Roll Against Your Wisdom

Avia stares blankly at Fred, not sure what to do. After about thirty seconds of awkward silence, she utters a prayer in a language unknown to Fred. Finally, a hint of a smile comes to her face. She reaches under the collarpiece of her jerkin, and pulls out a copper necklace. Dangling from it is a wonderous pendant of a translucent blue, with white symbols on it that Fred recognizes as numbers of some sort.

"Fred, this is the Icosahedron of Judgment. It is an talisman of great power."

Possibilities race into Fred's mind. With this, he could possibly raise great hosts to defeat the dragon, work great magic to enrich his duchy, and charm his subjects into fulfilling his every wish!

Avia dashes his hopes. "The power, however, is limited. It can only do one thing. It offers the possibility, but only the possibility, of averting catastrophe resulting from actions at certain cardinal moments, none of which you can predict."

Although Fred cannot understand what she is talking about, he realizes that the Icosahedron is not going to grant him power, riches, or the ability to defeat the dragon. He makes a guess. "Is this a cardinal moment?"

"Yes, Fred." Avia detaches the talisman from her necklace and hands it to Fred. "Roll the Icosahedron to decide your fate. By the way, you will want to roll a 4 or lower."

Fred takes the talisman and examines it. It looks like a gem cut consisting of nothing but perfect triangles that meet in star-like patterns. A wave of awe goes through Fred. His destiny rests upon the result of rolling this powerful object.

Fred casts the Icosahedron of Judgment. The talisman clatters across the cave floor. There is an echo as it rolls into the center of the cave, and then it comes to rest on the number

1. two.
2. nineteen.

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree