Carnival

It is with a gleeful delight the Jesters and pranksters of Discordia welcome the arrival of the Carnival in town. This tradition all Lords must agree to permit into their land, before it can arrive. Once all formally allow the Carnival to travel to Discordia, it opens and a new game begins.

The Carnival, as you might know, sends its carnies and tents all over Otherworld and beyond. We’ve recorded appearances in Arcadia Prefecture, Maldrax Rift, Terminus, and a number of other fantastical realms like them. The Carnival comes to Discordia too, if you’d like. All it takes to visit is a simple nod from each Lord at the table.

Careful now. The Carnival is full of tricks and illusions. Once you agree to a Carnival game and the cards are dealt, the circus that unfolds cannot be reverted. The Carnival’s games and rides will keep spinning until a Royal Fortune is finally seen. Brace yourself for whacky weirdness of all sorts, and more games and rides to come in the future.

Carnie Boss

For those with an interest in the Castle of Nightmares, you may know a thing or two about the Carnival boss, Sid. Some years ago, I learned Sid’s real name is Psyprus, a fact I’m not sure means anything other than this spider clown goes by more than one name. They say he runs a motel in Maldrax too, for what it’s worth. So there’s that.

In simple terms, Sid is what’s known as a sick fuck. That’s the first point about him to be aware of. He isn’t the type to care who he spins up in his webs and eats. It could be his own carnies, or a local fortuneteller, or one of the Coven. Invariably, the rumor – by this time a well-established belief – is that Sid kidnaps people every once in a while, locks them in an underground cellar beneath his back office at the Carnival, and seals them in spidersilk.

You can imagine what happens to them then.

Well, if you play a Carnival game, and you decide you’re fed up with one of the enemy Royals, you can send a Royal to pay Sid the Five of Fortune and he’ll pay your enemy’s Court a visit tomorrow Eve. When the time comes, you’ll pluck the card free, and, if it’s a Royal, briefly show its face to the Lords. Then it’s face-down beside your Court and, for three Eves, it’ll stay bound up in Sid’s cocoon in his secret cellar.

Then Sid eats it. There’s nothing more to it. If you want to know why Sid eats people, you really will have to ask him, if you can find him.

Funhouse

You can imagine how happy and full of mischievous joy the Jester is when the Carnival comes to town. It’s the Jester’s favorite attraction. He never lets a chance for a spot of shenanigans go to waste. Especially not at the Carnival.

If the Jester gets his hands on any of the numbered Chaos Runes, he can cast the Rune and invoke its number to choose that quantity of cards to swap between Courts, the Twilight, or the Graveyard. Anywhere between two and ten cards can be swapped into or out of any Court, whether between Courts, the Twilight, or the Graveyard.

This splendiferous subterfuge of the Jester is known as a Funhouse. Something to observe about the Funhouse is that it isn’t exactly a reliable stratagem. Any Lord who commands their Jester to open one may or may not be sound of mind. To some Lords, chaos itself means more than money. You’ll have to remember this in your future games…

Wheel of Fortune

From the very first Eve the Carnival arrives, the infamous Wheel of Fortune begins to spin. At the outset of every move by every Lord, every other Lord draws a card. In this way, the Wheel of Fortune rotates luck around the table, casting cards from the Twilight by chance. This sort of speeds up the pace of the game, haphazardly shuffling cards into and out of hands every Eve.

With the Carnie Boss and Funhouse in the mix, the Carnival’s Wheel of Fortune makes for a grand old time in Discordia, like a little holiday. If you like, you could play a mixed game, as it were, combining the Carnival with other subgames like Syndicate, Coven, Oddballs, and the like.

The possibilities are endless!

Syndicate

In smoky backalleys on the edge of town, locked doors keep hidden coded whispers talking the same big game fat cats have been trying to win for years. The Syndicate had to get a cut of the action in Discordia. Cards… Dice… Money… How couldn’t they dip their fingers in for a little taste?

Neutrals, you might call them, only in it for the money. At least, that’s what they present themselves as. Is it all they’re after, in the end? The Syndicate are acquainted with the factions and misfits of Otherworld enough to know there’s something dark amiss in the far-off edges of time, society overshadowed by the faceless horror that birthed it and could and would devour it all the same.

What’s it going to be, then?

Don

See, it ain’t like that. We don’t play that game. You come talkin to me like that, you better bring a wad of cash with you to pay respects. I don’t care about all this Royal Nonsense. I call the shots.

Capeesh?

I want one thing and one thing only: Three Sevens.

You show me that, and it’s lights out for any goon who crosses you. You know what I mean? Sleepin with the fishes. Cement shoes. One-way ride. Paint a house. Through the eye. Whacked. Clipped. Popped. Burned. You dig me?

They’re gonna die. Okay?

Just show me three Sevens. But here’s the thing, wise guy. One a them’s gotta be the Seven of Fortune. You hear me? I like that card. Real pretty like. I want a nice diamond ring for my lucky lady. You dig me?

And before you get any funny ideas, I don’t do this shit no more than once a month. That’s thirty Eves. Count em.

Thirty Eves. Don’t bother me before then.

Okay, so.

There’s just one thing you gotta know about the business we’re in, if you wanna kick it with us:

If it’s bada bing, it’s bada boom.

Capeesh?

