Frank didn't like the look of either of his options. Not only were the challenges on this track harder, it seemed far more determined to cause dramatic changes. If he went left, he might become a stag if he failed to impress a centaur with archery skills. Heading right would make him a crow if he failed to answer a riddle. Neither seemed appealing. He tried the crow space, hefting the die in both hands, and hoping nobody snuck a look as the sleeve fell below his waist. He failed again, of course, but still had his ability to flee. Hefting the die once more, and crawling awkwardly over towards his piece, he was somewhat relieved to see where he landed. "A mischievous pixie takes pity on you as you flee the dangers of the forest, and presents to you a sack of pixie dust. So long as you remain within the forest, you may sprinkle yourself as often as you like, with each pinch adding 1 to the next die you roll, as you gain the luck and and magic of a pixie." Sure enough, Frank suddenly felt the bag as it suddenly appeared by his ankle.
"You know," Evan said, "bad as things are right now, you're looking pretty well set to win the game. Just use that to sweep up all the bonuses on that track, and you can probably use that run away power to skip right past most of the nasty things on the next two paths."
Alex moved along, finding it hard to match Evan's enthusiasm. "A small child offers to show you a hidden path leading to the forest in exchange for a single coin. Refuse and he'll follow you along, stirring up trouble." The last thing Alex wanted was the game bringing more people into the store, especially not one like that. He paid the gold, and pushed his piece up to the next track.
"Hey Ben," Evan chimed in once again, "you don't have anything to lose going for that lute again, do you?"
"Good point," replied Ben, sliding his piece back that way. "Wait, what? The text here changed!" Everyone peered over to be sure. "Circling back the way you came, the sheriff's men are still searching for his daughter. Buy them a drink for 1 gold, or score an eight with a roll and your Charm to convince them to look elsewhere." He passed the roll easily enough, but still found the change to the board rather alarming.
Carmen slid her piece to follow, taking everything in bizarre stride, and finding the the space had changed yet again. "The local guards are busy elsewhere, allowing you to pick the pocket of a passing wizard. Roll a die. On a 1 2 or 3, gain 2 Gold. On a 4 5 or 6, gain a magic ring that lets the own switch places with another player any time they roll a 6." She rolled a 5, reached into her pocket, and withdrew a ring with a pair of arrows, immediately slipping it onto her finger.
Dave's increasingly attractive face, framed now in curled blond locks took on a worried look, as a hand shot below the table. "Something wrong?" asked Charley, before taking his turn.
"No, no, everything's fine!" Dave replied, covering his character card with a fairly dainty hand.
Shrugging, Charley moved along. "A nasty beast charges up from the forest, upending the carts of traveling merchants. Score a 6 by adding a die to your Might and you can drive it back, earning a reward of 2 Gold from the merchants, and allowing you to follow its trail. Fail, and you will fall unconscious from its poisonous bite and miss your next turn." Gritting his teeth, Charley rolled, and breath a sight of relief as a dotted red line appeared on the board, connecting his current location to the Mysterious Forest, and a space challenging him to finish the beast next turn. He took his gold and slid the dice over.
Dave ignored the dice and reached for his piece. By the changing appearance on his character card, and a noticeable shrinkage in his pants, it struck him that there was more to this pool than simply stat increases. Any longer here and it might not be women he had a bonus to dealing with. Before he had a chance to move though, Evan grabbed a die off the table and gave it a quick roll. "Hey! It's not your turn yet!" said Dave.
"Right, that's for you. Remember?" came Evan's reply. "I make the roll so you can stay, you help me out later."
"I changed my mind though!" Dave explained, in something of a panic, tugging at his piece to find it apparently stuck to the board.
Watching, Evan shrugged. "Too late for that I guess. Looks like the game has a no take-backs policy, just like the trading thing. Don't see why you're so worried though, this brings you to what, like 12 Charm? One more turn there and I think you'll have enough not to automatically pass any charm roll on the board... plus you should see your face. You could totally get into acting looking like that."
It wasn't his face that Dave was worried about. There was an odd tingling in his pants and an itching feeling in his shirt as the new round's slow change began.