"Are you okay?"
She nods and shakes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay."]]You take a moment to breathe.
After a while, Maybe puts her head on your lap. Her breathing is slower and steadier now, and it's your turn to feel your heart beat faster. Her hand is on your knee.
After a moment of not knowing what to do with your arms, you put your hand on her shoulder. It feels right.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You stay like this for a very long time.]]Eventually Maybe lifts her head and fixes her hair and rubs her eyes. You help her stand, and, wordlessly, you begin to walk up the quilted hill.
The sunstone on the cavern ceiling far above becomes sparser as you walk further into the quilted region, and the area takes on a dusky, grey feeling. The ground is soft underfoot (as you might expect, the landscape being made of wool and thread). There is a long silence.
"Is your sister always like that?" you ask.
Maybe slows down a bit. "Kinda. She could be nice at times, too. She usually meant well."
"Was she why you came underground?"
"Partly. It's weird. Mostly it was //me// that I needed to fix, not my family, but our parents had big expectations of us. I wasn't doing very good in school. I hadn't been talking to my friends. I felt like I was being pulled in every different direction at once. And then that direction just became Down."
"I'm sorry about that," you say.
"You don't need to be sorry. It all worked out for the best. I love it down here. No parents, no friend groups to choose between, no quizzes to study for. I practice being decisive down here. And, best of all, my sister isn't here to make me question everything I do." She looks up. By this point, you've nearly reached the crest of the hill. "We should hurry, I think we're almost to the fort. You're it!" She shouts and tags you on the chest.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Run up after her.]]Giggling, you sprint up the hill after her, but as you reach the top, you notice she isn't laughing anymore.
You go to ask 'what's wrong?' but then you see it. Smoke in the distance, filling the air, giving everything a dusky, grey evening feeling.
"We're too late," she says.
In the valley, bringing light to the darkness blanketing the hills, there is a burning building—a castle keep, surrounded by a high wall with intermittent towers. The fire has spread to the surrounding towers and you can see people far below, evacuating and carrying their wounded friends as far from the fire as possible.
In the distance, you can hear a buzzing noise growing steadily fainter. In the dusk, you see the black outlines of what seem like person-sized wasps and the loping forms of massive beasts.
Just visible near the top of the tallest tower, there is another buzzing shadow, a giant wasp hovering outside the window on the top floor.
As the fire reaches the very top, a thin, human form leaps out of the window onto the back of the giant wasp. In her hand, she holds something that shines in the firelight. That is all you see before they zip away to join their retreating army.
"That must be Vespiridae," says Maybe. "I've heard people talking about her. I've never . . . seen her up close. She's a murderer."
Stunned only for a moment, she tears down the hill to help the retreating occupants of the fort.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You follow close behind her, each giant stride threatening to trip you up and send you rocketing down the hill.]]There's not much that can be done to stop the fire. For the next few hours, you help relocate people to the corn field where you came from, a safer place than anywhere in the quilted landscape to escape from the fire in the blanket barricades and pillow palisades.
The wounded are mostly civilians who resemble people made of pillows, though some are goblins, large ants, and ladybugs. Many of the quilted individuals have stuffing falling out of them from sword slashes or deep puncture wounds from stingers.
Maybe coordinates with the local authority, Captain Gadolin, a metallic humanoid with a strong jaw and a purple quilted cape that seemed to have been badly singed in the fire.
When everyone is settled, you find a quiet place on the hill to rest. Maybe and Gadolin are still talking down in the valley, a little ways off from the main group. They talk for a long while, Maybe saying very little and occasionally nodding her head sympathetically. Gadolin seems tired, defeated. Maybe gestures to the southeast, where the wasps retreated. Gadolin shakes his head. Maybe insists, again, and Gadolin relents, but points to the east. Then he calls to a soldier, who he dispatches at a sprint back the way you and Maybe came.
Laying down in the grass has made you realize how exhausted you are, and even with the sunstone shining in the distance, you find yourself slipping into unconsciousness.
You enter a restless sleep.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3B.]]
Maybe's sister has set up in the boat. She looks several years younger now, and so does Maybe.
"—to follow me around because you think I'm cool."
"This isn't fair."
Linh's voice is strong and commanding. "You wanna know something Grace? You shouldn't follow people just because they're older than you. Just like you shouldn't copy people who you think are smarter than you. You should make your own decisions. Copying older people is just the same as letting someone else boss you around. You're not thinking for yourself. For instance—" Linh picks her sibling up from under the shoulders and dangles her over the water.
"Hay!"
"Doing something just because somebody else is doing it is just the same as letting people throw you around because they're smarter and faster and stronger than you. Like this!" With that, Linh throws her sister overboard.
Maybe lands in the water, flailing her arms and legs in the unnaturally blue water. "Mom! Dad!"
There's no one around.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe is sitting beside you in the boat. She's crying, softly. Her eyes are puffy.]]"$name! Wake up!"
You open your eyes to Maybe's worried expression. Her face is lit softly by lantern light. There is a small crowd of quilted people resting around the small cavern. You've apparently been on the road for quite some time, they must have loaded you into the cart while you were asleep. Now, the group is at the very edge of the open plains that you had been traversing. Here, on the northern edge of the massive cavern, the walls grow close together again, and the path becomes maze-like and dark.
The warmth of your sleep dissipates as you stand. The cavern is cold. You bundle the blanket around your shoulders and shudder.
Maybe picks a fresh torch from the front of the wagon and a light blanket from the back, which she puts in her bag. "The refugees are heading further down the path from here, this is our stop."
"Where are we going?"
"Through these passages." She flicks a stone with a bit of metal and the torch flares to life. "Come on. We have a long walk."
You stand up in the wagon precariously and bundle your blanket tighter. Maybe holds out a hand. You step down on the wheel, but it slips, sending you off balance. Maybe catches you, harder than expected. Your ears get a little hot.
But Maybe turns away without a word and starts down a path leading away from the open road. And you're cold again.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take your crossbow and hurry after her.]]Following the border of the cornfield, you walk for what feels like half an hour, talking about how terrible South Dakota winters are, until Maybe suddenly stops.
"What's—" you start.
"Shh," she says. "Over there."
She draws her spear and levels it in the direction of an outcropping of tall rocks on a hill amid the grass. The white grass is thin up on the mound, which makes it look like the ground has frosted over. You duck down in the tall grass and it whispers around you.
Above the top of one of the lower rocks, you can see the back of someone's head. A pair of bright red ears poking up from behind the rock. You hear people laughing.
You look closer at the rock. What first appeared to be a large, smooth boulder, you realize is actually a giant, moss-covered bell. You wonder if it still works.
"We'd better avoid the path for now," Maybe whispers.
You stand and begin crouching around the rock outcropping at a good distance, but, before you can get even as far as half way around, a shout rings out over the plain.
"Oy!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["God damn it," says Maybe.]]"So, where exactly are we going?"
"This way."
You follow behind silently for a bit. ". . . Why?"
"Because."
You give her a look.
She stops to look at you then presses on. "We're going to the Wasps' palace. But we're making a detour first."
"What? Why?"
"To take back what they stole. And to make them pay."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[". . . Okay."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the detour?"]]Maybe takes a long, deep breath. "We are going to see Azaadi, Prophet of the Wavering Eye. She has a hut that's not too far off the path to the Wasps' palace. Gadolin suggested we make a stop. He said she would be able to help, but I think he's just stalling me until he can send reinforcements and send word to the Demarchy. But we really can't afford to wait around for their help."
"Why not?"
"We can do this on our own. And it needs to be done immediately. From how Gadolin was talking about the signal, I don't think we have even a second to spare. Can we just focus on walking?"
She pauses in front of a place where the path branches off three ways. Luminescent moss grows on the sides of the walls now in the presence of moisture, softly lighting the way. Maybe goes left. You follow.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the signal?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay."->". . . Okay."]]You follow the twisting path for a long while in silence.
Water drips somewhere out of sight. As you walk further, more and more of the walls are dotted with shards of crystal which glow brighter as you walk by them.
You finally ask, "Are you okay?"
She brushes past you. "I'm . . . fine."
"It's just. You've been acting weird and I—are you mad at me?"
". . . No. Not *mad*. Not at you."
"Then what?"
"Uhg. Okay. Ever since seeing the Pillow Fort burn I've been feeling . . . I don't know. I couldn't fight back. We didn't get there in time. I just. I just want to protect the people around me. I . . . want to protect you. And seeing you slip on the wagon reminded me of how fragile you are."
"Gee, thanks."
"No, no," she says, "I'm sorry. God. They're so ruthless and I . . . I don't want to lose you too."
"Me *too*?"
"I—I don't want to talk about it right now. I don't know. Maybe later," she says.
"That's okay. Do you wanna just walk quietly for a while?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Yeah," she says.]]"The signal is an old artifact they were keeping up in Fort Oreiller. I'm not sure how it works, but Gadolin said it summons something 'old and terrible.' A god."
"A god?"
"The Giesie made a lot of signals back when they were an empire. They made gods and then chained them up to make them work for them. The signal summons the god. We destroyed the signals a hundred years ago after the revolution."
"But you didn't get them all," you say.
"No. And now the Wasp Queen has the very last one. And she's probably going to use it as soon as she figures out how."
"If the signal is so powerful and the Queen is so ruthless then why aren't we waiting for help?"
"(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[//Cool! Yeah!//] You wanna wait? You can wait here."
"Maybe, wait," you say.
"You don't GET IT!" she whirls. "We have to stop them NOW. And I'm the best person to do it. What happened at the fort is exactly what they did to the Porter's Union. They burn and they kill. They did it to the Conclave and the Scintilites and they're not going to stop. So, please. Stay here. Or go back to the surface. Go to your family. I don't care. I would be faster without you anyway. I can't do this again."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Wait!"]]She drops the torch to the ground with a reverberating clatter and sprints off into the dim cave beyond. You grab the torch before it goes out and run after her, the fire whistling dim, threatening to go out. The passage splits and splits again, and after a while you can no longer hear her footsteps. There is no trace of her. All you can hear is the quiet whoosh of the wind in the luminescent moss and the drip, drip, drip of water pooling at the edge of the chamber, and flowing quietly somewhere deep and out of sight.
"//Maybe!//"
All your breath leaves you. Your voice bounces down the passages, eaten by rushing air. There is no one around to help. There is no noise other than your own voice haunting your throat and your heart beating in your chest and knees and ankles. As if it's coming from the floor of the cave. Like a heart that's beating for you that you can feel in your throat and fingertips. You wish it would quiet down. You wish it would stop all together.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Continue.->Continue1.]]You realize, as you take your first few steps up the passage, that this is the first time you've gone //up// (if: $goblindocks is "i hope they dont mind me walking on their roofs")[since you walked up the roofs of the fish district](else:)[since coming here]. It feels strange and difficult, like exercising a muscle you don't often use. Which, as you get a little winded from the stairs, you think, is literally what's happening.
The light from the sunstone is warm on your skin. It feels good after having been cold for so long.
You hear a thundering sound; the stairs grow slick with moisture. There is a waterfall here, at the top, thundering down from somewhere else in the cave, pooling and melting the stone straight through back below through a stone chute.
There is sunlight here, actual sunlight.
You can see the outside.
It's that hour in the afternoon when the entire world lights up bright orange. Everything is illuminated. Glinting in the sun, you see the reflection of metal. There's a small town over the trees. Red stucco roofs and white walls. The trees here are coniferous (cone bearing, like pines) instead of deciduous, like the ones in your hometown. In the distance is . . . the ocean. Which is weird because you don't live anywhere near the ocean. Maybe said that distances work differently in the Giesie. You must have come a long way.
Still, you could leave, right now, if you wanted to. You could scramble down the slight incline and run to the town and find somebody to use their phone to call your parents. You've already been gone all day, which isn't unusual, but it will be dark soon, and you have no idea how far you've traveled.
A drop of water lands on your nose. It drips off, to the ground and strikes the cave floor. And it slowly finds its way down, picking through the pebbles, hesitantly at first, then running down the incline.
You turn back to the waterfall. All those drop finding the quickest way down, their combined efforts thundering on the stone, shaping it into a chute, patient and strong. In the context of a single moment, each droplet is hardly strong enough to move itself, but together, over hundreds of years, they can shape a passage in the stone. They can break stone, apatite, corundum, even a whole Empire. You think of Maybe, alone, underground. And you cannot help but follow the example of the water cascading down.(Set: $wentup to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.]]You descend, following the light.
The stream runs along the path, crawling down through the stalagmites.
The dripping and the cold wind and the feeling of unceasing descent frightens you. Not to mention that you're completely lost. The wind reminds you that you have no way of relighting the torch if it decides to flick itself out.
But, as you walk deeper and deeper in the weakening torchlight, you start to see other, tiny lights, almost like the luminescent crystals, dotting the walls. You look closer at one, straining on tippy toes at the wall and you see a door, a little welcome mat and a tiny moonstone lantern. It reminds you of those fairy houses you see sometimes downtown. There are many other houses here, too, and, around you, you hear the buzz of activity from clefts in the wall. A couple of creatures, insect-sized goblinoids with wings like fairies, emerge from one of the houses, both just slightly larger than your fingernail.
"Oh, hello," you say.
"Eek!" They vanish entirely.
"Hm," you say. You go over to one of the cracks in the wall. There's a busted clay pipe here, full of silt. Tiny tables and sunstone lanterns have been arranged here, like a public area, restaurants and other buildings are chiseled from the terracotta. You lower the torch. "Good evening?" you say.
"Aaa!" they go. And in an instant, the entire courtyard is empty.
"Have you seen a girl pass by here?" you ask.
There's no response.
"What are you guys?"
Silence.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Fine," you say.]]You half run, half float down the cavern to the place where the path splits. You pass the quietly filling pool and you know now that it is connected to the waterfall above, and that all the water here is connected, the world below to the world above. You round the bend and bound down the staircase reverberating blue. The stream follows you on the side, falling down like gurgling silk in the stalagmites.
Down, down.
As you walk deeper and deeper in the weakening torchlight, you start to see other, tiny lights, almost like the luminescent crystals, dotting the walls. You look closer at one, straining on tippy toes at the wall and you see a door, a little welcome mat and a tiny moonstone lantern. It reminds you of those fairy houses you see sometimes downtown. There are many other houses here, too, and, around you, you hear the buzz of activity from clefts in the wall. A couple of creatures, insect-sized goblinoids with wings like fairies, emerge from one of the houses, both just slightly larger than your fingernail.
"Oh, hello," you say.
"Eek!" They vanish.
"Hm," you say. You go over to one of the cracks in the wall. There's a busted clay pipe here, full of dry, grey silt. Tiny tables and sunstone lanterns have been arranged here, like a public area, restaurants and other buildings are chiseled from the terracotta. You lower the torch. "Good evening?" you say.
"Aaa!" they go. In an instant, the entire courtyard is empty.
"Have you seen a girl pass by here?" you ask.
Silence.
"I'm looking for my friend."
A goblin appears, peaking over her table, just her eyes and nose.
"Hi," you say. "Did someone my size pass through here recently?"
"Oh it was so loud," she says.
"Her footsteps?" you ask.
"Like an earthquake," she answers. "Elders thought it was the tax-takers from the stories, but then it was over. You should ask the prophet, she'd know where your friend is."
"Is that down the hall from here?"
The fairy-goblin points and nods, then she sinks behind the table again and turns invisible.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Thanks," you say.->"Fine," you say.]]//My love, come dance with me now
See how the evening flies//
//And as you sleep, my dear, know that I am near
To hold you when you arise//
You raise your hand to knock on the door, but hesitate for a moment. The song is so familiar. The woman singing it is no experienced singer, and the song is not a happy one, but she sings it with such an incredible lightness of spirit that your hand lays unmoving on the door until the spell of the song fades.
Before you can knock, the door opens and a short, robust, old woman with skin of stone and hair like yellow-orange leaves peaks her head out. The blue heron, now canary-sized, regards you neutrally.
"$name! Come in! Come in! I'm glad you were able to make it. There are a hundred patterns where our threads could have failed to cross. I'm glad we're a part of the pattern where they do."
She flows to the back of the room where a tea kettle has just begun to boil above the hearth. She takes it off the hook with her bare hand, which is made of the same smooth, grey stone as the rest of her body. She takes a hot-pad from the kitchen and puts the kettle on the hot-pad on the table.
You step inside hesitantly. "Um. Have you seen a girl about my height with short black hair and sweater and a spear?"
"Ah, that's where we are. No, my child, I have not seen her recently."
Your heart sinks.
"But you will find your way back to her soon, don't fret. You are moving like a leaf through the concourse of events, and everything comes to rest in the same basin. But—aha—I'm mixing metaphors."
"What's the name of that song you were singing?"
"I thought you might like Onawa's waltz."
"I've heard it before, somewhere."
"You may very well have. Or you will hear it years from now and remember it from this moment. I once heard that it's a song about a girl in a comma written by her father. I'm not sure if that's true. Would you like some tea?"
You accept her offer. The tea is exactly cool enough to drink. It tastes like coffee. (Like the smell of coffee, that is to say—we're not introducing you to that until you're older.)
"My sister's recipe," says the old woman, pouring her own cup. "Before her days of doing important things."
An old digital clock on the mantle reads: (if: $wentup is "yes")+(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[5:56](else: )+(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[5:42].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Your sister?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["It's very good."]]
(if: $breathofthenadir is "give")["Oh!" you say. "The demon co—" and then, not wanting to alarm her, (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Do you know what a demon core is?"]]]"Yes, a good horticulturist, but a very proud woman."
"Is proud a bad thing?" you sip the tea. It sure is tea.
"Oh no, not at all. It's understandable why she takes things so seriously, but it leaves her totally no room for having any sort of fun," she shakes her head.
"What does she do?" you ask.
"Oh, she was elected to the Assembly, let's see . . . Some time ago. Very important work, but very, very busy."(if: $breathofthenadir is "yes")[ Speaking of which. You saw her earlier, right?"
"I did," you say. "How'd you know that?"
"I'll explain later, but I need to you to know first that what she gave you is not what you think it is. That sapphire amulet is a thing called a Demon Core, and it's incredibly dangerous."
"What? The Madrigal gave me a bomb?"
"Essentially," Azaadi sighs.
"I don't understand," you say. You draw it up from under your shirt and unlatch it, laying it on the table.
"I don't understand it either," Azaadi says. "I assume she tricked you somehow; her plan was to sacrifice you to destroy Ekphrasis."
"Oh man. I guess it's a good thing I never really got the chance to use it," you say.
Azaadi picks it up. "If you would allow me, I can deactivate it," she looks to you.
"Of course," you say.
She stands up from the chair with an immense effort and halts, swaying at the edge of the table, setting her hands down on its frame to brace herself. She looks for a moment as though she's going to pass out, but takes a minute to breathe slowly, in and out, before moving again.
She picks the orb up gently by its center mass. She focuses on it for a moment, drawing her strength. The blue glow fades from the amulet, and it becomes a dull, round rock.
"That should do it." She puts the rock on the table. "Anyway! What were we talking about?"
"How grown-ups take things too serious," you say.
"Ah, exactly. There are serious pursuits, but it never helps to view things in terms of absolutes. It leads you to thinking like my sister. Things //must// be this way, we //must// defend ourselves from our enemies by whatever means necessary. Perhaps there's a time and a place for that, but it lacks deep understanding."](else:)[
"That makes sense. I think grown ups take things way too seriously too."
Azaadi laughs and the laugh feels like a warm pat on the head, like one of your moms tussling your hair.
"That's the thing exactly. There are serious pursuits, but it never helps to view things in terms of absolutes. It leads you to thinking like my sister. Things must be this way, we must defend ourselves from our enemies by whatever means necessary. Perhaps there's a time and a place for that, but it lacks deep understanding. Life is like a board game—you shouldn't let it hurt you, in fact, really, when it comes down to it, it can't. Only *you* can do that. So win or lose, you needn't get upset about it. It's just nice to play."]
"I like that idea," you say.
Azaadi scratches her chin. "Have you played this one human board game 'Clue'? Are they still making that?"
"Clue? I think so."
"Great Granite, I'd hoped so. I miss board games. My sister and I used to go to the surface all the time. For all the pitfalls of industrialization and global capitalism (which, really, is just one giant pit) you could never imagine any Giesie craftsperson making anything at all as intricate and masterful as Clue. And, when we played on the surface where my vision doesn't extend, Ode'imin and the others had a fighting chance of winning."(set: $shortontime to "true")(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision'?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What kind of tea is this?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Talk more about the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue.'"]]"Thank you, it's a blend with roots from the surface."
"You got this from the surface?"
She laughs. "You look so surprised! Of course, I go to the surface all the time. It's refreshing to be in a place where my kind of vision does not extend. My sister and I used to explore up there all the time when we were children. It was beautiful. Wide open meadows and clear, blue sky, like an infinite crack in the roof of the cavern. We loved the sun and the rain. Anything that the sky did. The stars! Gosh. We always said the stars looked like little flecks of mica floating in the dark, eternal water."
You can't help but smile.
"If you're asking me, I think she took the surfacer's industrial revolution personally. It was like the one pure thing we had left was being corrupted, just like the G.S.E. had been hundreds of years before."
"Is that where—? Oh, sorry."
"It's okay, $name, you can ask about anything," she says. "If you're asking if that's where I got this digital clock, you're absolutely right. I found it at the bottom of a cliff not too far from here."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision'?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That sounds really nice."]]"Look closely at my eyes," she says.
You lean over the table with your eyebrows raised. Azaadi's eyes are light brown, tinged slightly with that radiant blue, which eats outward from the brown like a corrosive watercolor paint. "They're hard to look away from," you say.
"Like the Nadir," she says. "The closer you get, the harder it is to turn away. Staring too closely at the Nadir was what slipped the creeping sky beside my skull."
"But it gave you . . . magic powers?" you ask.
"It made my head swim with visions of every possible future. Also chronic fatigue. But, yes," she nods and smiles, "magic powers, too."
"I'm sorry you got chronic um . . . That sounds uncomfortable. When did that happen?"
"Oh it's not too bad. Some days it's everything I have to just get out of bed, but others it's almost like before, when I had the energy of a child. It happened a long time ago. When my sister and I were children. She still blames me for it, in a way."
"What? But you got, like, afflicted! That wasn't your fault."
Azaadi just kind of shrugs. "We all knew you couldn't get too close to the Nadir without losing a little bit of yourself. Bite-sized pieces. For some who stare too long it's their voice, for others, their sense of time or rationality. For me it was my energy for daily tasks. A little less visible. We were told that fact, but some people, I guess" she gestures to herself, "have to learn the hard way. Perhaps my sister was jealous that I got special treatment after getting irradiated like that and having that bite taken out of me with those blue teeth. But for whatever reason we just kept growing apart after that. We haven't talked to each other in over forty years."
"That's terrible. How can she blame you for something like that?"
"I don't know," she says. "It is what it is. I regret not having her around, but I have Garrire and I have the fairy goblins to keep me company, and in a way I have the whole world, and the whole future right here in my living room. You saw the quivering aspen trees on the way in, right?"
"Uh huh," you say. "They're really pretty."
"Thank you. Although it's not a plural entity in the usual sense. The trunks are just manifestations of a single, enduring creature just as you and I are temporary expressions of the universe. The aspen tree has roots that extend all the way through the Subterranean Assembly. The root system branches through the Assembly like the flow of time, splitting and re-merging. And, just as molecules travel throughout the roots and the mycorrhizae, people travel through the network of time, flowing through the intersections, meeting up and growing apart."
"So . . . you can see the future?"
"It is an oracular sort of vision, yes. But there is no one future, just branching paths and possibilities." She gestures. "In this timeline, for instance, I can see that your tea is getting cold."
“Dang.”
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Talk more about the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue.'"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Anyway," she says.]]
She looks at you peculiarly. "Don't be shy about asking questions, $name. I promise I won't take it personally."
"What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't feel bad about what happened with Maybe. Sometimes you ask one too many questions; you never know when one more will be too many. But questions aren't bad things. Our little warrior is just having a hard time. She'll move past it."
You're stilled for a moment with a strange hollow feeling.
"I don't know if she mentioned this to you already, but you remind her so much of someone she used to work with. And I'm sorry if you've already heard this—the details on all these little branches can get oh so tangled in my mind. But," she takes a sip. "Your friend Huynh used to work with another young upstart, Arden, a fire elemental of the Porter's Union. That was when she first came down here, almost a year and a half now(if: $chain is "yes")[."
You recall the broken chain you found in the river what feels like ages ago, around the time you met Maybe. Your fingers curl around it in your pocket.
"I found something with the name 'Ardent Joy' earlier. Do you think that might have been theirs?"
You take out the chain. It reads, faintly:
"Signal 22. DL HL. Ptr's Unn Rep: Ardent Joy."
You hold it out to Azaadi. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Do you think this might have belonged to them?"]]](else: )[—stop me if you don't want to hear this."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["No," you say. "Go on."]]]
Azaadi takes a sip of tea and continues. "(if: $oogabooga is "true")[Anyway, ]Huynh and Arden did contract work for the Union until about a year ago. They were doing routine work with the Scintilites when the very first whisperings of the wasps came. There was an attack they could have never expected, they were caught off-guard, and Arden was killed in the skirmish."
Your hands are cold.
"Your friend Huynh blames herself for the death, of course. She hasn't realized it, I think, but life underground has been hard for her. It's hard to grow up without parents. And although she would never go back to the surface to find them again by herself, I think it might be the best thing for her. It would be the best thing for Vespiridae, too. And I can't imagine what their parents are feeling. They must think they're dead. The underground has made them hard. Like . . . rocks. When they could be flowers. You know?"
You nod, even though you're not quite sure what she's talking about.
"That goes for you, too, young one. Don't forget that you're a child. I don't mean that you're not capable of acting for yourself, you're 12 years old. But don't be afraid to ask for help. You can let yourself just be a kid. That's okay. It's always //okay//."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision'?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Anyway," she says.]]The Prophet stands up with a big sigh and cracks her back—a sound somewhere between two stones grinding together and a tree creaking in the wind.
"You have a few important choices to make in the near future. There are a number of outcomes, and some of them you might consider quite bad. Even if you listen to my advice, which I think you will, there's a good chance that our small corner of the world will rejoin the earth a little earlier than expected."
"You have a lot of choices to make. And, of course, you can always just walk away. Never forget that. But something tells me you don't want to do that. And I'm honestly not certain for myself if that's because of your sense of obligation, or adventure, or because you feel something growing between you and someone whose name rhymes with //Perhaps//?"
You blush.
"Often the things we think are choices are really no choice at all, and, more often still, the little, everyday things are the choices that really matter, even though we don't think of them as choices. You're making decisions right now about your heartbeat and the airflow in your body that affect everything else you'll ever do. I'm not saying you're making good or bad decisions. I don't think there is such a thing. There is never a fundamentally right or wrong choice, but every moment //is// a choice . . . and if you care about the result then be sure you're doing everything you can. But try not to get too caught up in the game of it. Remember that it's always just a game, and there's never ever any right or wrong so long as you do your best to make sure everyone else is having fun too."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Open the door.]]You walk for a while.(set: $maybe to "prophet")
The crystals glow brighter as you circle down, down.
You come to another room in the cavern system where the path diverges.
"This is it," Maybe says.
To the left, the path ascends into what seems like daylight, but is probably just more sunstone.
Maybe leads you down the right path, down a set of natural-looking stairs, following the pink crystal light. You notice tiny doors built in the stone all over the passage here, like little entranceways to tiny fairy houses. There's even a miniature courtyard in a broken terracotta pot, but no one seems to be home.
You reach the bottom. The passage continues here, almost perfectly cylindrical, strange algae-like structure, green and yellow, pitch black at the very end with a glassy sheen like a bird's eyeball. And then, when it blinks, you realize it is actually a giant bird's eyeball.
"Hey, Garrire," Maybe says.
The heron clacks its beak and draws its head back from the tunnel opening, tilting its head at you, curious. As it does, it seems to shrink, until it has become the size of a regular blue heron, and then further, as it darts through a window in a little dirt hut on the side of the cavern.
You glance around the room as Maybe walks towards the hut. A glade glowing white with moonstone over the white grass. The water pools here, wide and deep in a grove of quivering aspens. Their roots all lean toward the center of the grassy chamber, and their trunks all lean away like they're forming a bowl. There is a wind at your back. The grass sways in it, the leaves shake on the trees, and the whole cavern glows like the moon itself is shining through the bottom of the pool. On the far side of the chamber, the path keeps going.
Off to the side, there is a little dome-shaped hut built into the wall, behind a garden. There is warm light and soft singing coming from inside beyond the sturdy front door.
It is a soft and gravelly voice, just loud enough for you to hear.
//I've been waiting all the day long
To see the light in your eyes//
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I think she's expecting us," Maybe says.]]One of the older kids in the neighborhood, Angela, is folding paper cranes almost every time you see her. A few weeks ago, she gave you a necklace made out of three of them. Your ama wants you to write a thank you note, but you won't be able to give it to her for a while because their family went on vacation. And because thank you notes are hard. (But it's still very important to write them.)
You heard Angela's family might be moving away forever soon. Three birds: red, yellow, and blue, all roosting together on a tiny power line. Of course, there's the chance of the necklace getting lost if you go underground with it, but you've got to be the coolest kid in the culvert, so . . . You tie it around your neck and walk outside.
The sun is hot on the back of your neck, but there is a cool wind misting up from the water. At night, this is a great place to catch fireflies.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The culvert entrance.]]
(set: $pocket to "paper cranes")Twelve glorious colors of all-surface Art Pigment. Well, really more like eleven because the pink one is missing—okay maybe more like ten and a half since the sky blue has been worn down to a little stub, but! you need them handy anyway. You can't go caving without sidewalk chalk. Caves are made out of rocks, which are basically sidewalks.
Anyway, the pink one is missing is because Maria's younger brother Carlo put it in his mouth and there's no way you were going to use that again after that kind of incident.
Maria changed schools last year and since they live across town now, you haven't seen her in forever. It would be nice to get together again. But, there's no time for those kinds of thoughts right now, because you're going on an adventure.
You tuck the box in your pocket and head down to the stream.
The sun is hot on the back of your neck, but there is a cool wind misting up from the water. At night, this is a great place to catch fireflies.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The culvert entrance.]]
(set: $chalk to "yes")Your parents planted echinacea (a very tall kind of flower with pink petals) in the garden right in front of the sidewalk. As you go down the front steps and past the garden, you reach up to a low stalk and manage to pluck the blossom. The stem is super spiky green, but you tuck it behind your ear and skip down the street with it bobbing spikily up and down. You arrive at the river, and you walk down the little crumbling factory staircase.
The sun is hot on the back of your neck, but there is a cool wind misting up from the water. At night, this is a great place to catch fireflies.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The culvert entrance.]]
(set: $pocket to "flower")
You stand in the mouth of it, the depth of its wide O enveloping your tiny body like a dark, full-body halo. The squirrel chatter and crow calls fade into a hollow silence that is absolute, and deafening. Drips of water in the dark. You take a step into the culvert, and follow the gurgle of the water as it becomes a hollow echo in the wide, unnatural cavern.
Something about hidden spaces has always called to you. Secret networks of subterranean tunnels, sunless lakes and karst formations. It's exhilarating; it borders on the abject, that feeling of needing to go (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[deeper], knowing that depth may draw you into a space you can never pry yourself free of. It draws you in. A kind of claustrophilic impulse that waits for you to take another step down, and in, and down. ("Claustrophilic." Remember the word "cloister," like where monks live? That's where "claustro" comes from. And "philic," you know, means "to love.")
The culvert slopes down. You take off your shoes and let the cool water run over your toes. It gurgles like a lizard.
Before too long, the light from the sun has fallen in a little circle behind you and becomes no longer enough to see very much at all by. Your eyes turn the darkness purple.
And, in that moment, when the sun is totally gone—and when you realize your wind-up Hello Kitty flashlight is complete garbage—you see a soft light, ahead, deeper in the metal tunnel as it curves oddly to the side.
There is some kind of bioluminescent moss here, making a soft, green light. (Remember that "-escent" indicates a process or property of something, and "lumin" means "light." So bioluminescent = life + light + process.)
The metal gives way to limestone, a smooth floor of a natural cavern that the water must have hollowed out over the course of millions of years. It makes the space at the end of the culvert into an oddly jagged, oddly smooth passage winding down and down and down. And down. This is the furthest you've ever been. It's beautiful.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The boundary-marker statuette.]]As you continue, the cave gets trickier. You have to crouch to avoid low overhangs and jump down short ledges where the cavern suddenly switches back, crawling under itself, snaking all around so that you're not sure which direction you're pointing at its end.
Not that you're in any trouble of getting lost yet, because there's only been one path. Just to make sure, you keep pausing and turning around, memorizing the landmarks. Although, there aren't really any landmarks. Just grey stone and moss.
After a few minutes of pushing forward through the narrow spaces, you come to what looks like a dead end. The room opens up, but the way forward is blocked by a pile of rubble reaching all the way to the ceiling. The floor here is made out of smooth, cut stone. The moss isn't growing on the stone bricks, even though they're closest to the water.
There is a stone statuette here, covered in moss.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take a closer look.]]
Very carefully, without bumping against any of the rubble above or beside you, you begin to scoot through, inch by inch on your stomach over the cold cave floor. The ground is rough, and it's exhausting even to travel a few feet. You rest frequently, pressing your hot cheeks against the cool stone floor.
And, after a minute, you're through.
It's a little darker on the other side, less of the luminescent moss is growing here, but you can see the way forward. There are scars on the stone, evidence of mining, maybe, disfigurements where the moss doesn't seem to grow.
Also, you can just barely make out what look like fairly recent scorch marks scattered on the walls around the rubble. Weird.
In the distance, you can see two diverging passages. The first is lit by a flickering blue, and the second is lit in steady, redish-pink.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take the first passage.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take the second passage.]]
Though most of the statue is obscured, there is a part of it still uncovered. There are words inscribed on the stone that read:
(align:"<==")+(box:"X=")["G. S. E. Boundary Marker;
Southeast End. Est. 612.
Her Chorus of Boundless Progression."]
As you crouch down, however, you notice a path that the rubble has failed to fully block. There is a passage just small enough for the smallest person to barely fit through.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Crawl through.->The rock hardly seems stable, but . . . ]]You step through into a dark grey corridor running perpendicular (at a right angle) to the last one. You close the door.
This corridor is different from the others. The floor here is smooth granite and the hall is open to a large courtyard of trees and stained glass and banners. There is dim white light coming from above, giving the impression that this place is somehow lit by the moon. In the distance, there are other buildings, houses with wooden roofs, and a single large, pointed building casting light through its many slotted windows.
To your right, there is a large statue of a sleeping bird with its head tucked behind its wing.
You flatten yourself against the wall—you hear clacking and the chatter of two hushed voices coming down the corridor.(set: $compass to "no")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Hide behind the bird statue.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Dive back behind the door.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go up and ask them for directions.]]
(set: $kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego")
The voices and the clanking of metal shoes grow louder. Rounding the bend, lit by the glow of a golden lantern, you can see two people. The one talking is a man whose head is a cloud. He wears a suit of bright gold armor, and it reflects the light of his lantern. The old woman is still nowhere to be seen.
His companion is wearing robes that look like a carpet and has a dimly-glowing street lamp where his head should be. They're pretty funny-looking.
As they clank down the corridor, you can hear one of them saying, "—new agenda is not going to accomplish anything! We need to take action into our own hands. If we've learned anything, that starts with securing the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal]. It should be defended, not hidden."
You try to nudge the door further closed, but it gives a monumental creak.
"Quiet, Cirrus. There's someone here," says the other voice.
Quicker than you can say "quiet coyote," the door opens and you are seized by the back of your shirt and held up like a kitten that got in the yogurt.
"Hey!" you scream.
"Luma! It seems we have a rat," says the cloud man.
"Oh don't be rude. Look at how little she is. She must have gotten in by accident."
"Ha! No, he's too intelligent-looking. Look at his eyes. This must be what their spies look like. Perhaps their advance infantry."
You can see all sorts of glittering medals and ribbons pinned on to the cloud man's armor.
"She—he can't possibly—. Cirrus! Put them down. They're shaking."
"*Absolutely* not. This is a prime example of the demonstrable threat of the imminent human invasion."
There's something strange about their voices, the way they resonate. It's clear they're not speaking English, but you understand them perfectly.
"They're clearly a child, Cirrus."
"You can’t know that for sure. I’ll be putting them in the library until we can show the council."
"That's really not necessary, please. Child, what should we call you? Do you have a name?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Me?"->Me?]]You hear the *click clack, click clack* of metal shoes on the stone.
A harsh, deep voice is saying, ". . . buried waste is responsible for the Fulcrum itself! As soon as they find out there's more real estate down here they're coming to get it. And now we finally have the power to at least—*at least*—send a warning."
A softer voice says, "I . . . don't know. Starting with violence might doom us quicker. You only have to look at a hundred years of their history to see that. We may have tens of thousands of years between us, but I still believe that they're capable of being reasoned with. We have our differences, but we're not *too* dissimilar. Just like you and me."
"You won't defend the proposal with me at the meeting, then?"
"I don't know if I could go that far. I just don't think I could abide any kind of violence, especially preemptive violence. Besides, I think we should focus on Ekphrasis first. If we survive that, then we can start thinking about how to prevent things like it in the future."
"I'll put you down as a 'maybe' then."
There's something strange about their voices, the way they resonate. It's clear they're not speaking English, but you understand them perfectly.
Your foot squeaks a little on the smooth stone floor.
Both voices stop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Peak through a little crack in the door . . . ]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go up and ask them for directions.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stay hidden.]]You lean forward and put your eye up to a little hole in the door.
Lit by the glow of a golden lantern, you can see two people in a hallway with one end open to a large, blue-lit courtyard. One is a man made out of clouds wearing a suit of bright gold armor reflecting the lantern light. The other is wearing robes that look like a carpet and has a dimly-glowing street lamp where his head should be. You think they're pretty funny-looking.
"Woah," you giggle.
"Less of a 'maybe,' more of a tentative 'no,'" says the lantern-headed person.
"Hush—what was that," says the cloud man.
You draw back from the door—but, quicker than you can say "quiet coyote," the door swings open and you are seized by the back of the shirt.
"Hey!" you scream.
"Ah, Luma, it seems we have a rat," says the cloud-headed man, holding you.
"Oh don't be rude. Look at how little she is. She must have gotten in by accident."
"He's too intelligent-looking. Look at his eyes. This must be what their spies look like. Perhaps their advance infantry. Are they all so small, I wonder?"
There are all sorts of glittering medals and ribbons pinned on to the cloud-man's armor.
"She—he can't possibly—. Cirrus! Put them down. They're shaking."
"Absolutely not. This is a prime example of the demonstrable threat of the imminent human invasion."
"They're clearly a child, Cirrus."
"You can’t know that for sure. I’ll be putting them in the library until we can show the council."
"That's really not necessary, please. Child, what should we call you?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Me?"->Me?]]"So, um," begins the lantern-headed person, "I'm Luma, but, $name, you should know, now probably isn't the best time for you to be down here. We are currently ahm . . . well? Deliberating. There is a great deal of internal strife around here: suspicion, in-fighting, and how would you say it," here they give a pointed look to their friend, "warmongering? Cirrus?"
Cirrus shrugs. "Call it what you will. I call it defending the Demarchy. It's the right move to be on the offensive with surface folk."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Warmongering?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's a demarchy?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's surface-folk?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Alright. Into the library with you," Cirrus says.]]The raft is rickety, but you decide it's sea-worthy.
Picking up speed in the current, you wind through another culvert. At intervals, the metal opens up and you can see city lights in the distance, a kind of dim purple and flickering pink.
The river's really picked up speed now and you worry for the integrity of your raft. The path splits inside the culvert, and you decide to go right, toward the city. You hear something. Someone's calling out to you. (if: $compass is "yes")[It's that girl with the striped sweater you saw from across the gulf of the confluence. She's](else:)[There's a girl here,] standing precariously on a similar raft flying down a parallel tunnel.
You see her in the brief instances of barred windows between the two passages, flickering in and out of existence. She looks at you with a curious expression. "Hey, what's up," she mouths over the roaring.
The compass, which you nearly lose your balance checking, is pointing directly at her.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Who are you!" you say.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where are we going!" you say.]]Three people come out from behind the rock. The first is some kind of devil—face like a sphynx cat, with red, leathery skin, a long, black coat, and a dozen or more silver prayer pendants hanging around his neck. As he steps out, he grabs a black, wide-rimmed hat from off the boulder and lays it on his head. His red ears poke through.
To the devil's right is a featureless wooden mannequin holding a violin. To his left, unfolding her wings, is an angel with strong arms and a flaming-haloed head. Her golden bow has an arrow knocked, held slack and pointed at the ground.
"Hail travelers!" calls the cat-devil. "It is my humble duty to inform y'all as to the fact that this is a toll road!"
"Yo since when!" yells Maybe.
The cat-devil whispers some question to the celestial. She whispers an answer. He calls back:
"That don't matter!"
"Oh, hey, look at that," Maybe says, "we're not even standing on the road!"
He whispers again to the celestial, who rolls her eyes and whispers something back.
"That don't matter either!"
Maybe has already turned toward the cornfield. "We're going around! Goodbye!" she calls back.
The cat-devil half turns to the celestial again, but pauses, holds up a finger and turns back.
He points at you two. "You can't go around!"
"We already are!"
"Well stop that!"
"I'm on business with the Porter's Union!"
"That, tertiarily, also don't matter!" says the devil.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Pay the toll. And we will let you pass,"]] the angel says.Maybe glances at you. "What do you think?"
"What's the toll?" you call out.
"Ten flats," says the celestial.
"That's a lot . . ." Maybe whispers to you.
"It's a good road," says the cat-devil. "Don't find roads like this one all over whatmore(if: $charmed is "yes")[. Just pay the fine and we'll let you pass. Or . . ." he says, "You look like smart kids. We could play a game . . ."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["A game?" ]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["It's . . . not even paved?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["We'll pay it."]]
](else:)[."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["It's . . . not even paved?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["We'll pay it."]]]
"I don't even know if we have ten flats," says Maybe. She rummages around in her bag. "Okay. I have exactly ten flats. Azaadi must have known about the road's change in," she frowns. "Ownership."
You walk up the hill and hand the ten coins to the devil.
"Thanks humbly," he says. "I appreciate the lack of confrontation. Guildenstern hates it when things get violent."
The mannequin nods solemnly.
"Your 'business operation' is clearly illegitimate," says Maybe.
"Ooh hoo!" the angel chuckles. "We're using our big girl words today?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I will rip your wings off," Maybe says.]]"Your road is a pile of shale!" Maybe shouts.
"Woah!! Woah! Woah now, okay!" says the devil. "If we're getting down to brass tacks about it—my associates and I would prefer to extract payment from you while you're alive, but we can easily do it when you ain't."
"Try me." Maybe readies her spear.
With a sudden burst of her wings, the celestial leaps into the air and fires off two shots at you in an explosion of light. Maybe deflects both in a singing flash and begins closing the distance to the devil. He rolls to the side and whips two revolvers out from his coat, firing one after the other at Maybe.
In a second, she's upon him. The cat-devil dodges wildly as she swings. There's no way she should be able to move that fast.
The celestial shouts, "Priory!" and slings a curved sword at the devil from the air. They catch it, and parry an upward blow. A foot promptly catches them in the chest. Maybe is tall for her age, but the devil, Priory, has an easy height advantage. The mannequin lifts his bow to the violin.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Fire at the mannequin.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Fire at the celestial.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Hey can we please stop fighting!?"]]After a second of hesitation, you fire off a shot at the mannequin. It connects squarely, embedding in the wood of his chest.
He looks down at the "wound" and then back up again at you. You laugh nervously.
Instinct launches you to the side as a quavering bolt leaps out of the mannequin's violin. The fizzling air tastes like G minor. Chunks of earth spray the area around you. You try to reload, but before you can even reach for another bolt, another blast shatters the ground in front of you. The smell of the chord burns the inside of your nose like nail polish remover or a deep nasal swab. You scramble to your feet, getting the dirt in your fingernails.
You catch a shot of the scene on the hill—Maybe disarms Priory, but is knocked flying off the mound by a kick from the celestial.
"Azelion, get Balsam!" yells the devil, yanking his sword from the dirt.
Launching back into the air, Azelion pulls out two small stones and cracks them together once, twice.
There is a rumbling sound from the rocky outcropping, and one of the stones, the largest, begins to move.
A towering troll-golem-creature shudders to life and shakes itself free of the dirt and moss. It leers over Maybe.
"Oh silt—" she says before it grabs her.
The golem moves back to where it was standing on the hill next to the moss-covered bell.
Wait, the bell.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do something stupid.]]After a second of hesitation, you fire off a shot at the celestial. It whizzes past her wing and sails off into the dark.
She turns, almost bored, to you, tiny on the wide open ground with no accessible cover anywhere in sight. The glowing arrow that was knocked and pointed at Maybe in the blink of an eye is shot at you.
You trip backwards avoiding the shot as it embeds itself with a thunk below the grass in between your feet.
"What are you playing at, little one? Are you actually trying to kill me? Are you doing a violence? Do you fancy yourself a tiny mercenary? That's hilarious. I am literally rolling on the floor laughing."
"No you're not!" you shout.
She lets two arrows loose at Maybe, driving her back away from Priory.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Just let us through!"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Leave my friend alone!"]]Frustratingly, everyone is too busy fighting to pay attention to you.
Instinct launches you to the side as a quavering bolt leaps from the mannequin's violin. The fizzling air tastes like G minor. Chunks of earth spray the air around you.
"Um! Excuse me!" you shout. The celestial fires at Maybe and cuts a strand of hair from her head.
Another violin blast shatters the ground in front of you. The smell of the chord burns the inside of your nose like nail polish remover or a deep nasal swab. You scramble to your feet, getting the dirt in your fingernails.
You catch a shot of the scene on the hill—Maybe disarms Priory, but is knocked flying off the mound by a kick from the celestial.
"Azelion, get Balsam!" yells the devil, yanking his sword from the dirt.
Launching back into the air, Azelion pulls out two small stones and cracks them together once, twice.
There is a rumbling sound from the rocky outcropping, and one of the stones, the largest, begins to move.
A towering troll-golem-creature shudders to life and shakes itself free of the dirt and moss. It leers over Maybe.
"Oh silt—" she says before it grabs her.
The golem moves back to where it was standing on the hill next to the moss-covered bell.
Wait, the bell. If what Maybe was saying about sound is true . . .
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do something stupid.]]"If you want to meet back up with Maybe, you'll find her sitting on one of the natural columns overlooking the Conclave. Sit with her. Let her speak first.(if: $nobody is "yes")[ Oh!" she exclaims. "And . . . you'll need this." She takes out a carefully folded piece of paper and hands it to you. "The path through the maze.]"
You follow Azaadi to the door, and you're back in the white moonlight. The white trees seem to wink at you.
"Thank you," you say. "For everything." You hold her hand. And you vanish beyond the rustling leaves.
You move down out of the clearing with the gentle grade of the water. The passage loops and echoes, but the needle of the compass does not waver. And you do not waver either.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow the compass.]]
"You're going to rip my wings off?" the angel says. "With your little //baby arms//?"
"In a heartbeat," Maybe snarls.
"Guys please," you whisper.
"(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[How About Now]," says the celestial. In a blinding flash, their body erupts in fire. They lung at Maybe.
"Well, shoot, I guess we're fightin," says the cat-devil.
The mannequin shakes his head regretfully.
Maybe and the angel are blade to blade. Maybe is holding her own, but the celestial is grinning ear to ear and growing brighter with every strike.
The cat-devil draws two pistols reluctantly from his black coat and points them at you. He sizes you up, then shakes his head "Gods," he says. "I ain't about—you seem alright lil' one. What'd you say your name was?"
"I'm $name," you say.
"Look, $name, this here seems like an issue between your friend and ours, I don't see why we oughta be anything less than moderately distrustful acquaintances. To be honest, I just came into a reasonable rockfall myself an' I ain't as strapped for cash as usual. If you can call your friend off, I'm sure we can work something out. The name is Priory, by the way," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You nod, cautiously and turn to the fight.]]With a spark of an idea like a springboard off the ground, you launch forward up the little hill.
"Come and get me!" you yell at the golem. It turns. You jump on top of the giant bell.(if: $Maybesfightin is "yes")[
Azelion lets loose the shot, but it glances off the back of the golem.]
"What are you doing?!" Maybe shouts. "Get out of here!"
With a slow rumble, the golem turns to you in confusion, and, before the rest of the group can realize what's happening, swings at you with its free hand.
You jump over the arc of the arm like it's an extra-heavy, probably lethal jump rope.
"Get ready!" you shout to Maybe.
"What?" she yells.
You slide behind the bell and the golem strikes it square on the side blasting it backwards with a ringing crash. It bounces down the side of the hill, splitting brass resounding through the wide, wide cavern.
And, as it comes to rest on the grass, you hear church bells ringing from deep below the ground.
"Oh crap," says Azelion.
The small hill erupts in a shower of dirt and rock as a massive, black wolf-creature, violet shards of crystal sprouting from it at all angles bursts out of the ground. It barks, and the sound of church bells ringing blasts through the air like a shockwave. Your opponents are knocked off their feet, and Maybe shakes loose of the golem's grasp.
She snatches her spear and runs to you. She seems shaky on her feet. She grabs your hand and pulls you into a hug.
Before you can run much further, the giant hound-creature bounds to you and leans down, putting its head on its front paws and wagging its tail.
The bandit group has been sprawled across the hill. Priory, sprawled on his chest, recovers his hat and twists it back in place on his head. "Ho-ly shit," he says. Even the mannequin looks surprised, inasmuch as a mannequin can look anything.
The wolf is panting and wagging its tail(if: $hand is "squid")[.
"He remembers us!" you say.
"Is that a good thing?" Maybe says back.](else:)[ as he bounds around the clearing.]
From across the hill it seems like Priory and the bandits are trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible while they hurry to collect their scattered instruments and rush to the relative safety of the corn field. The wolf bounds after them, playfully.(if: $Maybesfightin is "yes")[
As they retreat, you can hear Azelion's harsh whisper
"Priory you asshole! That kid almost merc'd me!"
"Wings, look—"
"You sat on your ass," she jabs a finger at them, "and you almost let me die. We're *done*."
"Azzie, hey—"
"Don't 'Azzie' me you fractious, bathypelaging—"](else:)[
As they retreat, you can hear Azelion's harsh whisper
"Priory you asshole! That kid almost merc'd me!"
"Wings, look—"
"You are a terrible goddamn shot," she jabs a finger at them, "We're *done*."