Consigliere

The Don always keeps a Consigliere close, his right-hand man he can count on to know anything and everything about anyone and everyone. The Don is willing to call upon his Consigliere for a Lord who pays the price. The Five of Fortune, delivered to the Syndicate with any King, and you’ll know five cards from any Court. Five.

Except you gotta pay the Five to the Don. You can’t pay it to no one else, see. It don’t work like that. Once that card is face-up, you gotta make a decision about who it’s gonna be paid to. If it’s the Don, then the info you wanna know is yours. Stat.

The Syndicate is, like the Carnival, Coven, and all the other altered states of Discordia, an entirely voluntary allowance of Lords. If you don’t want to deal in Syndicate currency, you don’t have to. If you do, well…

There’s an old saying on the streets…

“Don’t look twice. Always dress nice.”

Coven

In the far-off Twilight Woods that border the kingdom commons, a dark green murk stirs among the crooked trees and deathly bogs. There you’ll find no friendly faces, nor the tiniest squeak of a mouse. It’s a place forbidden to tread by every grandfather and grandmother, vague but vivid memories of sinister stories from childhood of the very real witches who walk the goetic path to this day, nestled quietly in remote cottages where few dare to go anymore. Ever since the witch trials ended, most people believed, foolishly, there was no such thing as evil witches. What lethal arrogance… You can tell when one walks past, the air stirs subtly with a blacker aura, only faintly visible to the naked eye, to those who pay attention.

The Royals never shied away from dabbling in witchcraft. Why forsake a potential weapon in a world ever at war? Not every saga of Discordia sees the Coven reemerge. When they do, it is when all Lords agree to bargain with the Coven.

This decision would be made prior to the first Eve, ideally. You could allow Coven into Discordia mid-game, though it isn’t common. Either way, once they’re summoned, they remain in play for the rest of the game, even if all Lords reject them. This is the way of witches. Once you’ve made a pact with them, it becomes eternal, your souls entangled in the matrix of spacetime forever. That is, unless you reveal a Royal Fortune in your grasp.

Coven Sorceress

Ever reading her Black Book, the Coven Sorceress commands the Coven within their cottage lair, stirring the bubbling cauldron in preparation for the Eve when they make their presence known. A wicked, wretched, vile old witch, she won’t hesitate to end any who cross her.

When the Nine of Shadow is revealed with any Queen to carry it, the Coven Sorceress is called to enter a Shadow Trance and read her Black Book backwards. In three Eves, she pays a visit to the Lord who summoned her. Before it plays its move, it secretly scries up to nine cards from the Twilight. If it wishes to draw that move, it may draw from one of them.

The Black Book is one of the greatest powers of the Coven. Be sure to note in your private journal what cards you see, lest you forget their exact order in the chaos of the war. If you follow them closely, you’ll know exactly who draws what.

The Coven Sorceress sleeps for seven Eves until she can enter her Shadow Trance once more.

Poison Brewer

Surely the wretchedest and wickedest of them all, the Poison Brewer is notorious in Maldrax Castle for her deadly elixirs and bloody vendettas involving the Carnival, the Syndicate, and others.

She will mix poisons for anyone who can afford to buy one. With the Nine of Blood, brought to the Coven by any Queen, she’ll mix a Poison Potion for a Lord. She can brew one once every seven Eves. Once a Lord has three Potions, they can task the lone Queen of Blood to poison an enemy Lord. Once poisoned, the enemy Lord dies in three nights, its Court dying face-down.

Hexer

Coven witches deal in black magic, poisons, and curses. Equally deadly to the Poison Brewer is the Hexer and her psychic incantations. Using the power of her mind and other tools of the trade, she casts nefarious curses upon her nemeses.

It is the Nine of Chaos she harnesses to curse a chosen Lord. With this single card, and the Queen of Chaos by her side, she sets her evil eye on them, sealing their fate. Her Dread Curse binds to their mind, haunting them.

In seven nights, they die.

A cursed Lord can only avert their demise by showing a Royal Fortune before the curse ends.

Unending Despair

It would be dangerous to explain the origins of Unending Despairs to readers who lack the patience to complete their review of the archive. For now, we can tell you they’re recorded to be undead minions of the Coven, who harness the power of death to open forbidden doors.

Using a dead Lord as a ritual object, the Lord who wishes to summon an Unending Despair does so by commanding the Queen of Shadow to channel the Eight of Shadow for three Eves.

After three Eves, the Despair is summoned.

Corruption

Seven Eves after an Unending Despair is summoned, the Lord who summoned it can cast the Queen of Shadow and Eight of Shadow to command the Despair to spell Corruption.

Tomorrow night, the focus of the Corruption falls under the Lord’s mind control. The Lord may freely see all the Corrupted’s Court, exercises complete control over their actions, and commands the Corrupted as a minion. Still, the Corrupted’s Court is not the Lord’s Court. For the Lord to ultimately prevail, it must show down a Fortune.

Its minion cannot claim victory while controlled.

Only one Lord may be Corrupted at once.

There is only one way to break the Corrupted’s mind control, and that is to kill the Lord who controls them. Until that time, the Lord commands every act and card of the Corrupted.

Oddballs

I’ve spent my life studying and chronicling various anomalies and aberrations, among other things. From every corner of existence, in every era and world, we see the strangest characters and creatures emerge out of the blue. Most of the time, they appear very briefly and vanish into thin air. Their origins vary so exotically, it is impossible to draw any definitive comparisons between them.

These extranormal entities we call Oddballs.

