Destiny's Guts Tradition / Ritual in Symbols of Power | World Anvil

Destiny's Guts

Stunveldt Island by Naelin
Even when more than 400 years have passed since the inhabitants of the island of Stunveldt opened their culture and trade to the rest of the Haan Archipelago, a lot of their traditions keep looking and sounding foreign and inexplicable for the people of other nations.   One that delights them though even when it is mostly for its beautifully elaborate symbols and implements is the narrative game of Destiny's Guts.
This game consists of using a set of cards illustrated with very specific concepts to gradually set the tone and twists of a collectively narrated improvised story.   For the rest of the archipelago, the important bit is buying the sets of cards as a novelty to show to others, but for the Stunveldti both the cards and the game hold a deep cultural significance, and some famous Destiny's Guts games have been the origin of several popular books and even epics from the island.

The Game

Destiny's Guts is played on groups of at least four people, usually inside a house but sometimes around campfires.
  The group will decide whom will be the first player, generally starting the round with the person that is most well versed in the game, or considered the best narrator.
This person will act as a card dealer, holding the shuffled deck of cards, and revealing the first one. This first revealed card is called The Destiny and will set the tone and pace of the general narration.
  After the Destiny is revealed, the round will start with the card dealer revealing a card for themselves, action that they will repeat for each player during each turn. This card is called The Guts and will indicate to the player the kind of tone, twist or direction that they have to follow.
On the first turn the player will start a narration by saying just one or two sentences following the tone set by the Guts card (For example: The Farmer card will indicate to narrate something efficient, productive or practical) and then handing the narration over to the next player.
A new Guts card will be revealed for them, and this player will have to follow the story with another short sentence respecting the tone of their Guts card.   The narration will continue with the successive turns indefinitely, until the players give a conclusion to the short story.   In many cases, the Destiny card is not picked at random, but it is instead chosen by the group, specially for parties or special occasions where the group is already wanting to keep a specific tone.
 

The Cards

This section of the article is a Work in Progress that will be completed soon!
 

The Teobrew Farmer

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Your characters are being efficient and productive.

The Death Doula

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Description

The Admiration Medley

As a Destiny

You will tell about the amazing feats of your main character.

As a Gut

It is time for character-focused exposition.

The Fortress

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Description
 

The Lyraik

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Description

The Ruhk

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Description

The military commander

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

Description

The Neutral

As a Destiny

Description

As a Gut

The protagonist will meet a highly esteemed character.
 
 


Cover image: Banner of Stunveldt by Naelin

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