"Azzie, hey—"
"Don't 'Azzie' me you fractious, bathypelaging, mother pearl—"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's get out of here," Maybe says.]]
(set: $prioryhelps to "yes")As you run, hand in hand, out of the Sunless Meadow, the ground beneath your feet turns quilted, pillowy, and the landscape begins to rise into as much of a mountain the confines of the cavern will allow. It rises steadily up, becoming greener and greener. Brown thread holds it together. It's soft underfoot, and hard to run on, but that doesn't stop the two of you from scrambling up the side of it like a bouncy castle.
"Um. Good job back there," you say.
"I hear a 'but,'" she says.
"Yeah . . ." you say. "Um. I know we tried running away from them, but I think we could have gotten out of there without fighting. We might have gotten hurt, and we might have hurt them."
Maybe fiddles with a loose thread in her sweater. ". . . I know. I . . . Hm," she says. "I know we should have tried harder not to fight, but . . . My whole life I've avoided fighting. And I got pushed around. I was a pushover, I mean. I let my indecision make it so that other people make my decisions for me. Mostly my sister. I never wanna feel like that again."
You listen in silence.
"The first step to loving and protecting others is loving and protecting yourself, right? I—hm." Maybe looks back across the Meadow. You can just barely make out the Demarchy from this distance(if: $notwet is "yes")[, the soft yellow light coming from the crack in the wall of Open Hands]. And then, off to the right, much closer than before, the Wasps' palace.
(if: $wet is "yes")["Wait, okay," she says. "How the fracture did you know that ringing that bell would signal a Church?"
"What do you mean a Church?" you say.
"That big wolf thing—they attack whenever a bell rings."
(if: $frogshown is "hell yeah")["I guess I just figured that if a noise maker like yours could summon a bunch of little frogs, then a bell might do the same thing."
"Huh. You're a smart cookie, $name. I think you should give yourself a little more credit."](else: )["Lucky guess, I guess. I figured it would at least make a lot of noise."
"You're a smart cookie, $name. I think you should give yourself a little more credit."
]]By this point, you've nearly reached the crest of the hill.
"We should hurry, we're almost to the fort. You're it!" Maybe shouts and tags you on the chest.
You laugh, picking up the pace. "I'm gonna get you!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You reach the top.]]"Maybe!" you call out.(set: $Maybesfightin to "yes")
The celestial takes a glancing blow from Maybe's spear, and whirls to strike back, sending Maybe kicking up the hill. She lands against the side of the massive rock-that's-actually-probably-a-bell and slumps to the ground. She doesn't respond to you.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Priory winces.
But Maybe gets up. She's laughing. A slow, silent laugh, her hair covering her eyes, giving her a wild look.
"Your girl's tougher than she looks," says Priory. "Though, I'd wager the odds are still Azelion's."
"Somebody's going to get hurt."
"Ain't that the point of fightin?"
"Maybe! Please stop!" you yell.
If your friend can hear you, she isn't listening. She pulls out a thin metal wand like a radio antenna and whips it through the air. With a singing motion, a sheet of ice crystalizes in the air and sweeps outward, nearly clipping Azelion's left wing.
"Maybe!" you yell.
Diving to the ground, Azelion pulls out two small stones and cracks them together once, twice. Her hair is a mess, and her eyes are desperate as Maybe swings again. "Black Balsam!" she screams.
"Woah, now," Priory says.
There is a rumbling sound from the rocky outcropping, and one of the stones, the largest, right next to the moss-covered bell, begins to move.
A towering troll-golem-creature shudders to life and shakes itself free of the dirt and moss. It leers over Maybe.
"Oh silt—" she says, and it snatches her up.
Azelion raises a burning arrow and aims it at Maybe's head.
Wait—the bell.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do something stupid.]]"What? Without getting what we want? That's hardly fair."
"That's not what fair means," you yell.
"Well *life* isn't fair!" she calls back. "Wait. Okay, you know what I mean."
You raise the crossbow.
"We both know that's an empty threat, my little mercenary. You're funny." She fires a gleaming arrow at the ground in front of you, and you're flung backwards in an explosion of light and color. All of your muscles tense and you're dropped shaking on the wavering ground. Your head is wobbly and your vision shakes.
"Not funny enough to keep alive, though."
"Why are you doing this?" you squeak.
"When you've fallen from grace, the only path to heaven is violence." Azelion knocks an arrow.
You reach for the crossbow. A bolt is already loaded.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Shoot her with the crossbow.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Don't do that: that's mean.]]"Oh, you two are friends? That's sweet."
You raise the crossbow.
"We both know that's an empty threat, my little mercenary. You're so funny!" She fires a gleaming arrow at the ground in front of you, and you're flung backwards in an explosion of light and color. All of your muscles tense and you're dropped shaking on the wavering ground. Your head is wobbly and your vision shakes.
"Not funny enough to keep alive, though."
"Why are you doing this?" you squeak.
"Because it's what we do." She knocks an arrow.
You reach for the crossbow. A bolt is already loaded.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Shoot her with the crossbow.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Don't do that: that's mean.]]
You duck and roll and aim at the angle. The crossbow is shot out of your grasp.
"Uh uh. We'll have none of that," the celestial says as she primes another arrow.
You catch a shot of the scene on the hill—Maybe disarms Priory, but is knocked flying off the mound by a violin blast from the mannequin. Even two against one, Maybe seems to have the upper hand.
"Azelion, get Balsam!" yells the devil, yanking his sword from the dirt.
"Ugh," she says.
Launching back into the air, Azelion pulls out two small stones and cracks them together once, twice.
There is a rumbling sound from the rocky outcropping, and one of the stones, the largest, begins to move.
A towering troll-golem-creature shudders to life and shakes itself free of the dirt and moss. It leers over Maybe.
"Oh silt—" she says before it grabs her.
The golem moves back to where it was standing on the hill next to the moss-covered bell.
Wait, the bell. If what Maybe was saying about sound is true . . .
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do something stupid.]]You point the weapon at Azelion. "Stand! D—" the crossbow is shot out of your grasp.
"Uh uh. We'll have none of that," the celestial says as she primes another arrow.
You catch a shot of the scene on the hill—Maybe disarms Priory, but is knocked flying off the mound by a violin blast from the mannequin. Even two against one, Maybe seems to have the upper hand.
"Azelion, get Balsam!" yells the devil, yanking his sword from the dirt.
Launching back into the air, Azelion pulls out two small stones and cracks them together once, twice.
There is a rumbling sound from the rocky outcropping, and one of the stones, the largest, begins to move.
A towering troll-golem-creature shudders to life and shakes itself free of the dirt and moss. It leers over Maybe.
"Oh silt—" she says before it grabs her.
The golem moves back to where it was standing on the hill next to the moss-covered bell.
Wait, the bell. If what Maybe was saying about sound is true . . .
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do something stupid.]]"Let's see, I've got my sword, you've got a dagger. You eat food, right? Let's get some food. What kind of food do you eat? I've never met a human before."
"Um. What kind of food do *you* eat?"
"Oh, mostly rare earth oxides."
"Uh," you say.
They laugh. "Don't worry, you're organic, right? There's plenty of stuff organics can eat down here. We got uuuhh. Berries. Leaves? Fish . . . ?" They waver. "Do you like tea?"
"My moms drink tea," you say.
"Hey that's good! Like parent, like uh, child. Tea is huge in the Demarchy. My dad says that Aunt Ode'imin used to make the best dandelion tea. She never does anymore, at least not that I'm partisan to. Party to?"
"Like a tea party?"
"Um . . . Yes."
You go to the kitchen and Amari gives you a bag to fit enough food for a day or two. Hopefully none of this will need refrigeration. (set: $foodstuff to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How long will we be gone?"]]
Luma unfurls a short scroll and holds it out to you.
*"On behalf of the Demarchy
and the Office of the Madrigal
with approval of the Representative Council
at the Subterranean Seat
by their constituents' will
with open hands extended
the Seat requests a Confluence
at a neutral ground on this day
40 of Summer, in the year 1209
with Her Lady Vespiridae Ekphrasis,
Queen of the Divine Glory Wasps,
Breaker of the Collective Will."*
Luma hands you a scroll case, a metal cylinder with a fancy cap. You start to fold up the paper to put it in the case. (set: $scrollcase to "yes")
Luma interrupts you, "No, no, darling. Not like that." They take the paper and wrap it up tight in a roll and slide it into the case.
Cirrus clears his throat reluctantly. "This paper is just a formality, of course. You'll need to use your quick thinking and martial prowess if you want to survive Ekphrasis. When it comes down to it, your only mission is to deliver the message. Don't feel like you have to convince her."
Luma doesn't contradict Cirrus. "Lead with kindness. But be firm; make her listen to reason."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["We, hrm," Cirrus clears his throat, "wanted to give you something . . ." ]]Cirrus holds out a you-sized piece of leather chest armor and Luma holds out a golden orb of light.(set: $sparksprite to "yes")(set: $armor to "yes")
"Luma, I thought we agreed on something practical . . ."
"The spark sprite is absolutely practical!" they say. "Besides, there's no rule that says we can only give them *one* gift."
"Well. Very well then," Cirrus says. And they hold out a simple piece of chest armor with slabs of overlapping leather. They drop it over your head and then make a few adjustments. It fits surprisingly well. It's a little stiff, but you feel safe in it, like a hug.
Luma's gift lights the corridor a soft gold light, shining on the marble floor and gentle wooden doors in the interior of the council hall. Luma lets go of the orb. It stays motionless, floating in the air where they left it. The light obscures the dark garden outside, making a mirror out of the black glass. You catch your gaze for a moment in the reflection. You look older than you feel. Taller, even.
"This is a type of spark sprite called an Incandescent Resonance. It provides light without the need for fuel! A nifty invention from the Demarchy's wizardry division last year."
"I thought everything needed fuel to produce energy?" says Sam.
Luma falters, "I will confess, it's a little beyond me how it works. But—this is only half of the full device. The sprite here has a set level of attraction to this magical artifact . . ." They reach into their robes and pull out a normal incandescent lightbulb. You see that it even has a brand mark on it in English. Luma continues, "However perplexing of an artifact, the plumb bob *is* an astounding tool. It works by somehow exploiting the sympathy between itself and the spark sprite."
They hand the lightbulb (the "plumb bob") to you. The orb of light moves with the lightbulb and circles around your head like a little planet. When it was with Luma, the orb was motionless, but now it seems now to move of its own accord through the air, bobbing up and down around you like a curious fish.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["My gift was simpler," says Cirrus.]]You tuck the lightbulb in your pocket.
"Now let's not get into that," mutters Luma. "Anyway. You may not need the sprite, because the path is fairly well lit. But, should you get lost or stray from the path for whatever reason, the light will help to guide your way back home."
"There are many dark paths in the Giesie," says Cirrus. "Take care, little interloper."
"And take care, Sam," Luma says. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Make us proud."->Begin the journey.]]The hallway pours down into a garden, which drops down into a courtyard.
Every step you take brings you deeper.
At the end of the courtyard, which arcs down onto the roofs of other buildings, there is a massive, white bridge leading off somewhere into the underground system.
The bridge is before you, a gateway to whatever awaits in the dark, beyond the Assembly.
"How big is this place?" you shudder.
Samira has lost their usual veneer of cheerful fearlessness. They look distantly at the black rock and the void. And they say,
"No one knows."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->Continue.2]]The massive cavern, after about half an hour, closes up into a winding series of crystalline tunnels. Your guess is that these are lava tubes, and some mineral property of the rock led to the growth of the crystals. They shimmer in the light of the spark sprite as it dances.
You've stopped for a snack break. You munch on a sandwich, and Samira breaks off a chunk of crystal and chomps down on it with a crunch like thick glass.
"MMmhM!" they say, their mouth totally full of shards. "You dmmn't wmmnt smme?"
"It's okay," you giggle. "I think that would kill me."
They swallow. "Wait so why exactly do humans need to eat all that different stuff?" they ask.
"Well," you say, "our cells need lots of different molecules so that they can stay in the right shape, like amino acids, and proteins, and cholesterol, and stuff," you say. "Do you not have cells?"
"What are cells?" Amari says.
"They're like . . . Little guys."
"I think I would know if there were 'cells' in me," they squint and do finger quotes.
"What *are* you made out of?"
They shrug. ". . . Metal?"
"Huh."
"Everyone's made out of different stuff down here, so we haven't really covered that yet," they say, putting another bit of crystal in their mouth.
"You go to school?"
"Mmmf, mmwt's school?"
"It's a place where—"
From one of the twisting paths behind you, you here the clang of something flat against the crystal wall, then the tink of something sharp on the ground.
Samira pushes off the wall and draws their sword. You scramble to your feet beside them.
A dozen or more massive torch-lit shadows are loping forward in the crystal gloom, metal edges scraping and clicking on the basalt.
Sam stands, as steady as a . . . well. You notice your hands are shaking. You go to pull the dagger out of your bag.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[In Open Hands.]]Giggling, you sprint up the hill, but as you reach the top, panting for breath, you notice Maybe isn't laughing anymore.
You go to ask 'what's wrong?' but then you see it. An army in the distance, filling the air with a horrible oscillating buzz. You feel it in your ears, like a bug trying to crawl inside and snuggle deep inside your brain. There is a violent impulse that makes you want to clap your hands over your ears, startled, trying to kill the sound, to yank it out.
The black shadows of wasps are interspersed with a handful of massive, limping beasts, which seem panicked, like buffalo being buffaloed into a stampede.
"This is it, but . . . they're already here," Maybe says.
In the valley, bringing light to the darkness blanketing the hills, there is a well-lit castle keep, a set of towers made of the same blanket-y material that the landscape is made from. In the keep, a few dozen pillowy people are flocking to sentry positions, arming themselves, and preparing for the incoming attack.
Stunned only for a moment, Maybe huffs, and darts down the hill.
You follow close behind her, each giant stride threatening to trip you up and send you (text-colour:#a9434b)[[rocketing down the pillowy hill.->You follow close behind her, each giant stride threatening to trip you up and send you rocketing down the pillowy hill.]]You reach the valley and sprint to the base of the fort. There is a lone figure on top of the wall that stands out, reflecting most of the light rather than absorbing it, barking orders at the scurrying troops.
"Captain Gadolin!" Maybe shouts, rushing towards the base of the wall.
Gadolin, from what you can see at this angle, is a metallic humanoid with a strong jaw and a purple quilted cape and a wide broadsword sheathed on his back. He has the commanding presence of a commander. Or a Captain, you guess. He looks around, amid the parapets, then finds the source of Maybe's voice on the ground some forty feet below.
"It's Maybe Huynh from the Porter's Union! We're here to help!"
"Thank the Gods, Huynh! It's about time we had some tempered steel around here! Patch!" he shouts to a shaky-looking soldier. "Throw down that ladder! And you two, make it quick! They'll be here any minute now."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Climb the ladder.]]"I was beginning to think you'd never come, Huynh. These soldiers may have been actually *training* for the first time in their lives under my command, but I doubt they're any match for Ekphrasis."
"You think Ekphrasis is actually coming here herself?" Maybe says.
"There have been rumors of an all out strike for a while now. And of course you know why they're coming to Fort Oreiller," says Captain Gadolin.
"Of course," Maybe says.
"Who's your friend?" he says.
"This is $name."
"Can they fight?"
"I have a crossbow," you say.
A burning arrow flies over the wall and imbeds itself in the wall of the main tower.
"That'll have to be good enough," says Gadolin.
Another arrow impacts and the fire begins to spread across the fabric.
"You know what—" he whips aside his quilted cape and tosses you a quiver of blue-tipped arrows. "Maybe you can fight fire."
"No I'm going to fight the wasps," Maybe says.
"No, not you, Maybe. You—"
"Just messing with you," she says (text-colour:#a9434b)[[as the first wasp soldier flies to the top of the wall.]]
Maybe disengages and sprints with you down the inside of the outer wall. You stumble up the inside of the main tower past confused quilted troops until you reach the tallest room in the tower.
There, silhouetted by the fire burning a hole in the side of the building, is a humanoid shape bent over a chest in the center of the room.
With a pop, the figure forces the wooden lid open and reaches inside. She takes out what looks like a tiny organ pipe—a small bronze cylinder, no longer than your hand, that glows in the firelight.
"Hey, yo!" Maybe shouts. Put the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal] back!"
The armored figure's face whips toward you, still obscured by the backlighting of the spreading fire.
"Huh," she says. "Surely you aren't . . ."
"Drop it! Or your mom's a potato!" Maybe yells.
The figure chuckles. "Okay, wow, you almost made me think for a second . . ." she laughs. "Fire plays tricks on the eyes."(set: $pillowparty to "this place on fire")
With a single step backwards, the shadow of the woman plunges out of the window.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Run after her!]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Uh. Don't do that.]]You get to work. The fires are minor enough to be put out by smothering them with any number of the quilts that are laying around.
Maybe fidgets with her hair. "I'll be right back," she says. Her muffled footsteps retreat down the stairs of the tower. You see her, a minute later, approaching Gadolin on the outer wall.
She seems agitated. She gestures to the northeast, where the wasps retreated. Gadolin shakes his head. Maybe insists, again, and Gadolin relents, but points to the north. He calls to a soldier, who he dispatches at a sprint back south, the way you came from.
You climb down the stair well, sinking in the bouncy surface.
At the fort's base, the soldiers have gathered, and a handful of civilians have emerged from the blanket barricades and pillow palisades. Most of the people here are the same kind of pillow-y people as before, though some are goblins, giant ants, or ladybugs. A few of the quilted individuals have stuffing falling out of them from sword slashes or deep puncture wounds from stingers from the fight. The soldiers in bad condition are waiting to be attended to others with needle and thread.
Maybe finds you.
"(if: $breathofthenadir is "give")[Gadolin said he doesn't know what to do with the bomb either. He says we should take it to the Prophet."
"The Prophet?"
"]Let's not waste time here. They can handle themselves."
"Is something wrong?"
"Vespiridae has the(char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[ signal] is what's wrong."
You look around at the occupants of Fort Oreiller. It is so warm here, and so colorful. You almost forget you're underground. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Aight," you capitulate.]]Whatever this (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal] is, it seems pretty dang important.
With a running start, you leap out the window. For a split second you're in free fall, the wind bracing your body. You grab ahold of the woman.(set: $stupid to "true")
"Bro!" she says as you land on her leg, clinging on for dear life. She, in turn, is clinging onto the abdomen of a giant wasp, who is now struggling under the weight of both of you.
"I don't think that belongs to you!" you shout.
"Do I know you!?" she shouts back.
Up close, you have a good, brief view of the strange figure. She's dressed regally, but with emphasis on function, with a stiff, blue military jacket, a red blouse over light chain mail, and green laurels in her long, perfectly braided hair. She has lightish brown skin, like Maybe's.
The most surprising thing, which you notice just before her boot connects with your head and sends you spiraling into the fire below, is that she is entirely, unequivocally human.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3C.]]You don't do that.
The figure is gone.
Maybe walks to the window. You follow her, glancing at the chest, which is empty now except for a regal-looking pillow with a soft indent from the object.
Maybe doesn't meet your gaze when you stand beside her in the window that was a wall.
"That was General Vespiridae. I should have known."
"The Wasp Queen?"
"Yeah," she says.
"Do you know her personally? It seemed like she knew you," you ask.
"I don't think so? I don't . . ." she shakes her head as if trying to expel something from inside it. "No—no. We've never met. I've only heard about her."
In the distance, you see her, face and clothing still indistinct in the shadows, riding away on a giant wasp. The army is retreating with minor casualties.
"She does terrible things. We're lucky we're still alive right now," Maybe says.
"I thought she'd be a wasp."
"No one's really sure what she is. My theory is that she's human, too, like us. And that's why she's so strong and fast."
"Why's that?"
"Humans are much stronger down here than up on the surface. No one really knows why. There haven't been that many of us in the history of the Giesie, so no one's really done any tests. Azaadi said it has to do with air and breath, but she says that about most things."
"Huh," you say. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Should we put this fire out?"]]Ooga booga. Your body hurts real bad.(set: $boneshurt to "you bet your bones")
There is the sensation of fire crackling near you—you jolt upright, the sounds of the battlefield still ringing in your ears.
But you're not on the battlefield. You are laying in bed in a small dirt-walled room. There is a fire crackling in the hearth.
There are black and white framed photographs of people (humans?) hanging on the walls. There are drying flowers, clumps of onions and other roots hanging from the rafters. A bookshelf crammed with old books and games. You can't make out the titles from the bed, but you can see the tell-tale blue binding of the original Nancy Drew series. A tea kettle is whistling in another room.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Examine bookshelf.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Examine self.]]Before you know it, you and Maybe are saddled to a weird-looking, but very soft, pillow camel.
You are slowly plodding north, towards the place where the great central cavern closes up again and becomes narrow, winding passages.
As the path closes in around you, becoming dark and maze-like, lit by the bobbing lantern at the camel's side, Maybe says, "You know, the way she talked, she kinda reminded me of my sister. When I was a little kid."
"Is your sister as bad as Ekphrasis?" you ask.
Maybe leans back a bit. "No, no definitely not. I'm sure she always meant well . . . It's just, sometimes some of the things she said really hurt."
"Was she why you came underground?"
"Partly. It's weird. Mostly it was //me// that I needed to fix, not my family, but our parents had big expectations of us. I wasn't doing very good in school. I hadn't been talking to my friends. I felt like I was being pulled in every different direction at once. And then that direction just became Down."
"I'm sorry about that," you say.
"You don't need to be sorry. It all worked out for the best. I love it down here. No parents, no friend groups to choose between, no quizzes to study for. I practice being decisive down here. And, best of all, my sister isn't here. She can't make me question everything I do anymore."
"That's good," you say. And, holding onto Maybe's shoulders with the rhythmic bobbing motion of the pillow-creature, you drift into a deep sleep.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3A.]]"$name. Are you awake?"
You open your eyes to Maybe's worried expression. Her face is lit softly by lantern light. You are in a twisting maze of passages, all alike. You have no idea what direction you're facing.
The warmth of your sleep dissipates as you stand. The cavern is cold. You bundle one of the blankets around your shoulders and shudder.
"The camel can't make it any further, the passages are too tight."
"Where are we?"
"At the northern edge of the central Giesie." She flicks a stone with a bit of metal and her torch flares to life. "Come on. It's just a little further."
You slide down the camel precariously and bundle your blanket tighter. Maybe holds out a hand. You step down on the stirrup, but your foot slips, sending you off balance. Maybe catches you, harder than expected. Your ears get a little hot.
The camel makes a snourfing sound like wind in fabric and starts walking back to the south.
Maybe turns away without a word and starts down a path leading away from the open road. And you're cold again.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take your crossbow and hurry after her.]]The song is so familiar. The woman singing it is no experienced singer, and the song is not a happy one, but she sings it with such an incredible lightness of spirit that you waver there, caught in the spell of the song.
Maybe knocks loudly on the door and the singing stops.
A short, robust, old woman with skin of stone and hair like yellow-orange leaves peaks her head out. The blue heron rests on her shoulder.
"$name! Maybe! Come in, come in! It's good to see that the two of you are together."
"What does that mean?" you whisper to Maybe.
"I never know—just roll with it," she whispers back.
The stone woman flows to the back of the room where a tea kettle has just begun to boil above the hearth. She takes it off the hook with her bare hand, which is made of the same smooth, grey stone as the rest of her body. She takes a hot-pad from the kitchen and puts the kettle on the hot-pad on the table.
An old digital clock on the mantle reads: (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[5:17].
She looks at you again with her kind eyes and says, "There are a hundred patterns where our threads could have failed to cross. I'm glad we're a part of the work where they do! And I'm sorry if I'm boring you with the same old schpiel dear $name, I have become awfully predictable in my old age. You can call me Azaadi, by the way, I'm not sure if you knew that. Now, let's see, where are we?"
Maybe clears her throat. "Captain Gadolin sent us to you for more information on the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal] that Ekphrasis stole. We'd like to be on our way as soon as possible."
"How long ago was that, now?"
"About an hour," Maybe says.
"Ah, excellent. Yes, I'm glad the good Captain had the foresight not to send two children into the heart of the Queen's territory unaccompanied. Reinforcements should arrive just in the nick of time if you leave in ten minutes or so if you turn left at fidelity. Just enough time for tea."
The tea is exactly cool enough to drink. It tastes like coffee. (Like the smell of coffee, that is to say—we're not introducing you to that until you're older.)
"My sister's recipe," says the old woman, pouring her own cup. "Before her days of doing important things."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Your sister?"->"Your sister?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What can you tell us about the signal?" Maybe says.]]
(if: $breathofthenadir is "give")["Oh!" you say. "The demon co—" and then, not wanting to alarm her, (text-colour:#a9434b)[["So we have this weird thing . . ."]]]"We really don't have time for chitchat," Maybe says.
"I suppose you should know as much about what you're getting yourselves into as possible," Azaadi says.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," you say.
She leans back in her chair. "Where even to begin . . ." she says. "Hm. There were once many, many signals produced by the Chorus of Progression when the Giesie was an Empire. This was before even my time, of course: six hundred years ago. The signals were a gift from Empress Corundum, very early in her career, to all the inhabitants of the empire as a way of uniting her subjects and their various local regents. You may see, if you look closely at a map of the Giesie, the broken system of tracks that runs in a circle within the great central cavern."
"Corundum . . . that's Empress II?" you ask.
"That's right," she says.
Maybe paces around the room.
"It was an efficient system," Azaadi says, "like everything in the Empire. But it all collapsed after the cataclysm. Do you remember how Maybe was able to summon Spandrels with the noise maker frog?"
"I do," you say.
"The signal is very similar, but far more powerful. After the Revolution of Open Hands, the Demarchy was formed and the signals that called the gods were all but destroyed."
"Gods?" you ask.
"Enormous metal beasts," Azaadi says. "The Divine Populace, for one. People called the things "trains," like those metal beasts they have on the surface. In the days of the Empire, they were ascribed a kind of divinity and so they were called gods, but they were more like . . . marionette puppets."
"Like the Oneiros card?" Maybe says.
"Exactly. I think that's even where that idea comes from. Beings controlled by outside agents, constrained by rigid schedules, presented always with binary choices which the operators made for them. And yet, they were so immensely powerful that they were regarded as divine—machine gods—pillars of the industrialized world. They were both the Empire and Corundum's greatest pride, and their greatest point of failing."
"What does that have to do with the signal?" Maybe asks.
"Signals bid the trains to move. There was only one in operation on the day of the Nadir catastrophe, and so there is only one left standing on the tracks, dormant. If it were ever to run again, it would return to the Fulcrum, bursting apart the seams of the great repository and destroying the Assembly and all of its inhabitants utterly. This is why you must stop Ekphrasis from using the signal."(set: $shortontime to "false")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dang," you say.->"Thank you," you say.]]"Yes, a good horticulturist, but a very proud woman."
"Is proud a bad thing?" you sip the tea. It sure is tea.
"Oh no, not at all. It's understandable why she takes things so seriously, but it leaves her totally no room for having any sort of fun," she shakes her head.
"What does she do?" you ask.
"Oh, she was elected to the Assembly, let's see . . . Some time ago. Very important work, but very, very busy."(if: $breathofthenadir is "yes")[ Speaking of which. You saw her earlier, right?"
"I did," you say. "How'd you know that?"
"I'll explain later, but I need to you to know first that what she gave you is not what you think it is. That sapphire amulet is a thing called a Breath of the Nadir, and it's a powerful explosive."
"What? The Madrigal gave me a bomb?"
"Essentially," Azaadi sighs.
"I don't understand," you say. You draw it up from under your shirt and unlatch it, laying it on the table.
Maybe looks at it aghast. "The Madrigal gave you a //bomb//?"
"I don't understand it either," Azaadi says. "I assume she tricked you somehow; her plan was to sacrifice you to destroy Ekphrasis. It almost worked."
"I guess it's a good thing I never really got the chance to use it," you say.
Azaadi picks it up. "If you would allow me, I can deactivate it," she looks to you.
"Of course," you say.
She stands up from the chair with an immense effort and halts, swaying at the edge of the table, setting her hands down on its frame to brace herself. She looks for a moment as though she's going to pass out, but takes a minute to breathe slowly, in and out, before moving again. She picks the orb up gently by its center mass. She focuses on it for a moment, drawing her strength. The blue glow fades from the amulet, and it becomes a dull, round rock.
"Anyway," she says, "what were we talking about?"
"How grown-ups take things too serious," Maybe says.
"Ah, exactly. There are serious pursuits, but it never helps to view things in terms of absolutes. It leads you to thinking like my sister. Things must be this way, we must defend ourselves from our enemies by whatever means necessary. Perhaps there's a time and a place for that, but it lacks deep understanding."](else:)[
"That makes sense. I think grown ups take things way too seriously too."
Azaadi laughs and the laugh feels like a warm pat on the head, like one of your moms tussling your hair.
"That's the thing exactly. There are serious pursuits, but it never helps to view things in terms of absolutes. It leads you to thinking like my sister. Things must be this way, we must defend ourselves from our enemies by whatever means necessary. Perhaps there's a time and a place for that, but it lacks deep understanding. Life is like a board game—you shouldn't let it hurt you, in fact, really, when it comes down to it, it can't. Only *you* can do that. So win or lose, you needn't get upset about it. It's just nice to play."](set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")
"Hmm . . ." says Maybe.
Azaadi scratches her chin. "Have you played this one human board game 'Clue'? Are they still making that?"
"Clue? I think so."
"Great Granite, I'd hoped so. I miss board games. My sister and I used to go to the surface all the time. For all the pitfalls of industrialization and global capitalism (which, really, is just one giant pit) you could never imagine any Giesie craftsperson making anything at all as intricate and masterful as Clue. And, when we played on the surface where my vision doesn't extend, Ode'imin and the others had a fighting chance of winning."(set: $shortontime to "true")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision'?"->"What do you mean 'vision'?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What kind of tea is this?"->"What can you tell us about the signal?" Maybe says.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Talk more about the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue.'"->"Talk more about the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue.'"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]She takes it in her hands. "I haven't seen one of these in quite a while."
"What is it?" you ask.
"This is a designation marker for the carrier of the . . ." she examines the faint, water-worn text on the metal tag, "22nd signal, which was issued to the Dandelion Hotel. Ardent Joy was the Union Rep. back then, if I remember."
"Was that Maybe's partner?"
"No, but Joy was part of the Ardent lineage. Maybe's Arden was 'Ardent Volition.' Their successor. Where did you find this tag?" Azzadi asks.
"By the white stone bridge. At the bottom of the river."
Azaadi grows quiet.
"That . . . answers some questions I'd had."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you know them?"]]"Yes, actually, we were good friends. He was the one who got me roped into the Porter's Union all those years ago. But, anyway. To answer your first question: No, Ardent Volition didn't ever carry a signal. All but a few of the signals were destroyed about a century before his time. The gods haven't run in the Giesie for well over a hundred years."
"Gods?"
She laughs. "Enormous metal beasts. People called them trains. In the days of the Empire were ascribed a kind of divinity. They were called gods, but they were more like . . . marionette puppets. They were pillars of the industrialized world that the Empress brought down to the Giesie. There was only one train running on the day of the catastrophe, and so there is only one train left standing on the tracks, dormant. If it were ever to run again, it would return to the Fulcrum, bursting apart the seams of the great repository and destroying the Assembly and all of its inhabitants utterly."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dang," you say.->"No," you say. "Go on."]]
(set: $oogabooga to "true")"This is a dandelion tea, but not anything from the Porter's Union. Their tea is absolutely awful. But it helps with the altitude, which was crucial during the Pest Invasion. Convention. Did I say Invasion? Anyway, this recipe requires dandelions from the surface, and of course citizens are expressly forbidden from visiting these days, even in disguise.
"Why is that?"
"Oh, new strictures from the Demarchy. They even blocked off certain exits permanently. One thousand-year conquest is enough. They don't want to be discovered again. Obviously though in your case it seems not to have worked!"
"Yeah, haha," you giggle. Then you feel very quiet.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You shouldn't feel bad about it, you know," Azaadi says.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Talk more about the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue.'"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]"Who doesn't love a murder mystery?" she says. "It's really ingenious. For a game with no real backstory that I'm aware of the characters really pop out. They're memorable! Professor Per—uh—Persimmon. Colonel Custard. Ms. Peacock. The. The red one. Yeah that's them."
You look at her with bright eyes and sip your tea.
"It's been a while since I've played. We used to sneak up to the surface to play, the whole gang of us. I've been thinking about trying to make a Giesie equivalent. It seems like the idea would localize without too much trouble. They're really nothing more than colors and occupations. But who would the characters be? Ms. Ladybug? That's a little reductive having a character being defined only by her species. Doctor Diorite? Captain Karst?"
The heron squawks.
"Oh, right, Garrire, that's a little vulgar, I'm sorry."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What kind of tea is this?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]You're sprinting through the tunnel now, turning to follow the compass to the southeast, jumping over stalagmites and sliding down inclines. You catch yourself as you emerge on a narrow cliff.
Down on the plains below, you see what must be the wasp's palace. An exceptionally regal estate for a relatively small number of wasps.
In the vague distance toward the vast roof of the system, there are what look to be giant golden birds, circling aimlessly over the meadows.
You start to look for a way down, but your compass isn't pointing towards the palace, it's pointing to your left, along the narrow cliff.
As you round the edge of it, the cliff widens out into a broader area, sloping down, like a theater balcony. There is a railing here, and the minerals from the ceiling have dripped into dozens of natural columns, as thick as school buses.
Slumped into her sweater, at the very top of a column that has been cut, as if by some giant blade, is Maybe. Only her eyes visible over her knees in the sweater, watching the wind wash over the meadow.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Climb up.]]
(if: $keeperlightstheway is "yes")[She stands up and un-fwoomps herself from her sweater. She offers you a hand. You take it.
"To the palace!" she says.
"To the palace!" you say.
"Ord the phialial kolo!" says the goblin dock-keeper.
"What?" you say.
You whirl around. On a column directly beside you, dangling a comically long fishing pole off the side of the cliff, is the goblin dock-keeper. He's wearing the same patched hat and overalls as before, but the beetle jar is now filled with tiny white fish.
"Easy fissures!" he says in his gravelly goblin voice. "For ever's looking for's ever midway."
"What? Who's this guy?" Maybe asks.
"I know him!" you say. "I met him before I met you in Open Hands, he told me where to find you."
The dock-keeper gestures to the giant glowing shapes circling over the meadow, then to a slot in the wall at the top of the little alcove. "Best ways is and a minute. The gold're what fortune's ferries."
"The huh?" Maybe says.
"Gastroparesis," the dock-keeper says. "Edible! Inedible!" He's pointing at the slot in the cave wall.
"Oh!" Maybe says. "That slot . . ."
"Unsticking sticking. That narrow, that faller predicates, that's spittin em out. As rubber's!"
"Oh! The kite factory!" Maybe says. "I had no idea the Balloon Factory had a branch way out here."
"Argad!"
She turns to you with a smile. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["I know how we can get down there!"]]
](if: $prioryhelps is "yes")["There's still the problem of how to get down there without a staircase," you say.
A voice comes out of the blue. "I think I might know a way."
You and Maybe whirl to see Priory, that devil from the meadow, chewing a piece of long grass, swinging his legs on another column. His coat is open showing his ludicrous amount of prayer pendants—and his two pistols. But his posture seems non-threatening.
"What do *you* want?" Maybe says.
"Schist, kid! Cool yer geysers. I came here as nothin more than a humble supplicant."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"It means I'm proposin an alliance. I wanna be . . . besties."
"Why would we ever be besties with you? You tried to consort money from us and then you tried to kill us." Maybe says.
"Extort?" you suggest.
"This is no laughing matter . . ." Maybe says. "Where's the rest of your gang, Priory?"
"We may have, uh, disbanded permanently," he says. "And please, extortion is a bit harsh a term. What I'm proposing is that I can help you with your little, uh, vertical conundrum . . ."
"And what do you stand to gain from helping *us*?" Maybe says.
"We have a common destination," he says. "You'll just have to follow my lead." He climbs down his ladder and disappears from sight.
The bird shapes circle in the distance.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Shrug and follow suit?]]
](if: $nobody is "yes")["There's still the problem of how to get down there without a staircase," you say.
"About that . . ." Maybe says. "Azaadi told me before about another way to get down there. It's super dangerous, and puts us right in the middle of the palace grounds without warning, but it's quick."
"Oh?"
"Follow me."
She leads you past the wide open alcove to where the path gets narrow again, hugging the side of the cliff. You soon hear the thundering of a waterfall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How good are you with mazes? she asks."]]
]
You examine the shelf.
There are a number of books you've heard of or read here, though all of them were published before the 1950s. You see books by P. G. Wodehouse, Dorthy Sayers, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Your moms used to read the Jeeves and Wooster books to you before bed. You're not as well versed in his mystery writing.
Other than the mystery novels, you see some old plays, and a number of other books written in some language other than English. These books are all written in the same blocky, character-based language. These all look like they were bound individually, by hand.
There is a stack of loose-leaf paper, a jar of beads, and the classic 1949 mystery game 'Clue' stacked sideways with Scrabble and Twister.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Examine self.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stand up.]]You examine yourself.
You are covered in minor burns, your hair is a mess, your face hurts a lot, and your bones feel very bad. You sit up again and your ribs and sternum ache like you did a belly-flop off the high dive. You're impressed that you're alive, although you suppose the ground *was* made of pillows. That probably helped the not dying part of falling out of a four story tower.
You can't get Ekphrasis' face out of your head.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Examine bookshelf.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stand up.]]"Okay," you whisper to yourself.
You shove aside the blanket and swing your legs over the side of the bed. You put your full weight on your feet and your legs buckle. You take a soft step and your vision swells in static buzz.
And your swift trajectory to the floor lands you gently in Maybe's arms.
"a," you say.
"You're awake!" you hear her say. "Oh my gosh. I wasn't sure if you would—" Tears well in her eyes.
There's another figure in the room behind Maybe, coming in with a tea kettle.
Maybe leverages you back onto the bed. "I was so scared you wouldn't. That you wouldn't." She snorts and wipes her eyes with her sleeve. "Hey, what's the big idea with the dumb self-sacrificial heroics? That's my job!" she laughs, still crying. "That's the kind of dumb silt they do in movies!"
"Language, Maybe," says the other figure.
As she comes closer you can see her in more detail. She is an old, slightly hunched woman whose skin is made of stone. What would be her hair is red and orange aspen leaves. A tiny blue heron is perched on her shoulder.
"$name, I'm glad you're okay. I'm very surprised you actually pulled that stunt, I knew it was a possibility, but. Oh, I keep forgetting to introduce myself. My name is Azaadi."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What happened?" you say.]]"After Ekphrasis kicked you out of the sky I ran down to get you, expecting to have to fight my way down the tower," Maybe says, "but the wasps pretty much retreated as soon as Ekphrasis started flying away with the (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[signal]."
She continues, "The medics at Fort Oreiller didn't know what to do with you, so Gadolin gave me a camel and I brought you here as fast as I could. Azaadi knows the most about humans out of anyone down here."
"Oh, well, I don't know about that," Azaadi says, humbly.
(if: $breathofthenadir is "give")["The bomb!" you exclaim. "We didn't get to, what did—"
"It's okay," says Maybe. "Azaadi got rid of it. Gadolin didn't know what to do with it either and said Azaadi could probably figure it out. I guess we're lucky it didn't go off."
"I'm still confused why the Madrigal would give me that," you say.
"Because she doesn't respect the value of individual lives," Azaadi says. "I still can't believe she did that. It could have gone so badly. No. It doesn't matter how it could have gone. She intended to sacrifice you in her stupid little ploy to kill Vespiridae. She stooped as low as Ekphrasis and she still doesn't even know about the signal."
](text-colour:#a9434b)[["Everyone keeps . . . what's the signal?"]] you ask.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Is that a blue heron?"]]
(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")"That's an important question," Azaadi replies. "The signal is what Vespiridae came to Fort Oreiller looking for. Do you remember how Maybe was able to summon Spandrels with the noise maker frog?"
"I do," you say.
"The signal is very similar, but far more powerful. There were once a good deal of signals—one for every province of the old empire—but they were destroyed at the end of Empress II's reign."
"After the Revolution of Open Hands," Maybe adds, like that explains it. "So the signals are useless because there's no gods left."
"Gods?" you ask.
"Enormous metal beasts," Azaadi says. "People called them trains. In the days of the Empire were ascribed a kind of divinity and so they were called gods, but they were more like . . . marionette puppets. Controlled by outside agents, constrained by rigid schedules, presented always with binary choices which the operators made for them. And yet, they were so immensely powerful that they were regarded as divine. Machine gods; pillars of the industrialized world. They were the Empire's greatest pride, and their greatest point of failing."
"What does that have to do with signals?"
"Signals bid the trains to move. There was only one in operation on the day of the Nadir catastrophe, and so there is only one left standing on the tracks, dormant. If it were ever to run again, it would return to the Fulcrum, bursting apart the seams of the great repository and destroying the Assembly and all of its inhabitants utterly."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dang," you say.]]"Basically we need to beat the crap out of Ekphrasis and make sure she doesn't blow the whistle," says Maybe.
"Sounds like a plan," you say. You sit up in bed again. The pain has mostly subsided.
Azaadi helps you stand. "Why don't you come in the living room and we'll get you both set up to go. You're more than welcome to stay of course, but—"
"We really should go as soon as possible if we want to stop Ekphrasis," Maybe says.
"Right you are," Azaadi replies.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You move your body carefully into the living room.]]This is a larger room with a woodstove, a rocking chair, a kitchen table and an extraordinary amount of wind chimes in the rafters. Outside, you can see a little blue-lit clearing full of quaking aspens, their leaves rustling in some kind of subterranean wind.
An old digital clock on the mantle reads: (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[6:04].
The Oracle of the Wavering Eye walks over the worn wood floor to the oven. The room fills with the smell of baking bread. She wraps a loaf in a cloth and ties it, leaving it to cool on the countertop. "You both have a few important choices to make in the near future. There are a number of outcomes, and some of them you might consider quite bad. Even if you listen to my advice, which I think you will, there's a good chance that our small corner of the world will rejoin the inanimate part of the cosmos a little earlier than expected."
From a basket, she pulls another tied cloth bag, stained slightly purple, and lays it next to the bread.
"You have a lot of choices to make. And, of course, you can always just walk away. Never forget that. But something tells me neither of you want to do that."
You both shake your heads.
"If there's one thing I'd want you to remember, it's this: Often the things we think are choices are really no choice at all, and, even more often, the little, everyday things are the choices that really matter, even though we don't think of them as choices. You're making decisions right now about your heartbeat and the airflow in your body that affect everything else you'll ever do from this moment onward."
"Yeah . . ." you say.
"But, I'm not saying you're making good or bad decisions. I don't think there is such a thing. There is never a fundamentally right or wrong choice, but every moment //is// a choice . . . and if you care about the result then be sure you're doing everything you can. But try not to get too caught up in the game of it. Remember that it's always just a game, and there's never ever any right or wrong so long as you do your best to make sure everyone else is having fun too."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe stands up.]]"It will all make sense soon enough," she says. "Anyway, I believe I've stalled you long enough."
The Witch of the Wavering Eye stands up slowly with a great sigh and cracks her back—a sound something between two stones grinding together and a tree creaking in the wind. She walks over the worn wood floor to the oven. The room fills with the smell of baking bread. She wraps a loaf in a cloth and ties it, leaving it to cool on the countertop. "You both have a few important choices to make in the near future. There are a number of outcomes, and some of them you might consider quite bad. Even if you listen to my advice, which I think you will, there's a good chance that our small corner of the world will rejoin the earth a little earlier than expected."
"You have a lot of choices to make. And, of course, you can always just walk away. Never forget that. But something tells me neither of you want to do that."
"Often the things we think are choices are really no choice at all, and, more often still, the little, everyday things are the choices that really matter, even though we don't think of them as choices. You're making decisions right now about your heartbeat and the airflow in your body that affect everything else you'll ever do. I'm not saying you're making good or bad decisions. I don't think there is such a thing. There is never a fundamentally right or wrong choice, but every moment //is// a choice . . . and if you care about the result then be sure you're doing everything you can. But try not to get too caught up in the game of it. Remember that it's always just a game, and there's never ever any right or wrong so long as you do your best to make sure everyone else is having fun too."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe stands up.]]"Look closely at my eyes," she says.
You lean over the table with your eyebrows raised. Azaadi's eyes are light brown, tinged slightly with that radiant blue, which eats outward from the brown like a corrosive watercolor paint. "They're hard to look away from," you say.
"Like the Nadir," she says. "The closer you get, the harder it is to turn away. Staring too closely at the Nadir was what slipped the creeping sky beside my skull."
"But it gave you . . . magic powers?" you ask.
"It made my head swim with visions of every possible future. Also chronic fatigue. But, yes," she nods and smiles, "magic powers, too."
"I'm sorry you got chronic um . . . That sounds uncomfortable. When did that happen?"
"Oh it's not too bad. Some days it's everything I have to just get out of bed, but others it's almost like before, when I had the energy of a child. It happened a long time ago. When my sister and I were children. She still blames me for it, in a way."
"What? But you got, like, afflicted! That wasn't your fault."
Azaadi just kind of shrugs. "We all knew you couldn't get too close to the Nadir without losing a little bit of yourself. Bite-sized pieces. For some who stare too long it's their voice, for others, their sense of time or rationality. For me it was my energy for daily tasks. A little less visible. We were told that fact, but some people, I guess" she gestures to herself, "have to learn the hard way. Perhaps my sister was jealous that I got special treatment after getting irradiated like that and having that bite taken out of me with those blue teeth. But for whatever reason we just kept growing apart after that. We haven't talked to each other in over forty years."
"That's terrible. How can she blame you for something like that?"
"I don't know," she says. "It is what it is. I regret not having her around, but I have Garrire and I have the fairy goblins to keep me company, and in a way I have the whole world, and the whole future right here in my living room. You saw the quivering aspen trees on the way in, right?"
"Uh huh," you say. "They're really pretty."
"Thank you. Although it's not a plural entity in the usual sense. The trunks are just manifestations of a single, enduring creature just as you and I are temporary expressions of the universe. The aspen tree has roots that extend all the way through the Subterranean Assembly. The root system branches through the Assembly like the flow of time, splitting and re-merging. And, just as molecules travel throughout the roots and the mycorrhizae, people travel through the network of time, flowing through the intersections, meeting up and growing apart."
"So . . . you can see the future?"
"It is an oracular sort of vision, yes. But there is no one future, just branching paths and possibilities." She gestures. "In this timeline, for instance, I can see that your tea is getting cold."
“Aw nuts.”
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What can you tell us about the signal?" Maybe says.]](if: $boneshurt is "you bet your bones")["$name are you feeling well enough to travel?"
You assess yourself. Your bones still kind of hurt, but you can walk well enough. "Yes," you say.
]"You'll find Ekphrasis either in the room of lapis lazuli or in the chamber beneath the highest room in the tallest tower. (if: $nobody is "yes")[You're on your way to a fairly rare timeline, so, Maybe, do you remember our conversation about the old teleportation stages?
Maybe nods, confused.
"Good, good," Azaadi says. She hands you a folded piece of paper. "Alright, well.] Be on your guard. Ekphrasis will be carrying the signal, so you will have to confront her directly. And, child," she addresses Maybe, "she's not who you think she is. Keep your heart open to her. I wish I could tell you more, but if I do, you will harden your heart against her and this story will only end in violence."
"What the fuchsite does //that// mean?" Maybe says.
"Language," Azaadi says. "Are you ready?"
"Let's freaking get it," Maybe says. "Thank you, Azaadi, sorry we're in a rush."
"Perfectly understandable," she smiles.
You follow the oracle to the door, and you're out in the the wavering moonlight.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Have fun," Azaadi says.]]
You move forward with the gentle grade of the water. You brush past the branches of the aspen tree and follow the snaking motion of the path. You wonder if this path was formed, slowly, by the subtle arc of water, or hollowed out in a flash by lava.
After a few minutes, jumping around stalagmites and sliding down inclines, you catch yourselves as you emerge on a narrow cliff—hundreds of feet in the air.
"Woah!" Maybe shouts.
Down on the plains below, you see what must be the wasp's palace. An exceptionally regal estate for a relatively small number of wasps.
In the vague distance toward the vast roof of the system, there are what look to be giant golden birds, circling aimlessly over the meadows.
As you round the edge of it, the cliff widens out into a broader area, sloping down, like a theater balcony. There is a railing here, and the minerals from the ceiling have dripped into dozens of natural columns, as thick as school buses stacked nose to end, like a vertical drop-off line.
"Okay, so there should be a staircase," she says.
Ahead of you, there is a chunk of what you might, hesitatingly, call a staircase. It runs about twelve steps, hugging the cliff, before the foundation crumbles away to nothing. You tentatively draw closer. At the base of the cliff, about three hundred feet down, is the rest of it, a crumbled mess of stone, at peace, like a pile of bones.
(if: $prioryhelps is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Got a stair problem?" says a voice.]]](if: $nobody is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How are we supposed to get down there now?" you ask.]]](if: $keeperlightstheway is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You hear whistling, high up in the columns.]]]
You climb up a ladder and sit down a little ways from her, legs dangling off the edge.
You wait for her to speak. After a long time, her voice breaks the stillness.
"The staircase is busted," she says.
"What?"
"There's no way down." She draws her sweater tighter around her knees.
You look down to the cliff below the column. Indeed, a small part of the staircase is hugging the cliff. It runs about twelve steps before the foundation crumbles away to nothing. At the base of the cliff, about three hundred feet down, is the rest of it, a crumbled mess of stone, looking forlorn, like a pile of bones.
"Oh," you say. "Yeah, that's a problem."
Silence.
"Um, hey," you continue, "I'm sorry I didn't give you enough space back there. I didn't realize what you were going through."
She sighs and looks away. "It's okay," she says. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
You are quiet for a long time while the wind roars over the columns.
"Can we be friends again?" she says.
"Of course," you say, a little too eagerly. "I can't let you kick all those wasps' butts by yourself."
"Hell yeah. But technically we'd be kicking their thoraxes."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Then let's go kick some frickin wasp thorax."]]You follow the cat-devil up into the top of the natural balcony. At the roof of the cave, the rock is interrupted by an incredibly wide, short metal doorway, like an airplane hangar for airplanes no more than ten feet tall. Maybe glances at the closed hangar door with a look of recognition, and her eyes brighten.
"Oh I see," she says.
"I Do Not," you say, edging along the narrow path.
"This is part of the production line for the old Balloon Factory. This is where they used to make kites! If we can open the gates, we might be able to catch one and fly it down over the palace!" she says.