I archive several of them in this chapter. In choosing to review the record, I ask the reader to hear my message. At least some of these are real. To what extent they’re real, and why, I cannot here say with any true certainty. If you wish to dismiss them all off-hand, as some folks tend to do, you can do so. They’ll still be here, in Discordia and otherwise, being Oddballs.

If you want to invite them to a game of Royal Fortune, all you have to do is agree to an invitation, say their name, and invite them to play. You probably won’t see anything, but, rest assured they will be there, whether you see them or not.

I don’t need to remind you of the so-called hitchhiker effect. If you go inviting Oddballs to your games of Royal Fortune thinking they won’t stick around long after to cause trouble, I cannot provide you any guarantee of sanity or security.

There are those who take such invitations very seriously, and would never declare them. If you do, you’re free to think it’s all make-believe. Perhaps it is, but sometimes… Anyway, you’ll get the idea.

Eddie

Eddie is a black phantom I first recorded in my files around 2011. The haunting involving Eddie likely transpired circa 2005. At that time, a young adolescent girl reported being stalked by a sinister entity only she could see. Later, her cousin, a known powerful telekinetic, also stated seeing the same phantom, though the circumstances surrounding the latter report remain unclear. Our timelines were sadly splintered long ago.

Deeply distressed, her haunting made her life a living nightmare. The phantom, whom she mysteriously called Eddie, followed her everywhere she went. It lurked in her house, sat on her furniture, and accompanied her at school. Naturally, her family and doctor labelled the apparition a hallucination, an outcome common among hauntings like these. Eddie was never actually proven a mere hallucination, but this was how he was perceived.

She described the entity as wearing a coat and hat, with jet-black quasi-metallic skin, evil red eyes, and an air of spectral malevolence. Eddie’s coat she specifically described as having a brown tint.

Notably, Eddie exists in the category of so-called hat men, a type of ‘shadow person’. The hat man is a type of shadow apparition perceived to wear a coat and hat. Descriptions variate slightly over the years, with the central theme staying consistent. What distinguishes Eddie from many other reported ‘hat men’ is threefold: He exhibited quasi-metallic black skin, his coat was brown, and he held in his hand at all times a black knife.

It is possible Eddie was a complex hallucination. If he was, he was an awfully convincing one. One day, her mother told her she was going to sit on the couch where “Eddie” was sitting, to show her daughter he isn’t real. As her mother walked over to the couch, Eddie stood up and moved aside. Quite a cunning hallucination, as it were…

Eddie even sat in the back seat of the car on her way to the psych ward. Villainous behavior.

We can debate Eddie’s existence all day till the cows come home. Rather than waste my time with such vain, trifling endeavors, I will tell you one of the ways to summon Eddie to your game.

Tread wisely now… Some people do believe in demons and the like… If you really choose to summon Eddie, I can’t be held responsible for any… unseemly events… that befall you and yours…

To summon him, first agree among yourselves to invite him to play. Then, say something like, “Come out to play, Eddie…”

When the game begins, Eddie will sooner or later come to play. Now is when you’ll have the opportunity to request Eddie deal with any Lords who need dealing with. To do so, cast the Nine of Shadow and say, “Eddie, I request you haunt the nightmares of Lord [name].”

If you haven’t already, you may begin to notice the energy in the air seems slightly altered. Your skin may begin to tingle a bit, as though chilled. From that Eve on, the Lord you’ve set your sights upon will be haunted in their sleep by Eddie for seven nights. At the week’s end, Eddie slits their throat in their nightmares, ending their game.

To reverse the curse, the Lord so cursed must cast the curse upon another before seven nights pass. Eddie will shift his obsession to the newly accursed, ending their game in seven nights.

The Nine of Shadow, if it is used to cast Eddie’s curse, can only be used to cast Eddie’s curse. It cannot be used for any other magical purpose either before or after, within that game. The Rune’s power requires it be used solely for this end, and no other.

Like I said, be careful about playing games with the likes of phantoms such as Eddie. The girl he haunted all those decades ago first saw him in her nightmares. Once you see him there, it’s only a matter of time before he bleeds out into our world.

Man in Black

In my research of Discordia, I’ve observed the activities of at least one elusive Man in Black. Above you’ll find an artist’s depiction of the scene I witnessed some six months ago, when I began this chronicle and first wrote Royal Fortune.

The Men in Black are a notoriously nebulous anomaly it remains extremely challenging to define. Historically, they’re associated with UFOs and adjacent phenomena, and have been reported to harass UFO witnesses and linger around locations connected to them. To date, I’ve seen no conclusive evidence of what the MIB really are. They made a movie about them, but most people don’t know accounts of MIB exist in the case record long before Hollywood made a mockery of them. As far back as the 1960s at least, there were people who claimed to meet real MIB. Whether they did, and if so, what they are, is another story.

Somehow, they’ve managed to send a Man in Black to Discordia, probably to monitor the situation and collect intel on Royal affairs. Discordia is only one of the many realms of Otherworld that spill over into the Physiverse more and more as time goes on, drawing interdimensionals to and from both sides of reality.

With the Five of Shadow in hand, you can show it, simply say Man in Black, and cast it face-down. The Dealer shuffles the card into the Twilight, and the game continues. Whoever gets the card next is to reveal the Five, then use it to draw five new cards from the Twilight. Upon doing so, the Man in Black will follow that Lord until the conclusion of the game, and possibly after.

