inland or even across the sea to uncharted territories. Yet no matter how far and wide one traveled, the answers were always the same – no one knew where the cards came from.
Bracken himself had made an erstwhile attempt in his younger days to track down a card that actually depicted a dwarven hero, Stelk Rockcruncher. This was before he had actually learned to play the Game, and his sole interest in the beginning was to learn how humans had acquired such intimate knowledge of dwarven history. He purchased the card from a player, and followed the man's tale to contact the one from whom he had acquired the card. But of course, by the time his quest was completed, Bracken had been lured into actually learning the Game himself, and he was an avid player by the time he reached the final branch in his path. He managed to track the card back along a chain of seven individuals before he encountered a dead end, the final player just saying he had found the card on the street one day.
This, if anything, was the most consistent origin story that could be derived – the cards were “found”, implying that someone unknown was out there losing the cards and others were finding them. Not that this was the only story, but it did seem the most common.
Regardless the method of their creation or distribution, the cards seemed to be in enough abundance to be actively played in all major communities. Bracken had acquired a taste for the game during his time tracking Rockcruncher's card, and even here in Oaken Wood, he acquired the occasional new card from players who wandered through. Though he had yet to find one just lying upon the ground, he still had a fair selection of cards to play with and prided himself on his Game strategies.
The unique factor of the Game was that no two games were ever the same. The cards were not set and one player's deck of cards rarely resembled another's. Bracken had often wondered, with the popularity of the Game, why no one had ever tried to operate a business to profit full-time off of the Game, aside of course from the seemingly unprovoked reactions some representatives of the new Order had towards the Game. Yet, somehow, this idea never seemed to catch on the few times Bracken had witnessed it tried. There seemed an almost divine will to sabotage any one person who tried to capitalize off of the Game. And yet, in absence of profit, it was beyond Bracken's understanding how the creator of the Game, whoever that had been or currently was, could afford to continue to produce new cards to be played. And even more mysterious was how a card quality could be produced so that cards could endure for as long as they did. Some people claimed to have inherited cards from as long ago as their great grandsires! Surely not an inexpensive process...
Bracken had taught Nathaniel how to play when he was younger and the young man had proven an apt pupil, not to mention a challenging opponent. Yet despite his success with the Game, Nathaniel had never desired cards of his own. He played with his own deck created from Bracken's unused collection, but he had no desire to own a deck of his own. And as far as Bracken knew, he had been Nate's only opponent.
The dwarf leaned down and picked up the card, gasping as he did so. “What kind o' wizardry be this, then?”
In response, the woman stood and walked over to the pair, bringing her features for the first time into full light. Her hair was long, and hung loosely upon her shoulders, presumably cascading unseen some distance down her back. It's luster seemed to frame the delicate features of her face, though either man would have been hard pressed to identify what exactly about her features stood out the most. In truth, there was an almost masculine quality to her features that somehow only enhanced her feminine characteristics. Her face seemed almost out of proportion, as though some odd sculptor had crafted her face from a
Bracken himself had made an erstwhile attempt in his younger days to track down a card that actually depicted a dwarven hero, Stelk Rockcruncher. This was before he had actually learned to play the Game, and his sole interest in the beginning was to learn how humans had acquired such intimate knowledge of dwarven history. He purchased the card from a player, and followed the man's tale to contact the one from whom he had acquired the card. But of course, by the time his quest was completed, Bracken had been lured into actually learning the Game himself, and he was an avid player by the time he reached the final branch in his path. He managed to track the card back along a chain of seven individuals before he encountered a dead end, the final player just saying he had found the card on the street one day.
This, if anything, was the most consistent origin story that could be derived – the cards were “found”, implying that someone unknown was out there losing the cards and others were finding them. Not that this was the only story, but it did seem the most common.
Regardless the method of their creation or distribution, the cards seemed to be in enough abundance to be actively played in all major communities. Bracken had acquired a taste for the game during his time tracking Rockcruncher's card, and even here in Oaken Wood, he acquired the occasional new card from players who wandered through. Though he had yet to find one just lying upon the ground, he still had a fair selection of cards to play with and prided himself on his Game strategies.
The unique factor of the Game was that no two games were ever the same. The cards were not set and one player's deck of cards rarely resembled another's. Bracken had often wondered, with the popularity of the Game, why no one had ever tried to operate a business to profit full-time off of the Game, aside of course from the seemingly unprovoked reactions some representatives of the new Order had towards the Game. Yet, somehow, this idea never seemed to catch on the few times Bracken had witnessed it tried. There seemed an almost divine will to sabotage any one person who tried to capitalize off of the Game. And yet, in absence of profit, it was beyond Bracken's understanding how the creator of the Game, whoever that had been or currently was, could afford to continue to produce new cards to be played. And even more mysterious was how a card quality could be produced so that cards could endure for as long as they did. Some people claimed to have inherited cards from as long ago as their great grandsires! Surely not an inexpensive process...
Bracken had taught Nathaniel how to play when he was younger and the young man had proven an apt pupil, not to mention a challenging opponent. Yet despite his success with the Game, Nathaniel had never desired cards of his own. He played with his own deck created from Bracken's unused collection, but he had no desire to own a deck of his own. And as far as Bracken knew, he had been Nate's only opponent.
The dwarf leaned down and picked up the card, gasping as he did so. “What kind o' wizardry be this, then?”
In response, the woman stood and walked over to the pair, bringing her features for the first time into full light. Her hair was long, and hung loosely upon her shoulders, presumably cascading unseen some distance down her back. It's luster seemed to frame the delicate features of her face, though either man would have been hard pressed to identify what exactly about her features stood out the most. In truth, there was an almost masculine quality to her features that somehow only enhanced her feminine characteristics. Her face seemed almost out of proportion, as though some odd sculptor had crafted her face from a
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