The models could only be controlled if they were kept ice cold, so we spent half our lives shivering in frigid aeries. Some of you are half frozen." We were all half frozen. Instead, he peered at the chronometer on the wall, then out the window to check where the mountain shadow fell upon the harbor, finally back to our heavily bundled little group. Gamesmaster tilted his head, signifying he had heard, but he didn't reply. It was just one more of his little pricks and nibbles, like living with a hedgehog. Everyone in the room knew that, but students were not strong, not powerful, even though Karl liked to pretend he was. The player gains nothing by this, but neither does he lose much, for with this play the Demesne is changed, and the game moves elsewhere in the purlieu." "But, Master," Karl's voice oozed from the corner, "A strong player could have played Totem. Talisman is lost in play, 'sacrificed' as we say. The player is a student, without power, so he plays Talisman, an absorptive piece of the lesser ephemera. Tragamors making barriers at the sides of the Demesne. Demon, most powerful of the ephemera, whose essence is shadow.
We have King, most durable of the adamants, whose 'blood', that is, essence, is red light. Totem would splash it around, we'd maybe lose some pieces." "Exactly.
Because Talisman is an absorptive piece, that is, it will soak up the King's play. "Now, tell me why!" "Because our side can't see what pieces may be hiding behind the King. "Talisman to King's Blood Four." "Good." Gervaise actually smiled. Something similar, of like value, something. Almost anything could be hiding behind the King, and Gamesmasters don't give hints. None of the battle pieces were right it had to be something similar to Totem. It was King's Blood Four, an Imperative-which meant I had to move something. Before them stood Gamesmaster Gervaise's only visible piece, the King, casting ruddy light before him. Two fanged Tragamors boxed the area to either side. On our side, the students' side, Demon loomed on a third level square casting a
Somewhere within the model, among the game pieces which glowed in their own light or disappeared in their own shadow-somewhere in the model was the Demesne, the focal area, the place of power where a move could be of significance. I turned back to the game model which hung in the air before us, swimming in icy haze. I wouldn't find it by staring out at Schooltown. Karl cleared his throat again, and I knew his mockery was only deferred, unless I could find an answer quickly. I searched over the Gamesmaster's shoulder for that far, thin line of blue which marked the boundaries of the True Game.
#TREMULOUS GAME CLUMSYBOY FULL#
All the sloped land between the Houses was crowded full of dwellings and shops, all humping their way up the hills to the shuttered Festival Halls, then scattering out among the School Farms which extended to the vacant land of the Edge. Before you decide upon the move, always remember who you are." He turned away from us, staff tap-tapping across the tower room to the high window which gaped across the dark bulk of Havad's House down to River Reave where it wound like a tarnished ribbon among all the other School Houses-each as full of students as a dog is of fleas, as Brother Chance, the cook, would say. The move is one we haven't come across before, however, so take your time. "Correct that it isn't quite right and might be very wrong. "When I said 'no', I meant the answer wasn't quite right." Behind me Karl Pig-face gave a sneaky gasp as he always does when he is about to put me down, but Gamesmaster Gervaise didn't give him a chance. Of the three Gamesmasters of Mertyn's House, I liked Gervaise the best. I said, "No!" Gamesmaster Gervaise tapped the stone floor with his iron-tipped staff, impatiently searching our faces for a lifted eye or for a raised hand. Tepper 1 King's Blood Four "TOTEM TO KING'S BLOOD FOUR." The moment I said it, I knew it was wrong. Lands of the True Game From Schooltown North and WestīOOK 1 KING'S BLOOD FOUR Sheri S. The Order Of Descent By Lineage Lands of the True Game From Schooltown South and West