We’re not sure what he does. All we know is that he follows whoever gets the Five of Shadow.

Bigfoot

I’ve spent enough time studying cryptozoology to state, here and now, we can now conclude with a high degree of certainty what Bigfoot is. After decades of research by numerous investigators around the world, we can safely state Bigfoot is, in fact, a shapeshifting extradimensional trickster.

As such, it is to be expected Bigfoot has shown up in Discordia. No one has found any hard evidence of his presence here, but we know he’s here. And we know he still has the same bizarre fascination with lovers after all these years.

To attract Bigfoot’s attention, you have to play a King and a Queen of the same suit together. Bigfoot will come to lurk near your Court, unseen. Now is where things get tricky.

Bigfoot will get very mad if the King and Queen are ever separated. Were they to ever be publicly confirmed separated, whoever Bigfoot can know to separate them will pay, big time.

The Lord who did the deed will have three Eves before Bigfoot destroys their entire Court. If you don’t believe me, test it yourself and see.

Aiwass

One of the most anomalous entities in history, the big-brained mystery known as Aiwass seems to have a peculiar association with pyramids. To contact him to play your game, you’ll have to have a pyramid on hand. Any pyramid will do.

Say, “Aiwass, we invite you to play Royal Fortune.” This is sure to grab his attention.

Whoever casts the Four of Fortune first can ask Aiwass to mind read one of the other Lords. Tomorrow night, you’ll be able to pick any move to spy a Lord’s entire Court, then and there.

Aiwass has gotten mixed up in a sort of uncanny interdimensional feud with none other than Indrid Cold, if you know who that is. Yes indeed. It seems the two of them have been in a nasty spat for some time now, going back and forth over… something… I don’t know what it’s all about, but whatever it is, Aiwass seems to be on the serious end of it, while Cold is the pure prankster in it all.

If I had to guess, Cold probably played a trick on Aiwass at some point, and Aiwass was none too pleased. It may not be Aiwass trying to prank Cold back so much as Cold finding it dreadfully funny to prank Aiwass at every opportunity. Whatever it is, Aiwass wants to destroy the Four of Chaos at all costs. If the Lord who summons Aiwass with the Four of Fortune manages to find the Four of Chaos in their scried enemy’s Court, they can cast it face-up out of the game for good. Before doing so, they can choose to draw four new cards.

Don’t ask me what it’s all about. I don’t know. I’m just here to tell you about the game.

Indrid Cold

If it isn’t crystal clear to you by now, and it ought to be at this point, there are in fact weird grinning tricksters in green reflective suits from outer space. You may say it’s unbelievable, but that would be because you haven’t read enough books! Indrid Cold is well-known in West Virginia and environs, where he’s been an urban legend for a long time.

I won’t go trying to prove Indrid Cold is real. It would be a waste of time, and you wouldn’t believe any of my tautological proofs anyway. What matters here is that Indrid Cold at least exists in Discordia, and he has it out for Aiwass.

Cold is a very, very crafty prankster. You might consider him the ultimate Jester, though he wears no medieval fashion. If you’re lucky and get your hands on the Four of Chaos, you can play it, if you like, and say, “Indrid Cold, I ask you hold. I request a prank most bold. Pay me a visit from your time of old, and let all the Lords be trolled, Indrid Cold.”

Right then and there, Indrid Cold will step beside, and you’ll take all four Courts, including your own, and cast them, face-down, into the Twilight. The Dealer mixes them all together, and deals them all back again, to begin the cycle anew.

That’s it.

Oh yes, and if you get a hold of the Four of Fortune Aiwass loves so much, and you show it after playing Cold’s Four of Chaos, you can say, “HA HA!” and cast it face-up out of the game.

Aiwass will be very displeased. Remember that.

Mad Alchemist

Crookedy crocked up in a crankety old crotchety crumbling tin cottage up around a winding path on a mountainside, there’s a rickety old crusty musty slimy grimy Mad Alchemist who’ll be at the service of any Royal who pays him a visit.

Give him the Five of Blood, and his Crimson Potion can heal the Poison Brewer’s Poison.

Give him the Five of Fortune, and he’ll conjure up a Poison Bomb to blow up three cards in another’s Court, unless one is the Jester.

Give him the Five of Chaos, and he’ll unlock his special cabinet and bust out his Chaos Elixir. Bam! One card from each enemy blasted out, and replaced instantly with a new Twilight card.

How about that?

Randall

Former circus performer and freakshow manager, the creep in the coat who lurks in decrepit backalleys and the edges of the Carnival is none too quick to tell strangers his story anymore. He goes by Randall now, consigned to disgrace. It wasn’t easy, the mission his people gave him. He failed, and more importantly, he saw the vanity of the Carnival and all its freaks and amusements.

It happened one night when Jimmy the Jittery Jimjammer was mid-performance at their New Jersey location. Everything was going well, Randall’s prized performer on display, the apple in his eye, until suddenly, The Grobgobbler escaped its cage in the back and scrambled into the circus.

People screamed. Popcorn buckets upturned. One man slipped on a hotdog and broke his arm, reported the next day in the newspaper. He’s still in court to this day. Poor Jimmy… Grob gobbled him up like a casual breakfast snack. It was horrific.