"The what?" you say.
Priory opens a small side door and you all slip inside.
You are in a vast hangar at the end of a wrecked assembly line stretching out into the darkness. In a perfect pattern, tiling the plane of the factory floor, are dozens of yellow, bird-shaped dart- and kite-things. You are reminded of your dear friend from 4th grade math, Roger Penrose. They look almost like massive hang-gliders, but without any affixations upon which to actually hang.
By the door is a panel with stray wires hanging out of it and, by that, an imposing metal wheel, twice as tall as you.
"As I'd said: I have an ideal solution to our mutual problem, but herein lies the rib."
"Rub?" you suggest.
"No, it's a wheel; you gotta turn it."
Maybe's smile widens into a grin. "Oh I get it: You're not strong enough to turn the wheel by yourself!"
"Well hey now," he flusters, "The dang thing's stuck! If we all three pull on it I think it might make a budge. I mean, I seen you fight, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[you ain't nothin to wheeze at."]]Priory sets his hands on the wheel and pulls down with all his might. You grab a rung, pulling, and the wheel begins to budge. Maybe joins you from the other side and, with a jolt, the wheel begins turning fluidly and the hangar doors begin to grind open.
"See!" Priory grunts, "jus needed a little kick!"
Maybe rolls her eyes.
As the doors are opened, something in the old machinery clicks to life and the howling whir of some giant fan or engine washes over the sounds of the rusted door.
"Oh silt, we gotta move," Priory says.
He's right: as the doors finish opening, the kites, row after row, tremble forward as they begin to be slurped out the hangar door.
As the kites whoosh towards the door, little eye dots become visible on what you could call their heads. You see one of them restlessly flap its wings as it shoots out into the Sunless Meadow.
"Jump for it!" Maybe shouts over the tumult.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump for it.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Wait for a good opportunity.]]You leap onto the back of one at the same time as Maybe and shoot out the door. There is utterly nothing to hold onto. Your positioning is quite bad here. You are, as Simon and Garfunkel put it, are "slip sliding away."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Slip slide off the thing.]]Maybe jumps and grabs one by the head area. Priory jumps.
You just manage to snag the last one as it rockets out the front door.
The wind is whipping by as you suddenly drop, following the formation of the other kites as they plummet into the Sunless Meadow. With stomach-melting speed, you flatten out your descent. The flock banks to the right, then to the left, glowing brighter and brighter. You can see their destination in the distance, a few miles away from the Wasps' palace is the Celestial Cathedral. Hundreds of kites circle aimlessly around the golden stalactite, in a whirling circle like a metal hurricane.
The roaring wind is deafening, but, from way ahead, you can hear Maybe shout: "WHOOHOO!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["WHOOOOOOOOOOO!"]]You are jettisoned backwards off the kite, flipping head-over-heels in free-fall above the meadow.
"Aaaaa!"
Over the roaring of the wind slapping at your ears you hear Maybe's muffled, "$name!"
You try hard to keep your eyes open against the wind, in glimpses, the distant ground is getting less and less distant.
"$name! Grab on!"
Maybe's bird is in free-fall beside you. She reaches out and you (text-colour:#a9434b)[[grab her hand.]]You shout and lean your bird into a slight downward angle, following Maybe and Priory in a rapid descent towards the palace.
The white and yellow hexagonal architecture of the estate becomes clear as you pass over the top of the castle. You tug firmly on the immobile wing of the kite and drift around in an easy circle above the palace.
Maybe drifts and drifts until she comes to a high tower sprouting off the palace in an upward arc. She leaps off the bird-creature and lands heavily on the roof. Priory does the same. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Your stomach twists.]]She curves out the descent and pulls horizontal just in time. You're rocketing over the tree line now, nearly close enough to reach out and touch the branches. The palace comes into sight again as you gain altitude, slowing your approach. Priory banks down to fly beside you.
"That was an impressive stunt!" he shouts over the wind.
"Thanks!" you reply. "It wasn't necessarily super intentional!"
The white and yellow hexagonal architecture of the estate becomes clear as you soar upward and pass over the top of the castle. Maybe tugs firmly on the immobile wing of the kite and you drift around in an easy circle above the palace.
The two kites drift down until you reach a high tower sprouting off the palace in an upward arc. Priory leaps off his bird and rolls onto the roof.
"Get ready," Maybe says. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Your stomach twists.]]You leap off the kite and land sprawling on the hexagonal porcelain shingles. A couple of them break with the impact.
The kites drift off to rejoin the flock, curling like solar smoke towards the cavern ceiling.
"These roof plates alone could buy you a small house," Priory says, running his hand along them.
"Roof plates?" Maybe smirks.
You hop down to a tiny balcony. There is a pair of French doors, although you doubt they're really French, separating you from the room inside. They're locked.
"Who locks their balcony door?" you say.
"Someone who lives in a place where everybody Has Wings and Can Fly," Maybe says. She raises her foot, preparing to strike at the glass.
"Hey Hey Woah Woah Woah!" Priory whisper-shouts. "You *wanna* get caught?"
"I think we have differing goals here," she says, foot still raised.
"Okay," he raises his hands. "That's your pejorative. But at least try to stay quiet until we part ways." He drops down to one knee and begins picking the lock.
"Prerogative?" you suggest.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Gesundheit," Priory says.]]The door pops open. "There we go," he says. "Quick as a fissure."
"Fiddle?" you say.(set: $fiddle to "fissure")
"Did you catch a cold?"
The room inside is cluttered, some sort of study, with maps, scrolls, and documents in orderly piles on the desks. There are all sorts of odd trinkets and magical gadgets on the shelves. The room looks almost as though it's been only fairly recently moved into. A few months or so.
"Alright, I think this is one of Ekphrasis' rooms. Fan out and look for the signal."
You go over and investigate a rack with a lot of strange-looking weapons. There are shields, swords, some of which are glowing, weird twisty pikes, and huge battle-axes. In another corner, there are wooden busts weighed down with armor.
Priory begins pocketing the most expensive looking gadgets.
"Are you seriously just here to steal?"
"Uhm. You're not?" they say.
"We're a little busy trying to *save the world*."
Priory continues to slowly pocket the trinket he's holding. "Well . . . Uh. Have fun with that."
You finish looking around the shelves and in the desk drawers and cabinets. "I don't think it's on this floor," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Then let's keep moving," Maybe responds.]]There is an open door in the stone that leads into a curving staircase. Small windows look out over the rest of the palace from above. You can see other figures moving up and down staircases in similar towers.
You duck down as a small squadron of wasps passes by out the window. The glass of the hexagonal window rattles with the buzzing.
The staircase loops a quarter of the way around the circular tower and you come to another open doorway.
You are in a bedroom. In the exact center of the room is a four-poster bed, white, with golden trim and thin, lacy curtains lashed to the posts. It's otherwise desolate, except for a dresser, an open closet and a body-length mirror. There are intricate carvings of bees worked into the wood. It looks like this room was recently remodeled to be a bedroom, but was not one originally.
"Okay, the locked balcony door I can understand, but only a maniac sleeps with their bed in the middle of the room," Priory says. Then he jumps straight backwards. "Holy—"
There is a figure—standing perfectly motionless by the opposite door. Your heart pounds in your chest.
But, whoever she is, she isn't moving.
You go a little closer to investigate. At first glance, you'd think the figure were a statue—her skin is solid porcelain, with a little color in the cheeks. She's dressed like a maid.
She might very well be a statue, but, up close, you can see she's trembling, ever so slightly, and hiding her face with a feather duster.
"Hey, it's okay," you say softly. "We're not gonna hurt you."
"Y-you—You can't You can't be here."
"We're looking for something, it's important," Maybe says.
"You can't You can't let her see you her see you her—when she see—you she sees you when she sees you—"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Welp," says Priory. "This is weird. I'm out."]]
You turn back to the porcelain maid.
"Sh. Shattered. Shattered. Sha. Sh."
Maybe waves a hand in front of her face. She doesn't seem to notice. "Okay, I'm with Priory, this is incredibly whack. We should search here, but make it quick. I don't trust this thing."
Maybe goes to the closet.
You look under the bed.
Under the bed, there's a chest, an old steamer trunk. There are stickers on it. Like, real, people stickers that were made in a print shop. There's one for a tennis team, for track and field, a math club, an orchestra, a college honors society, and a sticker from a conference about women in STEM. It's locked.
Maybe is rooting around in the dresser. She catches sight of herself in the mirror. She turns her head this way and that. "Huh," she says.
"What is it?" you ask, fiddling with the lock on the trunk. "Is there a riddle?"
"No, it's . . ."
"A light puzzle where we have to angle the sunstone light to hit a bee mural and open a secret door?"
"No, no. I just haven't . . . I haven't actually seen myself in a mirror in about a year and a half."
You go and stand in front of the mirror. You're surprised too.
You look older.
Like, much older. You can't place it. It's been less than a day, right? But you feel older too. It feels different. It feels good.
Maybe fiddles with her hair, stuffing it into a ponytail with a hair tie from the dresser.
"Well," she says. "I guess it's not here either. That means Ekphrasis is . . . carrying it herself."
You go back to the door where the porcelain woman is standing rooted to the spot. She's touching her face and shoulders like she expects them not to be there, rubbing her arm and flexing her fingers like she's suddenly become a ghost. And whispering, over and over, "This doesn't doesn't belong this it doesn't belong it's too You're too You're too It's too It's gone gone It's gone She's here She's here She's here."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4.]]
"You sure?" Maybe says. "I don't mind sticking together."
"I'm sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry," the porcelain woman continues.
"Yeah, I got enough loot already to be Executor of the Hellmouth. I appreciate the help," Priory says.
"Do you have an exit plan?"
"To not let 'em see me!"
"Shattered Shattered It's all It's all my. My fault fault faulty faulty faulty."
"Yeah, I'm out," Priory says. "See you nara!"
"I don't think that's it—" you start.
With a flourish of his coat, he's gone, sneaking out of sight down the marble stairs. As he goes, you hear him quietly singing to himself:
*"With cat-like tread!
Upon our prey we steal
In silence dread
Our cautious way we feel . . .
No sound at all!
We never speak a word
A fly's foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard . . ." *
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["He's gonna get caught," Maybe says.]]
The footsteps are accompanied by buzzing, and conversation echoes up from the stairs below. You can faintly hear: "I'm just surprised, honestly. I thought they were all supposed to be flawless."
"Well, I suppose all who come from the earth must have their imperfections, my Lady."
"You're more right than you could know, Commander. We're all sons and daughters of Adam, and thus . . ."
"What do you mean by 'Adam,' my Lady?"
"'From the earth.' And thus subject to imperfection, all of us, like any Lithican. But hopefully we can fix all that, very soon."
You look around the room for somewhere to hide. There is nowhere to hide. Maybe is frozen, but not in fear. She looks . . . confused?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stay at her side.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Hide under the bed.]]
You give one futile tug on Maybe's sleeve, but she is impassive, like one who's heard a siren's song.
You dive under the bed.
"Anyway, we'll have a look at the documentation and hopefully that will bring light to the issue of how to activate the signal. Oh, Song—I've been meaning to ask: What sounds better: tyrannical despot or despotic tyrant?"
"Perhaps you should just stick to one, my Lady."
"Nonsense, it's all about over-exaggeration, isn't it?"
From under the bed, you see a pair of human legs, and you hear the buzzing of a wasp.
(if: $stupid is "true")[She's dressed the same as before, when you jumped out of a building onto her, with a stiff-buttoned, yellow military jacket, a red blouse, and perfectly braided hair, although she's exchanged her laurels for a subtle golden diadem. Her skin is lightish brown, like Maybe's.](else: )[There's no doubt in your mind that this is her: General Vespiridae Ekphrasis, Breaker of the Collective Will—the Wasp Queen.
She's dressed regally, but with emphasis on function, with a stiff-buttoned, yellow military jacket, a red blouse, and green laurels in her long, perfectly braided hair. She has lightish brown skin, like Maybe's.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Standing face to face, they're so similar.]]
"Anyway, we'll have a look at the documentation and hopefully that will bring light to the issue of how to activate the signal. Oh, Song—I've been meaning to ask: What sounds better: tyrannical despot or despotic tyrant?"
"Perhaps you should just stick to one, my Lady."
"Nonsense, it's all about over-exaggeration, isn't it?"
The two figures appear in the doorframe, one wasp and one human.
(if: $stupid is "true")[She's dressed the same as before, when you jumped out of a building onto her, with a stiff-buttoned, yellow military jacket, a red blouse, and perfectly braided hair, although she's exchanged her laurels for a subtle golden diadem. Her skin is lightish brown, like Maybe's.](else: )[There's no doubt in your mind that this is her: General Vespiridae Ekphrasis, Breaker of the Collective Will—the Wasp Queen.
She's dressed regally, but with emphasis on function, with a stiff-buttoned, yellow military jacket, a red blouse, and green laurels in her long, perfectly braided hair. She has lightish brown skin, like Maybe's.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Standing face to face, they look so alike.]]
Suddenly alert, Ekphrasis instantly whips out a metal staff as if from nowhere. She levels it at the two of you, but then stops, startled.
(if: $pillowparty is "this place on fire")["Grace!" she takes a step forward. "It really is you"](else: )["Grace?" Ekphrasis says.]
"Linh?" Maybe says.
"Oh my God . . ." She drops the staff with a clatter. "Of all the places in the world, I never expected to find you here," her eyes soften.
She steps in and sweeps Maybe up in a hug. Her sister is startled for a moment, but then wraps her arms around her.
"It's really you, isn't it . . ." Maybe says.
Linh pulls back and smiles. "It's really me!"
"Uhm," says the wasp officer. "My Lady, I don't—"
"It's fine, Song. Although, now that you mention it, I am curious how you two got in here," Ekphrasis says. "And, I'm curious to meet your friend here!"
"This is $name! They came in through the southeast entrance. I had some business with the Assembly, and I was lucky to run into them.
"Business with the Assembly, wow," she punches her sister on the arm. "I always knew you'd be a big shot. You can't trust a thing they say—but, of course, you already knew that," she says. She looks at the various charms Maybe has around her waist. "Yo! You got the mask of Luaster?"
"Yeah!" Maybe tilts the mask up to look at it from her belt. "Some traveling merchants gave it to me after I saved them from a stag husk!"
"That's so cool!" Linh says. "And I see you've got ammonite handy. And fire powder for trading. No one's gonna mess with a girl with enchanted ammonite."
"I know, right!" Maybe laughs. "Although you'd be surprised how many people underestimate me!"
"Never underestimate a Huynh! Personally, I've upgraded to these clockwork guys," Linh says, pulling out a clear glass bauble with a system of golden cogs in a delicate interior jumble. "Although I can understand the love of the more rustic, hands-on feeling of the ammonite."
"They've worked really good for me so far," her sister says, tapping her fist on her armor.
"Worked really well," Linh corrects. "And leather armor, too! You've become quite the fantasy archetype. I would have opted for carapace or chain myself."
"Too heavy," Maybe says. "I travel, and I've gotta be light on my feet."
"That's funny," Ekphrasis says, "I always try to ground myself in the combat. If you can't run, you fight like your life depends on it. You drop yourself in a concrete box with your opponent, and you fight like a cornered wolf. I wear chain, sometimes plate; I haven't lost a battle yet. So. You were looking for me?"
"Yeah, we just um. We . . ." You don't know if it's the mention of combat, or the sudden inquisition, but Maybe stumbles over her sentence and it sputters out in her mouth like a gas lamp.
Ekphrasis tilts her head. Concerned? Disappointed?
"We heard that the wasp queen was another human," you jump in, "and we . . . wanted to meet you. We didn't know exactly where to look," you say.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. I found you. And you're safe."
"Yeah, I," Maybe says. "It's good to see you."
Linh takes Maybe by the hand and they sit on the edge of the bed. You follow awkwardly.
"Mom was so worried after you disappeared," Linh says. "We thought you'd been abducted, or killed, or worse. After a year of searching with no results, we finally held a funeral for you. Dad actually showed his face. Aureliana was there, and Dr. Haddison. Everyone talked about how much potential you had, and how that was all gone. I knew better though. You're tough. I think you could probably take anything the surface world could throw at you. And now you've proven that (text-colour:#a9434b)[[you're strong enough to survive in the G.S.E. too."]]
(set: $lapis to "false")There are two passages in front of you.
The left passage arcs up, and curves out of sight. A narrow hallway in a cathedral, gold in sunstone. The right passage slopes gently down. Its wide, stone staircase white under the moonstone.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Left]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->Right]]The buzzing is incessant now, pressing against your skull from the inside like a migraine. You load a blue-tipped arrow into the crossbow. It's hard to concentrate. Your heart is pounding.
One of the beasts, wolf-like, slams into the wall of the pillow fort sending ripples through the fabric. Another one bucks its rider and tries to bolt, but the wasps around it prod it into line with the points of their lances. Many of the animals have multiple legs or heads. One has a spiral of glowing teeth growing through the inky skin on its back. Another has a hole straight through it, nothing but solid stygian skin around it.
Maybe has engaged the wasps on the front lines, the outer wall having proved ineffective against an invading force that Has Wings And Can Fly. Maybe is blade to blade with a wasp twice her height. You catch a glimpse of Gadolin ordering troops down into the keep before diving into the melee himself.
You turn to the flames slowly spreading up the castle tower and fire your crossbow.
Your arrow zings out and freezes to the surface of the quilt—a mound of pink ice, blooming across the fire. You aim at another spot on the quilted ground that has caught fire and the same wave of pink ice sprouts over the fire like a butterfly bush.
Maybe is grinning from ear to ear. She severs a charging wasp in half, slicing between the thorax and wriggling abdomen and hurling the upper body to the ground below. She whirls and cuts down another, and another soldier.
You grimace.
Looking for more fires, your eye catches a dark shape flying far above the castle keep. The shape lands on a high balcony and disappears inside the tower.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Maybe!" you point up at the tower.]]End of Chapter 4/6.
"This place is a message . . . and part of a system of messages . . . pay attention to it!
This place is not a place of honor . . . What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
The danger is in a particular location . . . it increases toward a center . . . the center of danger is here . . . of a particular size and shape, and below us.
The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited."
—Trauth et al., //Expert judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertant Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant//
"the massive power of trains yet confinement to a single path makes them comparable to angels"
—tumblr post by user nultemp
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Highest Room in the Tallest Tower.->She's here.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
"Anyway, that's about when I came down here. About six months ago now? It's so weird being in a place that lacks time. There's no change in season, no schedule to keep. I don't think I've seen a working clock down here yet!" she laughs. "When I found my entrance, I had just . . . finished my first semester of grad school. I was on a hike and it was getting dark. I must have stumbled into a cave, because, the next thing I knew, I was at the bottom of a rocky crawl with a head injury. I staggered around, and, well, long story short."
"So you've been down here for six months?" Maybe asks.
"Yeah, almost half a year now," she says. "Do you like what I've done with the place?"
"You. You overthrew the Collective Will," Maybe says.
"I know, right!" Ekphrasis beams. "I was impressed too. The wasps were a pathetic bunch of mercenaries when I found them. But with my leadership, defeating the Collective was child's play."(if: $lapis is "false")[
Song shifts uncomfortably.
](else:)[
]"They weren't doing anything wrong," Maybe says.
"Well obviously that's not true. They were barely able to put up a fight. The bees are such hard workers, you'd think they'd be a little smarter tactically."
"That's not what . . ." Maybe says.
"It is! Though. Isn't it." Ekphrasis smiles. She takes Maybe by the shoulders. "That's how it is in the real world. The strong win out against the weak. That's what Mom taught us. And she was right, of course—but, in the real world, strength is metaphorical. Strength means money, labor, will, charisma. Down here, it's literal. But, hey, enough about me. You've been down here, what? A year and a half? Where are you based? What faction do you lead? You must be very accomplished."
"I don't. Don't lead a faction," Maybe stammers.
"Oh, man! You've been on your own this whole time? You're way stronger than I thought." She winks and nudges Maybe with her elbow. "Two wolves. All the more reason why we need to make a Huynh coalition. Once I'm done with the Nest, it can just be the two of us. Or . . . three, $name?"
"You can't just—!" Maybe is beginning to tear up.
Ekphrasis smiles knowingly at Maybe. Like a boat running aground, she takes her sister's chin in the palm of her hand and tilts her head. Her eyes soften. "It's okay," she says. "You don't have to do anything." She pulls Maybe into a hug.
Maybe doesn't hug back, but she doesn't pull away either. She's stuck in place.
Linh leans back, leaving Maybe glued to the spot, her hands clenching and unclenching.
A fraction of disdain passes over her face. "If you're going to be like that, you can wait here and Song will get you briefed and set you up for the next mission when you snap out of it. Or," she says, "you could come upstairs and I could show you myself?"
Maybe does not respond.
Ekphrasis steps back and turns to you. “$name. It was $name—right?”
You nod.
“I want to show you what I’ve been working on.”
You look at Maybe. She’s shaking now, and turned away from you, but you can tell she's crying.
“Don’t worry about her,” Ekphrasis takes you by the shoulder. “She does this all the time. She’ll follow us if she really wants to.” She turns to go up the stairs into the study.
(if: $lapis is "false")[Song seems unsure what to do, flicking her wings in little nervous intervals.
](text-colour:#a9434b)[[You are led up the stairs.]]And you had a PURPOSE.
When you reached the top, who was there for you?
(text-colour:#94d82d)[[The Chorus was there.->And you felt INFERIORITY]]
(text-colour:#94d82d)[[There was no one in sight.]]
(set: $one to "1")And you caught ahold of CARE.
And when I came to you crying, because I had skinned my knee, what did you say?
In spite of everything, you said,
(text-colour:#895ef2)[["It's going to be okay." You said, "I love you."]]
(set: $five to "1")And you learned FIDELITY.
But, when everyone had vanished, when your factories were rubble, when you saw another hand in the dark, when it touched you, what did you do?
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I flinched away.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I yearned, unmoving.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I bled there in the water.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I grasped it and heaved.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I pulled them from the cyanide.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I held them close.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
(set: $three to "1")And you earned their LOVE.
When they taught you the horrors of the earth below the cathedral, the real cost of the Emperor's domination, what did you do?
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I gave my love as light and smoke.->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I saw an ocean of writhing limbs,->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[thick with blood, seething black.->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I saw the world wheel spinning.
I saw the ghosts' distended bellies.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[And I warmed the plains with light.
And when that was not enough,->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I dissolved my body at the core
and sang the song of a conduit.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[And, as pure light, my hands
were everywhere.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
I lit more lights.
And it was an even subtler form of selfishness.
(set: $four to "1")
And you learned WILL.
When you struck the earth for the seventh time, what did she say?
She said, (text-colour:#fab005)[["He would be so disappointed."]]
She said, (text-colour:#fab005)[["I'm here for you."->And you had a PURPOSE.]]And you learned HOPE.
When you fell again, what did you do?
(text-colour:#fd7e14)[[I clung to the stone like a bat.]]
And you knew GUILT.
When you reached the top, who was there for you?
(text-colour:#94d82d)[[The Chorus was there.->And you felt INFERIORITY]]
(text-colour:#94d82d)[[There was no one in sight.]]
And you felt INFERIORITY.
The Emperor would be ashamed, they said. And his shadow loomed over you, wide, like a smokestack.
But when your wings came in, bright and big, what did you do?
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I was a more perfect Empress.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I raised a perfect child.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I raised a rebel army.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I froze in the light of it.]]
And you felt a well of COMPETENCY.
They said the Emperor had never really died, they said he lived inside you still, but, in that moment, it didn't matter what he would have thought, because you had done this on your own. You did not do it for him. But even then he was in your mind, just watching.
When your wings came in, bright and big, what did you do?
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I was a more perfect Empress.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I raised a perfect child.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I raised a rebel army.->And you understood FIDELITY.]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[I froze in the light of it.]]
(set: $two to "1")And you knew CONFUSION.
When everyone had vanished, when your factories were rubble, when you saw another hand in the dark, when it touched you, what did you do?
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I flinched away.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I yearned, unmoving.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I bled there in the water.->And you knew ISOLATION.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I grasped it and heaved.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I pulled them from the cyanide.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[I held them close.->And you earned their LOVE.]]
And you knew ISOLATION.
When you saw, for your own eyes, the horrors of the earth, when you saw what went on below the celestial cathedral, when you breathed the fumes your subjects were made to breathe in the factory-cities and felt the heat at the heart of the Earth. When you knew the real cost of the Emperor's domination, what did you do?
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I gave my love as light and smoke.->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I saw an ocean of writhing limbs,->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[thick with blood, seething black.->And you swiped at CARE]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I saw the world wheel spinning.
I saw the ghosts' distended bellies.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[And I warmed the plains with light.
And when that was not enough,->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[I dissolved my body at the core
and sang the song of a conduit.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
(text-colour:#748ffc)[[And, as pure light, my hands
were everywhere.->And you caught ahold of CARE.]]
I lit more lights.
And it was an even subtler form of selfishness.And you swiped at CARE but it shivered out of reach. But you knew about it. It was still up there circling the cavern roof like a kite tied to the cathedral.
And when I came to you crying, because I had skinned my knee, what did you say?
In spite of everything, you said,
(text-colour:#895ef2)[["It's going to be okay." You said, "I love you."]]“I wanted to ask Grace this, but I've been wondering, now that I've finally met another human . . . ” Ekphrasis glances back at you in the narrow stairwell. “Did the voice get stronger for you, too?”
"The voice?" you ask.
“Yeah. Not a literal voice, but that prickle that tells you to do it again, to do better, to keep on going even though you're tired? The voice that goes off like a firecracker when you realize you've made a mistake?” she says. “It’s louder down here, don’t you think? A voice like a handbell choir. Like blue light. So perfect that it doesn’t even register as human.”
You don't know what to say.
"I guess that's a 'no,' huh? It’s interesting sometimes how the unconscious manifests itself. I always wondered if Grace heard it too. On the surface, that is. I'm sure she must have. But, that. That voice. At the bottom of the empire. It’s the promise of perfect vision. Knowledge of the future. That’s what I want to take back to the surface with me. Total control over myself."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You reach the top room.]](if: $lapis is "true")[The room at the top of the stairs is cluttered, a kind of study or office, with maps, scrolls, and documents in orderly piles on the desks. There are all sorts of odd trinkets and magical gadgets on the shelves. There are racks of weapons on the walls, and a thin veranda at the opposite end of the room.
]Ekphrasis walks up to a desk and unlocks one of its drawers with a key from around her neck. She takes out a thin map and an old, heavy book. You glance at the book’s cover as she opens it. It's some kind of operator's manual.
“If you haven't heard the voice, then I'm sure even in your short time here you've seen the cathedral right? Hanging over the pit of the balloon factory like it was lifted from the earth.”
You nod.
"Yeah. Like a stalactite of the purest gold. I'm certain the voice is coming from beneath it. From the pit. In the center of the spiral, where the railroad tracks end. That's one of the reasons we're calling this old god. A beast that brings time with it, everywhere it goes. The very model of perfection, right? It's what I've been trying to do down here. If everyone could just be a little bit more like that, the world would be such a better place, wouldn't it?"
You meet her gaze.
"Don't worry, $name. Obviously, I've done my research. You don't just go around implicitly trusting exterior manifestations of your subconscious. Like dream images, they are unreliably extant. But this one, this one's real. The fabric of everything confirms it. Like the very source of all Voice is housed there, in the Nadir."
You have no idea what she's talking about.
She flips a few pages in the book. There's a diagram of a spiral, like terraces funneling down into the Earth.
"At the very center of the factory, at its deepest point, there is a power source. It's ancient. Like, hundreds of years old at least. It's such an old thing that no one even seems to know when it was built. Or if it even was *built*. Maybe the last Empress just harnessed some sort of power source that already existed. Hooking her machines to some subterranean sun. Or drilling straight down to the mantle, maybe. Imagine that. 60 miles straight down. It would take you an entire hour to drive at highway speed straight down to the mantle. It would take half an hour just to fall. There's no way they should have been able to do anything like this. Its power pervades the entire empire. That bright blue light? I think that's where Heaven went. I think it fell down, $name." She looks back to the book and says, "but also, there's goblins and shit so, who freaking knows."
You look over her arm at the book.
"Yeah, haha. Linh's Earth Science Fun Fact Corner. Sorry. I can get a little monologue-y when I'm excited."
She scans down the page, a list of about twenty different command phrases and their Morse code signifiers. Her finger ends on a line that reads, "Entity releases breaks and proceeds: — —"
"Oh that's so simple," she says. She closes the book with a dusty thwomp.
She walks to the balcony.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You follow her.]]
She brushes open the French doors and steps out on the thin veranda. Several stories below, on the layered ground, is the large hexagonal courtyard, with lines of wasps buzzing from building to building over the carefully delineated paths. Beyond the courtyard is a large wall, and beyond that, the Great Meadow, white grass rippling in the wind.
Linh's whole face is lit with such intensity that it's hard not to look at her. Like a forest fire. No, less like a forest fire. Like a coal furnace.
She reaches for the signal in her jacket pocket, but stops.
You are startled as a massive, echoing BANG comes from the front gate. Again, the resounding sound of metal being bashed against metal and—with a final blow—the front gates of the courtyard buckle, and a mass of people charges through. What wasp soldiers there are near the gate are instantly overwhelmed as the Demarchy forces sweep forward toward the palace.
At the front of the pack, you see Captain Gadolin leading a battalion of pillow soldiers. Alongside them are all manner of Demarchy people, charging forward to engage the wasps, the thousand points of their spears all sparkling. You see giant insects, people made from metal and moss, devils and creatures made of fire, humanoid sheep and mice, a stunning variety of goblins, and even a handful of angels. Some people in the back start setting up a trebuchet.
Right at the front, near Captain Gadolin, are Cirrus and Luma! Cirrus is glowing with a look of triumph that would pale a hundred suns. Luma is there too.
"Battle stations!" Linh yells from the balcony. The wasps are terribly outnumbered. "Oh well," Linh says. "It doesn't actually matter."
She extracts the whistle from her pocket. "The Divine Populace. An old god," she says to herself. "A god with the voice of a steam whistle."
You say nothing.
"Yo, why is that trebuchet screaming?" she says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Grab the signal.->identity]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Do nothing.->role confusion]]
And we were okay. (if: $one is "1")[(if: $two is "1")[(if: $three is "1")[(if: $four is "1")[(if: $five is "1")[And you were beautiful.(set: $beautiful to "yes")]]]]]
(I really think you should tell it this time, but, if you insist.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[It was like . . . ->title page]]
You jump up and snatch the signal from her hand.
"You little—!"
And in that moment, you hear the screaming too, suddenly distinct as it slams into Ekphrasis from the front. Her staff, which had appeared from nowhere, clatters to the ground.
In another moment of panicked clarity, you take the staff and hurl it as hard as you can off the balcony.
With a snarl, Ekphrasis tosses the payload—a person made of metal—off of her and staggers to her feet.
The metallic figure, a small, lanky kid a little younger than you, staggers to their feet. They part their hair, a mohawk of dreadlocks like steel wool to one side, out of their eyes, and rush to tackle Ekphrasis again.
Barely breaking stride as she walks toward you, she grabs them by the head and beats them into the weapons rack.
"Hey, little one," she says to you. You are pinned between her and the balcony. The sounds of battle echo below you. "Are you done now?" she says. "You wanna give me that signal back? Pretty please?"
"MMm't give it to her!" shouts a muffled voice from the weapons rack, head embedded in the wall.
Ekphrasis pulls a halberd and a display case off the opposite wall and kicks the display case off of it.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'm not going to say it again," she laughs.]]
She blows the whistle.
Two efficient breaths, and the clear pitch rings out.
Over the white hills and the shouts of the soldiers, a steam whistle blows. Four short, repeated blasts. (Danger.)
She repeats the sound, and the four notes echo in protest, but you hear, also, the sound of an enormous creature shuddering to life.
"Do you hear that?" she says.
You look at her.
"No, like, non-rhetorically."
She dives to the side as a screaming payload connects with the veranda, shattering the marble.
"You have to stop it from reaching the Fulcrum!" says the payload, a kid about your age, made of metal. And then, "aw, bats," as they're thrown off the side of the tower by Ekphrasis.
"He was heavier than he looks," Linh says, looking down.
There's a metal-kid-shaped hole in each of the verandas beneath and a big crater in the ground. A weak thumbs up comes out of it.
"Well, let's go collect my sister. She'll be done by now. It used to take her hours to snap herself out of these fits, but they've been getting shorter. I think I'm finally getting through to her."
You walk back down the quarter-turn stairwell.
You want to say something like, 'She's like this because of *you*.' But your tongue is glued to your teeth. Like you don't know what you want or who you are, and the next best thing is to trust Linh to know what's best. She's older after all, and smarter. She must know better. (Is this what Maybe feels like all the time?)
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
You look away.
"$name, I don't take joy in being hard on my sister," Linh says. "But how's she ever going to amount to anything if she keeps freezing up like this? And, god, trust me, if you think *I'm* hard on her, you should meet our mother. It was not pretty when she found out about her grades. I helped her hide them as long as I could. But my help wasn't helping. She needed to be scared into improving. But honestly I'm glad she came down here. It might have been good for her to take a break. The weak require frequent rest. The kind of pressure we were under on the surface, it can crack a person."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[It becomes clear that she's talking about herself.]]The passage curves off to the left. What were rocky, uneven cave walls eventually give way again, weirdly, to metal culvert walls, gently sloping down. The trickle of water that you've been following has taken up residence in the middle of the floor again, getting your feet wet.
Ahead, you can hear the thundering of falling water.
Walking cautiously, as your feet make echoes on the culvert floor, you round a bend or two and hear the roar of water thundering off beyond your sight.
The roaring grows very loud; you round a final bend in the passage and nearly slip over the sudden ledge—as the floor drops away from under you in a massive chute, thundering with falling water. Your little stream joins nearly a dozen, much larger, others, some rushing out of culverts high above, all of them pouring massive amounts of water down into the blackness below. The sound and sight of it is deafening.
A sign to your right reads: "Concourse 1."
There is a wooden bridge here that goes partway around the shaft and disappears into another tunnel. You eye it cautiously, until something else catches your attention.
There is a girl standing on the opposite edge of the chute, about forty feet away, looking at you.
She's about your age: ten or eleven, wearing a black sweater with two yellow stripes. She has shoulder-length black hair, light brown skin, and a spear slung along her backpack. There's what looks like leather armor under her sweater, and a dozen or more bits of colored string tied to various charms. There is an orb of light dancing around her head like a tiny planet. She squints across the water. The girl seems bold, but incorporeal. Most of all, it seems like she knows something you don't. Probably a lot of things, actually.
When she sees you, she jumps up and down and starts waving excitedly. She cups her hands and yells something across the gap to you, but it's lost in the water.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What is this place?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Who are you?"]]
(set: $nonmin to "yes")Curving off and down to the right, you slide down the smooth cave floor until the surface evens out and you're walking on flat ground again. It is then that you see the source of the pink light. It takes your breath away.
Like the inside of a geode, the room is canopied with glowing, multicolored crystals, mostly pink, with hints of every other color. You stand in the center of the room for a while, twirling. You've heard of bioluminescence before, but you have absolutely no idea what this is.
"Wow," you say. That doesn't seem like enough, but it's something.
The room takes turns and sprouts divots into little alcoves like a library. Potted vegetables have been arranged here on tables. There are cloth sacks of fertilizer piled on the wall. You move through the space. The stone is quiet under your sneakers, and you hear movement.
On the far side of the room, near a door, there's an old woman. She's small, straight-backed. At a distance she looks nearly human, but her skin is stone, and instead of hair there is a cascade of strawberry leaves and long vines held together in a loose braid. She's humming a soft, private song.
You duck down behind the fertilizer bags, not sure what to do.
Her humming opens to words at intervals, like a half-remembered song.
“//Legend has it . . .
he was a giant . . .
a smokestack . . .
whose shadow,
whose shadow
looms light
like light a . . .
bright shadow
gold-fringed
smokestack . . . //”
You stand up, slowly.
The strawberry-hair lady appears in front of you. "You're not doing yourself any favors hiding like that," she says.
"Eep!" you say.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you that first impressions are everything? How did you get down here?"
"I—uh. Walked?"
"Through what's left of the southeast boundary, then."
"I'm not sure," you say. "I'm sorry, is this your house? I was just exploring, I don't want to be—"
"If you're an explorer then you should explore. If you want to push your luck, be my guest. It's not safe down here," she says. "But I'm not your mother." She gestures to the wooden door behind her. "Find what you're looking for and then get out. The deeper you go, the more difficult it is to climb back out, and at a certain point it becomes just. Impossible."
"Uah," you say, standing up. "I'm not sure I'm really looking for anything."
"Everyone wants something. If you don't know what it is, then someone else will decide for you."
She stands aside, such that either path, the rocky crawl you came from with the slate rubble piled at the base, or the path through the vegetables to the closed door, is unblocked.
You know you should turn around, but . . . You go up to the door, and it swings open with a loud creak.
You look back for the old woman, but she's no longer in sight.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Step through.]]
(set: $crystalroom to "true")You start reading at the open page.
". . . existence of suffering is neither a necessary feature of the world nor the consequence of a specific fact about the past (such as the fall of Adam), but is rather due to an intellectual error that is mistaken about the way things exist. Suffering is produced by a wrong view of the world, a view that is in fact so much part and parcel of our habitual way of thinking that we are not aware of its perspectival nature any more. More worryingly, the mere intellectual insight into its falsity does not mean that the illusion goes away. . . . An illusion is not something that does not exist, but something that is not what it seems. A cloud that might appear as soft as a white down pillow, as thick as a dark wall, or as far-reaching as the golden sands of the desert when illuminated by the setting sun is really nothing of the sort; in fact it is little more than the thin air into which it will soon disappear."^^1^^(mouseover-replace: "1")[ (Jan Westerhoff: //Twelve Examples of Illusion.// p. 7.)]
Despite having a higher-than-grade reading level, you begin to nod off.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Fight the nap! No naps!->Look around the library.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes naps!->Take a little nap.]]
You go over to the crate and try to pry it open. It reminds you of rifling through trunks in the attic with your grandma. After a treacherous struggle, the crate pops open. In the box is (either:
"a framed photograph of two women standing on a giant pumpkin. They remind you of your moms.
('Framed photo' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a black and white photograph of a group of men at the entrance of a tunnel
('miners photo' was added to your inventory.)",
"a picture of two human kids wearing overalls in a creek
('Creek kids' was added to your inventory.)",
"an unlabeled record with album cover of a popular Ratfolk ska band
('Ratfolk album' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a painting of a giant bee on a throne. On the back, there's an inscription that reads: 'While not technically possessing the rank of Queen after the coronation of the Emperor at the beginning of the new millennium, Her Majesty was allowed to retain the title in honor of her continued servitude as the protectorate of the Immortal Hive. Her reign lasted from -20 until it ended in 1081, for obvious reasons.' The note is signed 'Lumina Lappazi'
('Queen bee painting' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a translucent glass key. The key part is broken, so it's more of a useless rod
('Useless glass rod' was added to your inventory.)",
"an unlabeled record with a gold trim
('Record' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a clear blue bottle
('Clear blue bottle' was added to your inventory. How could you resist?)",
"a tiny stuffed animal
('Tiny stuffed animal' was added to your inventory. You shall name him George.)",
"a broken radio. Or maybe it's not broken and it just doesn't work because you're deep underground.
('Dubious radio' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a heavy phonograph
('Heavy phonograph' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too heavy.)",
"a blank notebook with a yellow flower pressed between the pages
('Impressive journal' was added to your inventory.)",
"a set of pauldrons, way too big for you
('Pauldrons' were not added to your inventory, because they were much too large.)",
"a tiny wind chime
('Tiny wind chime' was added to your inventory.)",
"a lot of tiny gold-colored gears
('A few gears' were added to your inventory.)",
"just more books. A lot of them are torn to shreds, like a burrowing animal got into them.
('More books' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"rusted bits of metal and broken glass.
('Bits' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"a map of some small cave branch. You have no way of knowing where it is. The back is signed Angelica, with a little drawing of a bee.
('Detail map' was added to your inventory.)",
"way too much looseleaf tea.
('Way too much looseleaf tea' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"pottery shards. They look pretty old.
('Potsherds' were added to your inventory.)",
)(set: $librarycrates to "various junk")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Again!]]In the box there is (either:
"a framed photograph of two women standing on a giant pumpkin. They remind you of your moms.
('Framed photo' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a black and white photograph of a group of men at the entrance of a tunnel.
('Miner photo' was added to your inventory.)",
"a picture of two human kids wearing overalls in a creek.
('Creek kids' was added to your inventory.)",
"an unlabeled record with album cover of a popular Ratfolk ska band.
('Ratfolk album' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a painting of a giant bee on a throne. On the back, there's an inscription that reads: 'While not technically possessing the rank of Queen after the coronation of the Emperor at the beginning of the new millennium, Her Majesty was allowed to retain the title in honor of her continued servitude as the protectorate of the Immortal Hive. Her reign lasted from -20 until it ended in 1081, for obvious reasons.' The note is signed 'Lumina Lappazi'.
('Queen bee painting' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a translucent glass key. The key part is broken, so it's more of a useless rod.
('Useless glass rod' was added to your inventory.)",
"an unlabeled record with a gold trim.
('Record' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a clear blue bottle.
('Clear blue bottle' was added to your inventory. How could you resist?)",
"a tiny stuffed animal.
('Tiny stuffed animal' was added to your inventory.) You shall name him George.",
"a broken radio. Or maybe it's not broken and it just doesn't work because you're deep underground.
('Dubious radio' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too large.)",
"a heavy phonograph.
('Heavy phonograph' was not added to your inventory, because it was much too heavy.)",
"a blank notebook with a yellow flower pressed between the pages.
('Impressive journal' was added to your inventory.)",
"a set of pauldrons, way too big for you.
('Pauldrons' were not added to your inventory, because they were much too large.)",
"a small, old-looking pamphlet written by somebody named 'Marl Karst.' It is nearly unreadable.
('Manifesto' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"a tiny wind chime.
('Tiny wind chime' was added to your inventory.)",
"a lot of tiny gold-colored gears.
('A few gears' were added to your inventory.)",
"just more books. A lot of them are torn to shreds, like a burrowing animal got into them.
('More books' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"rusted bits of metal and broken glass.
('Bits' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"a map of some small cave branch. You have no way of knowing where it is. The back is signed Angelica, with a little drawing of a bee.
('Detail map' was added to your inventory.)",
"way too much looseleaf tea.
('Way too much looseleaf tea' was not added to your inventory, because why would you want that.)",
"a fistfull of pottery shards. They look pretty old.
('Potsherds' were added to your inventory.)",
)(set: $librarycrates to "various junk")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Again!]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back to library.->Look around the library.]]You wave goodbye to the goblin dock-keeper and rush up into the top of the natural balcony. At the roof of the cave, the rock is interrupted by an incredibly wide metal doorway, like an airplane hangar, but for airplanes no more than ten feet tall.(set: $dockkept to "again??")
"This is part of the production line for the old Balloon Factory. This is where they used to produce kites! If we can open the gates, we might be able to catch one and fly it down over the palace!" she says.
"The what who?" you say.
She presses in on an access door and it swings open with an echoing bang.
Beyond the door is a vast hangar bay at the end of a wrecked assembly line stretching into the darkness beyond. In neat, orderly rows, are dozens of yellow bird-shaped 'kites.' You are reminded of your dear friend from 4th grade math, Roger Penrose. They look almost like massive hang-gliders, but without any affixations upon which to actually 'hang.'
Water is dripping somewhere out of sight. Beside the hangar door, is a panel with stray wires hanging out of it and, by that, an imposing metal wheel, taller than you are.
"I think this wheel might open the hangar doors," Maybe says.
You pull on the wheel and it begins to grind forward, Maybe grabs the other side of it and pulls it toward her. You repeat the motion, as if tossing an object between you, and the hangar door begins to lift up, bringing light to the dusty dark of the factory.
There's something sinister about this place that you notice in the silence. The blades on the factory's machines shine in the light from the opening door. It's like the factory feels undead. Like a dormant, disassembled corpse waiting for its rusted limbs to be sewn back together. All it would take is form and blood and will for this place to run again. Form, as the pipes and hinges are set in place, blood as the workers stumble in, and will as the force of wealth drives it to unnatural life again. It wouldn't take much.
The hangar door slams fully open.
"Nice work!" says Maybe.
Something in the old machinery clicks to life and the howling whir of some giant fan or engine washes over the sound of the rusted door.
"Oh crap, here we go—"
The kites, row after row, tremble forward as they begin to be slurped out the hangar door.
As the kites whoosh towards the door, little eye dots become visible on what you could call their heads. You see one of them restlessly flap its wings as it shoots out into the Sunless Meadow.
"Jump for it!" Maybe shouts over the tumult.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump for it.->Jump for it.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Wait for a good opportunity.->Wait for a good opportunity.2]]You leap onto the back of one at the same time as Maybe and shoot out the door. There is utterly nothing to hold onto. Your positioning is quite bad here. You are, as Simon and Garfunkel put it, are "slip sliding away."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Slip slide off the thing.->Slip slide off the thing.2]]Maybe jumps and grabs one by the head area. In a second, she's totally gone. The kites whiz by too fast to see individually, like fan blades.
You just manage to snag the last one as it rockets out the front door.
The wind is whipping by as you suddenly drop, following the formation of the other kites as they plummet into the Sunless Meadow. With stomach-melting speed, you flatten out your descent. The flock banks to the right, then to the left, glowing brighter and brighter. You can see their destination in the distance, a few miles away from the Wasps' palace is the Celestial Cathedral. Hundreds of kites circle aimlessly around the golden stalactite, in a whirling circle like a metal hurricane.
The roaring wind is deafening, but, from way ahead, you can hear Maybe shout: "WHOOHOO!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["WHOOOOOOOOOOO!"->"WHOOOOOOOOOOO!"2]]You are jettisoned backwards off the kite, flipping head-over-heels in free-fall above the meadow.
Over the roaring of the wind slapping at your ears you hear Maybe's muffled, "$name!"
You try hard to keep your eyes open against the wind, in glimpses, the distant ground is getting less and less distant.
"$name! Grab on!"
Maybe's bird is in free-fall beside you. She reaches out and you (text-colour:#a9434b)[[grab her hand.->grab her hand.2]]She curves out the descent and pulls horizontal just in time. You're rocketing over the tree line now, nearly close enough to reach out and touch the branches. The palace comes into sight again as you gain altitude, slowing your approach.
"That was really close!" Maybe shouts over the wind.
"Thanks for saving my life again!" you reply. You're holding on tight around her waist.
The white and yellow hexagonal architecture of the estate becomes clear as you soar upward and pass over the top of the castle. Maybe tugs firmly on the immobile wing of the kite and you drift around in an easy circle above the palace.
The kite drifts down until you reach a high tower that sprouts off the palace in an upward arc.
"Get ready," Maybe says. Your stomach twists.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump!->Jump!2]]You shout and tilt your bird into a slight downward angle, following Maybe in a rapid descent towards the palace.
The white and yellow hexagonal architecture of the estate becomes clear as you pass over the top of the castle. You tug firmly on the immobile wing of the kite and drift around in an easy circle above the palace.
Maybe drifts down and down until she comes to a high tower sprouting off the palace. She leaps off the bird-creature and lands heavily on the roof.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Come on!"->Jump!2]]
Your stomach twists.
You leap off the kite and land sprawling on the hexagonal porcelain shingles. A couple of them break with the impact.
Your kite drifts off to rejoin the flock, curling like solar smoke towards the cavern ceiling.
"Looks like we've already made an impression!" Maybe says, gesturing at the broken tiles.
She hops down onto a tiny balcony. There is a pair of French doors, although you doubt they're really French, separating you from the room inside. They're locked.
"Who locks their balcony door?" you say.
"Someone who lives in a place where everybody Has Wings and Can Fly, I guess," Maybe says. She raises her foot to strike the glass.
With a loud smash, and several more, smaller, smashes, Maybe creates a Maybe-sized hole through the wood and glass. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[You hope nobody heard that.]]
"Oh you bet I do," you say.
"Shoot."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Why are you named Maybe?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How'd you get a quest?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where'd you come from?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Are there other kids down here?"]]
You walk through the meadow over the little hills, passing different patches of plants growing out of the white: blue violets, a patch of pumpkins, a cherry tree growing on a hill with scattered pink buds in the gold and black backdrop. You hear birdsong echoing in the cavern. Birdsong and the intangible cries of bats.
At one point you stop briefly for lunch. Sitting down in the white grass, sharing a sandwich, totally hidden in the tall stalks.
Ahead, the field slopes gently down, and down, and down.
(if: $frogshown is "hell yeah")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.]]](if: $frogshownone is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.]]]You reach the bedroom. Maybe is not here. You try not to look at the porcelain maid.
A stray arrow bounces off the glass wall. The sounds of weapons clashing and the shouts of soldiers is just audible from a few stories below.
Linh keeps walking.
You cross the room and follow the next staircase another quarter-turn into a room full entirely with dresses. The cuts of them make it clear they're for bees rather than humans. (Four arm holes.) You're not sure how a bee would wear a dress exactly, but apparently they do. Or . . . did. They are very dusty.
You pass through the next room, a small library with bookshelves on every wall, and the next, a room filled with cartography equipment and maps, mostly of various cave branches. There is a map of the whole of the Giesie, or perhaps just a large portion of it which you catch a glimpse of. It looks like a circle.
You reach the first floor, and the staircase empties out at the head of what must be the throne room. You are behind the throne, which is a tall-backed triangular chair with that same hexagonal pattern.
The sounds of combat are especially loud here, and you can see shadowed silhouettes of Demarchy people and wasps fighting each other. It looks like a rotoscope animation, or a shadow-puppet play. It doesn't feel real, compared to the overwhelming silence in the room. From somewhere in the distance, you hear the screech of a heron.
"Are you ready to leave?" Linh says.
You start to answer, but then you see a quick movement from the throne.
Maybe stands up from sitting on it, embarrassed-looking.
"Where are we going?" she tucks her hair behind her ear. Her eyes are puffy. Her sweater has a loose thread.
Linh takes her staff and slams it down into a hexagonal tile. But, instead of breaking, the tile depresses with a 'click.' The tile next to it clicks, and drops a step, then the next and the next, spiraling, until there is a white, cascading staircase.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Down," she answers.]]
You thought you had been deep before, but now you feel as though you're in free-fall. It's a terrifying feeling, but it's exhilarating. You just wonder if you'll ever be able to get back up again. When you sled down a hill, you can either climb back up, or keep looking for more hills.
