A path stretches out before you. It is dappled by the cool shade of semi-translucent leaves. You can perfectly make out multiple destinations to where the path branches.
"So, what are you gonna pick"
A figure, ghostly, scarcely even an outline, holds a hand of cards. It seems to be looking at them in contemplation. Its hard to tell, though. They might not know the rules, or what to do with the cards.
It contemplates a moment longer, and then vanishes, leaving the cards to float behind.
*You have left the game.*
"Ah... dang. You left."
There doesn't seem to be a correct way to feel about this.
"😥."
The colourful image floats in nothigness for a moment, before it vanishes too.
"I was looking forward to playing with someone. I do feel bad for those cards though... I bet they were awesome cards."
You cannot make out what is on the cards. Was it an image? Or was it a lot of text? You can't tell. Its a swirling distortion of black and colour. You can't tell what that colour was, though. Maybe a really dark purple? It shimmers with pearlescensce, creating a holographic effect as if a rainbow patina of light is coming right out of the cards.
"It might sound like I'm complaining, but I can't even look at those cards! I guess I'll have to draw my own..."
A hand of nine cards. It seems like pretty useless stuff. There's something in there that glimmers slightly with embellishment, however, suggesting some sort of rarity ranking. Your cards were probably rare.
"Hmm... I think I'll discard two of them. That way I can see more of the map, right? ...Right?"
While you don't quite understand the rules of the game, you vaguely feel that this would be fair. It was probably in the rules. You didn't read much of them, but that rule reminds you of a part from the beginning.
"I mean, you get +2 to your starting stats anyway, since discarding cards means I gain Initiative... I think."
It does.
"Right. So now, I can... woah. Thats looks cool."
The path begins at a bonfire, on the nearest side of the board that's dimly lit. The fire shines in the gloom, an ornate sword pierced into its embers standing strong against the darkness.
Monsters are lurking in the shadows. The fire, while mystical, is low, and doesn't provide a high enough light level to see them.
The path heads away from the bonfire, snaking into daylight and then branching under the trees. A piece on the board draws your attention -- a deer, a strong buck with shadowed musculature and intricate horns with delicate vines resting within them. The workmanship of this figurine seems impossible.
The deer stands at a nexus point, a cricle where other paths meet. These paths are not visible yet.
At a second nexus point lies a six-sided die. The edges are clear, while within glows a dazzling purple eyeball. It's like an image inside a crystal, with colours so vivid that the black printed circle beneath and around it seems darker in contrast.
Somewhere in the room around you, you see a small metal-topped pedestal plugged into the wall, with buttons for RGB lights on the cable. It looks expensive. The eyeball in the cube floats in three dimensions, and would cath the LED light to fantastic effect while rotating.
"Yo, I want to roll those dice so bad..."
The last visible nexus on the board has a small tower standing up from it.
"Is that... a short pen?"
Indeed, it is, it seems, a pen. Matte black, hexagonal, and half the size of a regular pen, it stands perfectly upright in a holder placed on the board space. You pick it up to inspect it, and find markings along the length of each side. The sides have rulers for every measurement conversion. Not only that, but it has a precise stylus on the back end coated in a smooth gliding mesh. A pattern embossed onto this end, revealed by touch, indicates that this tip can be twisted off. Doing so, you find a screwdriver. Taking out the small hexagonal bit, secured by a magnet, you find an LED on the other side. Also a small symbol on the pocket clip shows that it has bluetooth.
"This. Pen. Is. Awesome!"
You carefully replace the pen on the board.
"I know what this is -- it's class options! I need to choose which one I move towards."
The wording seems strange to you -- but on closer inspection, yes, one can only move towards one of these spaces. This is because there are smaller spaces on the path leading up them. It strikes you how small they are, and how small the character figure is. Would you choose to have a bigger character model?
"Argh! I dont know which one to go for. That pen would be nice later, but I want to go for that die now."
Impossibly, the trees on the board, with their film-like, semi-translucent green leaves, rustle and sway in a non-existant breeze.
"I've got decision paralysis... my cards have so many effects. I don't know what to do!"
The room is silent, mounting frustration pulling at the air.
It is quite impolite to take too long over one turn. You set a timer.
ns 15.158.61.45da2