Randall froze in petrified shock. He questioned, for a split second, whether it was all a nightmare. Every day, he wishes it was. He wishes he could wake up from this horrible bad dream. Visions of Jimmy’s charred body (he was a burn victim who found work at the freakshow) mar his haunted mind night after night. Every time, the same sight, same scene… The Grob… tearing Jimmy screaming limb from limb… until at last he chomped his head clean off his spine. Just like that.

Snap.

The blood-curdling echo chills his veins still. He shudders at the thought, tucks his coat lapel.

Randall’s days at the Carnival are done. Never again. Now, he’s going to burn it all down.

They’ll remember Jimmy. All those sick fucks. It’s run by Sid now. Guy’s got no respect for the tradition of the freakshow. Typical scumbag.

If the Carnival’s in town, and the Lords want to make a deal with Randall, all they gotta do is give him three Eights. He’ll take care of the rest.

Gasoline. Explosives. You name it.

KABOOM.

Give him three nights. That’s all he needs. Then it all comes crumbling down like a house of cards. The Carnival will be over, for good.

Ringmaster Farley

You’ll never know a friend from a stranger, when the curtains close one last time and open again to reveal all the past an illusion. Stickly stymy all the creepy crawlies so slimy. It’s hard not to see it at some point… So Farley did as well. Why not take up a career as a Ringmaster too? There’s much ado at the Carnival, where everyone and their sister seems to wander from all corners of the universe.

Ringmaster Farley tells me he’d like to have a talk with the Queen of Fortune. If you agree to let him play your game, just give him the Queen and leave her face-down on the edge of town. No one will be able to get to her, as she’ll be where she belongs. In return, the Ringmaster will put on a grand show at the Carnival! Every Court across Discordia will show themselves for all to see! For a whole three Eves, they’ll come to watch the performance. While it’s live, Wheel of Fortune draws two cards, not only one. It’ll be the funnest time you’ve ever had, and when it’s all said and done, the Ringmaster lets the Queen back into the Twilight, to find her way back home again.

Usagi Dorobo

Japanese urban legend tells of a creepy gray-white nightmare who haunts children in the night. Appearing at the ends of their beds when they awaken from sleep, it stares silently at them, imposing an aura of disturbing ambiguity. Very few accounts of the apparition exist in the literature.

Usagi Dorobo is a phrase that translates roughly to bunny thief. While it technically means rabbit thief, it is known as the bunny thief among Western paranormal researchers. This originates from the entity’s purported habit, first described in the account of a girl named Sapphire.

According to Sapphire, her mother had the demon Baphomet tattooed on her belly when she was pregnant with her. Other details of her mother’s life and personality were lost to time. Sapphire described seeing shadows at night, a theme prevalent among the haunted.

When she was a kid, she began to experience visitations of Usagi Dorobo. This entity would manifest at the end of her bed. Based on her description, it would stare at her, and extend one bizarrely long hand, caging her head within it. It never spoke any words. It never touched her. She told her mother about it, who said it was all in her imagination. Sapphire was adamant she saw it.

Like the girl who saw Eddie, Sapphire never took any steps to monetize her story, that I’m aware of. She didn’t mention it at all to me until I inquired about her paranormal experiences.

One night, when she was particularly frightened and frustrated with the apparition’s persistence, she picked up her stuffed bunny and threw it at the entity. Instantly, it vanished.

She returned to sleep. When she woke the next morning, she found the bunny was gone. She looked everywhere for it, around corners, under her bed. It was nowhere to be found.

Usagi Dorobo never returned.

Thus the legend of Usagi Dorobo, or bunny thief, was born. Since then, Japanese researchers have noted the apparition’s appearance in a number of separate accounts. In each case, it exhibits similar traits and behaviors. In each case, it disappears upon the child throwing a stuffed animal or doll at it, apparently taking the object with it.

Usagi Dorobo has been known to interfere in games of Royal Fortune. Occasionally, if you leave cards somewhere out of sight while a game is out of session, one of the cards will disappear. This isn’t always the doing of Usagi Dorobo, but there’s no doubt it could be meddling in some games.

If you allow Usagi Dorobo into the game, one of the cards could go missing when hands are left somewhere during an intermission. Although it does not seem possible to disappear the Jester.

While it could be the Dealer who misplaces the card from the Twilight or Graveyard, it could be Usagi Dorobo. The card will vanish, never to be seen for the rest of the game.

Beelzebub

Beelzebub, one of the infernal princes, is widely known in the Cursed City to play all manner of games, known and otherwise. I asked him about Royal Fortune and he told me he does play here and there when he gets bored being in Hell.

In the Underworld, some of his contemporaries call him Bub or Bubster for short. I don’t recommend you call him any nicknames, if you don’t want to be swarmed by the nightmarish masses of black, green-eyed flies encircling his orange throne. Just ask him to play and he’ll probably join you.

Once he’s in the game, you raise him from Hell with the Six of Chaos. This card confers Beelzebub with the infernal malice needed to drag a known Royal – any visible Royal – into Hell. There the Royal stays, burning in agony, so long as the Six of Chaos remains face-up. Bub is pretty hardcore like that. So keep an eye on the Six.

Wicked Witch

It’s a tale most know. No need to tell it… Most don’t know the Wicked Witch lives on in spirit. She’s been gunning for Dorothy and the gang ever since. Her only problem is, she can’t see a damn thing. When she melted into death, her sight fell into blackness, fueling her black vendetta.

Lords of Discordia welcome the Witch to join their wars for various reasons. The Queen of Shadow may serve as a vessel for the Witch’s vengeful spirit. She becomes the Witch herself.