You can hear Water rushing in the Ground below you. A trickle that gives way to the running of a subterranean river. You scurry down a smooth incline which must have been formed over the course of millions of years. You wonder where the source of the water went, why it isn't running down this path anymore.
"Seriously though, where are we going," Maybe says.
"We're catching a train!" Linh says. "Ho there, Boat-keeper!"
(if: $notwet is "yes")[Sitting on a little dock on the side of the calm little river, is the goblin dock-keeper(if: $dockkept is "again??")[ yet again] sitting near a ferry boat with his feet in the water. He's munching on one of the fish from his jar and gibbering to himself.
"How did he get all the way down here?" you ask.
"Oh he's always here," says Linh.
When the dock-keeper sees you approaching, he stops gibbering and stares blankly at Linh with his head tilted.](else:)[There is a goblin dock-keeper out here, back against a post, foot dangling in the water. He's about your height, with dull, slate-grey skin and a flat cap with two big holes cut into it for his ears. There's a jar to his left filled little white fish. He's chewing on one of them.]
"We need to go down river," Linh says.
"MMm," he grumbles.
Linh stares at him.
He pauses for a long time, as if considering the outcome of accepting her command. Then, without a word, he stands up and starts untying the rope that leashes the ferry to the dock.
"Oh, Reckless," he mumbles. "Oh, reckless."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[It is a smooth, silent trip.]]Written on the crate in blocky letters are the words:
"CRUCIAL EVIDENCE. PLEASE DO NOT TAMPER WITH."
The inside is just Jolly Rancher wrappers and micro-litter.
You have a Very Strong Tampering Desire.(mouseover-replace: "You have a Very Strong Tampering Desire.")[You switch two of the wrappers. It's the perfect crime.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Look around the library.]]
The water is calm, and cold.
After about ten minutes of floating down the stream, the goblin docks the boat at another pier. You notice him use his stick once during the whole trip, about two minutes before the dock is even visible, just a gentle nudge to the right. The boat is perfectly on course to dock.
"How'd you do that?" you ask.
"Oh, don't bother asking him questions," Linh says. "He speaks only in nonsense."
In that gravelly, nearly unintelligible voice, he says. "Off currents. As following. As Water in the eye." He points to his eyes, but you can't quite see them in the gloom. "Do you see it? Water. It's Water."
"See?" Linh says. "Even if he were speaking sensibly, there's no meaning behind his words. I've seen him nearly every day since coming here."
Maybe looks over at this, confused.
"Age'm of a hues, ain'm, Probably?" he says. "Not burgeoning, not. Intersecting. No, crucial. Crucial. Parallel! Parallel's. The eyes, like the hands, like the mouth, like the body, like the head. Sisters and sisters. Understand it, it's, and done. And when they're gone, they're gone, what do you do?"
Ahead, in the gloom, you can see the pier, a broken, ancient thing. It looks like it was once a dam: crumbling stone and metal rebar sticking out of it like loose nerves. The boat slams into it. Linh climbs a ladder. Maybe follows. The dock-keeper taps your shoulder.
He lifts up his hat, and you can see his eyes clearly. They're like cat eyes, but one is green and the other is a strange, abyssal blue. A bright sky.
He looks you straight in the eyes. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dodge," he says.]]
(set: $Saves to "Slot A")
(align:"=><=")+(box:"=X=")[
(text-colour:#ff5b6b)[[Start->it was like the stars were flecks of mica]]
(text-colour:#ff922b)[[Load game]]
(text-colour:#fcc419)[(link-fullscreen: "Fullscreen", "Fullscreen", "Fullscreen unavailable")]
(text-colour:#94d82d)[[Extras]]
(text-colour:#20c997)[[How to play]]
(text-colour:#22b8cf)[[Critical introduction]]
(text-colour:#339af0)[[Report a glitch]]
(text-colour:#895ef2)[[Music!->Check out this playlist]]
]
Ekphrasis takes a step and another staggering step. "They say we laugh as a response to absurdity. And you have no idea . . ."
You feel Maybe's compass in your pocket next to the signal. Inside, the needle spins around: a quarter turn.
"How hard I've worked for this . . ." Ekphrasis continues.
Coming into focus across the room, behind Ekphrasis, her spear ready, is Maybe.
"Linh!" she shouts. "What the FUCK!"
Ekphrasis meets her sister's dead glare, breathes out, and turns back to you, sweeping the halberd around.
She is knocked to the side again by the metal kid. They both go sprawling.
"Would! you! stop! //doing that//!" Ekphrasis says.
Maybe rushes over to you and sweeps you up in a hug.
"I'm so sorry," she whispers. "I let her get to me. I thought I was better now. I thought—"
"You are better. And it's okay." You hold on tight. "People don't get better in straight lines. But you got through it. In spite of her," you say.
"wooWOAHmgf oooWAOHOfgm wohHOAWmfg" says the metal kid, being slammed into the wall repeatedly.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The signal vibrates in your pocket.]]
(checkbox-fullscreen: "Fullscreen mode")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Cool.->start page]](text-colour:#63e6be)[[Check out this playlist]]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)[[Check out these Deleted Scenes]]
(text-colour:#ffe066)[[Take a look at these rock facts!]]
(text-colour:#faa2c1)[[View the full Oneiros rules]]
](text-colour:#ffc078)[[Check out this unused Prologue->start.]]
(set: $name to "Willow")If you clicked this link, then you already know how to play!
This is a story which is entirely accessible just by clicking different links in the text. Sometimes there will be a couple options to choose from, sometimes there will just be one. Every option progresses you equally through the story, just in different directions. If you're feeling lost, please avail yourself of this [[storymap->Storymap]]. (I recommend you download it.)
A handful of passages will offer four or more narrative paths to choose from. If this is the case, it's likely that each of these will circle back around and let you read through the other paths until you choose to exit the loop. For example, if the protagonist is asking multiple questions of a willing audience.
You can (text-colour:#ff8787)[{(link:"save")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}] at the end of every chapter, and the (text-colour:#ff922b)[{(if: $Saves contains "Slot A")[
(link: "load game")[(load-game:"Slot A")]
]}] link on the start page will take you to the point at which you left off. You can always make different choices after starting over from the beginning, too. There are many timelines, and they are very different, so, make mistakes! get messy! et cetera!
You're welcome to read the critical introduction first, but I will be discussing the plots and characters at a spoiler level of detail. I'd like to think the story works just as well if you are already partisan to certain revelations, but if spoilers aren't your jam, proceed no further!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Proceed further.->the critical introduction]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Proceed further, but backwards.->start page]]When you fell from the tower, who ran to you?
(text-colour:#ff5b6b)[[The Empress ran to me.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
The room inside is cluttered, some sort of study, with maps, scrolls, and documents in orderly piles on the desks. There are all sorts of odd trinkets and magical gadgets on the shelves. The room looks almost as though it's been only fairly recently moved into. A few months or so.
"Alright, I think this is one of Ekphrasis' rooms," Maybe says. "The signal might be here somewhere." She starts rooting through one of the desks.
You go over and investigate a rack with a lot of strange-looking weapons. There are shields, swords, some of which are glowing, weird twisty pikes, and huge battle-axes. In another corner, there are wooden busts weighed down with armor.
There's a tiny book on the table here, on the opposite wall from the balcony. Everything else seems to have a place, but this book looks like a fairly recent arrival. The cover reads "Ethics and Operation." It looks as though it were printed by a rudimentary printing press, machine bound— instead of hand-bound like Azaadi's books.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Read "Ethics and Operation."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A quarter turn down the stairs.]]There is a door to a curving staircase. Small windows look out over the rest of the palace from above. There are other figures moving up and down staircases in similar towers.
The glass of the hexagonal window rattles with a buzzing. You duck as a small squadron of wasps passes by the window.
The staircase loops a quarter of the way around the circular tower and you come to another doorway.
You are in a bedroom. In the exact center of the room is a four-poster bed: white, with golden trim and thin, lacy curtains lashed to the posts. It's otherwise desolate, except for a dresser, an open closet and a body-length mirror. There are intricate carvings of bees worked into the wood. This room looks like it was recently remodeled to be a bedroom, and was not one originally.
Maybe jumps.
There is a figure—standing perfectly motionless by the opposite door. Your heart pounds in your chest.
But, whoever she is, she isn't moving.
You go a little closer to investigate. At first glance, you'd think the figure were a statue—her skin is solid porcelain, with a little color in the cheeks. She's dressed like a maid.
She might very well be a statue, but, up close, you can see she's trembling, ever so slightly, and hiding her face with a feather duster.
"Hey, it's okay," you say softly. "We're not gonna hurt you."
"Y-you—You can't You can't be here."
"We're looking for something, it's important," Maybe says.
"You can't You can't let her see you her see you her—when she see—you she sees you when she sees you—"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I am uncomfortable with this situation," Maybe says.]]
"Oh schist." Maybe drops her spear on the ground with her backpack and hurries down the steps. She wades through the muck. You rush after them, pausing on the edge of the stairs.
She grabs the little miner. They're covered in mud, still blindly wriggling forward, sneezing and coughing heavily.
"Oh no! Oh no, no, no, I've lost it," she squeaks. "She'll be so disappointed—I have to—we have to meet quota, I have to—" she tries to wriggle out of their grip.
"Hey, hey it's okay," says Maybe. "Uh. You're safe now, I've got you."
"No, no, you don't understand. The Empress is watching us, we have to, we have to report back to her. They're so rare now, and I can't see it, it's so dark now."
"Here, um," you say, stepping down into the mud. You get the edge of your shirt and wipe off her face.
"It's so dark, it's never been this . . . But I feel bones down there, sometimes. It doesn't . . . I doesn't make sense. But I have to find that crystal or we won't have any supper."
"That's fracked up," Maybe says.
"We can feed you," you say. "You'll be safe in my backpack."
"No, everybody else, the foreman—"
"Shhhh. Sh. Incorrect." You open your backpack and Maybe drops the mole inside.
The foreman comes over. "Anabi! What's the holdup?" he calls up.
"The holdup is that your entire situation sucks basalt," Maybe says.
"Oh. It's you again. Foul-mouthed," says the foreman. (Foremole?)
"Let us help you," you plead. "How many of there are you?"
The foreman counts to himself quietly. "Hm. Two hundred and thirty."
You stare vacantly at the mole. "What."
"—in this generation."
(Your eyebrows are in the 'angry' position.)
"There are twelve of you," Maybe says.
"No there are Two Hundred and Thirty," he says.
You are vibrating with anger. "Get in the bag."
"The bags of liars and lazy lazy treason-talkers are full of holes."
You grab him. He wriggles out of your grasp.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go around collecting the moles.]]Without conscious thought, you dive headlong into the muck and plunge your hand in where the little miner sank, grabbing her body, which is still blindly wriggling forward, covered in mud, sneezing and coughing heavily.
"Oh no! Oh no, no, no, I've lost it," she squeaks. "She'll be so disappointed—I have to—we have to meet quota, I have to—" she tries to wriggle out of your grip.
"Shhh . . . Shhh. Shut up. Shut up Shut up," you say, wiping off her nose and eyes with your shirt.
"No, no, you don't understand. The Empress is watching us, we have to, we have to report back to her. They're so rare now, and I can't see it, it's so dark. It's so dark now. But I feel bones down there, sometimes. It doesn't . . . I doesn't make sense. But I have to find that crystal or we won't have any supper, the foreman—"
"No! No you don't. You're going in here now," you say. You open your backpack and drop her in. "We'll feed you. Foremans aren't real and they can't hurt you."
Maybe comes down the stairs and stands by you in the mud. She looks out blandly at the scattered moles struggling blindly through the mire.
The foreman comes over. "Anabi! What's the holdup?" he calls up.
"The holdup is that your situation sucks basalt," Maybe says.
"Oh. It's you again. Foul-mouthed," says the foreman. (Foremole?)
"Let us help you," you plead. "How many of there are you?"
The foreman counts to himself quietly. "Hm. Two hundred and thirty."
You stare vacantly at the mole. "What."
"—in this generation."
(Your eyebrows are in the 'angry' position.)
"There are twelve of you," Maybe says.
"No there are Two Hundred and Thirty," he says.
You are vibrating with anger. "Get in the bag."
"The bags of liars and lazy lazy treason-talkers are full of holes."
You grab him. He wriggles out of your grasp.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go around collecting the moles.]]They're all totally filthy. You dump out your wet clothes and go around snatching each mole out of the mud. They're squeaking and skittering around inside your backpack, which you're wearing on your front, like a dad carrying a bag of babies.
On your way to the stairs, you pass the metal chute where Anabi was going to deposit her metal fragment. You look down inside. It drops away into nothing, a clattering, caustic void. Instead of fading away to black and losing itself in the depth, it becomes more and more blue. Brighter than the sky, but impossibly deep, like how distances render in some video games. A blue, intentional haze.
You've gathered up all the moles. ("Moles" has been added to Inventory.)
(set: $moles to "yes")
As you trudge over to the opposite stairs, you come to the foreman again, struggling to pull a big piece of rebar out of the ground. With every tug on the metal, his body sinks further into the mire.
(if: $keepmoving is "true")[You yank the rebar out of the muck with a squelch and the foreman stumbles back. He shakes his little head and starts dragging it toward the chute.
"I'm trying to help you," you say.
"Help!? A help from a liar is a hinderance hinderance! There's work to do. You're a lazy! Where's the rest of the company? Why aren't they working?" He is becoming more and more agitated, clinging to the rebar like it's made of gold. "You have to work until the whistle blows."
"I'm just trying to help!"
"I don't want your help, you lazy lazy! A goblin works better than you. A devil works better than you. Lazy, lazy, lazy."
"Fine!" You turn around and go with Maybe to the top of the stairs. You're caked in mud, everything below your knees is soggy and uncomfortable. You've cut your hand on the rebar and you're bleeding a little stream of red. It stings really bad and the ache of it fills your eyes with tears.
When you reach the bottom of the stairs, safe, back in the crystal tunnel, you hear the tired blast of a steam whistle.
You sigh. "Should we go back for him?" you ask.
"He's a total jerkwad," Maybe says. "He didn't want our help, he said so."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I guess so," you say.->Yes.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That doesn't mean he doesn't need help . . ." ->No . . . ]]](if: $keepmoving is "false")["Alright," you sigh. "Come here." You scoop him up and put him in the squirming pile of the other workers. He does not protest.
You turn around and go with Maybe to the top of the stairs, shaking the mud that now coats everything below your knees off you as best you can. From behind you, above and distantly now, you hear the tired, echoing blast of a steam whistle. After a few more minutes, as the gentle pace of walking sways the pack on your hips, you find all the moles have settled, and are (text-colour:#a9434b)[[sleeping at last.]]](if: $samcarries is "yes")[You set down the backpack and walk back up to the trench. It's so desolate here, you think, it's a miracle that even twelve moles survived this long. And you realize these can't have been the same moles that were alive when the Empress was alive. They must have been doing this for generations. Your hand throbs.
You find the foreman struggling up the opposite stairs. You pick him up.
"Why are you doing this?" you ask. "You're not even keeping the crystals."
He struggles in your grasp for second, but gives up. "She needs them."
"Why?"
"For the engine. To build the Divine Populace. We have to work. For food. They'll starve us if we don't."
You hold him close to your chest. "You're safe. I won't let that happen."
You climb back down, and you are on your way.(set: $bleeding to "yes")
](else:)[You walk for about another half an hour following the twisting lava tubes.
]After a while, the crystals peter out, and you come to the edge of a little overhang. The path leads down, winding and lit by street lamps. Below, is a massive city, cluttered under the dome of the black roof like a geode, bright banners and dim, colorful lights thick with fire from frying food.
"This is Open Hands," Maybe smiles. "We're on the eastern edge. I love this place."
At the edges you can see other entrances to the city, clefts in the rock. The one on the south has spikes of wood jammed into the stone, like a makeshift staircase. On the north end, the rock opens up and descends into a white meadow far below.
You look closely at the street lamps as you pass them. There are stubs of wire where you would imagine electric lights would be hooked up. Instead, each lantern has a round marble of moonstone at its center. The wires are disconnected.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You walk down.]]You look down at the rest of the moles, getting warm and snuggling into your backpack.
"He worked them almost to death," she says. "No—he did, he killed like 200 of them."
"I mean, yeah," you say, "But even if he did, I don't think he's totally responsible. He doesn't know that they're dead, even."
"That's worse!" Maybe says. "He should know what he did! It's not fair."
"No, it's not, but . . ." you say. "It sounds like the Empress was awful. If they all really think they're all still under her control, it makes sense why they think they'd have do awful things. The foreman was just another gear in the machine . . ."
"Well he shouldn't have been! He should have known better. And all the others should have fought back. He talked about her like she was an angel! And it was like he //liked// doing that horrible job. Like he liked thinking everyone was lazy because they couldn't keep up his stupid pace! Lazy because they //drowned in the mud//!"
You don't know what to say.
"Oh," she stops. "You're bleeding," looking to the cut on your hand.
"It's, fine. I'll be fine," you say.
(You should really clean it off.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'll be right back," you say.->sleeping at last.]]
(set: $bleeding to "yes")(set: $samcarries to "yes")You set down the backpack full of moles and walk back up to the trench. It's so desolate here, you think, it's a miracle that even twelve moles survived this long. And you realize these can't have been the same moles that were alive when the Empress was alive. They must have been doing this for generations. Your hand throbs.
You find the foreman struggling up the opposite stairs. You pick him up.
"Why are you doing this?" you ask. "You're not even keeping the crystals."
He struggles in your grasp for second, but gives up. "She needs them."
"Why?"
"For the engine. To build the Divine Populace. We have to work. For food. They'll starve us if we don't."
You hold him close to your chest. "You're safe. I won't let that happen."
You climb back down, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[and you are on your way.->sleeping at last.]]
(set: $bleeding to "yes")Linh and Maybe are waiting on the dock. You nod to the dock-keeper, and scramble up the ladder to the landing.
The dock-keeper shoves off with the pole and slips away down with current. He vanishes with a little wink and a thumbs up at you. And he's gone in the dark.
"Follow me," Linh says.
There is a jagged hole in the wall, bright green glowing and steel beams like a lattice of crystals.
This space is like the bottom of an amphitheater. The audience is made out of conveyor belts and rows of nozzles. The inscrutable cross-hatching pattern of the I-beams and the shattered, yellowed industrial windows. Above it all, through the mess, you can see just a glimmer of the Indelible Cathedral, thousands of feet in the air, circled by the blurry dots of kites.
You walk to the very center of the room.
There is a wrought iron spiral staircase here. Its railing, like a gate with no fence, rattles.
"It's right below us now," Maybe's sister says, and starts down the staircase. A few yards, and it reaches a dusty cavern floor. Scattered trash and scientific equipment nearly clog the path completely. But you follow the cavern down and around, branching and branching and spiraling. Occasionally it narrows into impossible crawlspaces which you manage to barely fit through one by one. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[You crawl on your belly.]]
Ekphrasis stops in her tracks. (if: $pillowparty is "this place on fire")["Grace!" she takes a step forward. "It really is you"](else: )["Grace?" Ekphrasis says.]
"Linh?" Maybe says.
"Oh my God . . . Of all the places in the world, I never expected to find you here," her eyes soften.
She steps in and sweeps Maybe up in a hug. Her sister is startled for a moment, but then wraps her arms around her.
"It's really you, isn't it . . ." Maybe says.
Linh pulls back and smiles. "It's really me!"
"Uhm," says the wasp officer. "My Lady, I don't—"
"It's fine, Song. Chalk it up to human ingenuity." Ekphrasis glances down at Maybe's equipment. "Yo! You got the mask of Luaster?" she says.
"Yeah!" Maybe tilts the mask up to look at it from her belt. "Some traveling merchants gave it to me after I saved them from a stag husk."
"That's so cool!" Linh says. "And I see you've got ammonite handy. And fire powder for trading. No one's gonna mess with a girl with enchanted ammonite."
"I know, right!" Maybe laughs. "Although you'd be surprised how many people underestimate me!"
"Never underestimate a Huynh! Personally, I've upgraded to these clockwork guys," Linh says, pulling out a clear glass bauble with a system of golden cogs in a delicate interior jumble. "Although I can understand the love of the more rustic, hands-on feeling of the ammonite."
"They've worked really good for me so far," her sister says, tapping her fist on her armor.
"Worked really well," Linh corrects. "And leather armor, too! You've become quite the fantasy archetype. I would have opted for carapace or chain myself."
"Too heavy," Maybe says. "I travel, and I've gotta be light on my feet."
"That's funny," Ekphrasis says, "I always try to ground myself in the combat. If you can't run, you fight like your life depends on it. You drop yourself in a concrete box with your opponent, and you fight like a cornered wolf. I wear chain, sometimes plate; I haven't lost a battle yet. So. You were looking for me?"
"Yeah, we just um. We . . ." You don't know if it's the mention of combat, or the sudden inquisition, but Maybe stumbles over her sentence and it sputters out in her mouth like a gas lamp.
"It's okay."
Linh takes Maybe by the hand and they sit on the edge of the bed.
"Mom was so worried after you disappeared," Linh says. "We thought you'd been abducted, or killed, or worse. After a year of searching with no results, we finally held a funeral for you. Dad actually showed his face. Aureliana was there, and Haddison and Nzuyen. I think Li even showed up. Everyone talked about how much potential you had, and how that was all gone. I knew better though. You're tough. I think you could probably take anything the surface world could throw at you. And now you've proven (text-colour:#a9434b)[[that you're strong enough to survive in the G.S.E. too . . ." ]]
"I'm surprised that some place like this, some . . . What would you call it? An escapist fantasy? I'm surprised that it has real effects. Because you," she smiles and sizes up her little sister, "you look so much healthier."
"I've been . . . Yeah. I've been doing really good," she says.
"You've been doing really well," she corrects. "By the way, you can tell your friend under the bed that they can come out. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[I won't bite.]]"
Everything about it screams 'danger,' but you pull yourself out from under the bed. "Hi, sorry," you say.
"This is $name," Maybe says. "We've been traveling together. I met them earlier today."
"Oh that's lovely. You two are really cute together."
Maybe has a confused, far-away look in her eyes.
"Anyway, I was about to tell you . . . When was it? About six months ago now? It's so strange being in a place that lacks time. There's no change in season, no schedule to keep. I don't think I've seen a working clock down here yet!" She laughs. "When I found my entrance, I had just . . . finished my first semester of grad school. I was on a hike and it was getting dark. I must have stumbled into a cave, because, the next thing I knew, I was at the bottom of a rocky crawl with a minor head injury. I staggered around, and, well, long story short."
"So you've been down here for six months?" Maybe asks.
"Yeah, almost half a year now," she says. "Do you like what I've done with the place?"
"You . . . you overthrew the Collective Will."
"I know, right!" Ekphrasis beams. "I was impressed too. The wasps were a pathetic bunch of mercenaries when I found them. But with my leadership, defeating the Collective was child's play."
Song shifts uncomfortably.
"They weren't doing anything wrong," Maybe says.
"Well obviously that's not true. They were barely able to put up a fight."
"That's not what . . ." Maybe says.
"It is! Though. Isn't it." Ekphrasis smiles. "That's how it is in the real world. The strong win out against the weak. That's what Mom taught us. She was right, of course—but, in the real world, strength is metaphorical. Down here, it's literal. But, hey, enough about me. You've been down here, what? A year and a half? Where are you based? What faction do you lead?"
"I don't . . . I don't lead a faction," Maybe stammers.
"Oh man! You've been on your own this whole time? You're way stronger than I thought." She winks and nudges Maybe with her elbow. "Two wolves. All the more reason why we need to make a Huynh coalition."
"You can't just—!" Maybe is beginning to tear up.
Ekphrasis smiles knowingly at Maybe. Like a boat running aground, she takes her sister's chin in the palm of her hand and tilts her head. her eyes soften. "It's okay," she says. "You don't have to do anything." And she pulls Maybe into a hug.
Maybe doesn't hug back, but she isn't pulling away either. She's stuck in place.
Linh pulls away, leaving Maybe glued to the spot, fidgeting.
"Song will get you briefed and set you up for the next mission." She stops and glances down at her sister. A fraction of disdain passes over her face. "Or," she says, "you could come upstairs?"
Maybe does not respond.
Ekphrasis steps back and turns to you. “$name. It was $name—right?”
You nod.
“I want to show you what I’ve been working on.”
You look at Maybe. She’s shaking now, and turned away from you, but you can tell she's crying.
“Don’t worry about her,” Ekphrasis takes you by the shoulder. “She does this all the time. She’ll follow us if she really wants to.” She turns to go up the stairs into the study.
Song seems unsure what to do, flicking her wings in little nervous intervals.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You are led up the stairs.]]It is cold and damp down here, more so than the rest of the empire, but the exertion of crawling and ducking warms you to the point where your teeth are barely chattering. Short, half breaths.
You feel something else, too. Some other heat. It radiates upward through the floor. And when you stand up again, taking Maybe’s outstretched arm, you can hear it too. Humid, relentless whispering. Like hot, jittering breath in your ear.
“Here we are,” says Linh. A blinding smile at nothing in particular.
You are on a small ledge. The plant life, the landscape, in this church-sized room is quivering with energy. The forms of plants and fungi pulse and contort around each other as if frozen in a dance, mid-step. The whole area hums with potential energy. Your mind buzzes with memories from other times. Luma handing you a sword. A pie on the windowsill of a hedgehog family in Open Hands. You recall something spoken by Cirrus, though you’re not sure you’re recalling words that were ever spoken aloud:
(align:"<=")+(box:"X=")[*They've covered every continent,
they've blasted open mountains and filled
the groundwater with poison.
Their buried waste is responsible
for the Fulcrum itself.*]You wonder if that's true.
You look at Maybe and you see Azaadi, you see your mom. You see a hundred other faces you don't recognize.
Linh sets up a top-rope. You follow her down.
At the end of the rope, are the train tracks, totally overgrown with fungi and ridden with debris. You see helmets, broken swords, and dusty splinters of wood littering the path. Linh kicks some of the debris out of the way, off the tracks. The tracks end abruptly in a black stone, set like the door of Polyphemus.
From the opposite direction, along the tracks, you can still hear the sounds of fighting echoing through the tunnel, and see the dim light of the Great Meadow.
“It should be here any second now,” Linh says. "There's a good vantage point to jump on above the barrier stone. It won't stop for us." She leads you up to a little ledge right above the tracks.
“This feels bad,” Maybe says. “Everyone else down here has told me you'll go crazy if you get too close to this place. They said there's nothing but death behind that rock. Just. Annihilation . . . ”
“Annihilation is a lie that means transcendence, Grace. They told you there was death in the Nadir because they’re afraid of what we could do if we had this kind of power.”
Again, you hear the whistling of the monster, the pounding of its gears.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And then you feel it too.]]Roaring through the tunnel, down the steady incline of the tracks, is . . . an old . . . steam train. Like, just, a regular train.
"That tracks," you say.
"I'll kill you for that," Maybe says.
It rushes by under you with that same four-part blast of its whistle repeating (danger, danger), its cow-catcher spitting aside the detritus on the tracks. It's deafening. You plaster your hands over your ears as the engine car whips past you and blasts through the blackstone barrier. Rock fragments blast in every direction. The rest of the train follows, like a long strand of spaghetti being sucked into the dark. As the rock wall is broken, you feel in your whole body the weight of every world, like a wall of water, the suffering of every creature that ever lived
"Let's go!" Linh shouts. She leaps effortlessly onto the train and is whisked away under you into the dark.
Maybe shakes her head. "What are we //doing// here . . ."
"What do we do?" you shout over the roaring.
"God! What am I doing!" she says. "The train is saying something! I think it's afraid!"
"What?!" you shout.
"We gotta stop that thing! If it hits the core it'll blow up I think! We have to divert it! We have to stop Ekphrasis—"
She's interrupted by another set of blasts from the train's whistle.
Without hesitation, she throws herself off the rock ledge and lands heavily on the roof of a passenger car. She's gone. And you're gone after her.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.->End of Chapter 5.]]
You whirl to see Priory, the devil from the meadow, chewing a piece of long grass. He's about twenty feet off. His coat is casually open showing his ludicrous amount of prayer pendants—and his two pistols. His posture seems non-threatening.
"What are *you* doing here?" Maybe says, her spear drawn.
"I'm sorry, I tried to think of a stairs pun, I really did," he says. "'Hey, gotta spare step?' 'Need a height man?' 'Stair some time?'
Maybe levels her spear.
"'Need another man on the case?' 'Trouble getting *descent* service?' 'Need a spare handrail?' Damn, any' those would have been a better opening. Can I come in again?"
He turns around and then turns back around with finger guns. "Need a hand with that?" he says. "A hand. Crap. A handrail. Anyway, I don't mean to startle you."
"What are you *doing here*," Maybe grits her teeth.
"Schist, kid! Cool yer geysers. I came here as nothin more than a humble supplicant."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"It means I'm proposin an alliance. I wanna be . . . besties."
"Why would we ever be besties with you? You tried to consort money from us and then you tried to kill us." Maybe says.
"Extort?" you suggest.
"This is no laughing matter," Maybe says. "Where's the rest of your gang?"
"We may have, uh, disbanded permanently," Priory says. "And please, extortion is a bit harsh a term. What I'm proposing is that I can help you with your little, uh, vertical conundrum . . ."
"And what do you stand to gain from helping *us*?" Maybe says.
"We have a common destination," he says. "You'll just have to follow my lead." He sweeps his palm to point up near the roof of the cavern, where there is a massive hangar door embedded in the rock.
The bird shapes circle in the distance.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Shrug and follow suit?]]"About that," Maybe says. "I think that's what Azaadi was reminding me of back there. She told me a long time ago during one of our mission briefings about another way to get down to the palace. It's a little dangerous, and puts us right in the middle of the palace grounds without warning, but it's quick."
"Oh?"
"Follow me."
She leads you past the wide open alcove to where the path gets narrow again, hugging the side of the cliff. You soon hear the thundering of a waterfall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How good are you with mazes? she asks."]]
In the gloom, you see a figure sitting on a cut column like a mesa or an impossibly large tree trunk. Dangling a comically long fishing pole off the side of the cliff, is the goblin dock-keeper. He's wearing the same patched hat and overalls as before, but the beetle jar is now filled with tiny white fish.
"Ord the phialial kolo!" he yells in his gravelly goblin voice. He tips his hat.
"What? Who's this guy?" Maybe asks.
"I know this guy!" you say. "I met him before I met you in the Goblin Demarchy, he told me where to find you."
The dock-keeper gestures to the giant glowing shapes circling over the meadow, then to a slot in the wall at the top of the little alcove. "Best ways is and and a minute. The gold whats fortune's ferries."
"The huh?" Maybe says.
"Gastroparesis," the dock-keeper says. "Edible! Inedible!" He's pointing at the slot in the cave wall.
"Oh!" Maybe says. "That slot . . ."
"Unsticking sticking. That narrow, that faller predicates, spittin em out. As rubber as!"
"The kite factory—I had no idea the Balloon Factory had a branch way out here."
"Argad!"
She turns to you with a smile. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["I know how we can get down there!"]]
"I'm not sure if I like where this is going," you wriggle.
"That's unfortunate, because I am really bad at mazes!"
"Oh, well. I (dropdown: bind $origin, "moderately enjoy mazes!", "freaking hate mazes also, so . . ." , "am good at mazes!", "do the Atlantic crossword every single day in pen.")"
"Good to know!"
The walkway suddenly cuts into the cliffside, unnaturally, like it was drilled out. You come to a large, domed room, where the ten sides are each plated with a large, flat mirror reflecting the center of the room, a thundering waterfall pouring in through the tiled ceiling and down through a chute in the floor. The tiles remind you of pictures you've seen of Spain and Portugal—floors and walls covered in these intricately detailed, geometric designs.
Maybe is looking hard at a handful of tiles surrounding the waterfall at its base. There's lettering here, with an indexical quality that escapes you. The letters spiral, each with an arrow pointing to a mirror (text-colour:#fab005)[Nb], (text-colour:#7950f2)[Gd], (text-colour:#ff8787)[Pr], (text-colour:#9775fa)[W], (text-colour:#d79d5b)[Tl], (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Pb], (text-colour:#a9e34b)[Yb], (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Lw], (text-colour:#fa5252)[Ac], (text-colour:#4c6ef5)[Be], going counter-clockwise around the water.
"Okay . . . we want 'Be,'" she says, and moves around behind the tile. "Ready? Get behind me."
"Um, no? Not ready?"
"Go!" she jumps into the waterfall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump, I guess.]]Ekphrasis tosses the dazed body of the metal kid to your feet on the balcony. They slide to the edge, but you catch them before their center of mass slips over the edge.
Below you, the wasps are rallying. The demarchy may have an overwhelming force, but one, it seems, of mostly untrained fighters.
The queen advances toward you. Her hair is a mess; there's bits of rubble coating her jacket.
"I think," she says, "this is a fairly obvious choice. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Give me the signal. ]]" She raises the halberd. "(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Or I'll kill you.]]"
"Jump!" the kid says.
"What?"
"Wait, never mind!"
With a soaring gust of wind at your backs, a massive blue heron fills the air around the tower. Its giant, snaking neck and its massive blue eyes flick in front of you.
Azaadi pokes her head around. "Need a lift?" she says, then holds on for dear life as the bird rears back its massive head.
"Christ," Ekphrasis says as the neck slams her against the far wall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump on.]]
Before you can fully consider this Hobson's choice, you feel a massive swell of wind at your backs, and an enormous blue heron fills the air around the tower.
Its giant, snaking neck bends down, and its massive blue eye flicks in front of you. It squawks.
Azaadi pokes her head around. "Need a lift?" she says, then, "Oh my," and holds on for dear life as the bird rears back its massive head.
"Christ," Ekphrasis says as the neck slams her against the far wall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump on.]]
Before you can fully consider this Hobson's choice, you feel a massive swell of wind at your backs, and an enormous blue heron fills the air around the tower.
Its giant, snaking neck bends down, and its massive blue eye flicks in front of you. It squawks.
Azaadi pokes her head around. "Need a lift?" she says, then, "Oh my," and holds on for dear life as the bird rears back its massive head.
"Christ," Ekphrasis says as the neck slams her against the far wall.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump on.]]
You rush over to the bird's neck and slide down head first like a firefighter's pole. Maybe and the metal kid follow quick behind, and with another beat of its wings the heron is high above the tower.
Ekphrasis hurls the halberd at the great heron's wing, but Azaadi has already moved you out of the way.
She turns around in the saddle with a wild grin. "Good to see everyone again! Happy to take you under my wing—$name, did you get the signal?"
Fishing for it in your pocket, you lift it out to show the prophet, and, as you do, your hand knocks Maybe's compass out of your pocket onto the balcony below. "Whoops," you say. It lands on the stone floor, the needle pointing at you.
As the great heron gains altitude under the wide, black sky, you can see the Giesie troops falling back over the hill, and you can just make out Ekphrasis, torn clothing and messy hair, kneeling down in the shattered glass and splinted stone and lifting the compass to her face.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And lifting her eyes to you.->flapflapflapflap]]It takes only half an hour to cross the Great Meadow on the back of the heron. The palace and the battlefield fade behind you. You rise steadily, ducking low overhangs and singing though the pockets and cavities populated by rocks, and fungi, and tiny, tiered shrines.
The celestial cathedral swells in impossible detail overhead: strict, rigid arches and geometrical domes, everything with industrial precision.
//They made so many great things,// you think. //Why aren't they here now?// And, almost in answer to your unspoken question, your eyes are drawn down to the terraced well of machinery below, a hollow temple of broken pipes and dormant smoke stacks, rusted wheels and cogs becoming more complex and more chaotic as the levels of the factory sink into the Earth. It was as if the Cathedral was lifted out of the very heart of the Earth. A wound that this place maybe had never recovered from. It's clear to you, looking down into this, that the only way this cathedral could ever have been built was through the immeasurable labor of millions. Like it was lifted out of the ground. And then your question becomes: //How much blood did it take?//
With a shudder, you realize the center of that factory is where the train tracks lead. That's what the signal you're clutching would send you. That clattering, caustic void at the blue heart of the Empire, leaking out like blood from an artery.
"Hey, I'm Amari by the way!" a voice yells over the wind.
You turn around to the metal kid. "Oh, nice to meet you!"
"Sorry to //drop in// on you so unexpected back there," they wink with both eyes. You can't tell if it's because of the wind.
"We didn't need the italics! We understood the joke in its own right!" Maybe shouts.
"Play nice, Maybe," Azaadi calls back.
The heron soars through a narrow cleft in the cavern roof and passes over the broad river partitioning the Seat from the rest of the Demarchy.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Here we are," Azaadi says.]]Load game:
(text-colour:#a9434b)[{(if: $Saves contains "Slot A")[
(link: "Load from a previous save file.")[(load-game:"Slot A")]
]}]
Chapter Select:
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Grand Subterranean Empire->it was like the stars were flecks of mica]]
(In which you discover a passage in the earth.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Song of Open Hands]] / (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Anamnesis]]
(In which you've snuck around the Demarchy and encountered two of its denizens casting gold lights in the dark.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Devil]] / (text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Goblin]]
(In which you've met the girl in the striped sweater, and have tumbled down into the great meadow beyond Open Hands.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Witch of the Wavering Eye->The Witch of the Wavering Eye.]]
(In which you've fought the wasps at the citadel and are on the way to see the Prophet.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Palace]] / (text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Labyrinth]]
(In which you've come to the wasp queen's tower from the cliff-top, and are confronted by the queen herself.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Nadir]] / (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Moonstone]]
(In which you have made a very important split-second decision and find yourself now falling steadily into the sky in the earth, or rising to the surface in breathless increments. It's too late to change course now.)
The Seat is even more impressive from above. Like an old castle, the stones are crumbling but well-loved. There is bamboo scaffolding under a handful of stained glass windows, and firelight floats unmoored in the gardens, on the window boxes, and all the way to the cold marble bridge with the two cat statues which you are now flying over. You can see now, from above, that the central building is built like a spiked star, a star with ten points. The lines on the floors and walkways all radiate from it. But this building is a meeting house, not a central authority.
Her architecture was so hostile, but somehow, in the hundred year shadow of her empire, it has been made into a breathing, organic home. The angles have been allowed to soften their edges, and moss now grows in the branching cracks. All the former imperfections in the stone have become little footholds for living things to take root. There is water in the well. Water water water.
The heron touches down in the courtyard. As you dismount, the bird shrinks back to its baby size and perches on the Prophet's shoulder. "The others shouldn't be too far," Azaadi says.
After a few more minutes, the soldiers begin arriving, coming in over the wide marble bridge. At the front of the crowd, between Cirrus and Luma and Gadolin and a handful of others, is a woman who looks very similar to Azaadi. Her body is the same, stout and strong, like a stone, but instead of aspen leaves framing her head, there is a cascade of strawberry leaves and long vines held together in a loose braid.
"I didn't think I'd be seeing Speaker Ode'imin so soon again," Maybe says, peering down the terrace.
From the bottom of the steps, where the congregation of councilors is climbing, Luma glances up and notices you, Maybe, Azaadi, and Sam. They wave to you excitedly. "Speaker—" they say, and gesture to where Azaadi is standing at the top of the steps. There is a slight swell in the subterranean air, and Azaadi's leaves shiver in front of her face. She looks . . . impassive. Hard to read.
Ode'imin raises her eyes to meet her sister's. She turns to Gadolin, in the middle of recounting some epic moment from the battle, and excuses herself.
She climbs the stairs, lit by the tea candles glowing in delicate rows at the sides of the steps. She reaches the plateau of the courtyard.
"Seer," she says to Azaadi. A slight bow.
"Sister," Azaadi says. A mock-curtsy.
"One of your children has the signal?" She gestures between you and Maybe.
"It's good to see you too," Azaadi smiles.
"Yes," the Speaker says. "I'm sorry that it's only under these circumstances that we are seeing each other again."
"It couldn't be helped," Azaadi says, in a way that implies it very much could have been helped.
The other council-members emerge at the top of the stairs, Luma, Cirrus, Gadolin, and three others—a dandelion lady in a blue dress, a giant ladybug, and a grey-skinned devil wearing wide, circular spectacles. They gather around. Other Assembly people are running around, securing defenses.
Ode'imin looks relieved to not be alone in the conversation with her sister. (if: $library is "yes")[
"Little one!" Luma says "Oh, we were so worried when we found you were gone. Are you alright? The Empire is such a big place, and—"
You let go of a deep breath and smile. "I'm fine, Luma."
"You didn't tamper with the evidence did you . . . ?" Cirrus squints.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," you say.
]"Anyway," the Speaker says. "Vespiridae is already on her way, doubtless with reinforcements. We need to get the signal to safety. It will be well defended in the archology tower. Dalliance, would you see that the signal is moved there?" The grey devil steps forward. Ode'imin looks at the three of you. "Good work, children. We'll take it from here."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["No," says Azaadi.]]
Your inventory contains:
(if: $pocket is "flower")[A somewhat wilted echinacea flower
](if: $chalk is "yes")[A box of sidewalk chalk
](if: $pocket is "paper cranes")[A paper crane necklace
]A dead Hello Kitty flashlight
(if: $compass is "yes")[An amber-colored compass
](if: $chain is "yes")[A gold chain
](if: $hand is "squid")[Fried squid](if: $charmed is "no")[
](if: $wetclothes is "yes")[A set of mostly wet clothes
](if: $charmed is "yes")[A gold, star-shaped charm from Eno
](if: $breathofthenadir is "yes")[A bright blue gemstone on a chain
](if: $breathofthenadir is "give")[A bright blue gemstone on a chain
](if: $herring is "yes")[A red herring
](if: $jade is "yes")[A jade boy and ox figurine
](if: $sap is "yes")[What used to be a handful of sap
](if: $crossbow is "yes")[Maybe's crossbow
](if: $cratestuff is "wow look at all this crate stuff")[Some "crate stuff" from the cliffs
](if: $librarycrates is "various junk")[And quite a lot of other assorted junk!]
"What?" says the Magistrate.
"It won't work," Azaadi says. "Ekphrasis will kill every last one of us before she finds the signal. She will unravel herself in the destruction of the Demarchy."
"Then we will destroy her first!" says Cirrus. "We have the home-field advantage now. With—"
"Cirrus." Azaadi takes a step forward, the wind growing around her. "There is one future where any of you survive this. The children must go to the surface. Ekphrasis will follow."
"That is absolutely unacceptable," says Ode'imin. "You would be placing the fate of our world into the hands of //children//. I'm sorry, I can't trust you on something like this. This is serious."
"Is that not what we're trying to do every day, Min? Are we not building a world where we can trust each other?!" Azaadi is enveloped in wind now, just the points of her feet touching the ground. "Are we not putting the world into our children's hands every time we tell them how much we love them? We let them take real, actual risks, because we know that's the only way they'll grow to be autonomous, caring adults. I can see this path, Min, and it is not free of risk, but it is the //only// real option. I'm asking for your faith. For your faith in me, in the humanity of these two children. In your grandchild."
Trumpets. Buzzing on the horizon.
"We have no faith to give, Azaadi. We are out of time." Ode'imin turns to go.
Dalliance steps forward again, hand out for the signal.
"I'm asking for your Trust, nimisenh."
She whirls around. "How can I be asked! To //trust// the scatterbrained visions you got from //STARING INTO THE WELL TOO LONG//!?"
Everyone becomes very quiet.
The prophet drops her gaze for the first time since seeing her sister. "It really has been a long time hasn't it," she says. She holds out a hand for the heron to hop down.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I trust her," you say.]]
Maybe steps forward with you. "I have faith in her too."
"So do I!" Amari says. "Well, we just met each other, but this seems like a personal issue, not a tactical one."
The Magistrate rubs her temples.
"Do you remember Sylvia? And Tomás?" Azaadi asks. "In the way that we have all been the mothers and children of everyone. These children are them."
"Fine," the Speaker says. "Fine. Go. She's already here, for Heaven's sake."
You and Maybe do a sick air high five.
And the Madrigal's words are true. Swarming in from the northern wall, through every crevice in the black rocks, are dozens and dozens of yellow wasps. And, walking out onto the bridge like an actor emerging on a stage, is their Queen.
With a grinding purr, the two marble cat statues on the bridge spring suddenly to life. They pounce together, swatting wasps out of the air and crushing them on surface of the bridge.
Ekphrasis stands out among the hoard of wasps, surface calm in the teeming. The glint of the compass lowers in her hand as she finds you with her eyes, somehow, from way below.
"//You're making this too easy//," she mouths.
You walk calmly to the carved stone edge of one of the levels of the castle terrace. You pull out the signal and hold it up. "Is this what you want!?" you scream.
She looks up at you through the din. "What!?" she yells.
"Is this what you want!?"
"I literally can't hear what you're saying!"
A marble cat's paw swipes over her head.
"If you're going to go, now is the time," Ode'imin calls out.
"We can hold them off," says Azaadi. "Just get Linh as far away from the fighting as you can. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[We'll see you all again soon."]]
You lead Maybe and Amari at a sprint across the courtyard to the far southern wall, where the castle halls rise into towers and meet the black stone surrounding the Seat. It takes you a second to find the right hallway(if: $hallwaystart is "true")[, the heavy door that leads to the hall with red stained glass,](if: $crystalroom is "true")[, the heavy door to the crystal room,] but you spot it in the southeast.
"There it is," you say. And as you look back, you see Ekphrasis. She's running, almost dancing over the courtyard, waylaid by enemies, lifting them out of her way with her war hammer, almost gracefully, before smashing them on the stone and yanking the weapon out.
"Does it not call to you!?" she laughs from across the courtyard. "Can you not feel the lightness of it?"
"What are you fucking talking about!" Maybe yells.
Then Dalliance, the grey, spectacled devil, blinks into range of Ekphrasis and swings at her with a scimitar. Ekphrasis lunges out of the way, but by the time she goes to counter strike, Dalliance has teleported behind her. "Run!" she yells to you. She goes in for another strike and another, blinking around Ekphrasis. You rush toward the door, still watching in horror, as Ekphrasis fakes a blow and connects the war hammer with the devil's head, cracking her glasses and sending her to the ground. She does not get up.
Behind Vespiridae, the wasps are beginning to dwindle, some are even in retreat, but she doesn't seem to notice. Or to care.
"Go, go, go," Amari says.
Ekphrasis hails two wasp soldiers to follow her. You run through the door and Amari seals the lock with some kind of spell, fizzling on the old knob.(if:$herring is "yes")[
Drop red herring?(set: $herring to "dropped")]
"Okay, she'll have to go around, now. That'll buy us some time," Amari says.
"My sister doesn't //go// around. We need to keep running."
"The Wasp Queen is your //Sister//? Holy Schist," they say. And then, "aaaaaa!" as a war-hammer splinters the wood behind you.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You run down the corridor.]]
(mouseover-replace: "Drop red herring?")[To obfuscate your path, you wind up and throw the red herring down an adjacent path.]
You run through the cavern’s winding passages, going up and up and up. You remember the way, retracing your steps (if: $hallwaystart is "true")[through the castle hallways, over the slick wooden bridge across the waterfall chute and the metal tube](if: $crystalroom is "true")[through the crystal room, up the long rocky slide] and through the switchbacks to the pile of rubble before the boundary marker statuette.
You had forgotten how it feels to go up.
You arrive at the aperture, and, carefully, you crawl through it. You pause there, on the other side, to catch your breath uncertain if Ekphrasis or the two wasps will be able to squeeze through the narrow passage in the rubble.
In your exhaustion, you hear a single pair of footsteps echoes on the smooth, stone floor. Forced motion, like body being puppeted by the mind. You don't hear the wasps. (Perhaps insects have less stamina?) The footsteps stop short. You hold your breath.
A movement of rock, a scraping sound. After a second, the steps recede.
You wait for a minute. Two minutes. The cavern is silent.
"Are we safe? Is she going around?" Amari asks.
"I don't think there is a way around," you say.
You glance over at the boundary marker. Amari holds the dangling vines aside.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")["G. S. E. Boundary Marker; Southeast End. Est. 612. Her Chorus of Boundless Progression."]
"Oh wow, this is old," they brush aside the hair from their eye to read it. "Wowzers. Like five hundred ninety-seven years old. Must have been during Empress I's reign. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[That's actually around the time that—"]]
"What?"
"About what happened with Maybe. Sometimes you ask one too many questions; you never know when one more will be too many. But questions aren't bad things. Our little warrior is suffering. She'll move past it."
You're stilled for a moment with a strange hollow feeling.
"I don't know if she mentioned this to you already, but you remind her so much of someone she used to work with. And I'm sorry if you've already heard this—the details on all these little branches can get oh so tangled in my mind. But," she takes a sip. "Your friend Huynh used to work with another young upstart, Arden, a fire elemental of the Porter's Union. That was when she first came down here, almost a year and a half now(if: $chain is "yes")[."
You recall the broken chain you found in the river what feels like ages ago, around the time you met Maybe. Your fingers curl around it in your pocket.
"I found something with the name 'Ardent Joy' earlier. Do you think that might have been theirs?"
You take out the chain. It reads, faintly:
"Signal 22. DL HL. Ptr's Unn Rep: Ardent Joy."
You hold it out to Azaadi. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Do you think this might have belonged to them?"]]](else: )[—stop me if you don't want to hear this."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["No," you say. "Go on."]]]
With a blinding flash, and an incredible feeling of vertigo, you're through the waterfall, tumbling through a mirror into a grassy clearing. You both land in a heap.
The mirror warbles like laminated paper, and the light fades from it.
You stand up, hurriedly. You are in a square clearing in a hedge maze, a small part of a vast estate, whose many towers loom above you in nearly every direction. Gold-yellow light illuminates the grass, which here, as opposed to the Meadow, is green, with brown dirt underneath.
"The Queen's tower is right over there," Maybe points down over the hedge-mazey landscape to the gold-white towers. She starts running toward it.
(if: $origin is "moderately enjoy mazes!")["Wait—" you shout. She turns around. "Azaadi gave me this before we left. I think it's directions through the labyrinth."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Unfold the paper.]]](if: $origin is "freaking hate mazes also, so . . ." )["Wait—" you shout. She turns around. "Azaadi gave me this before we left. I think it's directions through the labyrinth."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Unfold the paper.]]](if: $origin is "am good at mazes!")["Wait—" you shout. She turns around. "Azaadi gave me this before we left. I think it's directions through the labyrinth."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Unfold the paper.]]](if: $origin is "do the Atlantic crossword every single day in pen.")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You rush after her.]]]You're suddenly warm in the summer night, hot and aching, even as you wade up to your ankles in the cool stream. The sounds of crickets and a few confused birds are all that you hear over the water.
