The Guild Codex Role-Playing Game

You stand outside a three-story brick building, green ivy creeping up the wall. Arranged behind you, your friends wait silently as you study the creased note in your hand. The loopy handwriting in peacock-blue ink scribes a single sentence: "Speak to Sabrina at the Crow and Hammer."

The door, painted black with a faded emblem featuring a crow taking flight from the head of a war hammer, jingles cheerfully as you push it open. You step into the warm light of a pub, your friends crowding inside with you. Dark wood beams cross the ceiling, and a dozen mythics sit at the worn tables scattered throughout the room.

In perfect unison, everyone's attention turns to your group.

You move toward the bar that stretches across the back of the pub. The bartender is waiting for you, her untidy red hair tucked behind one ear and her hazel eyes frosty with hostility.

"Who the hell are you guys?" she demands.

Before you can reply, a feminine voice says, "It's okay, Tori."

You turn to find an unfamiliar young woman beside your group. Her chin-length blond hair is styled into loose waves, a large purse slung over her shoulder and sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"I'll take it from here," she continues, offering the bartender a reassuring smile. As the redhead reluctantly moves down the bar, the blond woman turns back to you. "My name is Sabrina. I've been expecting you."

You exchange a wary look with your companions.

With a small gesture that invites you to join her, she walks away. Together, your group follows her to a table tucked in a dim corner near the stairs. You take the seat across from her as your friends pull up chairs. The pub's other patrons have returned to their conversations, ignoring your presence.

Sabrina's gaze sweeps over you, equally curious and cautious. "How can I help you?"

In answer, you reach into your bag, pull out an object, and set it on the table. The aged leather cover of the grimoire is cracked and peeling, dark stains marring it. The letters "DW" are etched into the leather, almost too faint to see.

Nose wrinkling at the foul state of the book, Sabrina reaches for it. Before her fingers touch it, she pauses–then withdraws her hand.

"I see," she murmurs. Almost absently, she slides her hand into her purse and withdraws a small bundle wrapped in black silk. "Let's begin, then."

Unfolding the silk, she reveals a tarot deck that she shuffles with swift confidence. After a moment, she sets the deck on the table between you. The black and gold cards glint in the warm light of the pub.

She pushes the deck toward you. "Shuffle them."

You obey, the cards sturdy and smooth as you split the deck and recombine them in a riffle shuffle. After a minute, you set the cards back down.

She hovers her hand over the deck, her eyes distant. "A three-card spread, I think. Situation, obstacle, outcome."

A restless rustle passes over your friends as she draws three cards and lays them out in a neat row. Her fingers brush the first one, then turn it over. An ink drawing of two wolves howling at a full moon adorns its worn face.

"Your situation," she murmurs. "The Moon. Secrets and mysteries, dark and primal. You're seeking answers, but something you believe to be true is a deception that's misleading you."

She flips the next card. "The Seven of Swords. More deception, this time in the form of trickery and theft." Her gaze drifts toward the grimoire before returning to the card. "But this isn't a deception against you. It's a much greater treachery, something with far-reaching ramifications."

Her hand moves to the final card, and she turns it. A burning tower fills its face, but the card is upside-down.

"The Tower, reversed," she says. "A disaster looms, but you have the power to avert it–if you move fast enough."

You lean forward, gazing at her intently, an unspoken demand in your silence. Her lips thin with uneasiness. She seems to realize she hasn't given you enough to act on.

"I don't normally … but considering the circumstances …" She exhales. "Can I trust your discretion?"

You nod.

With another deep breath, she places her hands on either side of the spread, her cupped palms turned toward the cards. The sounds of the pub grow distant. Her head tips back, her eyes rolling up until only the whites are visible.

A strange pressure weighs down on you. The air seems thin, your ears deadened, your senses dulled. Subtle power shivers around you.

"Gravestones," Sabrina whispers hoarsely. "And … trees. A hidden clearing. An angelic face in broken stone and a chalice of blood. The secrets … lie beneath. Treachery … awaits … you …"

Her limbs are shaking. Her breath is harsh in her throat, and her face has gone deathly pale.

You sweep the three cards off the tabletop and set them back on the deck. With the cards removed from between her hands, she sags forward. After several unsteady inhalations, she raises her head.

"That's all I could see." Her voice is thin and quavering. "If you want to avert the disaster The Tower foretells, you need to find that place … but unless you can uncover the truth among the deception, your fate will be …"

She plucks the top card off the deck, again revealing the Tower card–and the two hapless victims leaping from its burning roof. Your friends exchange silent glances.

Sliding the grimoire off the table, you slip it back into your bag. She watches you with apprehension pinching her brow, then returns The Tower to her deck and wraps the cards in their protective silk.

"So?" she asks softly. "Have you decided what you'll do next?"

Her question hangs in the air. You and your companions share a long look. They nod. Your mission begins—and together, you roll your dice.