Having lost some of her powers and clarity of mind, all she remembers is her Flying Monkeys. These cackling minions she conjures with the Eight of Fortune. To send them forth, cast the Queen and Eight together and say, quote,

“Fly, my pretties!”

You must say this for the spell to work. Otherwise, the Monkeys don’t know what to do. Beware the Flying Monkeys. They wreak all sorts of havoc on the Courts. The Lord who summons them can spy eight cards from any source: enemy Courts, the Twilight, or the Graveyard. It can take any of the cards it spies, except the Jester. But it must show all the Lords any card it steals.

The Wicked Witch can summon her Flying Monkeys once every thirty Eves.

We aren’t sure if the Wicked Witch thinks Dorothy is in Discordia. Perhaps she’s confused another girl for her, or else she’s lost. All that seems to matter to the Lords are her Flying Monkeys.

Nosferatu

We received recent reports the vampire baron Nosferatu purchased an old mansion in the spooky hills of Discordia. According to one source, the elderly bloodsucker wanted to “get away from it all” and found Discordia a suitable destination.

I can’t speak to the baron’s purpose here. It may be precisely what it appears to be, for all I know. If you’d like to make his acquaintance, he supposedly responds to the Five of Blood. This card you may use to lure a card into his mansion. If the card is any Queen or Prince, Nosferatu will corrupt and convert it to your own Court. There’s just one issue. If you use the Five for this purpose and succeed, an awful, nasty shadow like a venomous darkness erupts from the card, forcing it back into the Twilight. You’ll have to shuffle it back within.

Artifacts and Devices

In our research, we discovered a number of unique Artifacts and Devices in Discordia. These objects and technologies could be adapted for application in the wars of the Lords. As always, exercise caution about allowing them. There is a particularly stubborn Law that, once you’ve allowed anything into your game, it remains in play.

Chaos Cube

Locked away in the Magic Vault of every Royal Castle, each keeps a Chaos Cube.

A Chaos Cube, if introduced in play, is only unlocked by using the Four of Chaos. Once cast, roll the Die 1-7. Whatever number you roll, choose that number of cards to swap hidden between any source. You can swap cards between your Court and another Court, your Court and the Twilight, your Court and the Graveyard, two or more enemy Courts, an enemy or enemies and the Twilight, an enemy or enemies and the Graveyard, or the Twilight and the Graveyard.

The Chaos Cube, in essence, holds the power to shift cards between any possible place. It is, as such, one of the strongest magics in Discordia. The only card the Chaos Cube cannot swap between Courts is the Jester, whose Smoke and Mirrors evade it.

Skeleton Book

Skeleton Books are one of the ancient grimoires passed down to the Royals by the Dragon Ancients. Infused with dark energy and necromantic power, they’re read with the Six of Shadow. This card summons a Skeleton to shamble at a Lord and destroy one of its cards. Only the Jester eludes a Skeleton, and it would appear the King of Shadow does as well.

The card falls face-down in the Graveyard.

The Queen of Shadow is capable of reading the Book without a Rune. She can be cast alone to summon a single Skeleton, or paired with the Six to summon two Skeletons to destroy two cards.

Qezzemiir Scarab

In their war with the Qezzemiir, the Royals recovered one or two of their hard-shelled Scarabs. The Royals tested it extensively. Eventually, they found only the Six of Shadow could activate the Scarab’s dormant magic.

In those games a Qezzemiir Scarab is in play, a Royal can use the Scarab by showing its face with the Six of Shadow. This can deflect any spell, whether from any Royal, Rune, or the Jester, or any of the other odd magics in the game, save the fearsome Band of Dark Dominion. Once the Scarab is used, it recharges over seven Eves.

Band of Dark Dominion

This is one relic I’ve reached an impasse in my study of. I’ve spoken to the Royals about it, and they all give me different stories. Merlin, for his part, is certain the ring was found among the keepsakes of evil dragons of old. Merlin wouldn’t speak of these dragons, assuring me they were long dead and dealt with and there’s no need to worry. How the Band fell into the hands of the Royals remains unexplained. They prize it dearly, making every effort to bring it to one of their Queens.

Any Queen who wields the Nine of Shadow so wears the Band, and controls its black death. From its misty purple gem the Queen casts a bolt of darkness at a card, ending it face-down. This spell cannot be evaded by any means. So is the draconic power of the Band.

Before using the ring, the Lord rolls the Die. If it lands on any number but seven, the ring is used. If the Die so happens to roll seven, the Queen wearing the ring goes mad, and in a murderous frenzy, betrays her own Court. For that Eve and two after, she destroys three cards of her own face-up, and remains face-up herself with the Nine of Shadow until the madness subsides.

If she survives, she does not lose the ring. She keeps it, if she wishes, and may use it again when the ring is able to be. If cast to kill a single enemy card, the ring recharges over three Eves. If the ring drives the Queen mad, once the madness ends, the ring lies dormant for seven Eves after.

Coil of Fates

Here is another weapon of nebulous origins. The Royals speak of it in hushed whispers. Of minor power, yet still of some deathly import, the mythic Coil of Fates was retrieved, it is said, from a supremely plump abomination of ghastly evil.

If permitted into the war, any of the Queens can wield it with the Seven of Shadow. They send a flying skull of purple gloom forth, ending a hidden Royal’s life, face-up. The Coil can only kill a Royal, and only if that Royal is hidden from sight.