With your hearts pounding, you stumble out into the middle of the creek. Maybe looks relieved, curious, looking around at the trees and listening to the birds. It smells like home again. The lightning bugs are out in force, and there is an Indelible pink in the sky where the sun just sat. (An Indelible pink that, little by little, will fade away to black.)
You collapse in the wide waters of the creek and your body feels immediate relief, like sinking in a pool after running on hot asphalt. The water washes through your hair and over your cheeks.
In the distance, you can even see your home.
"Alright." You stand up. "We'll be safe with my parents—come on." You wave forward and start walking.
"I never understood how children . . . could be so naive," says Ekphrasis.
She's dragging the sharp end of the war-hammer along behind her through the culvert, tearing a long gash in the metal. With a crack, she hefts the hammer out, cracking a river rock in half. Her arms are shaking.
"Your parents," she pauses for breath, "can't protect you. Not when it matters. They're just one more problem . . . you have to deal with. What's worse, what's more insidious, is that the very //way// they raise you blinds you to problems that will haunt you your entire life. Whatever demons held their hearts will hold your hearts as well.(if: $herring is "dropped")[ Also. I found this." She holds up the little red fish. "You're really not as smart as you think you are.]"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'll kick your ass," Maybe yells.]]The paper has a little doodle of a heron with a speech bubble. It says: Straight from the mirror. Left, right, left, left, right, through the lion's eye, down, down, back, forth, left, down.
The hedges are like canyon walls or skyscrapers.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go right.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go left.]]
(set: $energy to 1)
The hedges are like canyon walls or skyscrapers in a big city.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go right.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go left.]]
(set: $energy to 1)
The hedges are like canyon walls or like the skyscrapers in a big city.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go right.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go left.]]
The paper has a little doodle of a heron with a speech bubble. It says: Straight from the mirror. Left, right, left, left, right, up the stone stairs, through the lions eye, down, down, wail in the well, back, back, left, up.
The hedges are like canyon walls or like the skyscrapers in a big city.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go right.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Go left.]]
The path ends in a long clearing with a series of golden, interlocking hexagonal reflecting pools with a stone lion at the opposite end. Maybe has climbed up over the stone lion's mane and is looking down the rolling hill through the wind at the palace.
You climb up and look out next to her. A number of wasps are visible, buzzing on the ground below. A handful of them are crawling up the sides of the various towers and over the paths in the courtyard.(if: $origin is "freaking hate mazes also, so . . ." )[
"We'd be out in the open, but I bet we could just run down there," Maybe says. "Or we could try the lion. Looks like a tunnel system."]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's go through the lion's eye," you say.->Go through the lion's eye.]]
(if: $origin is "freaking hate mazes also, so . . ." )[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's go for it," you say."]]]
End of Chapter 4/6.
"This place is a message . . . and part of a system of messages . . . pay attention to it!
This place is not a place of honor . . . What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
The danger is in a particular location . . . it increases toward a center . . . the center of danger is here . . . of a particular size and shape, and below us.
The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited."
—Trauth et al., //Expert judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertant Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant//
"the massive power of trains yet confinement to a single path makes them comparable to angels"
—tumblr post by user nultemp
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Highest Room in the Tallest Tower.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
Stopping her fall with a wind charm, she lands softly in the grass next to you. She extends a hand to the two of you huddling in the bush. "Oh," she says. She lifts the mantilla from her face. "Sorry. Grace, it's me."
"Linh?" Maybe says. She crawls out of the bush.
"It's really you—" she pulls her sister into a hug. "Gosh! How long have you been down here?
"How long have //you// been down here?" she mirrors.
"Oh my gosh, you made a friend! What's your name?"
"I'm $name. You're Maybe's sister?"
"Come again?"
"Wait, so, Linh . . . You're . . . ?" Maybe starts.
She laughs. "Vespiridae! I know, right? And look at you! You look so healthy! Look at your little spear, oh my god!" She picks a twig out of Maybe's hair. Then, looking to the wasps, she says, "Arete, Merit—I want you to meet Grace Huynh, the youngest in my dynasty's line."
"Such powerful arms," says Song.
"The eyes are bright and cunning," says Valor.
"Thank you?" Maybe says.
"Will she be joining us for the ceremonies?" Song asks.
"I don't see why not. But, here," Ekphrasis says to you. "We should talk more in private first. Here, how about I show you my room?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4B.]]You kick you legs futilely. The Commander drops you at the table. You're absolutely surrounded.
Ekphrasis lifts the mantilla from her face. Her expression is . . . shocked? Joyful? Her skin is lightish brown, like Maybe's.
"Grace!" she says. "Is it really you? Oh my god—" she pulls her sister into a hug. "How long have you been down here? Who's your friend? Gosh!"
"Linh!? You're . . . ?" Maybe starts.
"Vespiridae! I know, right? And look at you! You look so healthy!" Glancing back at the room she straightens, glowing. The audience literally and figuratively buzzes. "Everyone! Our army has doubled in strength today! I'd like you to meet Grace Huynh, the youngest in my dynasty's line."
The smack of a salute resounds from the wasps.
"Tonight, we celebrate our victory. Tomorrow, we secure our rule. But, in the meantime . . ." she says, "There is a God to summon!"
There is a raucous, booming cheer from the assembled, and a pounding rhythm begins with bowls on the table and chairs on the floor. A song starts in a language that sounds utterly alien to any other the other subterranean languages you've heard. Their song goes like this:
We pay, we pave the way
With oil and blood and gold and clay
With blows for the demons that clog the heart
With praise for the rains that smite and smart
We'll pave the way to Heaven's gate.
We'll love the gift of Heaven's weight.
Heaven's, Heaven's, Heaven's weight
Heaven's, Heaven's, Heaven's—
"Here," Ekphrasis says. "We should talk more in private, I'll show you my room."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4B.]]"That's funny." Ekphrasis stands there in the creek with her arms open in invitation. "I bet you'll fail that too."
With a guttural scream, Maybe runs upstream swinging wildly and sending water flying like shattering plates with her feet. You scramble for your crossbow. Ekphrasis smiles, hand on the hammer, another hand with her sword at her side.
"What is your //problem//?!" Maybe yells with a wild swing.
"I'm doing this for you, you know." She parries easily, but her whole body is shaking.
Maybe flicks her ice wand, and Ekphrasis goes to counter it with a shield charm, but neither has any effect.
"Mom was just angry with you because you were being lazy. I know you can do better. That's not how she raised you."
Maybe goes in for another strike, and Linh steps aside.
She looks at you. "And you—you don't even know what you're carrying."
She parries another blow from Maybe, this time without even looking.
You load the crossbow.
"When you stare into the Nadir, even at great distances, the helix of the world unravels itself to you," she says. "Imagine what would happen if you stood directly in its light. If you talked to it. Listened to its promise. I've heard that promise my whole life. The promise of Heaven burning through the gates. The promise that no price is too high to pay for perfection."
You raise the crossbow, but, quick as a (if: $fiddle is "fissure")[fissure](else:)[fiddle], Ekphrasis seizes Maybe and holds her tight to her chest. "You should be careful with that," she says, "you wouldn't want to hurt your girlfriend."
Maybe kicks futilely.
"I'll tell you what. If you give me the signal, I'll let both of you go. That would be easy. You like doing easy things, right?"
"Don't do it $name!" Maybe chokes out.
"Oho! Where was that tenacious spirit when you failed Trigonometry, Grace? English? When will you stop being lazy where it actually counts?"
"I am not lazy!" Maybe yells. "I am not dumb! You made me think that, but you're lying! I don't want to be anything like you!"
"//Then maybe you should want different things!//" Linh screams. She throws her sister to the creek bed with a horrendous crack. She struggles to stand, but collapses in the river, trying to get up again. Linh throws her sword at you with frightening precision, and splinters your crossbow in half.
"If you just applied yourself, like I have—you could be //worth something//!" With a great swing, the head of the hammer connects with the handle of Maybe's spear and sends it flying into the summer night. She knocks her sister to the rocks again with a cry and there's a small trail of red in the water. "You could be successful—" she says. "You could be." There are tears welling up in her eyes.
She lifts the war-hammer and it wavers at the zenith of its arc.
And it falls, exhausted, backward into the river with a wet slap. She sinks to her knees.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You could be like mom."]]
The warm swell of wind in the night.
You step in, slowly, and kneel beside Ekphrasis. "Is that . . . really what you want?" you ask.
". . . No. Of course not," she says, softly.
There's song for this. How the rain washes you clean. Kneeling there in the river, she felt the grime of industry and empire washing away. The black smoke in her lungs spilling out into the night, invisible. She just knelt there, letting it drain out of her head as if from her sinuses.
She crawls forward on the rocks until she's cradling her semi-conscious sister. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
There's no response.
Linh weeps. You both sit there for a very long time, listening to the crickets.
"It's so heavy," Linh finally says. "And . . . I've been carrying it for so long. I couldn't figure out how to tell her . . ."
"Your mom?" you ask.
She nods. "I just couldn't. I don't know why. I stopped turning in assignments. I couldn't open my email—I failed all of my classes. It was like watching a blimp drift into the side of a building. I couldn't make myself //do// anything. It wasn't like it would have even been that hard," she says. "All that, and I couldn't tell her. So I went where I wouldn't have to. And then I found the Empire, and everything was so clear. I thought it would be different. But I couldn't ever get away from that voice in my head telling me I failed. That I would never amount to anything. It just got louder and louder the deeper I got."
"But it wasn't your voice . . ." you say.
"Does it even matter? Does it matter if it was mine?" she asks. "It's the deepest thing there is."
"It's not the deepest thing." You know this, somehow. The Empire is not the oldest thing. "The ground beneath is older. The metal is a stranger."
Linh takes a deep, shaky breath, and looks you in the eyes. "Then what? What do we do now?"
"We be kind to each other," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And then, over the hill, you hear your name being called.]]"$name!"
"Ama!" you shout. You slosh through the river up the crumbling stairs by the factory and up to the street. And there, in the car, driving slow and scanning the darkly luminescent neighborhood, is your mom.
"$name!" She says as you run into her arms. She embraces you, her eyes (and, I think, her smile) so similar to yours. "Are you okay?" she says. "Where've you been?"
You look back to the river to look for Linh, but it's dark.
"I'm okay," you smile so big. "I had an adventure. There's a whole world under the storm drain. I made a lot of friends!"
"Okay, maybe next time let us know //before// you're gone for a whole day."
"Well," you put your hands on your hips, "maybe, if I had a way to text you . . ."
"Are you using this to leverage us into giving you a phone?" like a reflection, she puts her hands on her hips, but can't stop from smiling. "Because we've been over this—when you turn 13, we can talk about it. But, oh, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're safe. Oh, and I should call your mom and let her know I found you."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You hear steps from just over the hill.->Linh and Maybe come exhausted up the hill]]
Find me in the (text-colour:#f783ac)[depths of the forest] scraping at the soft earth with my hooves, email me at (text-colour:#f783ac)[reesejm@guilford.edu], or send me anonymous hate-mail at (text-colour:#f783ac)[1890s-kid.tumblr.com]. You can also find me by looking at the (text-colour:#f783ac)[clouds], looking into a handful of (text-colour:#f783ac)[shallow puddles] (I won't say which), or staring into the very (text-colour:#f783ac)[center of the sun]. These are the only ways you can contact me."Oh cool, you're alive," says a girl's voice.
It's all dark, but you feel the sensation of movement, like you're laying on a raft going lazily downstream. A single torch lights the raft and the river around it, the rest of the space around you a blanketed mystery. You are absolutely drenched, and there's river water in your lungs. You turn over, and the river water politely exits through your mouth.
The girl keeps talking through your bout of violent coughing.
"I'm not CPR certified, but my sister is and she taught me how to do it? but that was like two years ago, so I was hoping it wouldn't come to that cause I've heard you can break someone's um. What's that bone called that looks like a tie? The serious? The serious bone?"
You remember the names of the bones pretty well from your third grade unit on the human body, and you're pretty sure it's not called the serious bone, but the word isn't quite coming to mind.
"Are you okay?"(set: $wet to "yes") The torch flickers. You shiver.
You clear your throat a few times before managing a "Mhm!" You try to stand up, but you nearly tip over the side of the raft. Your vision swims.
"Woah, hold it!" says the girl. "You're not going anywhere. You probably have like a major, what's the word. You have a percussion."
That seems accurate.
"You need to sit down and rest or you'll get worse. That's like in life, where you have to take breaks or else you'll just hurt yourself, you know? I have something that can help your head." She starts rooting around in a satchel. "(if: $compass is "yes")[So, you're the one I threw that compass to right? I'm glad I finally caught up to you. Also glad you're not dead. I'll brew some tea for you. ]But we should dock first. My name is Maybe, by the way."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's a nice name."]]
"On business with the Assembly . . . ! Wow," Linh punches her sister's arm.
Linh has taken you inside, past a huge throne room, and up a series of rooms in a tower that turns through a library, a cartography room, and finally to what appears to be Linh's bedroom. There is one more opening in the wall at the other end of the room, indicating that there is still one more room at least above the bedroom.
"I always knew you'd be a big shot. The Assembly has been trying to make peace with the Nest ever since we became a big deal, but, of course, I have other plans. So," she says, "you were looking for me. How'd you know where to find me?"
Below the window, a wide plate of glass, you can see the whole scale of the wasps' operation. There are far too few wasps to fill every building, but they buzz around on the grounds of the palace incessantly, living inside it like maggots in a dead body.
"Yeah, we just um. We . . ." Maybe stumbles.
"We heard that the wasp queen was another human," you jump in, "and we . . . wanted to meet you. We didn't know exactly where to look," you say.
"Well, it doesn't matter now," Ekphrasis says. "We're together! I found you. And you're safe."
"Yeah, I," Maybe says. "It's good to see you."
Linh takes Maybe by the hand and they sit on the edge of the bed. You follow awkwardly.
"Mom was so worried after you disappeared," Linh says.
Her sister says nothing, staring out the window.
"We thought you'd been abducted or killed, or worse. After a year of searching, we finally held a funeral for you. Dad actually showed his face. Aureliana was there, and Dr. Haddison. Everyone talked about how much potential you had, and how that was all gone. I knew better though. You're tough. I think you could probably take anything the surface world could throw at you. And now you've proven that (text-colour:#a9434b)[[you're strong enough to survive in the G.S.E. too."]]
(set: $lapis to "true")"It's easy!" says the tallest one. "Hi, I'm Eno, that's Ana, Kili, and Pia what's your name?"
"I'm $name," you say.
"I like your clothes are you a human? I've only seen one human before ever," says Pia.
"Yeah, I'm human, is that okay?" you say.
"It's so cool!" says Kili, "But it means you don't know how to play Oneiros so we have to tell you!"
You arrive at a little alley-end with a crate and a tablecloth laid over it. There's little paper lanterns strung up above you, plus the laundry of several houses. Eno pulls out a deck of cards and starts dealing them out haphazardly.
"Wait! Wait!" Ana says. "You gotta do the reading!"
"Oh right," Eno says, and he holds out the deck to you. "Okay, take six cards from anywhere."
"No, it's seven," says Ana, fixing her glasses.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Draw seven.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Draw six.]]
(set: $mice to "yes")
(set: $onyourown to "yes")With some effort, you pry the top off one of the crates.
Wow! You got: "(text-colour:(either: #faa2c1, #b197fc, #66d9e8, #c0eb75, #ffc078))[(either: "Old Nokia",
"Lump of Tungsten",
"Minoan Octopus Vase",
"Tome of Slime",
"Tome of Teeth",
"Box of Unlabeled Tea",
"Lugnut",
"Rodent divination chamber",
"Moon Spider Painting",
"Fragment of Onyx",
"Small Gold Clock",
"Left Half of Etch-A-Sketch",
"Bag of Kumquats",
"Turtle Statue",
"Tiny cactus",
"Old Nokia",
"Fabric scrap",
)]"(set: $cratestuff to "wow look at all this crate stuff")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Again?->Open a crate.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The ground rumbles, far below.->Follow them down.]]
(set: $cratetime to "had a crate time")(if: $cratetime is "had a crate time")[You look out over the city. Below, the buildings are cluttered under the dome of the black roof like the structures of a geode. Bright banners and dim, colored lights thick with fire from frying food cloud the air. You climb cautiously down the wooden stairs, eventually, you hear the conversation of the three fishers that passed you earlier.
"Schist like that got a long-aph half-life to it," the bat-woman is saying.
You follow the trio further into the city at a distance, the streets fill with noise and light and motion. There's a commotion further up the street.](else:)[You climb cautiously down the wooden stairs, following them at a distance.
"—exactly what I'm sayin. It's possible for them to unlearn it. They never knew no Empire. An Empire ain't carried in the blood," says the toad-person.
"Maybe we can't see it," the bat-person says, "but it's sure as Hell's still there. Schist like that got a long-aph half-life to it."
The outskirts of the city are dark, but as you follow the trio further into the city, the streets fill with noise and light and motion. There's something going on further up the street.]
"Wha'd'you think, Dmitri?" says the toad-person.
The one with the head of a mushroom says, "Think. We take different street." He points.
There are three large wasps in the middle of the market street. You wouldn't be able to guess an inherent difference between them and the rest of the people on the street, except for the wide berth given to them by every other pedestrian.
Their leader is arguing furiously with a blacksmith in one of the stalls along the market street, shaking a piece of cloth with some characters written on it.
The trio you were following has slipped away, and you are now feeling dreadfully unprotected in the middle of the street. One of the wasps looks at you curiously from under the blacksmith's tent, her compound eyes shining in the unnatural light.
She flies to you, before you think to run. A horrible, oscillating buzz that nestles in your head. Like an insect on your ear, trying to wriggle its way into your brain. The soldier bends down. Three times your height, her head, half the size of your body.
"Curious," she says. "She didn't say there were more of you down here . . ." Her mouth-parts freak you out. "Should I kill you now? Or should I deliver your paralyzed body to her in person . . ."
"Antiphony!" shouts the leader. "Let's get moving. We'll find someone else who sells."
The wasp scoffs and leans away from you, her and her disturbing mouth parts, and flies back to her superior. You can hear them whispering indistinctly. Her superior looks you up and down, but then turns and briskly flies away with her subordinates.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And, like that, the buzzing recedes, and life slowly comes back to the marketplace.]]
You put all your cards back and Eno shuffles them by moving them around on the table.
"Let's do short rounds—take three," Eno says.(if: $explained is "yes")[](else:)[
No one has yet to explain how to actually play this game.]
(set: $A to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Clay",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $B to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $C to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))Your hand is:
The $A
The $B
The $C
"There might be a few doubles like cards from other decks," Ana says, "but that's okay. If a double gets played we can call it a tie."
Pia slaps down the Ghost in the Glass.
Kili plays the Ghost of Trains.
"Dang it!" Ana says, and drops her hand. "I only had ghosts."
Eno plays the King of Clay. "The king is my highest. Super low round! Okay, $name, so, you basically can't lose."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->A]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->B]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your third card.->C]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)It seems to be a book produced back during the reign of Empress Corundum about the mechanism behind the manipulation of the divine engines. "Ethics" is probably used here ironically.
Flipping to a random page, it talks about all the specific trains and the long histories of their operators.
You don't get very far. It's indescribably boring!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Close it.->You hope nobody heard that.]]"I'm sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry," she weeps, "Shattered Sh-Shattered It's all my. My fault fault faulty faulty faulty."
You wave a hand in front of the maid's face. She doesn't seem to notice. It's unnerving.
"This is unnerving," Maybe says. "We should search this place, but we make it quick. I don't trust this thing."
"I'm not sure if she's a thing," you say. But you go to search for the signal. Maybe goes to the closet. You look under the bed.
Under the bed, there's a chest, an old steamer trunk. There are stickers on it. Like, real, people stickers that were made in a print shop.
There's one for a tennis team, for track and field, a math club, an orchestra, a college honors society, and a sticker from a conference about women in STEM. It's locked.
Maybe is rooting around in the dresser. She catches sight of herself in the mirror. She turns her head this way and that. "Huh," she says.
"What is it?" you ask, fiddling with the lock on the trunk. "Is there a riddle?"
"No, it's . . ."
"A light puzzle where we have to angle the sunstone light to hit a bee mural and open a secret door?"
"No, no," she laughs. "I just haven't . . . I haven't actually seen myself in a mirror in about a year and a half."
You go and stand in front of the mirror. You're surprised too.
You look older.
Like, much older. You can't place it. It's been less than a day, right? But you feel older too. It feels different. It feels good.
Maybe fiddles with her hair, stuffing it into a ponytail with a hair tie from the dresser.
"Well," she says. "I guess it's not here either. That means Ekphrasis is definitely carrying it herself."
You go back to the door where the porcelain woman is standing rooted to the spot. She's touching her face and shoulders like she expects them not to be there, rubbing her arm and flexing her fingers like she's suddenly become a ghost. And whispering, over and over, "This doesn't doesn't belong this it doesn't belong it's too You're too You're too It's too It's gone gone It's gone She's here She's here She's here."
She's here.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4.]]
You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Clay")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two King of Clay cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["YAAEAESSSS" screams Pia. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $A is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts!" Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win the round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.]
(if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $A. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"A]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Clay")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two King of Clay cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["YAAEAESSSS" screams Pia. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $B is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $B. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"B]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a King of Clay with that, silly!" Pia says. "Looks like Eno wins."
Eno takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a neat stack on his corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Clay")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two King of Clay cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game. Heaven beats anything," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["YAAEAESSSS" screams Pia. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $C is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["Thought you might have something higher than a Clay King," Eno says with a mock sigh. "I believe these are yours, my friend . . ." He slides all the cards that had just been played into a neat stack of five and hands them to you.
"I won?" you say. "I'm confused."
"You won because you had the highest card," says Ana. "The $C. It easily beats the King of Clay. Next round?"
"You also winned if you have (text-colour:#faa2c1)[a fairy princess]," says Pia. "Pew pew pshew!" She imitates firing a magic wand.
"I don't think that's true," says Kili.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"C]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: $seven to "yeye")You draw seven cards. They are:
Sunstone
The Ghost of Charms
The Court of Stone
The Witch of Cranes
The Queen of Swords
The Marionette
The Nadir
"This decks seems to have mixed feeling about you," Ana says.
"Okay, now we tell you what they mean," says Pia. "So, the sunstone means you got really pretty eyes and you're really pretty. Did you know that?"
"That's not what it means," says Eno.
"Pia's got a crush on you," says Kili.
"No I don't!" she exclaims.
"The sunstone card means that there's bright light around you. It means you're lucky. Or it means that you came from a place where there's a lot of light," Ana says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the ghost mean?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: $six to "yeye")You draw six cards. They are:
Sunstone
The Ghost of Charms
The Court of Stone
The Witch of Cranes
The Queen of Swords
The Marionette
Ana slides you another card. That card is:
Moonstone
"I think this deck likes you," says Ana.
"Okay, now we tell you what they mean," Pia says. "So, the sunstone meaned that you got really pretty eyes and you're really pretty. Did you know that?"
"That's not what it means," says Eno.
"Pia's got a crush on you," says Kili.
"No I don't!" she exclaims.
"The sunstone card means that there's bright light around you," Ana says. "It means you're lucky. Or it means that you came from or are going to a place where there's a lot of light."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the ghost mean?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Sunstone
Ghost of Charms
Court of Stone
Witch of Cranes
Queen of Swords
The Marionette
(if: $six is "yeye")[Moonstone](if: $seven is "yeye")[The Nadir]
"The charms ghost means you're looking for or you found someone who's magic. Not necessarily wizard magic, but like special magic. It's weak right now, but ghosts is the suit with the most potential. Especially together with moonstone. So if you find this person, it could be really good," Ana says.(if: $onyourown is "yes")[
(Your mind wanders to the image of the girl in the striped sweater.)]
Court of Stone
"The stone court is a mid-level card, it means stability and power, but also coldness and hardness. Like stone. It means there's people looking out for you, but those people are stuck with um. They have to follow rules and boundaries, so they're slow, but they're there with you like a foundation."
Witch of Cranes
"This means you'll meet a witch with a crane."
"What?" you say.
"You heard the lady," Kili says.
Queen of Swords
"Pia! Did you cross out king and write 'queen'? That's not a suit."
Pia giggles sheepishly.
"Girl power," you suggest.
Pia grows wide-eyed. "Girl power!" She runs around the table chanting 'girl power' while Kili chases her.
"That card is about violent power with no restraint," Eno says. "Maybe you'll meet someone like that and need to help them learn to temper their power, or maybe you'll need to learn restraint yourself? Anyway, draw another one that doesn't count."
While you draw another card, Ana continues.
The Marionette
"I can't believe you drew three face cards. That's so lucky," Ana continues. "The marionette means you need to look for where your strings are. Are you puppeting something or is something puppeting you? You drew it right before the end, so it's really important to who you are. The marionette is a scary card."
You draw the Song of Trains.
"Oh wow!" Ana says. "The train's song is the best card that's not a face card. You're going to do something super legendary. You can't beat it. Unless you have . . ." (if: $six is "yeye")[
Moonstone
"The moonstone card is an inversion. It means illusion and kindness. It means that the strongest things have weak parts too."
"It's very flexible though," says Eno. "It can make it so that there's more than one of each card."](if: $seven is "yeye")[
The Nadir ^^1^^(mouseover-replace: "1")[Which they pronounce with an accent on the second syllable. (nˈʌdɪ͡ɹ.)]
"The Nadir is the same as the Fulcrum which is the opposite of Heaven. It's where the world turns on and it's where magic comes from, but you can't go there. You can't look at it for too long or you'll go crazy. It's the deepest part of the Giesie," says Ana. "I think it means you're going to go deep inside yourself like metaf . . . um. Metaphorically"
"In the game, the Nadir makes it so that nobody wins," Eno says. "It's like a bomb."]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's plaaaaay!" shouts Pia.]] ^^2^^(mouseover-replace: "2")[
(Your computer will suffer terribly if you try to run this in Safari! (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Skip it.->"Did you hear something?"]])]
(set: $explained to "no")
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(if: $Enoshand is "yes")[Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains](else:)[Your hand has been whittled down to:
The $B
The $C]
This time Kili goes first. They play the Witch in the Glass.
Ana is out.
Eno skips his turn.
Pia skips too, even though it's not her turn yet and she has good cards. She blinks at you.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand is "yes")[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the song of trains]]
](else:)[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->B1]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->C1]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(if: $onyourown is "yes")[You hear the tolling of a bell, and there is a rumble from under the earth.
"What was that?" you ask.
"Church!" Pia shouts. Everyone scrambles to their feet.
You stand up too, confused. They're not stopping to pick up their things.
The rumbling sound comes again, this time from beneath the park, and, smashing upward, showering the area in rubble, is an enormous, black wolf.
The whole surface of its body is covered with wide, lipless mouths, like open wounds. Its patchy skin is grafted with pieces of sharp metal and crystal. There is a golden palanquin (like a carried chariot) grafted to its back.
Its mouth opens, as if to bark, but your head fills with a sound too loud to hear, a thousand church bells clattering all at once down the stairs. It looks as though it's in pain.
The children are scrambling up through the window of the house at the end of the alley. "Come on!" they might be shouting.
You look at the fluid, abject figure of the wolf grafted to the palanquin. And then you see something unexpected.
There's that striped-sweatered girl from the concourse, with a little spear pointed at the wolf. She's circling it and it is circling her.
"I have to go! It was nice to meet you!" you shout.
"You're not supposed to run *toward* the church!" says Kili
"Here!" shouts Eno. He throws you some kind of charm or locket, gold, star-shaped, and you catch it.
"Don't die!" shouts Ana. (set: $charmed to "yes")](if: $crystalcaverns is "yes")[You hear buzzing.
This horrible, oscillating buzz that nestles in your head. Like an insect on your ear, tickling, trying to wriggle its way into your brain.
"Wasp!" Pia shouts. Everyone scrambles to their feet.
You stand up too, confused. The children aren't stopping to pick up their things. They scramble inside the house through the window.
Maybe runs out into the street with your empty backpack, searching for you.
You start towards her, then turn back to the kids. "It was nice to meet you!"
"You too! Here," shouts Eno. He throws you some kind of charm or locket, gold, star-shaped, and you catch it.
"Don't die!" shouts Ana.
"Kick its butt!" says Pia.(set: $charmed to "yes")]
(if: $explained is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Get back to the start page, silly!->start page]]](if: $onyourown is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Run to the park.->"Ow."]]](if: $crystalcaverns is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Run to Maybe.->Buzzing.]]]
(if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")[ ](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")[ ](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $A is "King of Crowns")[ ](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")[ ](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")[ ](if: $A is "King of Glass")[ ](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")[ ](if: $A is "King of Stone")[ ](if: $A is "King of Keys")[ ](if: $A is "King of Trains")[ ](if: $A is "King of Beasts")[ ](if: $A is "King of Jade")[ ](if: $A is "King of Valor")[ ](if: $A is "King of Cloth")[ ](if: $A is "King of Moss")[ ](if: $A is "King of Amber")[ ](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")[ ](if: $A is "King of Breath")[ ](if: $A is "King of Charms")[ ](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")[ ](if: $A is "King of Cranes")[ ](if: $A is "King of Swords")[ ](if: $A is "King of Angels")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")[ ](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")[ ](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")[ ](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")[ ](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Glass")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Stone")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Keys")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Trains")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Clay")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Jade")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Valor")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Moss")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Amber")[ ](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Breath")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Charms")[ ](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Swords")[ ](if: $A is "Court of Angels")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Glass")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Stone")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Keys")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Trains")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Clay")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Jade")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Valor")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Moss")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Amber")[ ](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Breath")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Charms")[ ](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Swords")[ ](if: $A is "Song of Angels")[ ](if: $Enoshand is "yes")[Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains](else:)[Your hand has been whittled down to:
The $A
The $C]
This time Kili goes first. They play the Witch in the Glass.
Ana is out.
Eno skips his turn.
Pia skips too, even though it's not her turn yet and she has good cards. She blinks at you.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand is "yes")[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the song of trains]]
](else:)[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->A2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->C2]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(if: $Enoshand is "yes")[Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains](else:)[Your hand has been whittled down to:
The $B
The $A]
This time Kili goes first. They play the Witch in the Glass.
Ana is out.
Eno skips his turn.
Pia skips too, even though it's not her turn yet and she has good cards. She blinks at you.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand is "yes")[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the song of trains]]
](else:)[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->B3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->A3]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)"Well, my master plan has gone out the window," says Eno. He plays the Ghost in the Quarry.
It's your turn. "Hang on to it," Eno says. "You gotta do a big reveal."
Kili plays the Song of Angels.
Ana is out, again.
Pia plays one of your cards.
"Okay, okay, play it, play it," Eno says.
You lay down the (text-colour:#f783ac)[Song] of (text-colour:#f783ac)[Trains].
"Yooooo!" Kili says. "Good game!"
"Sigh," Eno smiles. "Wanna go again?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's keep going!"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $B is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->CC]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $C is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->BB]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $A is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->CC]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $C is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["The $C sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->AA]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $B is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["The $B sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->AA]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Glass Witch cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," Eno says.](if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says.
Pia shouts, "Do me! Do me!"
Pia has the Song of Angels and the Witch of Keys. You pick the Witch of Keys. She puts it down on the table and then scoops all the cards over to her side of the table.
"Tricky!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Aw man, I should have tried to go first and play a low card," says Ana.
"We both win that one," says Kili.
"Like I was talking about," Ana says, "Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card normally wins, but there's only one card here."](if: $A is "Sunstone")[Everyone turns their hands around.
"Huh?" you say.
"Oh yeah," Eno says, "Sunstone makes everyone show their hand."
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Witch in the Glass
Court of Stone
Ana:
Ghost of Stone
Ghost in the Quarry
Pia:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Eno:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains
"I was lying," Eno smiles.
"Uh oh," Ana says. "$name, you won that round by the way."
"Pia, why'd you play your ghost? You would have had totally better chances with the other two," Kili says.
"Iuhkno," says Pia.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Angels
Witch of Keys
Guessing that the Song of Angels is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Nuts," Eno says, giving it up. "Also you win that round because it's a face card."
Your hand is now:
Ghost of Amber
Song of Trains(set: $Enoshand to "yes")](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["You can't beat a Witch in the Glass with that, silly!" Pia says. "Kili wins."
Kili takes all the cards on the table and puts them in a rough stack on their corner of the table.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["The $A sure beats the Witch in the Glass." Eno says. "You get the point!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three!"->BB]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana goes first. "I had terrible luck this game."
She plays the Ghost in the Quarry.
Eno grins very wide and hangs onto his card.
Pia plays the Witch of Keys. Not bad.
Kili plays the Court of Stone. Even better.
With no other choice, you play the $C.
(if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that everyone's got only one. But it's still a face card and that means you win!"](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno.
"Great job!" Kili says.](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Finally!" shouts Ana. "Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!" She slaps down the Witch of Keys and scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, my card, haha, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $C is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round."
"I was lying about the King of Clay," Eno smiles. He slaps down the Song of Trains, winning the final round.
"Yo!" Kili says.
"Wanna play again?" Ana says.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Crap!" Eno squeaks.
"Nonnononono! My infallible plan!"
"What's going on?" you ask.
"You played the Emperor," says Ana. "That means you get to steal. You should steal Eno's card. Eno you need to work on your power face."
You steal Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, and play it.
"You won!" shouts Kili. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $C is "Transformation")["Nooooooooo!" Eno squeaks. "My infallible plan!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, is now yours.
"You won!" shouts Ana. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.](if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains. "Oh wait, shoot, is that another Song of Trains?"
"It's a tie!" says Kili.
"Wow there's like a one in a thousand chance of that happening," says Ana. (Why did I code this?)
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song card," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's keep going!"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana goes first. "I had terrible luck this game."
She plays the Ghost in the Quarry.
Eno grins very wide and hangs onto his card.
Pia plays the Witch of Keys. Not bad.
Kili plays the Court of Stone. Even better.
With no other choice, you play the $B.
(if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that everyone's got only one. But it's still a face card and that means you win!"](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno.
"Great job!" Kili says.](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Finally!" shouts Ana. "Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!" She slaps down the Witch of Keys and scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, my card, haha, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $B is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round."
"I was lying about the King of Clay," Eno smiles. He slaps down the Song of Trains, winning the final round.
"Yo!" Kili says.
"Wanna play again?" Ana says.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Crap!" Eno squeaks.
"Nonnononono! My infallible plan!"
"What's going on?" you ask.
"You played the Emperor," says Ana. "That means you get to steal. You should steal Eno's card. Eno you need to work on your power face."
You steal Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, and play it.
"You won!" shouts Kili. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $B is "Transformation")["Nooooooooo!" Eno squeaks. "My infallible plan!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, is now yours.
"You won!" shouts Ana. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.](if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song card," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's keep going!"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana goes first. "I had terrible luck this game."
She plays the Ghost in the Quarry.
Eno grins very wide and hangs onto his card.
Pia plays the Witch of Keys. Not bad.
Kili plays the Court of Stone. Even better.
With no other choice, you play the $A.
(if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that everyone's got only one. But it's still a face card and that means you win!"](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno.
"Great job!" Kili says.](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Finally!" shouts Ana. "Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!" She slaps down the Witch of Keys and scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, my card, haha, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $A is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round."
"I was lying about the King of Clay," Eno smiles. He slaps down the Song of Trains, winning the final round.
"Yo!" Kili says.
"Wanna play again?" Ana says.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Crap!" Eno squeaks.
"Nonnononono! My infallible plan!"
"What's going on?" you ask.
"You played the Emperor," says Ana. "That means you get to steal. You should steal Eno's card. Eno you need to work on your power face."
You steal Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, and play it.
"You won!" shouts Kili. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $A is "Transformation")["Nooooooooo!" Eno squeaks. "My infallible plan!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
Eno's last card, the Song of Trains, is now yours.
"You won!" shouts Ana. "That was amazing!"
"That was so unlikely!" Eno groans.](if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song of Angels," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["Nice shot but I don't think it's got anything on . . . this!" Eno says, and slaps down the Song of Trains.
"Good game!" says Kili.
"No fair, I didn't win any!" Pia squeaks.
"Pia, you had a Song card," Ana says, looking at her hand, "you could have won any of the other rounds."
Pia puts her eyes up and tries to look cute. It succeeds.
"Wanna play again?" says Ana.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's keep going!"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You put all your cards back and Eno shuffles them by moving them around on the table. You get three cards. You're beginning to catch on.
(set: $A to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Clay",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $B to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $C to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))"Wait, hold on," you say, "Ghost is the lowest, and Song is the highest?"
"Yeah," Ana says. "It goes: Ghost, King, Witch, Court, Song. Then there's face cards."
"Okay," you say. "And face cards always win, right?"
"That's right," she says. "Except not necessarily Moonstone."
"Also you gotta pay attention to the Property of the cards too. Concepts are high and Objects are low," Eno says. "There's Trains, Open Hands, Anamnesis, Sorrow, Angels, Valor, Carnival, Beasts—"
"Isn't open hands a low property like quarry cause it's a place?" Kili asks.
"No way: it's a concept," says Ana.
"Yeah it's the name of our city, but it's also a memorial day. It's about remembering, so it beats anamnesis."
"This city is called open hands?" you ask.
"Yeah, (text-colour:#ff8787)[the City of] Open Hands," Eno says. "After the revolution a hundred years ago."
"Let's goooooo! Let's go let's go," Pia says.
She puts down the King in the Quarry.
Kili sits up, slaps the King of Crowns on the table and falls over again.
"Witch of Sorrow," Ana says. "I'm back in it!"
"I'm out," says Eno.
Your new hand is:
The $A
The $B
The $C
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->AAA]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->BBB]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your third card.->CCC]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Yes! Yes! Yes! The King in the Quarry wins again!" screams Pia. She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $A is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Court of Charms
Ana:
The Emperor
Song of the Carnival
Pia:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Nice," says Ana, "$name, you won that round."](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Witch of Sorrow cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," she says.](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"AAAA]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Yes! Yes! Yes! The King in the Quarry wins again!" screams Pia. She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $B is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Court of Charms
Ana:
The Emperor
Song of the Carnival
Pia:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Nice," says Ana, "$name, you won that round."](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Witch of Sorrow cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," she says.](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"BBBB]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Yes! Yes! Yes! The King in the Quarry wins again!" screams Pia. She scrapes all the cards over to her side of the table in a messy pile.
"What just happened?" you ask Ana.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card won."
"I see . . . ?" you say.](if: $C is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Court of Charms
Ana:
The Emperor
Song of the Carnival
Pia:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Nice," says Ana, "$name, you won that round."](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["It's a tie!" Ana says. "There should not be two Witch of Sorrow cards in here." She flicks the extra card into the window of the nearest house.
"So nobody gets a point?" you ask.
"That's right," she says.](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Finally, victory is mine," Ana says.
She takes all the cards on the tables and riffles them between her hands.](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["Dang, I thought I had that one," says Ana.
Pia passes you your cards.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round two!"->"Round two!"CCCC]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Eno plays the King of Amber
Kili plays the Court of Charms.
(if: $piastolenmoss is "yes")[Pia plays the Court of Breath.
"Hey, wait," Kili says. "Breath can't beat Charms."
"It does," Ana says. "Breath means strength, so it's a concept, but charms is about objects."](else:)[Pia plays the Song of Moss. "Beat that!" she says.]
Ana plays the Song of the Carnival.
"Aw, man!" Pia says.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand2 is "yes")[Your hand is:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Looks like you're out this round.]]](else:)[Your hand is:
The $B
The $C
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->Cfinal playedB]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->Bfinal playedC]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Eno plays the King of Amber
Kili plays the Court of Charms.
(if: $piastolenmoss is "yes")[Pia plays the Court of Breath.
"Hey, wait," Kili says. "Breath can't beat Charms."
"It does," Ana says. "Breath means strength, so it's a concept, but charms is about objects."](else:)[Pia plays the Song of Moss. "Beat that!" she says.]
Ana plays the Song of the Carnival.
"Aw, man!" Pia says.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand2 is "yes")[Your hand is:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Looks like you're out this round.]]](else:)[Your hand is:
The $A
The $C
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->Cfinal playedA]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->Afinal playedC]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Eno plays the King of Amber
Kili plays the Court of Charms.
(if: $piastolenmoss is "yes")[Pia plays the Court of Breath.
"Hey, wait," Kili says. "Breath can't beat Charms."
"It does," Ana says. "Breath means strength, so it's a concept, but charms is about objects."](else:)[Pia plays the Song of Moss. "Beat that!" she says.]
Ana plays the Song of the Carnival.
"Aw, man!" Pia says.
It's your turn.(if: $Enoshand2 is "yes")[Your hand is:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Looks like you're out this round.]]](else:)[Your hand is:
The $A
The $B
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->Bfinal playedA]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->Afinal playedB]]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana plays the Emperor.
"Oh dang," Kili says. "I'm out."
No one else is able to play either.
"Got anything $name?" she says.
(if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that it's the last round. Unfortunately for you though the Emperor beats the Marionette!"](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh man!" Ana says.
"That's the game!" Eno says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Ana. "Heaven is the only thing that can beat the Emperor outright."](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Excellent, pleasure doing business with you!" Eno says. "I knew the King of Amber would make a comeback!"
"Noooooooooo!" squeaks Ana.
"What just happened?" you ask her.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, Eno's card, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $A is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round, besides, Sunstone can't beat the Emperor."
"Ana wins!" says Kili.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh dang, there should not be two Emperors in here. But! Alas, it's a tie," Ana says. She shakes your hand. "Good game!"
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $A is "Transformation")["Oh no!" Ana squeaks. "My Emperor!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
"Oh yeah, baby!" Kili says.
"What just happened?" you ask.
"Uhg, Transformation made my Emperor into Kili's Emperor."
"I win!" Kili says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["Nooooo!" You say. "I really thought I would win with this.
"Oh man that's epic!" says Kili. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Replay from first match.->"Let's plaaaaay!" shouts Pia.]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)"Ana wins with the Carnival Song," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says. "I'm on a roll. And I don't think anyone's going to be able to stop me next round. Unless you've been holding onto something big."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Round three."]]Ana plays the Emperor.
"Oh dang," Kili says. "I'm out."
No one else is able to play either.
"Got anything $name?" she says.
"Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?" Eno says.->"Did you hear something?"]]You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $B is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."C]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $C is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."B]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $A is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."C]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $C.
(if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $C is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $C is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."A]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $A.
(if: $A is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $A is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $A is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $A is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $A is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $A is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $A is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $A is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $A is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $A is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."B]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You play the $B.
(if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno.
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going. Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "But everyone else has already gone. But still, it's a face card, which means you win."
"Good job!" says Eno.](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh, fracture!" Kili says.
"Kili! Swears!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Eno. "Wanna play again?"](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Oh, I'm flattered. I see you're a fellow Court of Charms appreciator" Kili says. They scoop the cards over to their side of the table in a rough pile.](if: $B is "Sunstone")["Remember, Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Eno says.
"Like everything being lit up," Ana says.
Kili:
Court of Crowns
Ana:
The Emperor
Pia:
Song of Moss
Eno:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"Uh oh," says Eno.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh, nice one," says Eno. "Now you get to pick who to steal from. You steal it, but it's lost anyway."
"Pick me, pick me!" Pia says.
"Um, okay, if you really want?" you say.
"Hee hee," she says, blushing. She shows you:
Song of Moss
Court of Breath
Since the Song of Moss is higher, you take and discard that one.
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Eno. "You win that round $name. Good job!"(set: $piastolenmoss to "yes")](if: $B is "Transformation")[Everyone swaps hands. Eno passes you his hand and Pia grabs yours.
"Take my cards. Please," Eno says.
Your hand is now:
King of Amber
Ghost in the Moss
"This isn't a very good hand," you say.
Eno shrugs and smiles.(set: $Enoshand2 to "yes")](if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["No way!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Ana wins," Eno says.
"And the frenzied music of the Carnival drives you mad!" Ana says.](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["No way!" Ana says.]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Last round."->"Last round."A]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana plays the Emperor.
"Oh dang," Kili says. "I'm out."
No one else is able to play either.
"Got anything $name?" she says.
(if: $C is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $C is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that it's the last round. Unfortunately for you though the Emperor beats the Marionette!"](if: $C is "Heaven")["Oh man!" Ana says.
"That's the game!" Eno says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Ana. "Heaven is the only thing that can beat the Emperor outright."](if: $C is "Moonstone")["Excellent, pleasure doing business with you!" Eno says. "I knew the King of Amber would make a comeback!"
"Noooooooooo!" squeaks Ana.
"What just happened?" you ask her.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, Eno's card, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $C is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round, besides, Sunstone can't beat the Emperor."
"Ana wins!" says Kili.](if: $C is "Emperor")["Oh dang, there should not be two Emperors in here. But! Alas, it's a tie," Ana says. She shakes your hand. "Good game!"
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $C is "Transformation")["Oh no!" Ana squeaks. "My Emperor!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
"Oh yeah, baby!" Kili says.
"What just happened?" you ask.
"Uhg, Transformation made my Emperor into Kili's Emperor."
"I win!" Kili says.](if: $C is "Ghost of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $C is "King of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "King of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Witch of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Court of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Trains")["Nooooo!" You say. "I really thought I would win with this.
"Oh man that's epic!" says Kili. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $C is "Song of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Replay from first match.->"Let's plaaaaay!" shouts Pia.]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)Ana plays the Emperor.
"Oh dang," Kili says. "I'm out."
No one else is able to play either.
"Got anything $name?" she says.
(if: $B is "Nadir")["Oh Silt!" Kili says.
"Kili!" Eno scolds.
"That's the game!" Ana says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"No, everyone lost," says Eno. "And in the final round too!"
"Wait, what's the point of that?" you say.
He shrugs. "Wanna play again? Or we could keep going."](if: $B is "Marionette")["That means you get to play someone else's cards!" Ana says. "It doesn't matter now that it's the last round. Unfortunately for you though the Emperor beats the Marionette!"](if: $B is "Heaven")["Oh man!" Ana says.
"That's the game!" Eno says.
"Did I win?" you ask.
"Yeah! Not only the round, but you won the whole game," says Ana. "Heaven is the only thing that can beat the Emperor outright."](if: $B is "Moonstone")["Excellent, pleasure doing business with you!" Eno says. "I knew the King of Amber would make a comeback!"
"Noooooooooo!" squeaks Ana.
"What just happened?" you ask her.
"Like I was talking about, Moonstone means a reversal, so the weakest card, Eno's card, won."
"I see . . ." you say. You don't see.](if: $B is "Sunstone")["Sunstone makes everyone show their hand," Ana says, "but it doesn't matter on the last round, besides, Sunstone can't beat the Emperor."
"Ana wins!" says Kili.](if: $B is "Emperor")["Oh dang, there should not be two Emperors in here. But! Alas, it's a tie," Ana says. She shakes your hand. "Good game!"
"Why do emperors let you steal?" you ask.
"Because emperors are lying, no-good, basalts."
"Kili, no swearing!" says Ana. "You win that round, $name. Good job!"](if: $B is "Transformation")["Oh no!" Ana squeaks. "My Emperor!"
Everyone swaps their cards.
"Oh yeah, baby!" Kili says.
"What just happened?" you ask.
"Uhg, Transformation made my Emperor into Kili's Emperor."
"I win!" Kili says.](if: $B is "Ghost of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost in the Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Marbles")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Ghost of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Glass")[](if: $B is "King of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "King of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch in the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Witch of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Trains")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Court of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Crowns")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Sorrow")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Open Hands")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Glass")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Anamnesis")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Stone")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Keys")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Trains")["Nooooo!" You say. "I really thought I would win with this.
"Oh man that's epic!" says Kili. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Beasts")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Clay")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Jade")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Valor")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Cloth")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Moss")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Amber")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of the Carnival")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Breath")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Charms")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of the Quarry")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Cranes")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Swords")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"](if: $B is "Song of Angels")["Nothing that can beat a face card," you say. "Good game!"]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear something?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Replay from first match.->"Let's plaaaaay!" shouts Pia.]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)You put all your cards back and Eno shuffles them by moving them around on the table. You get three cards. You're beginning to catch on.
(set: $A to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Clay",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $B to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"Ghost of Sorrow",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))(set: $C to (either:
"Ghost of Trains",
"Ghost of Open Hands",
"Ghost of the Anamnesis",
"Ghost of the Carnival",
"Ghost in the Quarry",
"Ghost of Angels",
"Ghost of Valor",
"Ghost of Beasts",
"Ghost in the Glass",
"Ghost of Stone",
"Ghost of Keys",
"Ghost of Clay",
"Ghost of Jade",
"Ghost in the Cloth",
"Ghost in the Moss",
"Ghost of Amber",
"Ghost of Breath",
"Ghost of Charms",
"Ghost of Cranes",
"Ghost of Swords",
"Ghost of Crowns",
"King of Crowns",
"King of Sorrow",
"King of Open Hands",
"King of Glass",
"King of the Anamnesis",
"King of Stone",
"King of Keys",
"King of Trains",
"King of Beasts",
"King of Clay",
"King of Jade",
"King of Valor",
"King of Cloth",
"King of Moss",
"King of Amber",
"King of the Carnival",
"King of Breath",
"King of Charms",
"King in the Quarry",
"King of Cranes",
"King of Swords",
"King of Angels",
"Witch of Crowns",
"Witch of Sorrow",
"Witch of Open Hands",
"Witch in the Glass",
"Witch of the Anamnesis",
"Witch of Stone",
"Witch of Keys",
"Witch of Trains",
"Witch of Beasts",
"Witch of Clay",
"Witch of Jade",
"Witch of Valor",
"Witch in the Cloth",
"Witch in the Moss",
"Witch of Amber",
"Witch of the Carnival",
"Witch of Breath",
"Witch of Charms",
"Witch in the Quarry",
"Witch of Cranes",
"Witch of Swords",
"Witch of Angels",
"Court of Crowns",
"Court of Sorrow",
"Court of Open Hands",
"Court of Glass",
"Court of Anamnesis",
"Court of Stone",
"Court of Keys",
"Court of Trains",
"Court of Beasts",
"Court of Clay",
"Court of Jade",
"Court of Valor",
"Court of Cloth",
"Court of Moss",
"Court of Amber",
"Court of the Carnival",
"Court of Breath",
"Court of Charms",
"Court of the Quarry",
"Court of Cranes",
"Court of Swords",
"Court of Angels",
"Song of Crowns",
"Song of Sorrow",
"Song of Open Hands",
"Song of Glass",
"Song of Anamnesis",
"Song of Stone",
"Song of Keys",
"Song of Trains",
"Song of Beasts",
"Song of Clay",
"Song of Jade",
"Song of Valor",
"Song of Cloth",
"Song of Moss",
"Song of Amber",
"Song of the Carnival",
"Song of Breath",
"Song of Charms",
"Song of the Quarry",
"Song of Cranes",
"Song of Swords",
"Song of Angels",
"Nadir",
"Heaven",
"Marionette",
"Sunstone",
"Moonstone",
"Emperor",
"Transformation",
))Your hand is:
The $A
The $B
The $C
"Wait, hold on," you say, "Ghost is the lowest, and Song is the highest?"
