It was fortunate, being thrown out of the car like that just before it went over the cliff. Shame about my parents – they were good furniture salespeople. But without the accident I would never have found my way here: the ancestral castle! Such majesty, and to think it was hidden from me for so long. Yet my patience with this library grows thin. I’m sure the old lady’s will is here somewhere; perhaps it’s been eaten by that purple, parchment-eating snake? It seems likely, and I’ll have to hunt the beast down and shake out its innards. Or perhaps, just perhaps, I could try and be the grandson she thinks I am. If I show her enough of this “kindness” she keeps talking about, perhaps she’ll write me in to a new will after all? Wouldn’t that be swell, to be Lord of the castle through purely honest means? Hhhhmmmm. Decisions.
*
“Ah, this particular challenge will tax all of my fishing skills!”
*
The bald king was extremely jealous of the Japanese visitor’s haircut.
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Arnold was not a happy horse. One day, on the road to Big Town, he saw a loaded piggy bank flying overhead. His spirits lifted: perhaps this was going to be his day after all.
*
“My friends, it has come to this. There is only one way to solve our problems, chess-based or otherwise. Together we must find a way to crack the Egg of Time. You’re not coming, though, Penguin: you’re a fraud.”
*
“Who can help us find some snow shoes? Mother Nurture of course, friend to all the animals!”
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Jackalax and the Tracking Yak’s Slacks
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These are just some of the ideas to come out of playtests in the past couple of years. The first one nicely illustrates the core mechanic: chasing down the parchment-eating snake and winning over Grandma were both presented as solutions to the player character’s dilemma. For the prototype I’m still chopping pictures out of magazines and here are some of the new arrivals:
How about Ampassadam of the many Syllables
Chntick of the many Consonants
Aaaeerrraahiiouuu …. you get the idea
Master of Olympus 