It can be cast every Eve.

Martian Blaster

Reports of flying saucers were delivered to the highest state officials. Silvery discs of unknown origin folks saw hovering in the skies. One farmer alleged he witnessed a saucer abduct one of his cows, later found surgically mutilated on his property. Other strange occurrences accompanied them, including cryptic crop circles, sightings of a Man in Black, and other oddities.

One night, a supposed squadron of little green men in the forest were apparently spooked by an unidentified entity, later rumored to be Bigfoot. A company of officers sent to investigate recovered an object that resembles a handheld weapon.

We determined this object to be a one-to-one match with a standard military-grade Martian Blaster. The unit, we deduced, dropped the Blaster as they fled, and did not return for it.

It is unknown where the weapon is being held. The Royals won’t tell us. Based on our analysis of classified documents and insider sources, scientists working for the Four Kingdoms have spent years trying to reverse engineer the Blaster, to no avail. They cannot seem to figure out exactly what it is, how it works, or how to fire it normally. An experiment with the Four of Chaos later found the card was capable of activation of the weapon.

Once activated, it takes thirty Eves to charge. It can then be fired. Once a plasma round is emitted, it takes thirty Eves for it to reach its target. Whatever the Four of Chaos does to the Blaster causes it to both charge and fire very slowly, and obliterate any Royal Castle it targets.

Any Lord struck by the Blaster will be annihilated, their dead Court scattered face-up.

Once fired, it takes thirty Eves to recharge.

Nuclear Warhead

Should Lords wish to purchase a Nuclear Warhead from Enn Corp, the price is three Sevens, one of which must be the Seven of Chaos. Once paid, we will activate the Warhead.

The Dealer states, in a formal voice,

“Enn Corp Nuclear Strike imminent. Detonation in T-minus 72 hours.”

It takes 72 hours for the missile to strike.

Upon delivery of the payload, the ensuing mushroom cloud decimates all of Discordia. Every Lord, Court, and Royal perishes, even the Jester.

The Pot is destroyed.

Dream Charms

Lords who travel the Dream World lucidly find within it metaphysical trinkets that carry a magic malleable by the mind. Three Dream Charms exist in Royal Fortune. Unlike most objects in dreams, which dreamers struggle to extract, Lords who agree to use Charms can retrieve them from the Dream World, and bring them into Royal Fortune.

To extract a Dream Charm, enter the Dream World lucidly. It doesn’t work if you aren’t lucid. Once you’ve reached the destination associated with a Charm, obtain it there and, when you depart, the memory kept preserves the Charm for use.

There is one very important rule of Dream Charms in this game. That is, each Lord must formally allow them into play. As such, when a Lord claims to possess a Charm, the Lord tells their story, and the others assess its authenticity. If they each find the story to be authentic, the Dream Charm is considered to enter live play.

This means, of course, a Lord can lie and falsely claim to’ve obtained a Charm they did not. It is up to each individual to decide the truth of each story. Further, simply travelling to a Charm’s destination is not enough to obtain it itself. Coming into possession of one means undertaking the necessary acts to grasp it and so bring it out.

Cloud Crystal

In the Dream World, there commonly exist skies above dreamscapes. Skies may exist overhead or may exist in other directions, depending on the dimension. It is here I will mark a distinction I’ve observed between what we may classify as dream skies and what we may classify as etheric skies.

Dream skies are the strange, phantasmal skies of actual dreamscapes. These skies often bear a signature markedly opposed to the familiar skies of planets in the Physiverse. You may find whacky and otherwise weird forms, energies, and entities in such skies, clearly alien to the skies of common planets.

Etheric skyscapes, in contrast, are skies closely aligned to the dimensional essence of the so-called etheric plane. Some theorists draw a categorical distinction between the astral plane and the etheric plane. In this terminology, the astral plane is roughly characterized as the celestial space beyond planets and interconnected realms, while the etheric plane can be understood in the abstract as the localized dimension of a planet or other world from which a practitioner enters an out-of-body state. In etheric travel, the practitioner is thought to traverse their localized dimension, such as the surface and sky of their planet, rather than depart the planet and enter outer space beyond.

In this specific version of the concept, etheric skyscapes are skies travelled by disembodied minds in etheric projection. This is where the equation grows somewhat murky. In theory, there exist several methods to enter the etheric plane. One of these methods is to enter it directly from the Dream World. Within this metaphysics, it is theorized the mind, already disembodied from its normal physical self within the Dream World, departs the core Dream World and enters the etheric plane. In doing so, it can enter etheric skyscapes that strongly resemble the skies of the mind’s planet.

This is the difference, in theory, between a dream sky and an etheric sky. In lucid dreams, dream skies are easy enough to traverse. However, the magic there is so illusory and quixotic, it cannot be said conclusively to be a genuine sky. There is, on the other hand, some conceivable potential for etheric skies to be genuine skies. It is thus an etheric sky you must travel to, if you want a Cloud Crystal.

In the metaphysics of dreams, given the evident connectivity of all of these states and planes, Cloud Crystals can be considered Dream Charms even if they’re retrieved specifically from the etheric plane, which some theorists deem to exist outside the actual Dream World. From a practical physical standpoint, it’s all part of the Dream World in some sense, and exists along a spectrum of equally paraphysical enigma.