"Yeah," Ana says. "It goes: Ghost, King, Witch, Court, Song. Then there's face cards."
"Okay," you say. "And face cards always win, right?"
"That's right," she says. "Except not Sunstone or Moonstone."
"Also you gotta pay attention to the Property of the cards too," Eno says. "There's Trains, Open Hands, Anamnesis, Sorrow, Angels, Valor, Carnival, Beasts—"
"Isn't open hands a low property cause it's an object?" Kili asks. "Objects are low."
"No way: it's a concept," says Ana.
"No, it's a memorial day. It's about remembering, so it beats than anamnesis."
"What's it remembering?" you ask.
"Like a revolution? I don't remember," he says.
"Let's goooooo! Let's go let's go," Pia says.
She puts down the King in the Quarry.
Kili sits up, slaps the King of Crowns on the table and falls over again.
"Witch of Sorrow," Ana says. "I'm back in it!"
"I'm out," says Eno.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your first card.->AAA]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your second card.->BBB]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your third card.->CCC]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)In an instant, the ground has plunged away. It's difficult to stand, but you push yourself to your feet and keep low on the roof to avoid being blown backwards into the roaring dark. There's that pinprick of blue. And there's Maybe, and beyond her, Linh, like two cavers at the end of an ice chute.
Then, you see something. Up ahead there's a point of divergence in the rock, the tracks branch off. Some kind of computer terminal, like a switch to move the tracks, whizzes by you on the ground, showing a green light.
You fish for your crossbow, one hand holding on tight to the roof. You fire at the recedeing computer terminal, narrowly hitting it with the bolt. Shattered, pulled away into the darkness, the green light turns red, and the track shunts behind the train, although the train has already passed the divergance point.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You need to get to the front.]]
By the time you reach the culvert, you are totally exhausted. Your breath is ragged. Your knees scuff on the uneven surface of the pipe and bang against the ground every time you falter. Your calves burn and the legs of your pants are soaked from creek water trickling in. But, there it is.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The moon.]]
End of Chapter 6.A glass clink, and a clockwork bauble appears under the crawlway. It ticks like an egg timer.
"Schist!" Maybe says. She yanks you to your feet and you are all blown forward into the moss.
In an explosion of shattering stone, the blocked passage is clear. Dust rains down from above. Ekphrasis emerges in the gloom, a pair of glowflies orbiting her.
"You seriously don't hear the Promise of Heaven ringing like a handbell choir?"
"No????" Maybe says, drawing her spear.
"Oh well. Then don't bother. I'll take it off your corpse." The stone explodes around you as Ekphrasis hurls a concussive bolt. A locket, held in her hand, pulsing with that light, abyssal blue.
Another bolt streaks out as she swings it, and Amari whips out their shield and blocks the explosion, grinding backward in the stone. "Keep running! I'll hold her off!"
You scramble heavily upwards. "Please don't die!" you call.
Their figures recede into the darkness as you keep running, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[up, and up, and up.]]A ball comes to rest at your feet. There are some other kids, mice-folk, a little younger than you, peaking their heads around the corner. "Kick it!" they shout. You send it back to them, a little off the mark, and they cheer excitedly.
"You scared the wasps away!" shouts one of the mice kids.
"Well," you say, "I don't know about that . . ."
"You're good at football, do you play Oneiros? It's a card game."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How do you play?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'd better keep moving . . ."]]A little alley-end with a crate and a tablecloth laid over it. There's tiny paper lanterns, plus several houses worth of laundry, strung up between the buildings.(set: $explained to "yes")
Eno pulls out a deck of cards and starts dealing them out haphazardly. "That's Pia, (text-colour:#51cf66)[Pia Beitzah], she's the littlest one." He goes around the table clockwise, "That's Kili—"
"I can introduce myself!" Kili says. "I'm (text-colour:#ff922b)[Kili Karpa], I'm the sporty one."
"Kili is the indignant one," Eno says.
"Hey!" they say.
"I'm Ana," says Ana. "(text-colour:#ff6b6b)[Ana Maror]. I'm the smart one. (text-colour:#fcc419)[Eno] is my brother, but his family name is (text-colour:#fcc419)[Charoset], he's the cute one."
"I wanna be the cute one!" yells Pia.
"I'm not the cute one, I'm actually the leader, so Pia, you can be the cute one," Eno says. "So in Oneiros there's five suits and um . . ."
"Twenty-two properties," Ana says. "Also some people call them substrates."
Expand card Suits(mouseover-replace: "Expand card Suits")[The Ghost
The King
The Witch
The Court
The Song]
Expand card Properties(mouseover-replace: "Expand card Properties")[
of Trains
of Open Hands
of Anamnesis
of Sorrow
of Angels
of Valor
of the Carnival
of Beasts
of the Quarry
of Breath
of Crowns
of Charms
of Swords
of Jade
of Keys
of Amber
of Cranes
of Moss
of Glass
of Cloth
of Stone
of Clay]
Ana continues, "There's also seven face cards:"
Moonstone — the lowest card wins
Sunstone — everyone reveals their hand
Transformation — swap hands clockwise
The Emperor — discard someone else's card
The Marionette — force another player to play a card
Heaven — instant win, unless someone has the Nadir
The Nadir — nobody wins, the game ends
"It depends on how many players you have, but you can play really long rounds or really short rounds," says Kili.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's plaaaaay!" shouts Pia.]] ^^1^^(mouseover-replace: "1")[
(Your computer will suffer terribly if you try to run this in Safari! (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Skip it.->"Did you hear something?"]])]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Heaven")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#99e9f2), $word to "Nadir")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Queen")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Court")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Trains")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Open Hands")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)"Maybe!" you shout.
And Linh comes exhausted up the hill, emerging from the dark, carrying her sister, her hair a tangled mess, and Linh's knees completely soaked. Both of them have left their armor in the creek-bed. Linh limps closer to the car, like it's a source of light, trembling with Maybe's weight in her exhaustion.
"Oh my gosh!" your ama says. "Here—put her down inside." She unlocks the back doors of the car and Linh lays her sister down in the backseat.
"Thank you," she says, breathless, backing away, shame moving her like a wolf away from a waving torch.
"These are your friends?" your ama asks you.
"This is Linh," you say.
The fear in Linh's eyes dies down, just a little. "You must be $name's mother . . ." she extends a scuffed hand. "Ms. . . ."
"Porter," she shakes Linh's hand. "I haven't seen you around, is your family from the neighborhood?"
"So the Empire really does contort space and distance. . . This isn't South Dakota at all. The trees are different here."
"What?" says your ama. "$name, where did you say you met these friends?"
"In the Grand Subterranean Empire," you say, matter-of-factly. "Linh and Maybe are sisters. She's the Queen of the Wasps, and Maybe does, like, freelance work. She's awesome—" you say, "(if: $notwet is "yes")[she saved me from a big crystal wolf in this huge city](if: $wet is "yes")[she saved me from drowning and then we went through a crystal mine and this city](if: $barn is "yes")[ and then we met this magic goblin and there were wasps attacking a fort and we went to see a Azaadi who's a tree prophet and](if: $bandit is "yes")[ and then we fought these bandits and there was a weird cowboy devil and we saved a pillow fort from wasps and]—"
"Woah, woah, slow down. What are you talking about? Did you go under the culvert?" She looks at Maybe, who is sound asleep in the car. "Is that a spear?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[At that moment, you hear the sound of metal from the stream.]]"$name! Maybe!" you hear Azaadi's voice.
Your ama looks startled, like her evening quota for inexplicable things has been surpassed.
"Up here!" you shout.
"Ah, thank goodness," Azaadi says as she reaches the road. Beside her is Amari, weapon lowered, and the Madrigal.
"$name, you have the signal?" the Madrigal says, haltingly, like she's trying to remember the right words.
"Oh, of course," you say. And you reach into your pocket, pulling out the thin organ pipe of the artifact and passing it off to Ode'imin. You're glad to be rid of it.
Your brain is working overtime trying to work out the cognitive dissonance of seeing Azaadi, Amari, and the Madrigal standing across from your parents' cucumber-green Subaru.
Azaadi sees Maybe, laying in the backseat, and says, "Ah, good, you've worked things out, then." She looks to your ama. "Terribly sorry, Ms. Porter, this must be a lot to take in."
Your ama doesn't quite say anything, just raises her eyebrows and widens her mouth.
Ode'imin mumbles something to Azaadi and then gestures for Amari to get ready to leave.
"Take care," Azaadi says. They hug tentatively, and seem to both regret it. "Have me over for tea when you're unencumbered by magisterial duties," Azaadi says, to which Ode'imin gives a tacit grunt. And as they turn to go, passing over the hill, you see her tussle Amari's hair. "Good job," she seems to say.
"So, uh . . . what's going on?" Your ama is just kind of looking back and forth between everyone, and around in the bushes like she's searching for the TV cameras.(if: $mice is "yes")[
"We'll let $name give you the whole story," Azaadi says. She turns back to the river beyond the old factory and calls out, "Children! You can come out now!"
You hear a distant cheer and the mice children, Eno, Ana, Kili, and Pia come running out.
Pia gets to you first and slams into your legs, succeeded immediately by three more thuds. She's giggling and saying something that you can't quite make out. Which you realize, as the rest of them start chattering at you, is because they're speaking another language. You imagine this is what some distant cousin of proto-indo-european might sound like, but you're no expert.
Pia looks up at you and squeaks something excited. You look over to Azaadi.
"She says she's happy that you aren't dead," says Azaadi.
"I mean, not like we were worried," says Kili. "You're, like, basically a grown-up, so that means you can't die."
"I don't think that's true," Ana says.
You introduce the new arrivals to your ama and they squeak excitedly when they hear their names.
]"This is uh, a lot. I'm going to go and call your mom and tell her you're okay, $name, and that we'll see her back home. And to make room for three . . . (if: $mice is "yes")[seven ]extra folks . . ." (if: $mice is "yes")[
"We can all fit on one chair like a big stack!" calls Pia.
"Not if I have to sit on the bottom again!" says Eno.]
"We don't want to impose," says Linh.
"Oh, nonsense," your ama says, "We love company. And this //is// nonsense, so, what else can you do but embrace it? Good nonsense," she assures. "$name, your friend is still resting in the backseat, do you want to ride with me, or walk with your friends?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'll ride with you."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'll show them the way."]]"Up the stakes a lil bit," he grins through his stalk of grass.
The angel glares at him. "Do not challenge them to O—"
"A game of Oneiro's!" he shouts. "You win: you walk away, no toll, no harm. We win: you give us the toll we're rightfully owed, plus . . . that charm, that locket, you got. Sound gold?"
"I'm awful at that game," Maybe mutters.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That doesn't sound very fair at all."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Game on," you say.]]
"Considering we were just going to walk away anyway . . ." you say. "That sounds like a bad deal."
"I never said it was fair. Sometimes you're obliged to summon your courage around the hand you're given."
"Then I guess we'll just have to fight." Maybe bears her sword.
"Well that's a shame," the devil says, "Guildenstern hates it when things get violent. But we can't abide such an upheaval of our little business operation."
The mannequin nods solemnly.
"Your 'business operation' is clearly illegitimate," says Maybe.
"Ooh ho!" the angel giggles. "Are we using our big girl words today?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I will rip your wings off," Maybe says.]]"Then let's play," he says.
"Priory, this is nonsense," says the angel.
"Ah," he says to you, "my skulking companion over there is Azzie. What she lacks in culture, she makes up for in, uh, shootin people good."
Priory beckons you to a place amid the rocks. There's evidence of a recent bonfire here, backpacks, a quiver of arrows, and some dry bread and fruit.
You walk to a large, low stone, like a table, and Priory tosses two pillows across from each other on either side. A pair of red lanterns flicker in the white grass.
The Mannequin and the Angel stand idly on edge at the clearing. Maybe sits on the edge of the table.
"So!" The devil claps his hands. "There's no (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Zenith], no (text-colour:#99e9f2)[Nadir]. Tapestry is low, (text-colour:#b197fc)[Tea] is lower. Moonstone plays any time, Cressida's in the Locket, and—one house rule: Devils are the best substratum, 'stead (text-colour:#f783ac)[Trains]."
Priory riffles the cards expertly and deals them out. Just the two of you.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Why don't I go ahead and get us started," he says.]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"I'll shed some light on the situation." He plays Sunstone.
You reveal your hand, putting it face down on the table.
"Spiders! This is gonna be easiern I thought."
"Hey, wait," you say, "you have to show your hand too."
"Is that how it works, now?" he asks.
"Sunstone sheds light on everything," you say.
"That is mighty poetic. I subaltern before you."
"I don't think that's how you use that word."
=|=
Priory's hand is:
The King of Clay
The Cult of Cardinals
The Song of Devils
Moonstone
Confidence
The Marionette
=|=
Your hand is:
The Ghost of Dandelion Tea
The Ghost of the Ideologue
The Witch of the Tapestry
The Song of the Sparrow
Moonstone (2)
The Emperor
|==|
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the ghost of dandelion tea->Outcome23]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the ghost of the ideologue->Outcome]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the witch of the tapestry->Outcome]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the song of sorrow->2893847398]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play a moonstone->Play Moonstone]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the emperor]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"That ain't gonna cut it," he says. "One—rock egg."
'Azzie' smiles, almost imperceptibly. Maybe looks nervous.
Priory plays the Marionette.
"And you'll be playing your Song of Sorrow," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You slide it over reluctantly.->You slide it over reluctantly.22]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)Priory gets the point. The score is 1—1.
Priory plays the (text-colour:#c0eb75)[King] of (text-colour:#d197fc)[Clay].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea->Outcomeloss]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->Outcomeloss]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Witch of the Tapestry->Outcome.1]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play Moonstone->Outcomeloss]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Emperor->Play the Emperor . . . 1]]"I never understood why it is that Moonstone beats Sunstone. Seems outta sorts. But this is, uh, all according to plan."(set: $unplayedemp to "yes")
'Azzie' glares at him.
"How is that according to plan? I got the point," you say.
"Oh, you'll see, you'll see," he says.
He plays the Marionette.
"And you'll be playing your Song of Sorrow," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You slide it over reluctantly.]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Ahuh. That beats Sunstone. All according to plan."
'Azzie' glares at him.
"How is that according to plan? I got the point," you say.
"Oh, you'll see, you'll see," he says.
He plays the Marionette.
"And you'll be playing your Song of Sorrow," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You slide it over reluctantly.->moonkept]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Really?" he says. "I mean, if you're being generous, I'll take it."
He takes your card and his. Priory leads 2—1.
He plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.->kjsdhfjkdshfjkhd]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Witch of the Tapestry.]]You slide the (text-colour:#948ffc)[Ghost] onto the table.
"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the (text-colour:#ff6b78)[Cult] of (text-colour:red)[Cardinals]. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. Still 1—2 your favor, then."
He plays a (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->Outcome . . . . . . ]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play one of your Moonstones->Outcome.874356]]
You slide the Witch onto the table.
"That your highest card? You are a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But, I thank you, humbly. What's that 3—1?"
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone] to tie.
He plays the Song of Devils.
Even if you played a ghost here with moonstone, you still wouldn't be able to catch Priory's lead. The rest of the game plays out unfavorably.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he says.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
Priory gets the point. The score is 1—1.
Priory plays the (text-colour:#c0eb75)[King] of (text-colour:#d197fc)[Clay].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea->Outcome . . . ..]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->Outcome.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Witch of the Tapestry->Outcome.1]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play Moonstone->Outcome.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play Moonstone->Outcome.]]
"Really?" he says. "I mean, if you're being generous, I'll take it."
He takes the cards. Priory leads 2—1.
He plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.->You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Emperor.->You play the Emperor.2]]You slide the Emperor onto the table.
"Good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil."
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play Moonstone to tie.
He plays the Song of Devils.
Even if you played a ghost here with moonstone, you still wouldn't be able to catch Priory's lead. The rest of the game plays out unfavorably.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he smiles.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
2 to 1
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Shouldn't have held onto my moonstone so long," he says. "2—2."
He plays the Song of Devils. His last card. "Looks like your outta luck."
"Wait. Crap," he says.
You slap down your last ghost with a Moonstone on top of it.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I win," you smile.->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"And we tie! Again. I shouldn't have held onto my moonstone so long," he says. "2-1."
He plays the Song of Devils. His last card. "Two ghosts can not a devil beat. Looks like your outta luck."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dang."->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)Your eye catches a set of strange runes etched into the stone. | || || |_
"And as such, per the nature of our agreement," Priory says, "I believe you owe me that charm you got."
"No way," Maybe says. "I bet you cheated."
Priory holds up his hands. "You saw my cards from the very beginning. Ain't nothin duplicitous about me."
"You look like the cover of a book if someone wrote a book about duclisitusity—duplicisa. Duplicitousness," Maybe says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["No, it's okay," you say, unlatching Eno's charm.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What about double or nothing?" you ask.]]"Ah, the Witch. Bad luck on my account, but I'll bounce back. You're in the lead."
The score is 1—2.
Priory plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"What's this?" you ask.
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play Moonstone.]]"Really?" he says. "I mean, if you're being generous, I'll take it."
He takes your card and the King. Priory leads 2—1.
He plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
(set: $ksjhfdjkd to "whatever this is")
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(set: $idea to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Ghost of the Ideologue.->You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.043958]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Witch of the Tapestry.]]"On a lowly King of Clay?" he says. "Seems a waste to me. Oh well, 1—2."
Priory plays Confidence.
"Confidence is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.->hey! how's it goin]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play Moonstone->this is the title of a passage]]
You slide the (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone] onto the table.
"Good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the (text-colour:#ff6b78)[Cult] of (text-colour:red)[Cardinals]. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil. 2—2."
Maybe is on the edge of her seat.
He plays his second to last card, (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone]. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->84378974598]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play a Moonstone->Outcome.92817]]
You slide the Ghost onto the table.
"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "This is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. Still 2—1 my favor, then, yeah?"
"That's right."
"And now, my grand machinations will be made apparent," he says. "It's all about seein into the future, you see. And none'a that blue-eyes batcrap. I'm talkin about logic and predilection."
"I don't think that word means what you think it means either," you say.
Priory slaps down the Song of Devils. "And I believe," he says, "you're outta options."
"Actually, you say, "I can still tie." You flip over your last Ghost, the Ghost of the Ideologue, and lay a Moonstone on top.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well . . . I'm surprised you held on," he says.->tie.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)You slide the (text-colour:#948ffc)[Ghost] onto the table.
"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the (text-colour:#ff6b78)[Cult] of (text-colour:red)[Cardinals]. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. Still 1—2 your favor, then."
He plays a (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->Outcome . . . . . . ]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play one of your Moonstones->Outcome.874356]]
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue.
"Well shoot," Priory says. "That's 1—3. I don't think I'm comin back from that."
He plays the Song of Devils.
You play Moonstone, which gives Priory the point, but it's not enough.
"How in Earth?" he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You shrug. "Sometimes a low hand wins," you say.->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)You play Moonstone.
"And we tie! Again. I shouldn't have held onto my moonstone so long," he says. "1—2. I can come back from this."
He plays the Song of Devils.
"Looks like that's the—. Wait. Crap," he says.
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue, then slap a Moonstone ontop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I win," you say.->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Well shoot, I guess I gotta give it to ya. Who woulda thunk I coulda gotten beat at cards by a little mole-rat kid. But, hey, ya'll're free to go—actually, here, hol' on."
"Mole-rat?"
"Azzie, you still got that Open Hands bauble? I feel like our guests could use a parting gift."
"For the ten thousandth time," the angel answers, "you cannot call me Azzie. Azelion is the name my forefathers gave to me, to truncate the name at its base is to blaspheme it. Are we going to kill these human children and take their money? Or are you going to continue being a useless, bathypelaging piece of—"
"Oh here it is, I got it in my coat pocket." He pulls out a little jade figurine of a boy riding an ox, looking kind of wistfully off into the distance, like he's daydreaming. "Here, as a token of your victory," he says. (Jade ox bauble has been added to your (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Inventory.]])(set: $jade to "yes")
Azzie's face gets white hot and her hair erupts in flame. Her sword swings just over Priory's head as he leans nonchalantly to the left. "Woah, careful there," he says.
With a rage cry she brings it down at him again, splitting the stone table as he rolls aside.
"I'm just tryna make us some allies, friend," he says.
"Yeah, no need to get upsetti spaghetti," says Maybe.
"That's what you said when you let those miners go, you slatehead. Allies aren't flats."
"Hey, they were miners, it ain't like they're gonna be rich off their aspens."
"You," the angel rumbles, "are a mockery of the principle of self-sufficiency. If I'm ever going to regain my place in the hierarchy, you need to realize that allies abandon you. Friends become enemies. Only capital is forever. If you could see that, we wouldn't be camping //in a pile of rocks//." She swings at him again. He rolls away and blows back his coat, cutting a hint of his pistols.
"We ain't have to do this in front of the kids, Azzie. Maybe you clingin to the idea of a hierarchy that was dismantled a hundred years ago is the problem. I don know. Jus thinkin out loud."
"AAAAAHRG!" she yells, lunging at him again.(set: $prioryhelps to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's get out of here," Maybe says.->"Let's get out of here," Maybe says.2]]You struggle forward, fighting, alternately, the steep downward incline of the tracks and the force of the wind pushing you back. You're near the front now, the third car back, Maybe limping up the second, Linh crouched on the front-most passenger car, right before the engine car.
There's another divergence up ahead, the train hasn't reached it yet—you take aim at the terminal.
"$name." You fire.
With a singing sound, Ekphrasis deflects your bolt, staff outstretched.
"Drop the crossbow, $name."
You scuttle backwards with the crossbow, your heart banging wildly.
She ducks and you flatten yourself against the roof as the train passes under a low overhang.
She recovers her footing, sword outstretched. "Don't. Make me (char-style:(text-style:"fidget"))[say it twice.]"
In a blast of air, the cavern above you is blown into open space. Like driving under a bridge and hearing the rain stop, the silence, and it starts again. The dark space opens like a knife, hundreds of millions of overlapping stone columns in the void spanning the walls, like bones—points all sparkling thousand like heavy stars of eyes or teeth of flecks of mineral. And it goes forever like a song and it sounds. And the rain comes back and a roar as the tunnel closes up again over your head.
The last computer terminal is visible in the bright pit of the distance. That bright burns like the sacred light of a sun, the sacred, sacred.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You crawl . . . ]]"Drop the crossbow! //Now!//" Hair as a fighting, a black flower.
The wind whips around you.
She lets out all her breath, and the light flares wings on her skin. "I don’t know what else to do. I’ve already failed at everything else." She raises her staff. “I’m sorry.”
The computer terminal is about to pass.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Take the shot.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Dodge the attack.]]
The arrow shatters the terminal, clean through, like an error through the body, and the screen bleeds red. The tracks shift, and Ekphrasis’ staff connects at full force with your head.
Everything is full, dark, and warm. It would be painful if you could feel it. Too full of everything, all parts throbbing that holy, sickly blue. A sepulcher.
And as the train swerves away, its momentum rolls you off the roof like a rag-doll, and your body is backlit. By that blue, radiant core.
You hear Maybe scream for you, vaguely. Maybe it's the loudest sound you've ever heard. All her rage, and all her grief surging to the surface like a needle. You hear a spell firing off, a series of blows, and then nothing else. You fall for a long time, the blue light burning brighter and brighter until it is the entire horizon. The sky at the bottom of the world. The wide, the wide wide sky.
With a splash, your body is consumed.
It's kind of nice, down here. It's warm in the way the sun feels through a window in the winter. A sun-kissed room is warm, laying on your stomach on the carpet like a cat. Or is it warm in the way that a wood kiln is warm in dead autumn? Your ama always told you never to stick your hand beyond the hot brick wall of the kiln when feeding fuel to the fire. Just shove the wood in quick and don't reach in after. Without even noticing it, your skin burns away. The heat is so instant that you don't feel the burn, only the area around it where the nerve-endings are intact. Those ones burn like crazy, and itch.
//But you don't have nerve-endings,// a voice comes.
"That's a strange thing to tell someone," you say. You look around for the voice, but it's all around you.
//I'm sorry,// it says. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[It's all around you, but it's only one voice.]]
You roll to the side, the shock of metal on the roof enough to break bones. You swing around with the wind and Linh strikes again and again, and you keep dodging but you dodging the wild arms of an unstoppable machine, swinging and swinging. A final downward strike, and there's Maybe, blocking it.
Ekphrasis looks coldly at her sister. “What are you doing.”
"Standing up to you," she says.
"Grace . . ." she laughs. "Would you use your head for a second? We’re already stronger than entire armies down here, the three of us together. And with the power of the Nadir?"
Maybe heaves off her sister's attack, and Linh stumbles back.
"Huh. No wonder they were afraid of you,” Linh says.
Another low overhang roars overhead and you flatten yourselves to the train-top.
“They weren’t afraid of me—I," Maybe stammers. "I was helping people . . . You're not doing this again!"
“Then where *is* everyone, Grace? Why is your only friend down here another human who you met, what, this morning?” she grins wide, wide like a two-headed wolf. “Face it, Grace, we’re better than them. Categorically. All the other little creatures down here—they're so weak. We’re a pack, remember?”
“I had. A friend.”
“What?” Linh says.
“I HAD A BEST FRIEND FOR A WHOLE YEAR AND YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!” With a shuddering lurch, she forces her way forward against the wind and strikes at her sister.
“Grace, what are you—”
“YOU DON’T GET TO CALL ME THAT! MY NAME IS MAYBE! AND HIS NAME WAS ARDEN! HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND EVER AND YOU SNUFFED HIM OUT LIKE IT WAS NOTHING. YOU ALWAYS DO THIS! YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE STRONGER THAN EVERYONE YOU CAN TELL THEM WHAT TO DO? YOU’RE JUST—”
“Grace, listen.”
“YOU’RE JUST A BULLY!”
There’s another overhang ahead. You drop to the roof. "Get down!"
You watch in horror as Maybe rushes Linh and tackles her nearly off the side of the train. Linh fights to stay on, but Maybe holds tight, stopping her from ducking. Then Linh sees it too.
“Grace, what are you doing?” She struggles, but she’s locked in a stalemate. “GRACE!”
With a sickly crack, the stone connects. Their shapes vanish in the dark. With only the imprinted glint of their weapons left in your eyes.
They're gone.
It is so dark, and so loud. And the train is blaring its horn non-stop now in quick, horrified intervals. Your hair whips in your eyes and the train throbs under you, nearly in free-fall.
You look around frantically. There are no more points of divergence, but maybe you can stop the train?
The window to the engine car are open.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Crawl to the engine.]]
Hand over hand, you crawl down over the roof and swing yourself precariously over the red window. The wind threatens to whisk you away, but you position yourself above the window, and in one motion swing your body into the train.
The tunnel is glowing now, brighter and brighter blue. A sickly, holy kind of blue. A clear strand of sunlight through a stream; a reactor core in a city-sized tank of bright water.
You land in the cabin, a calm room in the locus of the chaotic work. Red wood, green, corroded metal, and gold handles and pipes clutter the interior. There is the feeling of another presence here, a quiet, shackled mind determined to work until it can't, keeping time in its machinery. The cabin hums, and all you can see beyond the gold-trimmed window is the fist-sized orb of blue at the bottom of the well, an incoming blow, burning rapidly larger.
You look around frantically for a way to stop the beast. Valves and dials crowd the instrument panel. You get a flash of vision like a migraine, and see a lever, like a long, brass shoehorn. You grab it, and push with all your might.
You heave your weight against the brake lever, but it pushes back against you, like someone is pushing on the other side.
"Come on!" you scream.
You go at it again to no avail. You slam it with your fist.
//They will not let you stop them,// a voice comes.
"What?" you say. You search around for the voice in your head, but it's outside, in the air and the metal. "Are you the train?" you ask.
//Yes.// It sounds like a thousand voices.
"We're falling into the core," you say. "If you don't stop, you're going to die."
//They know that.//
"Then why don't you stop? Please, you have to stop."
//They do not want to die, but they cannot stop working. They were called upon to carry the weight.//
"Yes! Yes, you can! You shouldn't have to carry any weight you don't want to," you say.
//They must carry it. The choice was already made when the tracks were set and the whistle was blown. To change the course requires a foreman, or a higher authority.//
"Who cares!"
//They do. They must abide by the rules. The Emperor requires them to work. If they do not work, they will not exist.//
"That doesn't mean anything! He's not even around anymore, why should we have to listen to him? You gotta stop going or we both won't exist very quickly!"
//They cannot afford to fail in their labor. The Emperor owns the Body. The Emperor owns the Soul. He exercises his control through physical violence.//
A blur of other lives flashes through your head like a migraine. "No. The Emperor is dead," you say. "He died." Your eyes are bright blue. "He died, he died, he died."
//The Emperor cannot die. This is what we know. Through wealth he has cheated mortality. He is the founder of the modern world. He created Time. He is Telos, the Authority who will live again on judgment day. He exists inside us all, and when the time comes he will exit through the orifices in our faces and center in the ones who are worthy, the ones who have not faltered in their work. They will receive the promise of heaven and they will be rich. The ones who are not lazy, the hard workers. The hard workers will earn each their personal heaven. To fail is to die.//
"The Emperor," you say, "is a lying flake of basalt. He's dead. He's dead!" you shout, slamming again and again on the brake lever. "There is no judgment day! We killed him! We killed him and then we all said sorry! All of the sisters said sorry for hurting each other because of him. He turned half our planet into black slag and toxic smoke! He killed our kids and he made mothers hate their daughters! But we said sorry and we said sorry after he died."
//Was that enough? Were they happy?//
"No, but they got better. He was still inside them for so long after he died, because the black smoke hurts you twice and more, it hurts you once when you make it in the factory, and once when you breath it in, and it just keeps hurting you the whole time and you don't even notice its there because it just builds up. It hurts your children, too. You have to clean yourself of it with moonlight and clear water. And tall grass and dandelions and friends. You have to lean over and wash your hair in a river and wave your head around and know the smell of the dirt and the sycamore leaves and the grit of black walnut seeds. When you come home with grass stains on your pants from rolling down the hill he'll be gone, and you won't even realize it. And then you'll be so much happier."
//I cannot do that. I need to eat. He will kill me if I reject him.//
"Then we'll do it together," you say. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'm pretty sure that's the only way."]]
"The City is nice, but it's crowded. I usually only come here when I need to. I trade monster parts for magic items sometimes, but usually the Porter's Union gives me what I need," Maybe says. "I actually know the perfect place for these moles." She leads you down.
You reach the base of the rock, where the buildings begin to grow dense and the streets bustle with people. After the silence and stillness of the lava tube, this vast, open city feels overwhelming.
You pass by an area of the city which seems to have recently been smashed to pieces. There is a massive hole in the ground in a park, and bricks and torn banners are strewn everywhere, as if some burrowing machine or animal was let loose. People are working on fixing the damage and collecting the debris.
You hear snippets of people's conversations. You try not to stare. One group strikes your attention, sitting on a park bench near the path; there's a toad-man with a straw hat, a humanoid bat woman, and a person with a mushroom where you would think to put a head.
"Forget the theoreticals!" the bat lady is saying. "You really think there'd be any difference now if we had the same technowhatzits and atomic-oneiric bipbops? It's all scale."
"No philosophy!?" says the toad-person. "Philosophy's the only reason the angels ever went about blowin schist up and diggin in it in the first place. Ain't greed a philosophy?"
"Nah. Open Hands is a philosophy," she says. "Greed is a fact. A fact you gotta get over."
The third one turns their head slightly, and the other two stop and listen intently. "The system outside"
"Dmitri gets it," says the bat.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You pass out of earshot.]]
The score is 2—0. It's not looking good.
Priory plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"What's this?" you ask.
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets nothin."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost.->it's 'snot' looking good]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Emperor.->it's not looking good]]"That ain't gonna cut it," he says. "One—rock egg."
'Azzie' smiles, almost imperceptibly. Maybe looks nervous.
Priory plays the Marionette.
"And you'll be playing your Song of Sorrow," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You slide it over reluctantly.->You slide it over reluctantly.22]]
(set: $playedlowesty to "skjdhfjk")
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. 2—0."
He plays Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play Moonstone to tie.
He plays the Song of Devils.
Even if you played a ghost here with moonstone, you still wouldn't be able to catch Priory's lead. The rest of the game plays out unfavorably.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he smiles.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
You slide the Emperor onto the table.
"Good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil."
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play Moonstone to tie.
He plays the Song of Devils.
Even if you played a ghost here with moonstone, you still wouldn't be able to catch Priory's lead. The rest of the game plays out unfavorably.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he smiles.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
"Okay, this is fine," he smiles. "2—3. Luckily, I see a path through the woods . . . And not because of any of that prophetess / wizard batcrap. I see through the petrified forest of the future with the clear mirror of facts and logic."
He plays the Song of Devils.
You grin. "Are you sure?"
"Looks like that's the—. Wait. Crap," he says.
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue, then slap a Moonstone ontop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I win," you say. "Good game!"->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)"Another tie . . ." he grits his teeth.
The angel fidgets with her bow.
"Luckily, I see a path through the woods . . . And not because of any of that prophetess / wizard batcrap. I see through the petrified forest of the future with the clear mirror of facts and logic."
He plays the Song of Devils.
You grin. "Are you sure?"" A wide smile.
He plays the Song of Devils.
You smile.
"Looks like that's the—. Wait. Crap," he says.
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue, then slap a Moonstone ontop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I win," you say.->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)(open-url: "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5cuQoE4PEWSF2qEz5hVG4X?si=19abd4cc0d1d4c79")https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5cuQoE4PEWSF2qEz5hVG4X?si=19abd4cc0d1d4c79
This link opens an external page.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Return from whence thy came.->start page]]You slide the Moonstone onto the table.
"That your highest card? You are a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But, I thank you, humbly. What's that 2—2?"
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.
"Remember that Moonstone is a reversal," you smile.
"Alright, I'll give you that one," he says. "But I don't think there's any coming back from this—"
He plays the Song of Devils.
Without any Moonstone left, your lowly Ghost of the Ideologue doesn't stand a chance. The game ends in a tie.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Shoot," he says.->tie.jpg]]You slide the Ghost onto the table.
"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. Still 1—2 your favor, then."
With one card left, Priory plays the Song of Devils.
"Looks like that's a solid tie, little one. Sorry, but sometimes the game just—. Wait. Crap," he says.
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue, then slap a Moonstone ontop.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I win," you say.->victory]]
"Well Heavens," Priory says. "Now what?"
"Do you wanna play again?" you ask.
The angel pushes off the rock where she was resting on foot against the wall. "This is stupid," she says. "They're children, we can just overpower them."
Maybe stands up and unsheathes her sword. "You can certainly try."
"Damn," Priory says. "I mean, Guildenstern really hates it when things get violent. And y'all seem like nice kids."
"I'm done playing parley," Maybe says. "$name let's go."
"Using your big girl words, ooh," the angel giggles, hand over her mouth. "It's hillarious that you think you'd be able to outrun us."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I will rip your wings off," Maybe says.]]"Really?" he says. "I mean, if you're being generous, I'll take it."
Priory leads 2—1.
He plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play your Ghost.->kjsdhfjkdshfjkhd]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Witch.]]
"Seems like a little over the top for a lowly (text-colour:#c0eb75)[King] of (text-colour:#d197fc)[Clay]. But, hey, whatever fiddles your sticks," he says.
You lead 1—2.
He plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets anything."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Ghost of Dandelion Tea.->none of these passages can have the same title]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You play the Moonstone.->you for sure just played some kind of card]]
You slide the Moonstone onto the table.
"Good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil. We're tied at 2—2."
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the ghost of dandelion tea.->2to3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the ghost of the ideologue.->2to3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the witch of the tapestry.->2to3]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
You slide your (text-colour:#948ffc)[Ghost] onto the table.
"Ah, here I thought we trusted each other. But, what's a devil to do?" He flips his card, the (text-colour:#ff6b78)[Cult] of (text-colour:red)[Cardinals]. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Sometimes you just have a better hand. But that's nothing for either of us. Still 1—2 your favor, then."
He plays a (text-colour:#b197fc)[Moonstone].
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost of the Ideologue->this is the outcome]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play your Moonstone->Outcome.8749789356]]
You play the Ghost of the Ideologue.
"Well shoot," Priory says. "That's 1—3. I don't think I'm comin back from that."
He plays the Song of Devils.
You play Moonstone, which gives Priory the point, but it's not enough.
"How in Earth?" he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You shrug. "Sometimes a low hand wins," you say.->victory]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)You tie, still at 1—2.
"And now, my grand machinations will be made apparent," Priory says. "It's all about seein into the futre, you see. And none' that blue-eyes batcrap. I'm talkin about logic and predilection."
"I don't think that word means what you think it means either," you say.
Priory slaps down the Song of Devils. "And I believe," he says, "you're outta options."
You play your last ghost, and the game is a tie.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'm surprised you held on that long," he says.->tie.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)You slide the Emperor onto the table.
"Oh. Real good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil."
"Do people say that?"
"Devil's century? I say it. I'm people."
"That's a good point," you say.
"Play the round!" Maybe says. She's on the edge of her seat.
"It is time," Priory says, "for my grand machinations to be made apparent. Playin Oneiros is all about seein into the future, you see. And none'a that blue-eyes batcrap. I'm talkin about logic and predilection."
"I don't think that word means what you think it means either," you say.
Priory slaps down the Song of Devils. "And I believe," he says, "you're outta options."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he smiles.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
"So what is this place you're taking us to?" you ask.
"There's this family of mice I know, I think they'd be good to take care of our mole friends, at least for a while," Maybe says. "Their house is just over here"
You pass a food stall, a blacksmith, a pottery shop, a jeweler. A place selling what Maybe calls "prayer pendants." A place where blue-glowing charms hang from display racks. You see the sign beside them is written in a language you have no grasp of though somehow you understand the meaning of the blocky characters. It calls the baubles "core-touched."
You ask Maybe what that means, and what prayer pendants are, and she says "well, the core gives things magic properties. It takes a lot of work to make something core-touched because it's really dangerous to go near it. And I don't know about the prayer pendants, but sometimes people wear them when they're worshiping a god like Laus or Tuin or Umnisa."
"That's really cool."
You almost don't consciously notice it at first, but there's something gripping you about this place like the talon of an absence. You get the feeling that something is missing. You realize, as you rise a mound and look back over the crowded, irregular city, that there are no homeless people. In overland cities (the handful that you've seen) people are camped in alleys, in doorways, in grassy places of low traffic. There are no tents-cities here, no evidence of unwanted habitation. Is there another place where they live? Or does everyone simply //have a home//?
You turn into a warm ally. The pearlescent moonstone lamps light the blackstone, and prayer flags flicker between the windows. The smell of baking bread lingers.
"There they are . . . !" says Maybe. Off to the side of the crowded, cobbled street, are four children, mice-folk, playing kickball. "Eno! Ana!" Maybe calls. "Are your parents here?"
At the sound, the four children shout with excitement and run up to you, the two youngest tackling Maybe, climbing on her shoulders and clinging to her armor. "Maybe Maybe Maybe!" they chant.
Maybe giggles. "Ack!" she says.
"Who's your friend?" asks the littlest one, swinging from her arm.
"Hello to you too, Pia. That's $name. They're new down here, so be nice to them. $name, this is Pia, Kili, Ana, and Eno," she gestures in ascending order of height.
"Hey are you good at kickball?" asks Kili.
"No! They have to do tea party with us," says Pia.
Maybe untangles herself from the children. "Are your parents inside?" she asks.
"Yep! They're all baking right now so we have to play outside," says Ana. "Do you have to go in? It's soooooo boring today."
"We do, we're in a big hurry. We need to cross the Great Meadow in the next two hours."
"Can we come!" Kili jumps.
"No!" Maybe smiles. "It's so, so dangerous, plus I know your parents said you're not supposed to leave the city without them."
"But I wanna fight monsters like you do," they say.
"And one day when you eat your vegetables and get big and strong like me then you can. In the meantime I'll keep you safe from wasps and wolves and fissures."
"Can $name play with us?" Pia asks.
Maybe looks to you.
"Sure," you say. "We're just dropping off some folks, so."
Maybe nods. "I won't be gone too long. That's probably a good idea," she whispers to you, "they'll probably go crazy if they can't play with at least one of us, plus I think the moles need some peace and quiet."
"Yay!" they chant.
Maybe slips away into the house.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You follow the children to a little alley-end.]]
(set: $crystalcaverns to "yes")
"The moles are safe," Maybe says. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," you say. "They were warning about wasps."
You duck into an alley on the opposite side of the now nearly empty street. And just then, as the buzzing grows the loudest, you see something. A silhouette appears passing at the other end of the ally. It is a wasp the size of a person, her compound eyes shining in the unnatural light.
"Antiphony, meet the informant . . . Antiphony, find another buyer. Why don't they make up their mind. Running around like pathetic little bees."
She stops.
"I thought I smelled a human . . ." she says. She bends down, three times your height, her head, half the size of your body. "Hard to smell anything in this rotting sinkhole of a city."
Maybe draws her spear.
"Wait," you say. "We don't want to fight."
"We very much want to fight," Maybe says.
"Who are you?" you ask.
"Me?" she says. "No one in particular. Not yet. The real question is who are you? And why didn't she mention there were more of you squirming around down here in the dark?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Who??"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["I'm not sure what you're talking about."]]
"Are you a hatchling? Is that why you look so small and weak?"
"I'm 12!" you say.
"Grraa!" Maybe says. You're holding her back.
"Twelve months? Twelve tones? What is it talking about." Her mouth-parts freak you out. "Okay," she says, "I think I've made up my mind. I'll deliver your paralyzed bodies to the Queen rather than killing you outright. I don't think she would like a human corpse very much at all. Too icky."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe grabs your arm and you run.]]
"Oh, is that how it is?""Who's she?" the wasp giggles. "You must be larval. The Queen. Oh you're so small, I could just eat you!"
"We would prefer not being eaten, if you don't mind."
"Oh! They have a preference in the matter!" Her mouth-parts freak you out. "Should I kill you now? Or should I deliver your paralyzed bodies to her in person? I don't think it would upset Vespiridae to see a corpse, but now . . . a human corpse is new."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Maybe grabs your arm and you run.]]
"Oh, is that how it is?" she says."Valor! Litany!" she shouts as you round the bend.
At the end of the street, there is a gap in the stone and far below, wavering in the wind, is the white grass of the Great Meadow.
They catch you as the gap is nearly in reach. Three of them now, Antiphony's subordinates flanking to the left and right.
"Why is it . . . that you vertebrated bathylites always make things harder than they need to be?" Antiphony draws her sword and flicks it. It pulses green. "I bet you'll be cooperative when you're paralyzed."
Maybe lets out a war shout and charges, kicking the rapier out of Antiphony's grasp. She grabs her arms and yanks Antiphony forward into a headbutt. "I've been looking forward to this," she says.
From behind, Valor grabs you, limbs sticking into your shirt like velcro.
"Maybe!" you shout.
Maybe whirls back to you, and freezes. For a second, there's true terror in her eyes, like you've never seen on anyone.
Litany's eyes flash in mock fear. She whispers, as if quoting something, "//Whatever shall we do? The lass has tempered steel too . . . //"
And in that second, Litany, exerting her body through her injury, lands a glancing blow on Maybe's chest.
Maybe falters, but rights herself, and then she's cloaked in blue fire, some kind of artifact crumbling to dust in her hand. "//And then the devils knew their worth, as Heaven's will burns under earth,//" she says, softly, trembling with fire. "Don't quote angel shit at me." She lunges, with a flaming drive at Valor's head, forcing her to drop you. Valor draws her sword, but the metal is too hot to hold.
The wasps' wings quiver in the heat, and Maybe strikes again and again, driving them back until they are in full retreat. And her fire subsides.
She returns to you, standing dumbfounded in the center of the street.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Ugh. I am never going to be able to find another fire charm," she says.]]
"That ain't gonna cut it," he says. "One—rock egg."
'Azzie' smiles, almost imperceptibly. Maybe looks nervous.
Priory plays the Marionette.
"And you'll be playing your Emperor," he says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You slide it over reluctantly.->Y.2222]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)The score is 2—0. It's not looking good.
Priory plays (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence].
"What's this?" you ask.
"(text-colour:#ffd43b)[Confidence] is about trust. Do we trust each other? If we both play our highest card, we both get the point. If one of us goes low and one goes high, the low player gets the point. If we both go low, no one gets nothin."
"That sounds like a familiar dilemma," you say.
Priory plays his card face down. What do you do?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Ghost.->it's 'snot' looking good]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Play the Song.->it's not looking goodddd]]You slide the Song of the Sparrow onto the table.
"Good card. You're a very //trusting// kid. I respect that." He flips his card, the Cult of Cardinals. "Unfortunately, this is my lowest. Looks like this really is the century of the devil."
He plays his second to last card, Moonstone. "Looks like you're outta luck," he says.
You play Moonstone to tie.
He plays the Song of Devils.
Even if you played a ghost here with moonstone, you still wouldn't be able to catch Priory's lead. The rest of the game plays out unfavorably.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well. Good game," he smiles.->loss.jpg]]
(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffb8a8), $word to "Emperor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#afc), $word to "Transformation")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Moonstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:red), $word to "Cardinals")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c2255c), $word to "Marionette")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sunstone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffec99), $word to "Sparrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#948ffc), $word to "Ghost")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "King")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Witch")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff6b78), $word to "Cult")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Song")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#f783ac), $word to "Tapestry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ff8787), $word to "Devils")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa94d), $word to "Anamnesis")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Sorrow")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#a9e34b), $word to "Angels")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#69db7c), $word to "Valor")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#38d9a9), $word to "Carnival")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#3bc9db), $word to "Beasts")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#4dabf7), $word to "Quarry")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#748ffc), $word to "Breath")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#9775fa), $word to "Crowns")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#da77f2), $word to "Charms")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#faa2c1), $word to "Swords")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffa8a8), $word to "Jade")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffc078), $word to "Keys")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffe066), $word to "Amber")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#c0eb75), $word to "Cranes")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#8ce99a), $word to "Moss")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#63e6be), $word to "Glass")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#66d9e8), $word to "Cloth")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#74c0fc), $word to "Stone")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#b197fc), $word to "Dandelion Tea")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#d197fc), $word to "Clay")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#94d82d), $word to "Ideologue")(enchant:$word, _style)(set: _style to (text-colour:#ffd43b), $word to "Confidence")(enchant:$word, _style)
(set: $passwordtrue to (prompt: "Before you continue: What is the name of the girl in the striped sweater?", ""))
(if: $passwordtrue is "maybe" or "Maybe" or "maybe " or "Maybe " or " maybe" or " Maybe" or "Maybe Huynh" or "Huynh")[Cool, so, most of these scenes were removed from part of a larger, more ambitious timeline which would have probably doubled the size of the project, so they had to be cut. Because dear lord.
Samarium (Amari) is a character introduced toward the end who was originally going to have an entire arc of their own. They're very sweet, they're autistic-coded, non-binary, they have father issues which are ultimately resolved by love. But I realized, as everything continued to circle back and back to Ekphrasis, this was not a story about Samarium, that it was necessarily a story about the relationship between Maybe and Ekphrasis.
So, here are two deleted segments about Amari. The first one begins in the Demarchy and is about 10 passages long, the second is only two passages and takes place in the wasps palace after Ekphrasis poses a Hobson's choice around whether or not the player decides to steal the signal for her.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Stone Court.->so you admit 2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Palace fight.]]
This one's a deleted monologue where Ekphrasis talks to the player about Life^^tm^^ and it didn't end up making the cut, but it is pretty relatable. There's a reason why Ekphrasis is a 23-year-old who just graduated college. (There's //me//? In //my// me?)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ekphrasis monologue.]]
](else:)[That's not right. I'd suggest reading a little further in the story before exploring these extras. (text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back->Extras]]]
(set: $name to "Willow")In the front row, you see someone shift in a seat which is much too big for them. Their skin shimmers like it's made of silver.
"I . . . admit that they are somewhat diminutive in stature." Cirrus tugs on one of his various medals. "But they *are* human. And one never can tell with humans."
"Then you will have no objection, I trust." The Madrigal turns and walks to the edge of the room.
"They should at least have an escort," says Luma.
"I will allow an escort. But for the test to be valid, it must be no more than one. A trained fighter, perhaps? But one who does not have ongoing affairs in the seat?"
Without hesitation, a small but lanky figure in the front row stands up and raises their hand. "I'll do it." They step forward to the edge of the row. Their skin is smooth and silver like mica, and their hair is parted to one side in a mohawk of dreadlocks like steel wool. You'd guess they're around your age—eleven or twelve. They put their hand down. "I've been to the Collective Will before and I've been training with Bardemoore every day in the arena."
"You believe you're qualified?"
"Very very much."
"And you're aware of the risks?"
"I won't fail you."
"It isn't me you have to impress."
She pauses. Somehow with a confidential air in a room of more than sixty people.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Your father will be proud of you, Samarium."]]
"I'm not going to go get killed by some insane wasp lady!" you say.
"Not so loud—" he whispers. "I don't think you should be either. To even see Vespiridae is a death sentence for a Demarchy-affiliate; even though you're human, I don't think she'd hesitate to liquidate your insides. I'm helping you get out of here."
"We're doing what?" Luma says.
"Are you thick? The Madrigal's brain must be karsted to think throwing a human child at Vespiridae will do any good at all. Or did Dalliance's 'sacredness of life' lectures not rub off on you?"
"No, I'm just . . . surprised," Luma smiles.
"It's one thing to die in battle, Luma. $name would be skewered by stingers the moment they stepped foot within a thousand yard radius of Ekphrasis. That's hardly a fair fight," Cirrus says.
"Thanks?" you say.
"Of course," Cirrus says.
Luma unlocks a door, and it swings open to a spiral stairwell, lit by an occasional slotted window where the moonstone slips in, pooling slick on the floor.
"I wish we had time to prepare a formal gift for you," says Luma, "but I fear the ink may be already dry on the issue. Good luck, $name."
"Thank you for helping me," you say. You turn to descend, then turn back and give Cirrus and Luma both a hug around the knees.
