The Gaming Den

The Nays have it, 1.0 to 0.05.

184

“But what is your affair in Elsinore?” she asks. “Are you with the Players?”

How will you reply this time?

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Turn to 194.

“My dearest queen, the strong necessity of time commands our services awhile.” Turn to 143.

Hm, should we quote the play we're in, or Antony and Cleopatra.

I'll vote for the latter option.

We might be being quizzed on our quote knowledge. But, ok, try the latter as I don't know what the book is going for.

Just an unusually busy week here...

143

“The time is out of joint,” the Queen says guardedly.

“O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!” you mu􀀪er under your breath.

Turn to 170.

170

“I am given, sir, secretly to understand,” she says, her voice suddenly barely more than a whisper, “that ere the bat hath flown his cloister’d flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons the shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done a deed of dreadful note.”

Tick off the Stage Direction Good Mother and turn to 312.

312

You suddenly hear a cough from behind you and turn, but there is no one in the Queen’s audience chamber other than you and Gertrude. There is only a dusty old arras hanging on the wall. The tapestry depicts a bucolic scene, showing nymphs and satyrs dancing in a ring around a masked figure clad all in yellow.

“How now! a rat?” you say. “Rats in the walls?”

The hairs stand up on the back of your neck as an icy fear crawls up your spine, and you instinctively draw your blade.

Take a Madness test. If you pass the test, turn to 128. If you fail the test, turn to 236.

Current Madness: 4 Roll: 8 (5,3) Success!

128

“What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?” cries the Queen, suddenly overwhelmed by panic as you whip the air with your blade.

“Help, help, ho!”

“What, ho! help, help, help!” comes a voice from behind the arras. It is that of an old man, turning again toward childish treble.
To pull back the arras and see who is hiding there, turn to 173. If you would prefer to thrust your blade through the wall-hanging, rather than risk another person discovering your presence here, turn to 236.



*********************
I mean, you should do whatever you want, here, but I have a feeling someone would say, This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare
Agility: 10 [10]
Combat: 10 [11*] (includes +1 from sword)
Endurance: 15 [15]
Madness: 4
Meals: 0
Where There's a Will: 3 [4]
The Pen is Mightier: 3 [3]
Props: Doublet & Hose, Quill, Manuscript, Breastplate (50% chance to reduce damage by 1 point), Sword, Cloak, Pack, Pnakotic Scroll, skull
Stage Directions Obtained: An Evil Sign; Fortune's Fool; Good Mother; Graves All Gaping Wide; Guilty Mind; Star-Cross'd; Strange Fellow;
Stage Directions Possible to Acquire: A Flattering Tongue; A Most Exquisite Lady; An Armed Head; Book of Riddles; Cunning Man; Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Dreadful Minister; Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Fell and Wrath; Foul Fiend; Give No Words But Mum; Give't to thy Crone; His Commandment; Horned Man; Ignoble Traitor; Instinct is a Great Matter; Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?; King of Infinite Space; Knavish Sprite; Maiden Pilgrimage; Murder Most Foul; My Honour'd Lady; My Verse Astonished; Prince of Cats; Servant-Monster; Speak the Speech; The Charmed Pot; The Ides of March; The Spirit of Banquo; The Worst Rank of Manhood; Unspeakable Deserts; Yellow Gold; Yellow Hue; Yellow Melancholy; Yellow Sands

Ah, here we have the chance to accidentally murder someone in Hamlet's place. Let's not. Pull back the curtain.

Yeah, pull back the curtain.

173

Hiding behind the wall-hanging is an elderly gentleman, wearing a fur-lined, floor-length robe and a velvet cap. Seeing your drawn steel his eyes widen in alarm.

“Murder! Murder most foul!” he cries.

For a moment you consider running him through. But when one so great begins to rage, he’s hunted even to falling. So, you sheathe your blade, turn on your heel, and quit the Queen’s closet.

Turn to 210.


218

Continuing to make your way through the castle, you soon find yourself in the inner ward again, and join the people of the court and honoured guests who are processing through a grand set of double doors into the Great Hall of the castle. Standing to one side of the ward, out of the way, is the Players’ cart. The itinerant actors must be about to put on their performance.

There does not appear to be anyone watching the wagon. If you want to take a peek inside, turn to 230. If you would prefer to join the line of people entering the Great Hall, turn to 218.

Take a peek inside.

Peek inside.

230

Mounting the fold-down steps at the back of the covered wagon, you pull aside a creamy cloth and step inside. Despite the performers having set up for their performance already, the cart still seems full of costumes and props.

Among them is a white, featureless mask with openings for the eyes, nose, and mouth that stands out due to its lack of ornamentation. If you want to take a closer look at the mask, turn to 137. Otherwise, turn to 166.

Avoid the mask.