I’ve observed that, when you fly lucidly into a dream sky, you may notice the state appears to suddenly shift, and you enter a skyscape that appears remarkably foreign to the dreamscape you were in, and now resembles an actual sky. It is by this method, and others, you can enter an etheric sky.

Once there, approach clouds, if you can find them, and grasp some in your hand. You may or may not be able to gather a fragment of cloud. This part doesn’t matter. Once you grasp the clouds, you’ve formed the memory necessary to create a Cloud Crystal for use in Royal Fortune.

Cloud Crystals, like all Dream Charms, have a one-time use. Once you’ve cast your Crystal, you’ll have to return to the Dream World for another.

If you have a Queen in hand, you may cast a Cloud Crystal at any time to ascend your revealed Queen into the clouds, and keep her suspended there indefinitely. She’ll be immune to all interference in this state, and unable to act. Once cast, a Queen cannot be sent to the sky again without a new Cloud Crystal.

A Lord may have only one Crystal at a time. Only one Queen in their Court may ascend into the clouds using a Crystal at a time.

Saturn Stone

In your voyages within the Dream World, you’ll no doubt take notice of the glimpses of the astral plane seen there. Known for millennia, the astral can be directly entered from the Dream World. This is not the only way to enter the astral. Other methods, such as Hypnagogia, deep meditation, or hitching a ride with an ethereal work as well. However you reach your destination, once there, if you’re searching for a Saturn Stone, you’ll want to find your way to Saturn.

A few techniques for locating planets and other focal points have been developed, none of them unequivocally reliable. Before you first travel, set your intent. This should align your spirit to your chosen destination. Upon entering the astral plane, if you aren’t already at Saturn, you’ll likely find yourself surrounded by starlight or, in other states, galaxies. This can be confusing and cause initial disorientation. Don’t fret. If you want to find Saturn, you can attempt several solutions.

One of the simplest is to focus your mind on the planet, and teleport there. Most scientists think teleportation is all nonsense, but the real scientists who work to study the actual universe know life was never that simple. You don’t necessarily need to fly there. Teleportation doesn’t always function effectively for every practitioner, and can send you to unexpected locations. So, if you want to travel to Saturn, and you don’t have an astral guide, focus your mind and attempt to sense its location. Your intuition will guide you, and it is then you can fly there and attempt to locate it. Beware, now, as it is a notorious phenomenon among astral travellers that, if you fly too fast, you might overshoot, and be flung off into interstellar or intergalactic space or beyond. Traverse the astral plane with just enough velocity and metaphysical momentum to transport you, without flying past.

Once there, enter the planet’s ring and retrieve one of the stones within. It isn’t necessary to personally grasp a stone, as they aren’t all easily perceivable in that state. All you need is direct sight of one close-up. That is sufficient to form a memory of and create a Saturn Stone.

With a Stone in hand, you can recharge an Ace of Shadow a single time. Just once. After that, you’ll have to go back to Saturn for more. Oh and, by the way, Saturn might be mad if you take one of its stones, so watch out.

A Lord can possess a single Saturn Stone.

Dragon Ember

Deep in the Dream World, the Dragon Ancients and other dragons dwell in secret. It is not always easy to find a dragon. Sometimes, they appear of their own accord. Unless they have a natural affinity for you, they probably won’t be seen regularly in your travels.

For the most part, you may need to summon one. Doing so is very easy, once you get the hang of it. First, you need to see your finger as a wand. Your finger is in fact a kind of wand in the Dream World. It is not exactly necessary to use your finger, as the core magic exists in your mind. But your finger can direct energy from its tip, much like a wand. For this particular method, use your finger.

Close your eyes. Point your dominant index finger toward the distant upper peripheral of your vision. Do not focus your closed sight there. Invoke the name of a dragon, invest the invocation with visual reality, and believe wholeheartedly you will summon a dragon. It can be useful to will the dragon to roar, to signal its presence and clarify reality.

If successful, a dragon will appear from the sky from the distant point your finger focused. What has transpired in this mystical state, Merlin tells me, is not always mere conjuration, though such dragons can be conjured beings. Some dragons summoned by this method travel to your location in the Dream World when called, flying there via metaquantum portal. You can tell it’s a real dragon, Merlin said, by its eyes.

Now guide the dragon down to the ground, if you wish. This next part is important. To obtain a Dragon Ember, you cannot just hop onto a dragon and fly it without speaking to it. You and the dragon’s souls will not fuse and the ritual will fail.

Once able to speak face to face, ask the dragon for permission to fly it. It will grant this either by voice, by gesture, or by feeling. If the dragon doesn’t protest, mount it and it should take flight.

Act quickly! Dragons frequently allow flight upon them for no more than ten or fifteen seconds, perhaps longer. As it takes you into the Dream World, ask it for a Dragon Ember. Don’t expect it to conjure one for you visually. Just ask.

It’s not important if you tumble off of it and lose track of the dragon. Once you’ve flown it and asked for a Dragon Ember, its soul will gift you one, and you can tell the story to the other Lords. Should they find you truthful, it will so be officially recorded in the Logbook you possess an Ember.

A Dragon Ember recharges the Ace of Fortune, and so empowers the Queen of Fortune to summon the Crimson Dragon sooner than she would otherwise be able to. Note that you don’t actually need to have the Queen of Fortune in your hand to recharge the Ace itself. The Ace can be recharged with or without the Queen.

One may only hold a single Ember at once.