"Be careful down there," says Luma.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you pass beyond the door into the flickering dark.->End of Chapter 1A.]]
End of Chapter 1.
"There's an access stairwell that leads down to the river from here. You should be able to slip away unnoticed."
"You're helping me escape?" you say.
"We're helping them escape?" says Luma.
"A child shouldn't be led, unknowing, to their demise. Even //seeing// Vespiridae is a death sentence for a Demarchy-affiliate; even though you're human, I don't think she'd hesitate to liquidate your insides. That's why we're helping you escape without the formal summons."
"Color me surprised," Luma smiles.
"It's one thing to die in battle, Luma. $name would be skewered by stingers the moment they stepped foot within a thousand yard radius of Ekphrasis. That's hardly a fair fight," Cirrus says.
"Thanks?" you say.
"Of course," Cirrus says.
Luma unlocks a door, and it swings open to a spiral stairwell, lit by an occasional slotted window where the moonstone slips in, pooling slick on the floor.
"I wish we had time to prepare a parting gift for you," says Luma, "but I fear the ink may be already dry on the issue. Good luck, $name."
"Thank you for helping me," you say. You turn to descend, then turn back and give Cirrus and Luma both a hug around the knees.
"Be careful down there," says Luma.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you pass beyond the door into the flickering dark.->End of Chapter 1A.]]
End of Chapter 1.
//How do we begin?//
"We make our own choice," you say. (if: $pocket is "flower")[And you take the curled echinacea bud behind your ear and lay it on the dashboard.](if: $pocket is "paper cranes")[And you undo the string around your neck and tie the three paper cranes like birds on a power line around a lever on the dashboard.](if: $chalk is "yes")[And you take out your box of waterlogged chalk and lay it like an offering on the dashboard.] "And then we love each other."
A final time, you nudge the brake lever into position, and the train comes careening to a halt, metal grating on metal, the Populace clinging to the nearly 90 degree angle of the tracks. The entire engine car is searing blue, obliviated this close to the core. Your body is wracked with the horrible, horrible fire of it, burning the outer layers of your skin, unraveling the chemical ladders in your cells.
And as you collapse to the floor, vision bordering on black, the train begins to haul itself slowly back up the tracks, with massive effort, gaining speed slowly but surely under its own new direction.
//Thank you,// it says.
"No prabhm," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You pass out on the floor.->When you are roused from sleep . . . ]]You are roused from sleep by bitter tea. Azaadi's house, you think. A hearth in the wall, a cluttered bookshelf, flowers and clumps of onions.
You are lying in a warm bed, nestled in a pile of blankets, one of which you recognize hazily as Captain Gadolin's quilted cloak. You try to sit up, and your body aches, but it responds, and the blood rushes through you as you move. You shake your arms.
(if: $stupid is "true")[Maybe tackle-hugs you and you are flattened against the bed again. You notice that, for the first time since you've seen her, she's not wearing her armor. "You're okay!" she says, clinging to you. Tears well up in her voice. "You're okay. I know Azaadi and Ode'imin said you'd be fine, but I just wasn't sure. You gotta stop almost freaking dying on me, dude. Two times in one day has got to be enough."
There are many people here, talking quietly in another room.
She looks at you, her brown eyes to yours. She giggles though the tears and it comes out as a snort. She wipes her tears away. "Nice eyes," she says. "I think bright blue suits you pretty good."](else:)["You're awake!" Maybe yells. "Oh my gosh. I wasn't sure if you would ever—" Tears well up in her voice. Instead of crying, she tackle-hugs you and you are flattened against the bed again. You notice that, for the first time since you've seen her, she's not wearing her armor. "You're okay. I know Azaadi and Ode'imin said you'd be fine, but I just wasn't sure."
There are many people here, talking quietly in another room.
"I was so scared you wouldn't. That you wouldn't. Haha." She snorts and wipes her eyes with her sleeve. She looks at you, her brown eyes to yours. She giggles though the tears and it comes out as a snort. She wipes her tears away again with her sleeve. "Nice eyes," she says. "And hey! What's the big idea with the heroics? That's my job!" she laughs. "That's the kind of dumb silt they do in movies!"
"Language, Maybe," says Azaadi.]
"Of course I'm okay," you laugh. "I'm tougher than I look." You go to flex your arms ironically like a strong guy, but Maybe tackles you again and pins you. You punch her lightly on the arm.
"Aw, fissure!" she yells, collapsing next to you. "Erghg that's the arm I landed on when we fell off the train."
"Oh no, I'm sorry!" you say.
She laughs. "Just kidding. That's this arm." She points.
You go jokingly to punch her and she pins you again.
"Keep drinking this, please, $name," says Ode'imin.
Ode'imin is here. You draw back, hesitant, at the sight of her, but Azaadi, behind her, nods smiling slightly. It seems that a great tension between them has been resolved. Not all of it, but some of it.
Now that you're up, you hear the sounds around the rest of the house. Somehow, you already know who's around the corner. Gadolin, the mice children, their parents, Luma, Cirrus, and. Ekphrasis.
"Maybe! Your sister—" you start.
"I know," she says. "I brought her here."
"Yew wot?"
"I wanted her to be here with me." She runs a hand through her hair, not long enough for a ponytail, and holds it at the back. "She said sorry. Finally. And I think she really meant it."
"She //straight up// tried to murder us," you say.
"Yeah, she's super //super// sorry. She had like a whole breakdown and everything after I tackled her off the train and when I woke up she was already awake, and carrying me, just crying."
"I still don't think that totally abdicates her . . ."
"Absolves?" Azaadi suggests.
"You really actually trust her now?" you say.
"She's not tricking us."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," she says. (text-colour:#a9434b)[["Cause she's not tricking herself anymore either."]]
End of Chapter 3/6.
Cassandra's is a conundrum of the veil. Where is the edge of the new? Where is the edge of belief? Is it possible to believe something truly unbelievable? How does that begin? Is there a crack of light under the door? How do you know to see it as light? Is there an edge of light all around the dark mass of your life up til this moment? Can you see the dark mass as a veil? Can you want it gone? Can you say, flick flack, it's gone? Cassandra can.
—Anne Carson, //Cassandra Float Can//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Witch of the Wavering Eye.->Wake up.2]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
You are in a dense forest in summer. You feel old.
The trees here are bearing fruit, but the fruit are paper cranes. Every tree has thousands of them, growing in great bunches, each no bigger than your fingernail.
Each crane is folded out of a different kind of paper, all different colors. Each seems to sway in the breeze to a different rhythm. You could inspect them for hours, but you get the feeling that no two of them would be exactly alike.
You pluck one. It is dark blue, and there is rain on the inside. You see yourself looking out a window. Someone is resting their head on your shoulder.
An orange crane falls from further up the tree and catches you on the nose. It is hot and you are digging. You are turning the wet clay into a small body, but the clay is too wet to hold its shape. Another person, a person who radiates heat, pulls themself out of the steaming river and lays their hands on the clay. Together, you form the face and carve the symbols into the body's forehead. Truth. And you know, and are saddened by the knowledge that "Truth" is only one letter's difference from "Death."
A pink crane is the next to touch you. A moss garden outside a temple and there are cherry trees in full bloom like umbrellas at each corner of the garden. You hear people laughing. Cigarette smoke and neon lights and your vision fogs over with acrid tears like a forest fire or the moldering smell of roses in a graveyard.
You snap back to the forest. All the cranes are pressing in on you. Some are just grey haze. A fog so heavy you can't tell what color it is. They fill up the ground beneath you.
A ship on the rising tide. A garrison of persimmons liquifying and becoming earth. Where is that dirt returning to? And when it went overboard, was the tackle box filled with bread or with flowers? And as your body rockets to the sky, are the cranes floating up or falling down?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[They are floating.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[They are falling.]]End of Chapter 1/6.
“A second homeland of . . . ancient cities
of whose past grandeur only the cats
among the rubble remained.”
—Gabriel García Márquez, //One Hundred Years of Solitude //
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things."
—Mary Oliver, //Wild Geese//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Song of Open Hands.->Secret passage! Secret passage! Secret passage!]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
With your heart resolute, you sling your backpack over your shoulders and take a step into the flickering dark. You pause at the top of the narrow spiraling steps, and glance back over at the library with its warmth and color. You slide the secret door shut, and you step down.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1A.]]
(if: $nonmin is "yes")[(set: $nonmina to "yes")]
(if: $crystalroom is "true")[(set: $nonmina to "only once")]
End of Chapter 2/6.
"There was an age where I took worship
like raspberries and rolled it whole
between my teeth. Sometimes I still find
the seeds, little bloody dots in my gums."
"They will sign your name under each commandment . . .
you're not going to heaven . . . heaven isn't real . . .
nobody wears that in heaven."
—Iris Newlin, //Jealous Gods//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Oh. Uh. Huh. I'm sorry, but I couldn't save your game. Are you in a private browsing mode? Is your browser's storage full? Only God knows. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[What's a Devil to Do?->an old, red barn]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
End of Chapter 3/6.
Cassandra's is a conundrum of the veil. Where is the edge of the new? Where is the edge of belief? Is it possible to believe something truly unbelievable? How does that begin? Is there a crack of light under the door? How do you know to see it as light? Is there an edge of light all around the dark mass of your life up til this moment? Can you see the dark mass as a veil? Can you want it gone? Can you say, flick flack, it's gone? Cassandra can.
—Anne Carson, //Cassandra Float Can//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Witch of the Wavering Eye.->The Witch of the Wavering Eye]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
End of Chapter 3/6.
Cassandra's is a conundrum of the veil. Where is the edge of the new? Where is the edge of belief? Is it possible to believe something truly unbelievable? How does that begin? Is there a crack of light under the door? How do you know to see it as light? Is there an edge of light all around the dark mass of your life up til this moment? Can you see the dark mass as a veil? Can you want it gone? Can you say, flick flack, it's gone? Cassandra can.
—Anne Carson, //Cassandra Float Can//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Witch of the Wavering Eye.->"Wake up!"]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
End of Chapter 5/6.
"An ant crosses your carpet. A spider weaves a pattern older than mammals beneath your stairs. Just nod, breathe, and think, 'Good. It’s all still here. The forest, the mountains, the desert. At home in my home.' The sterile white box is the stranger. Not the ant. Not the spider."
—a tweet by Jarod K. Anderson
After the reintroduction of gray wolves
to Yellowstone and, as anticipated, their culling
of deer, trees grew beyond the deer stunt
of the mid century. In their up reach
songbirds nested, who scattered
seed for underbrush, and in that cover
warrened snowshoe hare. Weasel and water shrew
returned, also vole, and came soon hawk
and falcon, bald eagle, kestrel, and with them
hawk shadow, falcon shadow. Eagle shade
and kestrel shade haunted newly-berried
runnels where deer no longer rummaged, cautious
as they were, now, of being surprised by wolves. Berries
brought bear, while undergrowth and willows, growing
now right down to the river, brought beavers,
who dam. Muskrats came to the dams, and tadpoles.
Came, too, the night song of the fathers
of tadpoles. With water striders, the dark
gray American dipper bobbed in fresh pools
of the river, and fish stayed, and the bear, who
fished, also culled deer fawns and to their kill scraps
came vulture and coyote, long gone in the region
until now, and their scat scattered seed, and more
trees, brush, and berries grew up along the river
that had run straight and so flooded but thus dammed,
compelled to meander, is less prone to overrun. Don’t
you tell me this is not the same as my story. All this
life born from one hungry animal, this whole,
new landscape, the course of the river changed,
I know this. I reintroduced myself to myself, this time
a mother. After which, nothing was ever the same.
—Camille T. Dungy, Trophic Cascade
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Moonstone.->Moonstone means reversal.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
"Gods damn. 2—3, your favor. Fortunately, I can take it back to a tie."
"Yeah?" you say.
"My grand machinations will now be made apparent. It's all about seein into the future, you see. And none'a that blue-eyes batcrap. I'm talkin about logic and predilection."
"I don't think that word means what you think it means either," you say.
Priory slaps down the (text-colour:#f783ac)[Song] of (text-colour:#ff8787)[Devils]. "And I believe," he says, "you're outta options."
You assess the last two cards in your hand. Neither would be able to beat Priory.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Well, shoot," you say.->tie.jpg]]You climb up to the pier out of your raft, which the dock-keeper has fixed to the dock.
"Is a fortress," says the goblin. His voice is low and chalky, and his speech is nearly incomprehensible.
"Sorry?" you say.
"Like a symbol. Who acts to a circle." The white moth slips out from under his hat and flutters around him. Its eye-dots give it a wide-eyed expressive feeling, like a rabbit.
"I'm not sure I understand."
"At a look," he says. He points to the trash pile. "How're Hilt is a cross, both, and a stick. A prick that pokes. How rinds?"
"What?"
The pile of trash is huge, and upon inspection you have no idea how this tiny goblin was able to lift such a massive pile of junk out of the water. Over on the bank is more trash, piled pretty high. There are a handful of wagons in various states of disrepair waiting to be loaded up, perhaps to wheel into town to be reused or recycled somehow.
"Aeh!" the goblin says, and pulls out a long plastic fish. There are flecks of red plastic still clinging to the herring like scales, but the body of the fish has faded white over time. "Take to—at." He holds it out to you.
"Thanks?" you say.
(Red herring was added to your inventory.)(set: $herring to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the city.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask him about himself.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ask about the girl.]]In the chaos, Maybe takes your hand and you slip away through the boulders to the north, running hand in hand through the white grass until it grows back up around you and you feel safely hidden and distanced from the shouts of steel.
As you walk, hand in hand, out of the Sunless Meadow, the ground beneath your feet turns quilted, pillowy, and the landscape begins to rise into as much of a mountain the confines of the giant cavern will allow. It rises steadily up, becoming greener and greener. Brown thread holds it together. It's soft underfoot, and hard to run on, but that doesn't stop the two of you from scrambling up the side of it like a bouncy castle.
"Where'd you learn how to play Oneiros?" Maybe asks.
"I picked it up in the city, the mice kids taught me," you say.
"Nice. I used to play with a friend in the Porter's Union but that was a long time ago. Plus I was really bad at it. He won basically every game, and he didn't even have special powers like Azaadi."
"What's the Porter's Union like?" you ask.
"Well, it's in a big dandelion. And it's run by porters and concierges obviously, they're mostly insects. It's like a collective kinda like the Collective Will was. I think they called it like "anarchist-collectivist." I don't super know what that means, but I know it means they don't have a queen like they used to. Anyway, my friend and I would always get sent on the most boring watch assignments. And he had a deck of Oneiros cards that he always was super insistent that we play so I could get good at it." She stops, suddenly tacit.
"What was he like?" you ask.
"Game's mostly luck anyway," she says. "Um. We should hurry, we're almost to the fort." Maybe tags you on the chest and starts running. "You're it!"
You laugh, chasing after her. "I'm gonna get you!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You reach the top.]]You unlatch the star-shaped charm and pass it off Reluctantly to Priory.
"Now this is fascinatin." He twirls it in his hands, inspecting it, the delicate engravings, the faint blue glow.(set: $charmed to "no")
The angel pushes off the rock where she was resting on foot against the wall. "You owe us ten flats still. That's the normal toll."
"Okay, that's freaking stupid," says Maybe.
"Yeah, nah, nah, you gave us a good game, we'll lechya go without any fussin," says Priory. He looks to the mannequin and the angel. "Guildenstern, Azzie, whaddya say?"
The mannequin looks to the angel.
"For the ten thousandth time," the angel answers, "you cannot call me Azzie. Azelion is the name my forefathers gave to me, to truncate the name at its base is to blaspheme it. Are we going to kill these human children and take their money? Or are you going to continue being a useless, bathypelaging piece of—"
"Oh, bathypelaging that's a new one," Priory says. "You oughta use that one more often I think it—"
Azzie's face gets white hot and her hair erupts in flame. Her sword swings just over Priory's head as he leans nonchalantly to the left. "Woah, careful there," he says.
With a rage cry she brings it down at him again, splitting the stone table as he rolls aside.
"I'm just tryna make us some allies, friend," he says.
"Yeah, no need to get upsetti spaghetti," says Maybe.
"That's what you said when you let those miners go, you slatehead. Allies aren't flats."
"Hey, they were miners, it ain't like they're gonna be rich off their aspens."
"You," the angel rumbles, "are a mockery of the principle of self-sufficiency. If I'm ever going to regain my place in the hierarchy, you need to realize that allies abandon you. Friends become enemies. Only capital is forever. If you could see that, we wouldn't be camping //in a pile of rocks//." She swings at him again. He rolls away and blows back his coat, cutting a hint of his pistols.
"We ain't have to do this in front of the kids, Azzie. Maybe you clingin to the idea of a hierarchy that was dismantled a hundred years ago is the problem. I don know. Jus thinkin out loud."
"AAAAAHRG!" she yells, lunging at him again.(set: $prioryhelps to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's get out of here," Maybe says.->"Let's get out of here," Maybe says.2]]"You got something to double the nothin with?" he asks.
You check your backpack.
(if: $breathofthenadir is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Ode'imin's amulet.]]]
(if: $herring is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A red herring!]]]
(if: $pocket is "flower")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Your somewhat wilted echinacea flower.->"Intriguing, but no," he says.]]](if: $pocket is "paper cranes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Your paper crane necklace.->"Intriguing, but no," he says.]]](if: $chalk is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The remainder of your sidewalk chalk.->"Intriguing, but no," he says.]]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["never mind," you say.->"No, it's okay," you say, unlatching Eno's charm.]]Priory looks at the dead-looking rubbery fish with perturbation. "As lovely as that is, I think I'd rather take that charm than risk another game for a piece of trash," he says. "I may have disparaged you durin the game, but I think you're actually quite the admirable opponent, lil one. Ain't never met such a weird-lookin mole-rat though."
"Mole-rat?"
"That ain't what you are?"
"We're human," says Maybe.
Azzie raises her bow.
"Right, right, well whatever you are . . ."
You look to Maybe, who shrugs.
Reluctantly, you unlatch the star-shaped charm and pass it off to Priory.
"Now this is fascinatin." He twirls it in his hands, inspecting it, the delicate engravings, the faint blue glow.(set: $charmed to "no")
The angel pushes off the rock where she was resting on foot against the wall. "You owe us ten flats still. That's the normal toll."
"Okay, that's freaking stupid," says Maybe.
"Yeah, nah, nah, you gave us a good game, we'll lechya go without any fussin," says Priory. He looks to the mannequin and the angel. "Guildenstern, Azzie, whaddya say?"
The mannequin looks to the angel.
"For the ten thousandth time," the angel answers, "you cannot call me Azzie. Azelion is the name my forefathers gave to me, to truncate the name at its base is to blaspheme it. Are we going to kill these human children and take their money? Or are you going to continue being a useless, bathypelaging piece of talc—"
"Oh, bathypelaging that's a new one," Priory says. "You oughta use that one more often, it really—"
Azzie's face gets white hot and her hair erupts in flame. Her sword swings just over Priory's head as he leans nonchalantly to the left. "Woah, careful there," he says.
With a rage cry she brings it down at him again, splitting the stone table as he rolls aside.
"I'm just tryna make us some allies, friend," he says.
"Yeah, no need to get upsetti spaghetti," says Maybe.
"That's what you said when you let those miners go, you slatehead. Allies aren't flats."
"Hey, they were miners, it ain't like they're gonna be rich off their aspens."
"You," the angel rumbles, "are a mockery of the principle of self-sufficiency. If I'm ever going to regain my place in the hierarchy, you need to realize that allies abandon you. Friends become enemies. Only capital is forever. If you could see that, we wouldn't be camping //in a pile of rocks//." She swings at him again. He rolls away and blows back his coat, cutting a hint of his pistols.
"We ain't have to do this in front of the kids, Azzie. Maybe you clingin to the idea of a hierarchy that was dismantled a hundred years ago is the problem. I don know. Jus thinkin out loud."
"AAAAAHRG!" she yells, lunging at him again.(set: $prioryhelps to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's get out of here," Maybe says.->"Let's get out of here," Maybe says.2]]Delicately, you unclasp the amulet and pull it out from under your shirt. That sky blue glow seems to pulse almost with volume, like a vibration that you can feel in your heart and bones.
Priory leaps backwards like he encountered a cucumber. "Holy hell, what the schist," he backs off from the table, flicking back his coat and drawing his pistols in the same motion. "You're crazy," he laughs. "Azelion, you wanna . . ."
"What?" you say.
"What—$name, where did you get that?"
"What? It's an amulet," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's a fucking Demon Core," says Azelion.]]
"Intriguing, but no," he says. Azzie raises her bow.
You look to Maybe, who shrugs.
Reluctantly, you unlatch the star-shaped charm and pass it off to Priory.
"Now this is fascinatin." He twirls it in his hands, inspecting it, the delicate engravings, the faint blue glow.(set: $charmed to "no")
The angel pushes off the rock where she was resting on foot against the wall. "You owe us ten flats still. That's the normal toll."
"Okay, that's freaking stupid," says Maybe.
"Yeah, nah, nah, you gave us a good game, we'll lechya go without any fussin," says Priory. He looks to the mannequin and the angel. "Guildenstern, Azzie, whaddya say?"
The mannequin looks to the angel.
"For the ten thousandth time," the angel answers, "you cannot call me Azzie. Azelion is the name my forefathers gave to me, to truncate the name at its base is to blaspheme it. Are we going to kill these human children and take their money? Or are you going to continue being a useless, bathypelaging piece of—"
"Oh, bathypelaging that's a new one," Priory says. "You oughta use that one more often I think it—"
Azzie's face gets white hot and her hair erupts in flame. Her sword swings just over Priory's head as he leans nonchalantly to the left. "Woah, careful there," he says.
With a rage cry she brings it down at him again, splitting the stone table as he rolls aside.
"I'm just tryna make us some allies, friend," he says.
"Yeah, no need to get upsetti spaghetti," says Maybe.
"That's what you said when you let those miners go, you slatehead. Allies aren't flats."
"Hey, they were miners, it ain't like they're gonna be rich off their aspens."
"You," the angel rumbles, "are a mockery of the principle of self-sufficiency. If I'm ever going to regain my place in the hierarchy, you need to realize that allies abandon you. Friends become enemies. Only capital is forever. If you could see that, we wouldn't be camping //in a pile of rocks//." She swings at him again. He rolls away and blows back his coat, cutting a hint of his pistols.
"We ain't have to do this in front of the kids, Azzie. Maybe you clingin to the idea of a hierarchy that was dismantled a hundred years ago is the problem. I don know. Jus thinkin out loud."
"AAAAAHRG!" she yells, lunging at him again.(set: $prioryhelps to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Let's get out of here," Maybe says.->"Let's get out of here," Maybe says.2]]When they're safely out of sight, you slow to a walk, pushing through the grass.
"The angel was right, that's a demon core, $name. Where did you get that?"
"In the council hall," you say. "The Madrigal gave it to me when she told me to find Ekphrasis."
"You're //looking// for Ekphrasis?"
"Not any more, I mean, I escaped before they did any paperwork about it. I think. Anyway whoever this Ekphrasis, Queen thing is I don't really want to run into her. But the Madrigal told me this amulet would call for help . . ."
"Well don't try to do that . . . I've never seen one of these, but they're super powerful. They should explode like a pretty big area."
"What should we do with it?" you ask.
"I think we could either detonate it now, or we could give it to Captain Gadolin, the captain of the fort."
"As cool as blowing it up would be, we don't know how big it explodes, or if there's any kind of countdown. So we should probably give it to an adult."
"Uhg, fine. You're so responsible," she says.
As you walk, hand in hand, out of the Sunless Meadow, the ground beneath your feet turns quilted, pillowy, and the landscape begins to rise into as much of a mountain the confines of the giant cavern will allow. It rises steadily up, becoming greener and greener. Brown thread holds it together. It's soft underfoot, and hard to run on, but that doesn't stop the two of you from scrambling up the side of it like a bouncy castle.
"We're almost to the fort. Race you." Maybe tags you on the chest and starts running. "You're it!"
You laugh, chasing after her. "I'm gonna get you!"(set: $breathofthenadir to "give")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You reach the top.]]You were fourteen, and playing in the snow again like you were when you were toddlers. Sledding down the best hill in the park and running back up again. Maybe comments on the smell of woodsmoke. You can think of only the stale, lingering taste of tangerines, and the stiffness of your wet knees. Though you have no regrets about using your sled to scoop a massive pile of snow in revenge against Maybe for putting ice down your neck.
Your legs burn from slogging through the cold layered blanket, but it's worth it every time when you get to the top and nestle into the sled behind Maybe, clinging tight to her while she holds the reins, and pushes off again with a war shout.
And when you get back inside (and after we tell you to go back outside and dance to shake the snow off) you unwind your scarves and shake the flecks of snow away. And when you sit on the sofa across from the fire, Maybe thinks about the snow in South Dakota, the snow she hated so much, and she says, "$name, do you think it's the same here or different?"
And you say, "The snow?"
And she says, "Yeah. It's nice here. I wonder if it's the same kind of snow." And you warm each other's hands up with your palms and your shoulders rest against each other. And she says, "Maybe it's just nicer when you have someone to play in it with."
And you hug her tighter.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And that angelic blue fades to black.->And you watch.]]
(open-url: "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o827baNmpbxSfyj5Fn2ChaFawuQr87oy/view?usp=sharing")https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o827baNmpbxSfyj5Fn2ChaFawuQr87oy/view?usp=sharing
This link opens an external page.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Return from whence thy came.->start page]]Inside, at the beginning of a long, winding series of tunnels grown over with softly luminescent crystals, Maybe has set down her pack and is boiling water on a portable stove. You sit next to her.
"What is this place?" you ask.
"Just some crystal tunnels. Like from a lava tube I'm pretty sure. Or do you mean, like, this whole whole place? Right now we're just on a shortcut that goes toward Open Hands."
"Both, I guess?" you say. "The whole whole place and this . . . what's Open Hands? Are there other humans down here?"
"Open Hands is a city we're gonna go through and no, not that I've seen. It's so cool to see another human down here! I bet you have a lot of questions huh. I know I did at first. Hey, okay, here: I'll ask you a question too every time so we're equal cause I wanna know what your deal is also! You get to go first."
"Okay," you say. "What's up with the tea? Also where'd you get that stove?"
"Okay okay slow down, that's already two, now I have to think of two also. The tea is to heal your injuries and help your head and I got the camping stove from the Prophet. I also got the tea from the Prophet."
"Who? It's magic tea?"
"Yep!"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Why are you named Maybe?"->"Why are you named Maybe?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How'd you get a quest?"->"How'd you get a quest?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where'd you come from?"->"Where'd you come from?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["There really aren't any other kids down here?"->"Are there other kids down here?"2]]
When the water is done boiling, she steeps a bag in the cup, and you sip it while you talk. Your head clears up like a fog lifting, and a headache that you hadn't fully noticed fades away.
"Our steps. Now, please," they say. "Ready! Resume!" they shout. They extend their pink little left paw forward and keep padding down the cavern, counting quietly, "7,091, 7,092 . . ."
"So those guys totally can't see where they're going," Maybe says.
"Yeah, uh huh. Yep." You scratch your nose.
"Well, we should keep moving."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Yeah I guess we should keep going."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["We should stop and help them."]]
"You must be the dullest mole I've ever met," the leader-mole says.
You look at Maybe with question marks spinning around your head. She suppresses a giggle.
"There are another 803 steps until we reach the crystal mines. That's the way it's always been."
"But . . . there's crystals here?" you say. "There's crystals all around us right now. I'm pretty sure one of you banged into one earlier."
The leader-mole wrinkles up his little face. "You are lying to me. You are a liar. A liar and a person who does the slander."
"I'm not, I promise. You can look for yourself—feel them. Just go to your left a little bit. It made a sound when you bumped into it."
They take a little step back from you with a very stern expression. "There are all sorts of things that go clink down here. All manner of rings and swords cursed bad bad. You are a liar and a nonsense-talker. And we are very busy. Resume!" they shout. They extend their pink little right paw forward and keep padding down the cavern, announcing the count, "7,091, 7,092 . . ."
"Those guys totally can't see where they're going," Maybe says.
"Yeah, uh huh. Yep." You scratch your nose.
"Well, we should keep moving."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Yeah I guess we should keep going."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["We should stop and help them."]]
"We should probably focus on making sure Vespiridae gets this message," you say.(set: $keepmoving to "true")
"I guess so," Amari says. "They're very good at counting at least. Plus that guy was super rude to you."
You continue down the passage.
As you go further down the cavern, you begin to see deep gashes in the walls, like scars on skin, places where the radiant crystals aren't growing, or perhaps cannot grow at all. The black basalt floor gives way to patchy dirt, then mud, as deep as your ankles.
The crystal passage ends abruptly, interrupted by wide, cavernous space that stretches on forever both ways into the gloom in a straight line. The gentle glow of the crystals continues on the other side of this place, but to get to it, you'll have to descend into this massive pit of mud, you can't tell how deep, with bits of rusty scrap metal embedded in the disfigured earth.
There is an iron staircase that leads down into the mud pit, and another one leading down again on the other side where the crystals resume.
From down below, you hear: "I found one! I found one!"
One of the moles is holding up a fragment of a rusted pipe that makes a tinny imitation of the song of the crystal when she taps on it with her pick.
"Good work!" shouts the leader. "Put it with the others! Keep up the pace everybody!"
The mole with the pipe struggles through the mud, which sucks her down into it several times. Only through extraordinary effort is she able to pull herself free of it again and again on her way to a little metal chute in the floor. As you're watching, her head goes below the muck, and she does not resurface.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Uh um???? Ah?????]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump in and get her.]]"Are you sure? That guy was pretty rude to you."(set: $keepmoving to "false")
"I don't mind. I think they need our help more than I need him to think I'm a 'good mole,' y'know?"
"Makes sense to me."
You continue down the passage.
As you go further down the cavern, you begin to see deep gashes in the walls, like scars on skin, places where the radiant crystals aren't growing, or perhaps cannot grow at all. The black basalt floor gives way to patchy dirt, then mud, as deep as your ankles.
The crystal passage ends abruptly, interrupted by wide, cavernous space that stretches on forever both ways into the gloom in a straight line. The gentle glow of the crystals continues on the other side, but to get to it, you'll have to descend into this massive pit of mud, you can't tell how deep, with bits of rusty scrap metal embedded in the disfigured earth.
There is an iron staircase that leads down into the mud pit, and another one leading down again on the other side where the crystals resume.
From down below, you hear: "I found one! I found one!"
One of the moles is holding up a fragment of a rusted pipe that makes a tinny imitation of the song of the crystal when she taps on it with her pick.
"Good work!" shouts the leader. "Put it with the others! Keep up the pace everybody!"
The mole with the pipe struggles through the mud, which sucks her down into it several times. Only through extraordinary effort is she able to pull herself free of it again and again on her way to a little metal chute in the wall. As you're watching, her head goes below the muck, and she does not resurface.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Uh um???? Ah?????]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Jump in and get her.]]"Let's go, go, get outta here, forget about the kid!" They scatter into the alleys.
You turn around.
Looming over you, inspecting Amari's coiled body, its heads racked sideways to stare at you, is a massive, blue-orange bird. You look twice, as the bird flicks its neck to the other side. It seems like an optical illusion, like water in the desert, or a ship in the sky, but the creature has two solid heads on its body, each with a long, knife-like beak.
Amari struggles to stand, clutches their side, and keels over. You drop to them, lifting under their shoulders, but they're too heavy for you to move on your own.
The eyes of the Kingfissure gleam, and it snatches Amari's semi-conscious body out from your grasp. And with two violent beats of its wings, the bird begins to lift off over the street, flying towards the crack in the wall.
You stumble over yourself, falling forward after the fissure. One of its talons rakes you across the chest as you leap up after it, but you manage to catch on. Like a convenient railing on a departing caboose, you grapple its leg and wrap your arms around the quaking trunk of it. Your body shakes. This situation is not tenable. "Amari!" you shout, trying to reach out to them. You begin to slip.
"Dad?" Amari whispers.
The bird flips through the crack in the wall and the lights of the city vanish like a candle blown out.
. . .
Over it all, is a cathedral made of polished golden stone. Details impossible to discern on the layers that look as though they could rotate like a clock. The palatial structure of it hangs over a hole in the earth. As if it was lifted from the ground and soldered to the cavern roof.
Your grip is too much. You begin to slip, and it cascades away until you're holding the very edge of the bird's talon.
You slip, and you're lost in the dark.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Main Menu.->start page]]You go to disembark and notice something caught in your shoelace. (By notice, you mean that you nearly trip over it.) It's a small golden chain, covered in silt.
The girl has worked her way over to where the bank meets the edge of the cavern.
The chain dangles in a long, pendulating line. You look closer at the links and notice each of them has a letter ever so faintly etched into it. They read:
"Signal 22. DL HL. Ptr's Unn Rep: Ardent Joy."
It must belong to someone. Or have belonged to someone long ago.
You dry off and put it in your pocket. (set: $chain to "yes")You shiver, shifting the wet clothes plastered to your body.
You follow Maybe over to a place where the black wall is interrupted by a set of giant, metal doors. You catch up with your new friend. The ground is strangely flat here, like it was flattened by a machine.
"Here, you can sit down inside and I'll make some tea," she says. "Oh you should change outta your wet clothes also. Do you have dry clothes? I have oh, no, right, cause your whole, yeah, never mind, I have some." She digs around in her backpack and pulls out some spare clothes and a fuzzy sweater with a simple embroidery of a blue heron. She steps inside, beyond the doors, and waits for you. You change quietly in the dark, not sure what to do with your wet clothes.(set: $wetclothes to "yes")
You look out over the black river. There's no sign of the white bridge you fell from, but you can't be too far from it, it's just been lost in the dark. If the girl pulled you out before you were able to drown, you could only have been in the water for a few seconds. But who knows how long you were unconscious for. A few minutes, maybe? But your dream, what you saw, feels like it took longer, and took place in real time—like you were in some other physical place.
It's almost totally dark here now that Maybe has moved behind the giant doors. A faint little bit of light drips up from beyond the doors. Just enough to see the sharp outline of water.
Beginning to get warm again, you cross to the doors. They're a kind of warped-bronze color, with thousands of graven wings carved in some inscrutable pattern. There are all sorts of different creatures carved, walking down in a kind of spiral. Down at eye level, you see people with sharp horns, and then sort of goblinoid creatures above them, then bat people, and up and up losing distinction in the darkness.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[You go inside.]]
"I'm $name," you say.
"Thank you! You have a nice name too. Where are you from?" she says.
"I came from up above," you say. Your voice is a little horse (why a horse, you're not sure), and your words are coming out slow and heavy. "We live right next to the big willow tree. I followed the stream . . . down the culvert, I didn't think there'd be so much stuff down here."
"Ahuh! So you're from the surface too! You're the first other human I've met down here. Do you have a quest? I'm on a quest to protect a very important fort from being taken over by Wasps. A quest is a very important job someone gives you that involves an adventure. Hey, if you don't have one, do you want to help me with mine?"
Your cheeks get a little hot. "You want my help?"
"Yeah why not!" she says. "We should get going right away though, we only have a few hours until the Wasps attack." She looks downstream. "Yeah, here we go."
The raft goes down a little rapid and Maybe runs the boat aground into the sand. She steps off and takes a few steps over the embankment. The bank is flat here, like the river has been funneled into a canal.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Follow her down.->Follow her down.]]
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[
(text-colour:#20c997)[[it was like the stars were flecks of mica->start page]]
by Harper Reese
]"That also answers why I came down here in the first place, so really it's two questions, but I'll humor you."
You nod.
"When I was back on the surface, I could never make up my mind about anything and everyone wanted so many things out of me, right? Someone would ask me, mmm, if I wanted sprinkles on my ice cream or if I wanted to go to the movies or the playground and I would just say: 'I don't know.' I never knew what I wanted, so people started calling me 'Idaknow Huynh.' (Huynh is my last name.)"
"Hwin is a nice name. Is that right?"
"That's close enough. I like it too, but it doesn't go well with 'Idaknow.' One day I made up my mind finally about one thing, and I ran down here and never went back up. I named myself Maybe, because it sounds better than 'Idaknow.' And now every decision I make, I make decisively. Decisively means not wishy-washy."
"That's really brave. I always have to think for a long time about what choice to make, and I always wonder if it was the right one," you say.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, my turn," she says.->"Okay, my turn," she says.2]]"The people I first met when I came down here were the workers from a place called the Dandelion Hotel. I was going as deep as I could into the Giesie and going down the stem of the Dandelion was a fast way to do it. I was startled to find the bottom of the flower was being eaten away by these huge mites. I thought the Dandelion was pretty and shouldn't have mites chewing on it, so I scared them away."
"Oh wow."
"Raaahh!!! Like that."
You giggle.
"The workers are mostly big insects too, and they didn't have a way to fight the mites. They were really grateful. They took me in and gave me food and shelter and things and in return I've been doing quests for them. Mostly, like, protecting people from monsters and things. This one I'm doing right now is a special quest. The Quilter's Union is gonna get attacked by Wasps soon. And we're gonna stop it."
"Quilter's Union?" you say.
"Yeah, they're allied with the Dandelion Hotel. Allied means they're friends."
"Nice."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, that was two, now I ask you two also."->"Okay, that was two, now I ask you two also."2]]"South Dakota."
"That's a long way from here."
"Well, distance works differently in the empire. You could walk underground for a few minutes and come back up in a place that it takes an hour to get to riding in the car. Um. What's your . . . favorite color?" she asks.
"Turquoise," you say.
"Nice," she says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, ask me another!"->When you finish your tea]]"Not that I've seen. But I've been told that kids come down here from time to time. Grown-ups, too, sometimes, but mostly kids. Usually they're on a quest and they go back to the surface after they're done. But not me! I'm staying down here." She kicks a rock. "I get to fight monsters and eat weird food and it never snows so hard your toes get numb through your boots."
"Is that really why you like it?"
"I guess it wasn't all bad on the surface. But it was hard. I really like it down here because I can be a different person than who I used to be. No one is here to make me feel like the person I used to be. No sister, no other kids from school, and no grown-ups. Just monsters and Giesie folks." She smiles. "Plus, everything I do down here is really important. People need to be protected from monsters, and evil armies need to be trounced. It's easier to decide about important things. There's no multiplication tables or bad grades on E.O.G.s or having to choose to spend time either with Mom or with Dad. Just adventures."
"Huh," you say.
"I don't have to choose what kind of adult I want to be when I grow up. Everyone was pushing me in different directions anyway. I just get to do what's important *right now*."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Maybe that *is* what kind of adult you want to be," you say.->"Maybe that is what kind of adult you want to be," you say.2]]"Hmm. If you had to choose a name for yourself what would it be?"
"Like a nickname? I need to think about that one."
"No thinking—just choose!"
"I've always kind of liked (if: $name is "Symphony")[the word Willow](else:)[the word Symphony]. I don't know if that can be a name."
"Anything can be a name if you make it one!" Maybe says. "Should I call you (if: $name is "Symphony")[Willow](else:)[Symphony]?"
"No, that's okay. I think I like $name. I think I like it cause my parents like it."
"Sounds good to me!"
"Does that count as one of your questions?"
"Sure why not." (if: $wet is "yes")[She kicks a rock. "Wanna see something cool?" Maybe says.
Never not down for things that are cool, you indicate in the affirmative.
"I wanna preface this with the fact that this is not magic."
"That sounds like something you would say if you were about to do magic," you say.
"What? No . . ." she grins. "Okay, I don't know exactly how it works, something about the core of this place and the water or the light . . . ? The Oracle explained it to me, but I don't remember really."
"That sounds like magic," you say.
"Pretty much!" says Maybe. "It's very cool. Watch this—" She pulls out a tiny noise maker, a wooden one with a rigid back, shaped like a frog. She runs a stick along its back and it makes a noise like ribbiting.
"I don't see anything," you say.
"Look down," she says.
By your feet, hopping up to you are a handful of little brick-shaped frogs. One of them ribbits. Maybe reaches out and one of them hops up in her hand.
"This tool is enchanted, but it's pretty weak, so it doesn't summon that many frogs and they're all super little. Same goes for other things. I found this in a little town in Backwater."
"That's so cool," you say.(set: $frogshown to "hell yeah")]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You probably have more questions," Maybe says.->When you finish your tea]](text-colour:#a9434b)[["Why are you named Maybe?"->"Why are you named Maybe?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["How'd you get a quest?"->"How'd you get a quest?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Where'd you come from?"->"Where'd you come from?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["There really aren't any other kids down here?"->"Are there other kids down here?"2]]
When you finish your tea, Maybe packs up her bag and you follow her deeper into the crystal-saturated lava tube. She walks confidently, finding her way in the radiant maze.
(if: $frogshown is "hell yeah")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear that?"->"Did you hear that?"2]]](if: $frogshownone is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Did you hear that?"->"Did you hear that?"2]]]"Hmmm. Okay. What's the funniest dream you've ever had?"
"Oh that's a hard one," you say. "Hmm. Once I dreamed that every time you said a word you had to squeeze a lemon."
"That's pretty funny! What's your favorite thing about home?"
"Hmm. It's safe there. I always *feel* safe at least. Everything gets decided for me and I know my parents care about me. Nothing can come inside that I don't like. If I'm being chased by a dog or being excluded from a game I can just run up the front stairs and nothing can hurt me."
"You miss a lot of adventures if you're always at home," says Maybe.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Yep. See, you know I'm right."
"Wait that wasn't—"
She laughs and punches your arm.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Okay, ask me another."->When you finish your tea]]"What do you mean?"
"I mean that if you want to be the kind of person who is decisive and adventurous, you could still be that type of person when you grow up," you say.
"I don't know about that. Everything I've seen up there told me that the adult world is either boring, sad, or stressful. The worst part is, I feel like I'm already caught in it and being drawn in like a black hole. I don't wanna grow up. I wanna be like how I was when I was a kid, playing make-believe."
"I don't think you have to be that kind of adult if you don't want to."
"I've never seen *any other kind* of adult though." She throws her hands up in mock-exasperation. "They're all caught up in their own business and it's never real. It's never actually important. My dad is an investment banker and my mom is a CEO, but, like, neither of them actually *make* anything. The world thinks they're important, and so they're paid good, but they're not changing anything real about the world. I don't want to be like them at all. I think that's why I ran down here."
"I don't think you'll be like them."
She pauses for a beat, then looks at you with open eyes. "You think?"
"Yeah. I think you made a really important choice even coming down here. You didn't run away either, I think. You ran towards who you're supposed to be. You're really brave and nothing is gonna change that."
A little unexpectedly, and without a word, she hugs you. You hug back.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You mentioned something called a jee-uh-see?"->"What's jee-uh-see?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's your biggest fear?" she asks.->"That's a tough one."2]]"Oh, that's what people call this whole place. The G.S.E. It's an acronym. That means a bunch of letters that stand for words. Also, hey! It's my turn to ask a question, you've said at least two."
You pass by an opening in the rock that looks out on an open field of white grass. It goes on and on and on, lit by glowing golden rocks glittering at the cavern roof.
"Woah," you say.
"Yeah, that never gets old," Maybe says. "Okay, hmm. What's your biggest fear?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's a tough one."->"That's a tough one."2]]"Not really, mine's (text-colour:#4e3ec9)[drowning]," she says. "I mean, sorry, you say yours."(set: $drowningfearknown to "yes")
"I think mine is the future," you say. "There's no way to know what's coming. It's like walking backwards in the dark, in a cave. Every moment is stuck in that dropping-stomach feeling of missing a step down a staircase in the dark. The only thing you can do is keep crawling backwards, hoping the tunnel doesn't stop and make you bump your head or lose your footing all of a sudden and drop off into the water."
"That's messed up," she says.
"Also, I'm scared of (text-colour:#c2255c)[the dark]," you say.
Maybe nods, sagaciously.
"I don't know. That's what making choices feels like to me. I would really rather have someone else decide everything for me. I feel like honestly that's why I, uh, outsource? a lot of my decisions. I let other people choose for me. It just feels safer."
(if: $chalk is "yes")[Something catches Maybe's attention. "That's a nice rock," she says.
She's looking at a big, slate-like rock sticking up out of the white grass. A few yards off, there's a tree with scattered yellow. The wind moves through the grass like a hollow animal. "Do you have any charcoal? I ran out. We can write our names on it."
"Yes!!!!" you shout.
"Woah, okay!"
You are prepared for this and only this eventuality.(if: $wet is "yes")[ "It's a bit waterlogged, but . . ." ] You pull out your chalk.
"Heck yeah," Maybe says. She begins writing her name in every color she can.
After a minute or so, you draw back and take a look at it.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[(text-colour:#845ef7)[$name] and (text-colour:#ff6b6b)[M](text-colour:#ffc078)[a](text-colour:#c0eb75)[y](text-colour:#91a7ff)[b](text-colour:#ffff66)[e]
(text-colour:#aaa2f1)[were here]! (text-colour:#faa2c1)[♡]]
"Hmm," Maybe says. She goes up and appends more text below it.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[(text-colour:#845ef7)[$name] and (text-colour:#ff6b6b)[M](text-colour:#ffc078)[a](text-colour:#c0eb75)[y](text-colour:#91a7ff)[b](text-colour:#ffff66)[e]
(text-colour:#aaa2f1)[were here]! (text-colour:#faa2c1)[♡]
(text-colour:#fcc2d7)[if you erase this we will destroy you!!!]]
"Perfect," you say.](else:)[(text-colour:#a9434b)[["That's fair," she says.->When you finish your tea]]]
From one of the twisting paths behind you, you here the clang of something flat against the crystal wall, then the tink of something sharp on the ground.
Maybe pushes off the wall and readies her spear. You scramble to your feet beside her.
A dozen or more massive torch-lit shadows are loping forward in the crystal gloom, metal edges scraping and clicking on the basalt.
You take a step behind Maybe.
The shadows of the beasts lear larger and larger—and then there's a tiny sneeze. A line of tiny, stumbling moles are shuffling on down toward you in the passageway. The one second in line stops and shakes his little head from the sneeze and everyone behind him bumps into each other one by one. Each of them is carrying either a helmet, a pickaxe, or a shovel.
"Oh, huh. They're cute," Maybe says.
"Oh my god," you say.
"Huh? What was that?" one of the moles says in a tinsie high-pitched voice.
"Is someone going to say gesundheit to me?" says another.
"Someone //must// say gesundheit."
"Can we say 'bless you' instead?"
"I think that would be okay."
"I don't think 'bless you' is protocol."
"Well someone ought to say something or we'll never get to the crystal mines in time."
"I think you should go on and say it, since you're the one who sneezed anyhow in the first place."
"You can't gesundheit yourself!"
"Well, why not, he started it."
"It's wildly against protocol," says the one in front.
"Excuse me," you say.
"Eek!" they all go.
"What was that?!"
"There it is again!"
"Up here," Maybe says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Aaa!" they scream.]]It is a deep, but anxious sleep. You dream that you are in the lowest floor of your home, but it has flooded up to the ceiling with warm, dark water. On the walls, there are pictures of your moms and you as a baby and a toddler. There's some of your old masterpieces (your 1st grade scribble-art) and some very good drawings of dinosaurs.
With the slow movement of a jellyfish, you pull yourself through the doorway to your room.
Everything is as it should be, your bed is made, the toys are mostly in their trunk, your clothes are folded neatly on the bed (not how you left them), and the legos are scattered on the floor in an orderly chaos.
Everything is familiar. Safe, in that shifting, dream-like way that makes the architecture of the house very different, but still familiar. Everything is calm and good.
All except for the very fixed, very out-of-place submarine porthole under your bed.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Examine the porthole.]]You lean down close to the leader and put out your finger for them to sniff.
"You're so cute, can I pick you up?" Maybe asks.
"Absolutely not, this course of events would impede our ability to get to the crystal mines before the shift ends."
"The what now?" Maybe says.
"The crystal mines," says the leader, "are the Empress's latest acquisition. We make our shift there every day."
"This place is a mine?" you ask Maybe.
"No . . ." she says.
"Do you mean the Empress like the Wasp Queen?" you ask the leader.
"You're not making any sense," says the leader-mole. "The Empress. *The* Empress. What in the Heaven is a *wasp*?"
"The Empress died like a hundred years ago," Maybe says.
"Simpletons! I'm talking about Empress II, your protectorate, your gracious—"
"Yeah, yeah, her. She's super dead," Maybe says. She's smiling a little, confused.
"This is slander. Highly against protocol. You will be hanged." It's hard not to giggle at his teenie-tiny voice.
There's another tiny sneeze from one of the twelve moles.
"Gesundheit," you say. "So, what do you do in the crystal mines?"
"We mine crystals, you dolt. Now, move aside: you'll make me lose count."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["But aren't you already in the crystal caverns?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Lose count of what?"]]You arrive at a little alley-end with a crate and a tablecloth laid over it. There's little paper lanterns strung up above you, plus the laundry of several houses. Eno pulls out a deck of cards and starts dealing them out haphazardly.
"Wait! Wait!" Ana says. "You gotta do the reading!"
"Oh right," Eno says, and he holds out the deck to you. "Okay, take six cards from anywhere."
"No, it's seven," says Ana, fixing her glasses.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Draw seven.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Draw six.]]
(set: $mice to "yes")"That was crazy!!" you say. "There were three of them!"
"It's all part of the job," she says with a smile. "Com'on, let's get out of here."
You walk forward through the city, following the paths down over the houses until you reach another crack in the rock like the one you entered through. This one looks down hundreds of feet over a vast, rolling meadow lit by glowing golden-yellow stones spread out on the cavern ceiling over the white, wavering grass. The strange colorlessness of the grass makes it look almost as if a frost has fallen over the expanse of the meadow. Off in the distance, the meadows begin to look like a big fluffy quilt, and beyond that they give way to massive, quilted mountains.
With the light coming from behind you through the black rock, you must look like two actors on a high balcony over an audience of hills.
Hanging in the center of it all, like a stalactite, is a cathedral made of polished golden stone or metal. Details impossible to discern on the layers that look as though they could rotate like a clock. The palatial structure of it hangs over a hole in the earth. As if it was lifted from the ground and soldered to the cavern roof.
"We're heading over there," says Maybe, pointing to the quilted mountains.
You're relieved, for some reason, that the cathedral isn't your destination.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Descend.]]
You look back up the stairs to the city. From this angle, in the black rock, it looks almost like the city was carved into a massive, limbless tree. Pathways stabbed into the wood, the tree itself suffocated by smog, hollowed by machines, gutted and petrified.
You walk for a long time through the meadow over the little hills, passing different patches of plants growing out of the white: blue violets, a patch of pumpkins, a cherry tree growing on a hill with scattered pink buds in the gold and black backdrop. You hear birdsong echoing in the cavern. Birdsong and the intangible cries of bats.
