S.M. Carrière . com

**To go to the beginning and read the rules and the adventure from the start, click HERE**

"Just one," the man says.

You look down at the objects.  Spread on the blanket are a small flint knife, large chips marring the blade, an ancient-looking wooden mask, and two gold coins.  You consider carefully.  What could two gold coins get you in this place?  Probably no more than a hot meal and a flea-ridden bed.  The wooden mask looks intriguing, but what purpose could it possibly serve?

The knife.  The knife seems the best option.  It might be broken and small, but you could probably still kill something with it.  You bend down and pick it up.  The flint blade gleams in the firelight.

"Interesting," the man upon the throne says.

"Yes," the woman who brought you here notes, the sarcasm in her voice so thick you needed your knife to cut through it.

"Daughter," the man says to her.  "Find a place for our guest tonight.  Ensure he is fed and rested."

The slender, elegant woman stands.  She bows slightly to her father and leaves the room.  All eyes fall on you.  You stand there like a complete idiot.  The woman returns.

"Are you coming?" she asks haughtily.

Moved into action, you scurry across the room and follow the woman out.  You enter a dark tunnel that slopes steadily downwards.  A large door stands at the end of tunnel, flanked on either side by flaming torches.  The woman takes them and hands you one.

In uncomfortable silence, you both walk through the door and down the stairs.  Underground.  Either these people are odd and sleep underground, or you're being taken to a dungeon.  You want to ask the woman leading you where you are headed, but you get the impression any talk would be extremely unwelcome.

After more walking in uncomfortable silence, the woman stops and opens a small door.  "Here," she says.

You peer inside.  You can't see anything in the dark.  The woman rolls her eyes at you and walks into the room.  The light from her torch revealed a comfortable room, complete with a small fireplace.  It looked nothing like a prison.

Smiling, you walk forward, mount your torch and, thanking the woman, prepare for a good night's rest.

You awake the following morning to a hearty breakfast laid out on a blanket on the floor of your room.  The woman is back, leaning on her spear and watching you.

"Creepy," you note.

The woman smiles slightly.  "You must eat well this morning.  It is a long walk to the nearest city, and there is little food in the grass."

You realise you are very hungry all of a sudden.  You slide from the bed and sit to eat.  The woman joins you.  You eat as much as you are able and still half the food remains.  The woman smiles and packs it in the blanket.

"You will take with you."

You thank her and accept the wrapped food.  For all that was there, it packed very nealy into a small cube.  You tie it to your belt.

"Water waits for you at the gate.  Follow."

You do.

At the gate of the village sits a small table with three water skins.

"Take them," the woman says.  You do, slinging them around various parts of your body.

"You must head that way," the woman says, pointing north.  "Keep the sun on this side of you.  You will find tall brown grass, do not go in.  It is the hungry grass and it will eat you.  There is a path through the hungry grass.  Do not stray.  In the night, you will see grass dogs.  They are hungry.  They will eat you.  But they are stupid and easily fooled, and they cannot climb.  It will take three weeks to walk to the city.  Good luck."

And with that, she leaves, returning to the centre of the village.  You stare out over the red dirt for a while, your eyes falling to the horizon where the tall grass grows.  Do not go in the brown grass?  Everything here is brown grass!

Sighing, and feeling the gazes of the villagers at your back, you walk forward.  For three days and nights you walk.  In the night, you get very little sleep.  Yips and barks, though far off, keep you awake at night, fretting about an encounter with a hungry grass dog.  Whatever the hell a grass dog is.

On the fourth morning you come across a vast stretch of dark brown grass and pause.  This brown is not the dry golden brown of the other grass.  It's a thick, sickly muddy colour and the leaves shine with wax.  You wrinkle your nose as the scent of water rot hits your nose.

You scan the grass.  There should be a path.  You spy it... and a grass dog at the same time.

As it turns out, grass dogs are, in fact, lizards.  Roughly the size of a small pony, and with legs shaped much like that of a hound, you can be sure these giant lizards are faster than you.  You freeze as the lizard flicks its bright purple tongue into the air, tasting it.

The massive grey and gold head swings towards you.  The lizard snarls.  Two more appear, flanking the first just like dogs would.

Your eyes flicker to the path.  Could you make it?  Would it do any good?  You slowly pull the flint knife from your belt.

The world pauses as it draws breath.

The lizards leap forward.

So do you.

Sprinting for the path, you not that one of the grass dogs had run into the hungry grass.  It would have been clever, having one lizard cut you off further up the path.  Only the beast was too stupid to realise that this was hungry grass.

Terrible sharp yelps fill the air.

The grass dogs stop abruptly, turning their attention towards the sound of their hunting partner being attacked by the grass.  One of them hisses.

You don't stop.  You run for all your worth, even long after the grass dogs vanish from sight as you fly headlong down the path through the hungry grass.  You keep running until your legs feel like mush and your lungs burn.

As you slow, you notice something the woman did not warn you about.  There is a three-tined fork in the road.  You stop to catch your breath and consider your options.  All three possibilites look as though they still head north, more or less.  Which do you choose?

a) The left hand side path.

b) The middle path.

c The right hand side path.

Place your votes!

Also, please share as much as possible.  It will actually help a lot of people.  HERE's a video explaining how!