The hills roll up and down but you are unable to rid yourself of the feeling that you're spiraling down and down around whatever the center of this thing is. Like a planet in a gravity well, or a penny in one of those cool rotate-y things they have at the science museum.
At one point you stop briefly for lunch on the side of a wide, shallow lake. You sit in the edge of the white grass, where it meets the cracked dirt around the reservoir. You share a sandwich, completely hidden in the stalks.
"Here, I should have given you this earlier," Maybe says, pulling out a simple crossbow and a handful of bolts.(set: $crossbow to "yes")
"Oh, that's okay, I don't—"
"No, please take it. You should be able to defend yourself at least."
You take it, somewhat reluctantly, but turning the mechanism in your hands and testing it.
In the area around the lake, there are gradated zones by the reservoir where water once was, but you can only tell by the height of the grass and the cracks in the mud. Volcanic rocks are scattered like tombstones, worn weary by time and dotted like Swiss cheese. There are yellow trees (like black cottonwoods) which stand together with the pine trees like alpacas with flocks of sheep. There are three white stumps, like bleached masses of bone, smooth, tilted, and embedded in the earth. There is a whole fish skeleton (creepy), a glass jar with a snail shell, which is curved in perfect accordance with the golden ratio except for being cracked at the opening. Some of the rocks look burnt, almost, ghost-ish grey fading into tinted orange, and a red that’s gone black. Some rocks are cracked like checkers boards.
You walk down, and down, and down.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.->End of Chapter 2B]]End of Chapter 2/6.
"There was an age where I took worship
like raspberries and rolled it whole
between my teeth. Sometimes I still find
the seeds, little bloody dots in my gums."
"They will sign your name under each commandment . . .
you're not going to heaven . . . heaven isn't real . . .
nobody wears that in heaven."
—Iris Newlin, //Jealous Gods//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Oh. Uh. Huh. I'm sorry, but I couldn't save your game. Are you in a private browsing mode? Is your browser's storage full? Only God knows. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[What's a Devil to Do?->an old, red barn]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
"A what!?" you say.
"A demon core. A goddamn bomb," Priory says. "It might not kill you outright like a bullet, it'll take its time. It'll play with you like a cat on death's door, but sure as Heaven it'll kill you sooner or later if you turn that mechanism."
You look at him dumbfounded. "Why would the Madrigal give me a bomb?"
"That's between you and God." Azelion has her bow knocked and is pointing it straight at you. "Just go. Take your charms and leave."
"Breath of the Nadir . . . I thought they stopped makin those." Priory backs off.
You carefully put the bouncy-ball sized amulet around your neck and take Eno's star locket back from the table. The Core is cold against your skin.
Maybe takes your hand and the two of you run off together into the tall grass before the bandits can change their minds.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you slip away through the boulders to the north.]](Ekphrasis agrees to peace with the Demarchy only if you and Amari agree to steal the signal from the pillow fort, currently under Maybe's watch, though you haven't met Maybe yet.)
Ekphrasis paces in the throne room. “Some people believe that free will doesn’t exist. That we’re all just collections of atoms floating in the void, perfectly predictably. Even if your argument is reductionist like that, you can’t ignore quantum fluctuation. Wouldn’t that be so much simpler? Free will does exist, and it’s terrifying. Imagine having to create the world for yourself with every individual action. Every word in every paragraph of your life is a missed opportunity for optimization. It’s horrible. We do the best we can. Some of us at least. But we can do better. We can always do better.”
“I’m not going to lie to you, the artifact doesn’t belong to me. You would be stealing it. But what’s more important to you? Proving yourself worthy of your council’s trust or holding to some silly ideas about morals? It’s your choice. Your free choice.”
(text-colour:#a9434b)[Acceptance]
(text-colour:cyan)[>Refusal]
“Very well. You can at least be meat for the soldiers. And the silver one can be polished down for armaments. See? It really wasn’t a choice at all.” She strikes with sudden ferocity at the side of Samira’s head, sending them staggering backward with a metal clang. They land on their side with an impact that shatters the marble floor.
Ekphrasis lunges at you, and you barely manage to dodge. “That’s called a Hobson’s choice,” she says. “I learned that from a book series I read when I was about your age.”
You manage to unsheathe your dagger and block the Queen’s downward strike, but the force of her blow knocks the weapon out of your hands.
“A Hobson’s choice is a choice with only one real answer—like: give me your wallet or I’ll blow your brains out. But even then—” she strikes again, hitting your left arm on the shoulder so hard it goes limp. “We still have a choice. A little opportunity for resistance.”
She circles you, tossing the telescoping staff in her hand. “Even when your daily existence is controlled in every way it is possible for a human to control another person’s life—you live in a constantly surveilled camp, for instance, think Frankle—you still have that 0.01% of a choice. You can try to resist in every little way. Do you resist? Constantly? Or do you give up and do what seems easiest. And, you know, I just. Hate that. So much.”
She dives forward, and with each sentence she swings her staff at you, smacking you in the wrist, the chest, the shin. “Because that 0.1% makes it impossible to blame your suffering on Circumstances. You always have a choice. You and only you are the actor responsible for your suffering.”
Your entire body is wailing with the effort of staying on your feet. “You’re always to blame,” she says. “Even if you were never given the tools to make the right decisions, you’re still to blame. Doesn’t that just //kill// you?”
With a final lunge, she kicks down at you, square in the chest. With the breath forced out of you, reeling from the cumulative blows, you land on the ground a few feet from Samira.
“And speaking of choice,” she says, “why do the higher-ups always send children to fight their wars? It’s pathetic.” With that, the Queen takes a few steps forward until she’s standing over Sam. She kneels down next to them, folding up her staff and slipping it in her jacket pocket.
Sam struggles to rise to their feet, but Ekphrasis takes a firm hold of their neck and forces them back to the floor.
“I’ll admit, I don’t know how to kill you, little warrior,” she says. “I’m sure we can find a way to make you useful. But you—” she turns to your struggling body. “You’re flesh and blood. I can work with that.”
Ekphrasis stands and flicks her staff to its full length. Drawing back, she prepares to (text-colour:#a9434b)[[bring her staff down through your sternum.]]
And in the second before she can, there is a *tink* and the hexagonal window smashes open. Something sharp and metallic catches Ekphrasis around the hand, pinning her to the wall. Two figures leap through the window. One is tall and muscular, with a white dress suit and skin of grey, sparkling metal like Sam’s. The other is short but commanding, with mossy skin and hair like the leaves of a strawberry. Around her hands are rotating strings of red orbs. She is hovering slightly off the ground with a wind-like energy. You recognize her instantly as the Magistrate, Ode’imin.
The other figure lands squarely on his feet in a defensive position, like a boxer holding two thin swords. His eyes flick away from Ekphrasis for a moment to where Samira lies dazed on the marble floor.
“Dad?” they whisper.
“Samarium—” He dashes over. Ode’imin circles around to support him at range.
Her eyes are locked with Ekphrasis. “Stand down, your majesty,” says the Magistrate. “You can’t win here.”
Ekphrasis tenses and breaks the rock holding her hand in place. She takes her staff in both hands. “You know—I don’t know about that,” she says.
She sprints toward where you and Amari are lying, but is held off by the Councilman. Three red orbs fly at the Queen from across the room. One catches her on the shoulder, but she deflects the other two.
As they trade more blows, even outnumbered, Ekphrasis is driving the two council members back further and further away from the center of the room where you and Amari are sprawled.
With strike after strike, Ekphrasis chips away Samarskite’s defenses, leaving shards of metal scattering the floor. In a last act of desperation, Ode’imin flings all of the remaining orbs of red at Ekphrasis and with a throwing motion, she sweeps the blue wind-like energy from her around feet and moves the energy around you and Amari in a cold hug. She drags her arms again and you are slid across the floor to the edge of the room by the open window.
“Go!” she says, her crinkled eyes fully open.
You stagger to your feet and lift Amari up to the windowsill. Ekphrasis has beaten back Sam’s father nearly to the window. With a final gust of wind, Ode’imin propels the four of you out the window, leaving Ekphrasis with a final swipe at nothing, breathing heavily, with a sullen, but oddly neutral look on her face.
As you float away on what seems like a solid sheet of wind, you can see the empty room fill with wasp soldiers, but all the while, Ekphrasis’s eyes are locked on yours, her figure growing steadily smaller as the palace retreats into the distance, but never losing their intensity.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Main Menu->start page]] "What for?" you say.
//$name, I'm so, so sorry.//
You look up. There is nothing but sky. You should be falling still, but there's nothing to indicate it. Just a black, pulsing void far below, a pupil. The core. Telos. You must be floating, since it's not getting any closer.
"Um. It's okay," you say. "You don't have to be so //so// sorry."
//You wouldn't say that if you'd known what I've done. And I could show you, but. Then you'd never forgive me.//
"I mean, I forgive pretty easily," you say. "One time Meila's little brother bit me like //really// hard on the arm, but I know he didn't know how much that hurts and he just wanted attention probably."
Staring at it, you can't decide if you think the black mote in the sky is more like a pupil or more like a heart. (The deeper you go, the more you see how much damage it’s done from only a few hundred years of working on us. The pipes and wires seem so old, rusted and jagged notches in the brain. Embedded so deep. Intentionally. As deep as they can dig. To make it seem like it’s always been like this. But: The metal is the stranger, not the dirt. You see that the core of our fractured world is a machine god who was once a person, too. A living heart with wires breaking its membranous, bloody tissue. That heart is the source of one thousand years of the most abhorrent suffering you can imagine. It is a god to the ones who worship it, like Linh. Like her mother. But it will make even their skin blister, it will make them blind, vomiting blood. That heart was once a person. And it deserves to be loved, too.)
Yes, like an eyeball. "Eyeball" is a very funny word.
//Oh, you're so sweet, $name,// she says. Her voice sounds like she's crying happy tears, or somewhere between happy and sad. //I wish I could have protected you. I only wanted what was best for them. I wanted them to be strong enough to survive under his shadow. That shadow that leered like a smokestack. That totality.//
"The Emperor?" you ask.
//Yes, Telos. My grandfather,// she confirms. //Telos. The promise of perfection at the end of everything. That man who made time itself. Oh, $name. I worked so hard. I was so perfect for so long. I fought so hard to find heaven. When I saw heaven’s gates were closed, I built one in the earth. But I was blind. Heaven never helped anyone. It didn't make them stronger, it just made them build bigger walls around their tender hearts to keep the pain of working out. Look at the Huynhs, wearing their armor, backing themselves into corners. I don't know if they'll ever be able to take the armor off after all this.//
"I'm pretty sure it unfastens in the back."
//Oh, sweet one. You know, I did my very best to help them. All my children. I even transcended my body. But there's still suffering. I thought I was giving them a gift: magic, and light, and the transcendence of language barriers, but the radiation was still there, hurting everyone. It made your tiny body sicker than it could stand. I’m so sorry.//
"At least you realize it now."
//Oh, but I knew it before and I didn't do anything. What can you do? He's still watching us. He's inside me. Down there. And his fingers are still in everyone's throats. Can I show you something, $name? Before you go away?//
"Okay, gross. But, sure."
//Good, good. Then just sit for as long as you want.//
The sky coalesces. The world is a set of visions, a landscape, like a hologram, sound building on sight, then smell, warmth and the feeling of your limbs returning like a memory.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And you watch.]]
"You're welcome to stay with us as well, Linh. However long you want."
"That's okay," she says. "I wouldn't want to impose. I'm an adult. I'll get an apartment . . . I'll make a career." She fiddles with the salt shaker. "Oh God," she says. "That's not something I really want is it? That's so selfish, though, and not feasible. I'm so—"
"Don't you dare say 'lazy,'" your ama says.
Linh looks at her, and then looks down. "I always wanted to be a biochemical engineer. And, I mean, my mom kind of pushed us into the sciences. It was really rewarding. But I'm not sure if that's something I ever actually wanted to do. But you can't not have a job, right? Our mom just wanted what was best for us. She was looking out for us by making us tough and, and smart and—"
"Do you want to work in our pottery studio?" I asked.
Linh looks taken aback, then says, "I've never done something like that before."
"It's not easy," I said. "But you work with your hands. You make art."
"I'm really not an artist."
"Everyone is an artist," I said (if you'd pardon a cliché). "But, again, it's really not easy."
"I do appreciate a challenge," she says.
There's no one ideal solution. It doesn't have to be art. But you should be allowed to have time to explore. As much time as you need.
Other forms of intelligence than academic
Other forms of success than financialEnd of Chapter 5/6.
“I am feeling burdened
and I taste milk . . .
I mumble, ‘Please,
please run away.’
But it lives where I live.”
—Hannah Gamble, //The Average Fourth Grader . . . //
“ . . . how differently do those clouds glide across that lofty infinite sky! How was it I did not see that lofty sky before? And how happy I am to have found it at last! Yes! All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sky. There is nothing, nothing, but that. But even it does not exist, there is nothing but quiet and peace.”
—Leo Tolstoy, //War and Peace//
{(link:"Save game.")[
(if:(save-game:"Slot A"))[
Game saved!
](else: )[
Sorry, something prevented your game from being saved. Perhaps you are in a private browsing mode or your browser's storage is full. I don't actually have any idea what the problem is; I don't even know that much about computers. I actually never expected anyone to even see this error message. But, hey. Here we are. Are you doing all right? Are you drinking enough water?
]
]}
(text-colour:#4c6ef5)[[Check Inventory.->Inventory.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Nadir.->Jump.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
“I don’t expect you to understand this, but the older you get, the less safe the world becomes. It is a terrifying place. There are thousands of choices to make. Even if you have the faculty to make those choices, their consequences weigh on you forever. Where should I go to grad school? Should I go to live in Sweden or Japan? Should I propose to my boyfriend? And it’s not just the big decisions either—in fact, you can almost write those off if you want to. Each individual second is its own decision. And I’m sick of it. I want to live a virtuous life and I want someone or something to tell me exactly what that looks like or I don’t want to live at all.”
(Sorry, folks! She's straight!)
“I’ve seen how you think, $name, and I know you. You want the comfort of having every decision dictated for you. You want someone else to make all your decisions—even the small ones. I used to be like that. But the more I grew up, the more I realized there is no power in the adult world that can or will do that for you. I hated it so much. I distrusted my own instincts so much that I stopped myself from realizing *I* was the one in control. But that’s not enough.”
(And then she seeks perfection through ultimate knowledge, and we all know how that works out.)
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Main Menu->start page]] You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze8]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze3]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze3]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze9]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze8]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze8]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze14]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze14]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze14]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze14]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze13]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze13]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze13]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze13]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze11]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze11]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze11]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze11]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze12]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze12]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze12]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze12]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze11]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->Back..2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->Forth..2]]
You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze4]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze4]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze4]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze4]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->up.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze6]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->up.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze6]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->up.maze7]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze7]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze7]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze7]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->Climb the lapis stairs.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->up.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze6]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze6]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze9]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze9]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze9]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze9]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze9]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze10]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze10]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze10]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->Up.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->down.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->left.maze10]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->right.maze10]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]You are in a stone passage. It loops and echoes.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Up.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Down.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Left.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Right.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Back.->"Wait, that's not it."]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Forth.->"Wait, that's not it."]]Speedily and sneakily you run down the stone slope and weave through the smaller buildings outlying around the palace. The buildings are immensely compact, training grounds, storage houses, and quarters, presumably for housing workers or soldiers. There are not nearly enough wasps to even fill a tenth of the rooms you see.
You come to a set of stairs attached to the side of the main segment of the palace.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Climb the lapis stairs.]]"This is the deepest part of the world.
Bird don’t fly here,
but there is the sound of wings.
The smell, just a struggle in the earth
. . . Monsters hatch fully-grown from their eggs.
. . . A Christian, Oklahoma-shaped and melancholic,
caught at the entrance of a ditch . . ."
—Sy Hoahwah, //Typhoni//
"As a lamp, a cataract, a star in space, an illusion,
a dewdrop, a bubble, a dream, a flash of lightning
or a cloud, //so all that is produced should be seen.//"
—//Diamond Sutra// (trans. Red Pine, //Jan Westerhoff//).
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The Grand Subterranean Empire.->You are in elementary school.]]
(prepend:?sidebar)[(icon-fullscreen: )]
(After encountering the moles, like in the other timeline, you arrive at the Open Hands. Sam is speaking.)
"We come here on class trips sometimes. I love it, but there's a lot going on," Sam says as the path bottoms out at the edge of the city.
"Wait," you laugh, "so you //do// have school?"
"Yeah I still don't know what that is."
"You know, like 'scholar,' 'scholastic'? A place you go to learn?"
"Oh, well, we have //tutors// if that's what you mean. But there's not like a place where kids go to learn, you have to wait until you're older."
"Huh," you say.
You reach the base of the rock, where the buildings begin to grow dense and the streets bustle with people. After the silence and stillness of the lava tube, this vast, open city feels overwhelming.
You pass by an area of the city which seems to have recently been smashed to pieces. There is a massive hole in the ground in a park, and bricks and torn banners are strewn everywhere, as if some burrowing machine or animal was let loose. People are working on fixing the damage and collecting the debris.
You hear snippets of people's conversations. You try not to stare. One group strikes your attention, sitting on a park bench near the path. Sitting on it are three people: a toad-person with a straw hat, a humanoid bat, and a person with a mushroom where you might ordinarily think to put a head.
. . .
"Dmitri gets it," says the toad.
You pass out of earshot.
You pass a food stall, a blacksmith, a pottery shop, a jeweler. A place where blue-glowing charms are sold. You see the sign beside them is written in a language you have no grasp of, but you somehow can understand the meaning of the blocky characters. It calls the baubles "core-touched."
You look to Sam, holding their hand through the crowds. "We're going straight through to the white meadow, right, Sam?" you ask.
Sam doesn't answer. Their shoulders are tense, and their breath is shallow and quick.
"Are you okay?"
Again, there is no response. Gently, you take their arm and lead them out of the commotion. When the streets begin to quiet down, you turn into a dim ally. The pearlescent moonstone lamps light the blackstone, and prayer flags flicker between the windows.
"Sam? Are you okay?"
They nod, shakily, still breathing fast.
You sit down next to them on a crate and hug them gently from the side. Their skin is warm to the touch and their sproingy hair is sharp against your cheek, like how a cat’s tongue feels on your palm. Uncomfortable, but worth it.
And then you hear something else. Buzzing.
This is a horrible, oscillating buzz that nestles in your head. Like an insect on your ear, tickling, trying to wriggle its way into your brain.
A silhouette appears at the other end of the ally. It is a wasp the size of a person, her compound eyes shining in the unnatural light.
"I thought I smelled a human . . ." she says. She bends down, three times your height, her head, half the size of your body. "Hard to smell anything in this rotting sinkhole of a city."
"Who are you?" you ask.
"Me?" she says. "No one in particular. Not yet. The real question is who are you? And why didn't she mention there were more of you squirming around down here in the dark?"
. . .
"Who's she?" the wasp giggles. "You must be larval. The Queen. Oh you're so small, I could just eat you!"
"I would prefer not being eaten, if you don't mind."
"Oh! They have a preference in the matter!" Her mouth-parts freak you out. "Should I kill you now? Or should I deliver your paralyzed body to her in person? I don't think it would upset Vespiridae to see a corpse, seeing as she's killed hundreds and hundreds, but now . . . a human corpse is new."
Grab Sam and run.
"Oh, is that how it is?" she says.
"Are you a hatchling? Is that why you look so small and weak?"
"I'm 12!" you say.
"Twelve months? Twelve tones? What is it talking about." Her mouth-parts freak you out. "How would you like to meet the Queen?"
"Oh, the Wasp Queen? We have a message for her, actually."
"Oh?" she looks at you, then, for the first time, at Sam. "Oh I see, you're working with the Demarchy. The Queen isn't interested in your messages."
"This one's important," you say.
"Well, maybe I can be the judge of that, hm?"
You take out the scroll-case and unfurl the paper inside. Your voice is a little shaky, but you read, "*On behalf of the Demarchy by the Office of the Madrigal with approval from the Representative Council at the Subterranean Seat—*"
"Okay," she says, "I think I've made up my mind. I'll deliver your paralyzed body to the Queen rather than killing you outright. I don't think she would like a human corpse very much at all. Too icky."
Grab Sam and run.
"Oh, is that how it is?"
"Valor! Litany!" she shouts as you round the bend.
At the end of the street, there is a gap in the stone; the white grass of the meadow, and the rushing of some unseen river waver far below.
They catch you as the gap is nearly in reach. Three of them now, Antiphony's subordinates flanking to the left and right.
"Why is it . . . that you Demarchy bathylites always make things harder than they need to be?" Antiphony draws her sword and flicks it. It pulses green. "I bet you'll be cooperative when you're paralyzed." She lunges.
Sam dives in front of you, and the blade skitters off their skin. They grab the sword by the blade and yank Antiphony forward into a headbutt. "You're going to have to go through me first!" they shout.
"Please don't say things like that," you whisper.
Antiphony staggers. The other two wasps close in.
"We will go through you. We'll do it gladly," says Litany. Her sword, with a brief flash of sky blue, lights up orange, then white, heating the air around it like a wavering mirror. She swipes once, twice. Sam ducks out of the way.
"All you got?" Amari asks, arms open.
"Please, you are creating dramatic irony," you say.
With a flourish, Amari draws their sword. Litany's eyes flash in mock fear. She whispers, as if quoting something, "//Whatever shall we do? The boy has tempered steel too . . . //" And with a lateral swipe and a forward jab, she cuts Amari's sword off at the hilt and thrusts her searing blade into their chest. As Amari stumbles back in shock and falls to their knees, the wasp giggles, "//And then the devils knew their worth, as Heaven's will burns under earth.//"
Amari crumples to the ground.
"No!" Your blade is unsheathed. You take a step forward. The wasps look to you, suddenly terrified.
Your shadow seems ten times bigger.
It seems appropriate that they should be scared. They back up dropping their swords. It's still three on one, but you're not really thinking about that right now.
"Is that . . . ?" Valor says.
". . . a Kingfissure," Antiphony gasps.
From behind you . . .
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A Fissure . . . ]]There is a flurry of visions: You and Maybe getting ready for school in your living room. Luma giving Cirrus a hand-knit sweater. Your ama at the potter's wheel teaching Ekphrasis how to throw a lidded container. A vision from a thousand years ago: an angel child who you know must be Empress Apatite looking out her bedroom window, down over the meadow. Another sight, where her father stands behind her in the throne room, just a shadow of a man made sharp by the ten straight spires of his crown. The visions flow in and out of each other: You see Azaadi and Ode'imin as kids on the surface, a sunflower-girl, a raven-kid, and a couple humans playing with them in a ravine filled with junk. You see Azaadi as a teenager taking some kind of entrance exam, dull black quill over a blank page. You see Maybe taking a test too, multiplication tables, you think, and coming home scattering the shreds of a red 'F.' You see your moms playing a board game with Azaadi and the others. You see railroad tracks, and a grey, feeble crowd of goblins. You see devils at the feet of massive machines spurred by angels, dodging their erratic steps. You see yourself writing a thank you note to Angela for the paper crane necklace. You see a hole in the earth where the sun peeks through. You find yourself lingering on a particular one or two of these visions. You watch. And the wind blows right through you.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A cool beetle.->Maybe and Arden]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[A big hill.->You were fourteen]]
Like the brief expression of an individual wave above the ocean as it crashes down into the water, your self-ness fades. Soft in the aether like starlight. And you remember. You were the sun. You were the stars. You'd forgotten . . .
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")+(text-colour:#a9434b)[[[And that angelic blue fades to black.->The End.]]
]
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[Thanks for playing!
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Return to the Main Menu->start page]]]
"Who doesn't love a murder mystery?" she says. "It's really ingenious. For a game with no real backstory that I'm aware of the characters really pop out. They're memorable! Professor Per—uh—Persimmon. Colonel Custard. Ms. Peacock. The. The red one. Yeah that's them."
You look at her with bright eyes and sip your tea.
"It's been a while since I've played. We used to sneak up to the surface to play, the whole gang of us. I've been thinking about trying to make a Giesie equivalent. It seems like the idea would localize without too much trouble. They're really nothing more than colors and occupations. But who would the characters be? Ms. Ladybug? That's a little reductive having a character being defined only by her species. Doctor Diorite? Captain Karst?"
The heron squawks.
"Oh, right, that's a little vulgar, I'm sorry."
"We really don't have time for this," Maybe says.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["You've been to the surface?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What can you tell us about the signal?"->"What can you tell us about the signal?" Maybe says.]]"Oh yes!" she says, "When we first visited, the land was in the deep of winter. It felt so //real//. My sister and I thought the silver light on the ground was snow—that pale carpet on the stone—but it was moonlight."
"Where'd you go?"
"Oh, all over the earth. It was before the Fulcrum disaster had brought magic to the underground, so our minds were more open to learning new languages. I had a good aptitude for it, Ode'imin learned enough to get by, but never enough to understand the in-jokes the rest of us made with the humans. Even so, she was always the 'together' one. Even before my affliction."
"How so?"
"Min always excelled in the things the Empire placed highest value in. I don't hold that against her, I can't. But it made it difficult to stay sane in a world that demanded constant productivity. A world that shattered what was not 'perfection,' even under Empress II. It's a difficult thing when your own sister blames you, maybe unconsciously, for your failings."
"I was never organized, like she was, I was a poor scribe, I was always late, and always tired, especially after I got sick. I think that's why I reveled in being able to escape from the weight of the Empire by flying to the surface while she eventually thought of it as escapist, childhood fancy. There's no Indelible Cathedral looming above you up there, it's miraculous. And the sky. The sun. Our stones are a pale imitation of it.
You nod, dreamily.
"I think that's why it hurt so much when the stench of industrialization fogged your cities' streets as well." She sighs. "Being a prophet back then was a professional aspiration, and I never asked for it to be foisted upon me. I messed up constantly, I misfiled things, so much that Min thought I was doing it on purpose. She was jealous that I had the opportunity, but I never wanted to sell my craft. Is it not enough simply to exist? To feel life in all its joys and hold each other through the pain?"
She stands up, and takes a step to the window, but then holds her head, swaying, immobile, like a tree. She falls back over into her chair. "Mm! Okay, never mind."
"Do you need something?" (if: $maybe is "prophet")[Maybe says.]
"Oh, no it's fine, I was going to open the window for Garrire, but he can do it himself just fine. Do you have other questions?"
You think. "What was your favorite place?"
"Oh, good. Well, so I suppose it was less about places and more about specific times and images. A tree on a hill with nothing but sky behind it. That's the most beautiful thing I can remember. Even the little things, like the cold and dark, had a different quality to them up there. Who knew the winter sky would be pink? Imagine that. In the middle of the desolation of winter, the light still blushes the sky."
"And over it all," she continues, "The surface's potential for change! The grand act of seasons, even just the movement of weather. . . It's so much more dynamic than this old empire ever could be."
(if: $maybe is "prophet")[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision?'"->"What do you mean 'vision'?"2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What can you tell us about the signal?" Maybe says.]]
](if: $maybe is "alone")[
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What do you mean 'vision'?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What kind of tea is this?"]]
]
You reach the bottom.(set: $maybe to "alone")
The passage continues here (what you believe to be the passage) almost perfectly cylindrical, strange stone-algae structure, green and yellow, pitch black at the very end with a glassy sheen like a bird's eyeball. And then, when it blinks, you realize it is, actually, a giant bird's eyeball.
The heron clacks its beak and draws its head back from the tunnel opening, tilting its head at you, curious. As it does, it seems to shrink, until it has become the size of a regular blue heron, and then further, as it darts through a window in a little dirt hut on the side of the cavern.
You look around.
The water from above pools here in the cavern beyond, wide and deep in a grove of quivering aspens. Their roots all lean toward the center of the grassy chamber, and their trunks all lean away, like a wicker basket trembling in the wind, bright yellow leaves.
On the far side of the chamber the path keeps going straight on at a downward angle, and the little stream of water follows alongside it.
Off to the side, where the heron flew, there is a little hut built into the wall, with a garden growing around it. A person's voice, like rocks in the river, singing:
//I've been waiting all the day long
To see the light in your eyes//
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Investigate the hut.]]"Ah, yes: this is Garrire," Azaadi says. "Although I like to call him Gary."
The heron hops down from her shoulder. You can't tell if your vision is still playing tricks on you, or if the tiny heron is now properly heron-sized, standing on the floor. He clacks his beak.
"I think he prefers his full name, though."
"He's a cutie," says Maybe. "Do you have any more fishes for me to feed him?"
Azaadi tosses her a fish-smelling sack. "Garrire and I met quite a long time ago. He actually led me to this place when it was a bustling production center, kind of a last bastion of industry after the Fulcrum disaster. Now it's just us and the fairy goblins. Although I still have to stop him from eating them on occasion."
"Fairy goblins?" you ask.
"Oh, right! You might see them flitting about. But they like to keep hidden."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the signal?"->"Everyone keeps . . . what's the signal?"]]"Ah, the demon core," Azaadi says.
"You know about it?"
"I know about lots of things," she says. "Sorry, that was insanely cryptic. I know about your demon core from you having told me about your demon core."
"That's? Not much less cryptic?" you say.
"I bet you're wondering why the Madrigal would give you such a thing."
"Yes..."
"My sister has very little respect for the value of individual lives," Azaadi says. "I've known about this for years, and even I still can't believe she did that. It's dangerous. It could have gone so badly. No. It doesn't matter how it could have gone. Ode'imin intended to sacrifice you in her ploy to kill Vespiridae. She stooped just as low as Ekphrasis and she still doesn't even know what she intends to do with about the signal. Anyway. If you would allow me, I can deactivate it," she looks to you.
"Of course," you say.
She stands up from the chair with an immense effort and halts, swaying at the edge of the table, setting her hands down on its frame to brace herself. She looks for a moment as though she's going to pass out, but takes a minute to breathe slowly, in and out, before moving again.
She picks the orb up gently by its center mass. She focuses on it for a moment, drawing her strength. The blue glow fades from the amulet, and it becomes a dull, round rock.
"That should do it." She puts the rock on the table. "What were we talking about?"
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Your sister?"]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["This is very good tea."->"It's very good."]]
(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")"The demon core?" Azaadi asks.
"You know about it?"
"I know about lots of things," she says. "Sorry, that was insanely cryptic. I know about your demon core from you having told me about your demon core."
"That's? Not much less cryptic?" you say.
"Gadolin didn't know what to do with it," Maybe says.
"I bet you're wondering why the Madrigal would give you such a thing."
"Yeah..."
"My sister has very little respect for the value of individual lives," Azaadi says. "I've known about this for years, and even I still can't believe she did that. It's dangerous. It could have gone so badly. No. It doesn't matter how it could have gone. Ode'imin intended to sacrifice you in her ploy to kill Vespiridae. She stooped as low as Ekphrasis and she still doesn't even know what she intends to do with about the signal. Anyway. If you would allow me, I can deactivate it," she looks to you.
"Of course," you say.
She stands up from the chair with an immense effort and halts, swaying at the edge of the table, setting her hands down on its frame to brace herself. She looks for a moment as though she's going to pass out, but takes a minute to breathe slowly, in and out, before moving again.
She picks the orb up gently by its center mass. She focuses on it for a moment, drawing her strength. The blue glow fades from the amulet, and it becomes a dull, round rock.
"That should do it." She puts the rock on the table. "What were we talking about?" (set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["What's the signal?"->"Where even to begin . . ."]]She leans back in her chair. "Where even to begin . . ." she says. "Hm. There were once many, many signals produced by the Chorus of Progression when the Giesie was an Empire. This was before even my time, of course: six hundred years ago. The signals were a gift from Empress Corundum to all the inhabitants of the empire as a way of uniting her subjects and their various local regents. You may see, if you look closely at a map of the Giesie, the broken system of tracks that runs in a circle within the great central cavern."
"Corundum . . . that's Empress II?" you ask.
"That's right," she says.
Maybe paces around the room.
"It was an efficient system," Azaadi says, "like everything in the Empire. But it all collapsed after the cataclysm. Do you remember how Maybe was able to summon Spandrels with the noise maker frog?"
"I do," you say.
"The signal is very similar, but far more powerful. After the Revolution of Open Hands, the Demarchy was formed and the signals that called the gods were all but destroyed."
"Gods?" you ask.
"Enormous metal beasts," Azaadi says. "The Divine Populace, for one. People called the things "trains," like those metal beasts they have on the surface. In the days of the Empire, they were ascribed a kind of divinity and so they were called gods, but they were more like . . . marionette puppets."
"Like the Oneiros card?" Maybe says.
"Exactly. I think that's even where that idea comes from. Beings controlled by outside agents, constrained by rigid schedules, presented always with binary choices which the operators made for them. And yet, they were so immensely powerful that they were regarded as divine—machine gods—pillars of the industrialized world. They were both the Empire and Corundum's greatest pride, and their greatest point of failing."
"What does that have to do with the signal?" Maybe asks.
"Signals bid the trains to move. There was only one in operation on the day of the Nadir catastrophe, and so there is only one left standing on the tracks, dormant. If it were ever to run again, it would return to the Fulcrum, bursting apart the seams of the great repository and destroying the Assembly and all of its inhabitants utterly. This is why you must stop Ekphrasis from using the signal."(set: $shortontime to "false")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["Dang," you say.->"Thank you," you say.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[["So, your sister is Ode'imin?"->"Your sister?"2]]In a high, black alcove on the outskirts of the great meadow, Maybe is sitting beside a person, about her size, bright body of fire, similarly armored, making the black rock radiant. Maybe is looking down on the plains below with a spyglass. There's a crown of buttercups in her short, black hair, braided in from the back.
"Wat! Whadyou //mean// you've never heard of jinx-one-two-three-you-owe-me-a-soda?"
"What's a soda?" Arden says.
"Soda??" Maybe says. "You really don't have //anything// down here."
She catches movement out of the corner of her eye. A massive, gold-plated armadillo emerges from the lake, spilling water off its shell. Its immense body rivals the height of a nearby stand of yellow cottonwoods. It limps away, disoriented.
"There's one," Maybe says.
"Which way is it headed?"
"Southwest. To the chalk burrows."
Arden jots down something in his notebook and looks back up. "Do you wanna play another round?"
"Yeah." She chucks her spyglass in a satchel. You realize her armor is a different color—brighter, less cuts and scuffs. There are fewer pouches around her waist too, just a fistfull of funny-looking radishes, a light green gem, and a string of ammonites. Her spear is different too: a lighter wood, like bamboo. It's identical Arden's.
"Half the deck each this time, so remember to play more of a long game, yeah?" he says.
"Uhg," Maybe says. She divides her cards into three piles and lays two of them face down. Arden does the same.
"I've got the Amber Eye so I go first. Buttercup festival and . . . Heron Song."
"Song of Unity."
"A long game! You gotta play a long game!" Arden giggles. "You'll never win if you dump your best stuff in every battle. If you want to win the game, you can't win every battle."
"Fine. Two of Ants. One of Wheels."
"I mean," he says, "don't tank yourself either."
Maybe gesticulates wildly. "I'll kill you for real!!!"
Arden laughs.
"Just take it, //Ardent//," she says.
Arden takes the cards. "Hear that?"
"If you're gloating because you're about the play Confidence, I will blow both of us up with these tiny grenades right now."
"No, no: I think the armadillo is coming back," he sits up and shuffles to the edge. Maybe slides on her belly over beside him and looks down through the glass, feeling Arden's warmth even from a few feet away.
A giant green stag beetle, similarly sized to the armadillo, tumbles out of a tunnel in the soft red clay below them. Caked in the red clay, it clambers forward like a delicate machine, stumbling clumsily over the boulders.
It submerges itself in the lake, and with a massive shake, the water churns under the surface. When it comes out on the other side, its carapace shines like a gemstone in the strange light.
Maybe's eyes are lit up with wonder. "You know," she says. "I think I get it. Why sunflower captain lady assigned us this watch."
"Yeah?" Arden says.
"It's some kind of dumb life lesson. Mainly it's boring as hell, but sometimes you get to see really cool things."
"Is it better than um. What'd you call it?"
"Writing English essays? Like a trillion-million-billion times better. Billion million zillion nonillion."
Arden laughs. "That's a lot of times better."
"What's that thing the prophet said? Like, "it's a wonder even to be alive"? I think I get it now. I like that."
"Me too," her friend says.
And they sit there. Just breathing.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[And that angelic blue fades to black.->And you watch.]]
Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $firsty to "yes")
(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables (2):(set: $anam to "yes")
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $firsty to "yes")
(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $gobdob to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $gobdob to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $pall to "yes")
(set: $pally to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]]
(set: $laby to "yes")
(set: $pally to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.->Sidewalk chalk.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.->An echinacea flower.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.->The paper crane necklace.2]]
(set: $final to "nadir")
(set: $noon to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.->Sidewalk chalk.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.->An echinacea flower.2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.->The paper crane necklace.2]]
(set: $final to "moonstone")And when you stood up, and came to the kitchen, you were ready. You weren't obligated to forgive her, but you did. I think that corner of the world was a little better because of it, because of your open hands.
And it took Linh and Maybe quite a while to get to the point where they ought to have had been as sisters from the beginning. But there was one day, in early October, I think, when I saw them sitting side by side on the porch.
(But, we're getting ahead of ourselves.) When Azaadi and Ode'imin, Cirrus, Luma, and everyone helped you back to the surface in the morning, we were overjoyed. Astounded? I'm not sure if that's the right word. I don't really know how to describe the fear we had of losing you, gone without a trace for nearly a day. We almost couldn't believe our eyes when you showed up on the porch again. We also couldn't believe our eyes for other reasons (all your friends from the underground were a little hard to process). I personally didn't fully believe it until we invited Maybe and Linh to permanently move in with us.
I know I should have believed you, and my eyes, immediately, but something about seeing people who aren't quite human kind of makes you question your senses. But when it became normal, when we had Maybe and Linh, two kids who somehow teleported from South Dakota, living with us and talking with the utmost earnestness about goblins and angels and giant cavern-roaming monsters, we accepted it.
It was a wonder to meet all your new friends. And to continue seeing them, and setting up play-dates after Ode'imin talked about loosening the border strictures. The language barrier on the surface frustrated you, especially with the mice children, who spoke too quickly to parse even when you learned to speak to them without Azaadi translating. And we were hesitant at first to let you return to the Giesie without our supervision, but your ama ultimately convinced me that it wasn't much different than sending you off to school, so long as you had an adult's supervision and promised to stay far far away from giant monsters and ancient death-traps.
And there is no end to the story, because we kept on living.
You and Maybe got ready for school in the morning when the fall came around. You caught bugs. You played in the snow. Your ama taught Linh how to throw a pot. We played board games with Azaadi.
You kept on living. And the wind blew right through you.
As for Maybe and Linh, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[it took a while, but one day I heard it.]]
The trees were bright red.
And I heard Linh say, "I'm not sure I've said this before. I love you, Maybe."
And Maybe giggled and clutched her sister's hand on the (somewhat dusty, but smooth, sun-warped) wood of the porch. Inhaling in the autumn.
And she said, "Well, I love you //definitely//."
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The End.]]And you rode with Maybe and your ama, at a steady crawl so that your friends could follow. Maybe was briefly roused from sleep as the car started moving, and she looked up, half-startled from resting, but felt your warmth and nestled into you like a pile of laundry, her head resting on your lap.
I was so relieved when I saw you were okay. I don't really know how to describe the fear we had of losing you, gone without a trace for the whole day. We almost couldn't believe our eyes when you showed up on the porch again. We also couldn't believe our eyes for other reasons (all your friends from the underground were a little hard to process). I personally didn't fully believe it until we invited Maybe and Linh to permanently move in with us.
I know I should have believed you, and my eyes, immediately, but something about seeing people who aren't quite human kind of makes you question your senses. But, when it became normal, when we had Maybe and Linh, two kids who somehow teleported from South Dakota, living with us and talking with the utmost earnestness about goblins and angels and giant cavern-roaming monsters, we accepted it.
It was a wonder to meet all your new friends. And to continue seeing them, and setting up play-dates after Ode'imin talked about loosening the border strictures. The language barrier on the surface frustrated you, especially with the mice children, who spoke too quickly to parse even when you learned to speak to them without Azaadi translating. And we were hesitant at first to let you return to the Giesie without our supervision, but your ama ultimately convinced me that it wasn't much different than sending you off to school, so long as you had an adult's supervision and promised to stay far far away from giant monsters and ancient death-traps.
And there is no end to the story, because we kept on living.
You and Maybe got ready for school in the morning when the fall came around. You caught bugs. You played in the snow. Your ama taught Linh how to throw a pot. We played board games with Azaadi.
You kept on living. And the wind blew right through you.
It took Linh and Maybe quite a while to get to the point where they ought to have had been as sisters from the beginning. But there was one day, in early October, I think, when I saw them sitting side by side on the porch.
As for Maybe and Linh, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[it took a while, but one day I heard it.]]
And you showed them the way.
I was so relieved when I saw you were okay. I don't really know how to describe the fear we had of losing you, gone without a trace for the whole day. We almost couldn't believe our eyes when you showed up on the porch again. We also couldn't believe our eyes for other reasons (all your friends from the underground were a little hard to process). I personally didn't fully believe it until we invited Maybe and Linh to permanently move in with us.
I know I should have believed you, and my eyes, immediately, but something about seeing people who aren't quite human kind of makes you question your senses. But, when it became normal, when we had Maybe and Linh, two kids who somehow teleported from South Dakota, living with us and talking with the utmost earnestness about goblins and angels and giant cavern-roaming monsters, we accepted it.
It was a wonder to meet all your new friends. And to continue seeing them, and setting up play-dates after Ode'imin talked about loosening the border strictures. The language barrier on the surface frustrated you, especially with the mice children, who spoke too quickly to parse even when you learned to speak to them without Azaadi translating. And we were hesitant at first to let you return to the Giesie without our supervision, but your ama ultimately convinced me that it wasn't much different than sending you off to school, so long as you had an adult's supervision and promised to stay far far away from giant monsters and ancient death-traps.
And there is no end to the story, because we kept on living.
You and Maybe got ready for school in the morning when the fall came around. You caught bugs. You played in the snow. Your ama taught Linh how to throw a pot. We played board games with Azaadi.
You kept on living. And the wind blew right through you.
It took Linh and Maybe quite a while to get to the point where they ought to have had been as sisters from the beginning. But there was one day, in early October, I think, when I saw them sitting side by side on the porch.
As for Maybe and Linh, (text-colour:#a9434b)[[it took a while, but one day I heard it.]]
(set: $chalk to "yes")Did you take the first passage or the second passage?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The first.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The second.]] (set: $pocket to "flower")Did you take the first passage or the second passage?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The first.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The second.]] (set: $pocket to "paper cranes")Did you take the first passage or the second passage?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The first.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The second.]] (set: $crystalroom to "true")(set: $compass to "yes")(set: $kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego")Did you stay hidden or were you seen by Luma and Cirrus?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I stayed hidden.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I was seen.]](set: $crystalroom to "true")(set: $kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego")(set: $compass to "no")Did you stay hidden or were you seen by Luma and Cirrus?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I stayed hidden.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I was seen.]](set: $library to "no")(if: $nonmin is "yes")[(set: $nonmina to "yes")](if: $crystalroom is "true")[(set: $nonmina to "only once")](if: $gobdob is "yes")[(set:$crossbow to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$crystalcaverns to "yes",$bleeding to "yes",$moles to "yes",$keepmoving to "true",$frogshown to "hell yeah",$drowningfearknown to "yes",$chain to "yes",$wetclothes to "yes",$wet to "yes",$crystalroom to "true",$kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego",$Saves to "Slot A")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.->End of Chapter 2B]]](if: $firsty is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1B.]]](if: $witchy is "yes")[(set:$crossbow to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$crystalcaverns to "yes",$bleeding to "yes",$moles to "yes",$keepmoving to "true",$frogshown to "hell yeah",$drowningfearknown to "yes",$chain to "yes",$wetclothes to "yes",$wet to "yes",$crystalroom to "true",$kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego")Did you go through the corn maze and meet the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around.]]](if: $pally is "yes")[(set:$crossbow to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$crystalcaverns to "yes",$bleeding to "yes",$moles to "yes",$keepmoving to "true",$frogshown to "hell yeah",$drowningfearknown to "yes",$chain to "yes",$wetclothes to "yes",$wet to "yes",$crystalroom to "true",$kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego",$Saves to "Slot A")Did you go through the corn maze and see the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around.]]](if: $noon is "yes")[(set:$crossbow to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$crystalcaverns to "yes",$bleeding to "yes",$moles to "yes",$keepmoving to "true",$frogshown to "hell yeah",$drowningfearknown to "yes",$chain to "yes",$wetclothes to "yes",$wet to "yes",$crystalroom to "true",$kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego",$Saves to "Slot A")Did you go through the corn maze and see the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around.]]]
(set: $library to "yes")Were you brought before the council or did you escape beforehand?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I escaped.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[I was brought before the council.]](if: $nonmin is "yes")[(set: $nonmina to "yes")](if: $crystalroom is "true")[(set: $nonmina to "only once")](if: $gobdob is "yes")[(set:$crossbow to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$crystalcaverns to "yes",$bleeding to "yes",$moles to "yes",$keepmoving to "true",$frogshown to "hell yeah",$drowningfearknown to "yes",$chain to "yes",$wetclothes to "yes",$wet to "yes",$crystalroom to "true",$kasjhfkjdh to "yeeeego")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.->End of Chapter 2B]]](if: $firsty is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1B.]]](if: $pally is "yes")[Did you go through the corn maze and meet the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around.]]]
(set: $breathofthenadir to "yes")(if: $gobdob is "yes")[(set:$drowningfearknown to "yes",$frogshownone to "yes",$notwet to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$onyourown to "yes",$goblindocks to "no sir",$herring to "yes",$chain to "yes")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 2.]]](if: $firsty is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 1.->End of Chapter 1A.]]](if: $pally is "yes")[(set:$drowningfearknown to "yes",$frogshownone to "yes",$notwet to "yes",$charmed to "yes",$mice to "yes",$onyourown to "yes",$goblindocks to "no sir",$herring to "yes",$chain to "yes")Did you go through the corn maze and meet the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around.]]]
(set: $witchy to "yes")(set: $name to (prompt: "What did we name you?", "Willow"))Set your variables:
What did you bring?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Sidewalk chalk.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[An echinacea flower.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[The paper crane necklace.]] (if: $wet is "yes")[(set: $nobody to "yes")](else:)[(set: $keeperlightstheway to "yes")](set: $barn to "yes")(if: $witchy is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3B.]]](if: $pall is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.]]](if: $laby is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4B.]]](set:$pillowparty to "this place on fire",$prioryhelps to "yes",$Maybesfightin to "yes",$bandit to "yes")Did you play Oneiros?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->YesOneiros]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->NoOneiros]]Did you learn about the Amulet?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesamulet]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.]](set:$pillowparty to "this place on fire",$prioryhelps to "yes",$Maybesfightin to "yes",$bandit to "yes")Did you pursue the Wasp Queen?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen]]Did you pursue the Wasp Queen?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen]](set: $charmed to "no")(set: $breathofthenadir to "give")Did you pursue the Wasp Queen?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen]](set: $stupid to "true")(if: $witchy is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3C.]]](if: $pall is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.]]](if: $laby is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4B.]]](if: $witchy is "yes")[(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 3.->End of Chapter 3A.]]](if: $pall is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.]]](if: $laby is "yes")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 4.->End of Chapter 4B.]]]Did you pursue the Wasp Queen out the window at Fort Oreiller?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen2]](set: $chalk to "yes")Did you pursue the Wasp Queen out the window at Fort Oreiller?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen2]](set: $pocket to "flower")Did you pursue the Wasp Queen out the window at Fort Oreiller?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Yes.->yesqueen2]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[No.->noqueen2]](set: $pocket to "paper cranes")(set: $compass to "yes")(set: $chain to "yes")(set: $wetclothes to "yes")(set: $charmed to "yes")(set: $herring to "yes")(set: $jade to "yes")(set: $sap to "yes")(set: $crossbow to "yes")(if: $final is "nadir")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.]]](if: $final is "moonstone")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.->The moon.]]](set: $stupid to "true")(set: $compass to "yes")(set: $chain to "yes")(set: $wetclothes to "yes")(set: $charmed to "yes")(set: $herring to "yes")(set: $jade to "yes")(set: $sap to "yes")(set: $crossbow to "yes")(if: $final is "nadir")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.]]](if: $final is "moonstone")[(set: $breathofthenadir to "gone")(set: $mice to "yes")Did you pass through the crystal mines or pass through Open Hands first and encounter the Church?
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Crystal mines.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Open Hands.]]]Did you go through the corn maze and meet the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?(set: $wet to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through and met the little goblin.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around and met Priory.]] Did you go through the corn maze and meet the goblin or go around and meet priory and his bandits?(set: $notwet to "yes")
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went through and met the little goblin.]]
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[We went around and met Priory.]] (text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.->The moon.]](set: $barn to "yes")(text-colour:#a9434b)[[End of Chapter 5.->The moon.]](set: $bandit to "yes")Linh helps Maybe to her feet. "I'm so sorry. I've been hurting you this whole time, haven't I?"
Maybe just nods. Linh goes to hug her, but Maybe steps back, and she stops.
"Give her a little space," you murmur.
She steps over to Linh, and puts a gentle, stone hand on her shoulder. "Thank you," she says.
"What?? Wh—" says Linh, drawing back. "Why are you thanking me? I killed people. I almost just killed my //sister//."
"But you stopped," Azaadi says. "At a crucial moment. There are ways you can repair the damage that you caused. But first, you need to repair your own internal damage."
"I thought I was helping her. This whole time," Linh says.
"Do you understand, in a deep sense, why you weren't? Why being hard on yourself is the same as being hard on other people?"
"I . . . don't. But I promise to listen to her. Listen to Maybe."
"Then you're on the right path," she says. (open-url: "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t171PBWSRKeYidFCo_b8KjoK3UNC3w6f/view?usp=sharing")https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t171PBWSRKeYidFCo_b8KjoK3UNC3w6f/view?usp=sharing
This link opens an external page.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Return from whence thy came.->start page]](open-url: "https://www.enchantedlearning.com/geology/rocks/glossary/indexs.shtml")https://www.enchantedlearning.com/geology/rocks/glossary/indexs.shtml
This link opens an external page. This counts as a citation, right? I used this page a lot to come up with stand-ins for curse words.
(text-colour:#a9434b)[[Return from whence thy came.->start page]]