A third round of betting takes place according to standard betting order. Two more private cards are then dealt to each remaining player, giving each person a total of six cards in his hand (four private cards and two public cards).
One final round of betting occurs, after which is the showdown, in which players arrange their cards to make the desired hand. A hand is made from up to five of the player’s cards, so one card must first be placed face-down on the table and discarded. Any other cards not being used to make up the player’s hand will be placed face-up atop the discard. If the Aural Rule is in effect, the player must verbally announce his hand, and under the Rule of Order it must match exactly with what he has played down.
The players each turn in their betting tablets, on which their Win/Lose tallies have been recorded during the game. The player with the most powerful hand is awarded currency from the pot equal to the combined amounts under the “Win” column on the tablet. The player with the least powerful hand is awarded the currency from the pot equal to the combined amounts under the “Lose” column on the tablet.
c. Trading
As stated in the previous section, after the second round of betting (when each player has two private and two public cards), each player has the option of trading in cards from their hand. A player may trade 0, 1, or 2 cards from his hand – when trading two cards, they may both be private or public, or one from each.
Private cards are replaced by private cards and public cards replaced by public cards.
Trading is a key technique in bolstering a player’s hand to win, or else getting rid of unwanted power cards when the player is attempting to lose.
d. Winning and Losing
Note that “winning” and “losing” refers initially to which players have the most- and least-powerful hands. Players are awarded currency for having the least-powerful hand as well as having the most-powerful, based on the Win/Lose tallies on the players’ tablets. If the majority of currency placed into the pot was bet in the “Lose” column of the tablet, a player may “win” the hand with a powerful combination but end up being awarded less currency than the player who “lost” the hand.
When a player can no longer afford to pay the ante for a hand, his remaining currency is forfeit and automatically placed in the pot for the next hand and is awarded to the player with the most-powerful hand. Winning the game refers to being the player with the most currency when no other players can afford to pay the ante for a hand.
The initial strength of a player’s hand is determined using the basic ranking system (see Section III). If two players have the same basic hand, the winner is determined based on which person has more cards in play from an immortal suit (the “Immortal Majority” rule). If there is an equal amount of immortal cards in each hand, then the winner is determined based on the “Majority Sum” rule. If this still fails to break a tie, the player with the highest card value in play wins (“High Card”). In the unlikely event the tie has still not been broken, the two players simply split the awarded currency.
Author’s Note
About the only thing I love more than writing is being a husband and father. Thanks to my brothers, I started playing Dungeons & Dragons sometime around the second grade and read my first real fantasy book a year later. I blame them for my fervent love of a genre that’s come so far just in my lifetime, and I can’t help but feel like it’s a little arrogant of me to offer my own work into the world for your enjoyment. I love these books, and my hope is that if you’re sticking with me, you think they’re pretty damn cool, too.
Learn more about the Pandemonium War saga at www.PandemoniumWar.com, including chapter-by-chapter annotations for each book in the series.
Hunting The Three
* * *
[1] - Taken from a speech by the human Denan Heigen, head of the xenophobic Men for Mankind Coalition, delivered to the Coalition high council in 1009 AM.
[2] - Heigen is reading an excerpt from the human text, A History of the World, Vol. XII, The Merging
[3] - Scholars will note that this is the one and only true occurrence of this phenomenon. Lesser occurrences of the Devil’s Horns are more frequent, happening approximately once every forty years, as mortal humans measure time. It is only at this one point in recorded history, however, that the perfect alignment of the moons was achieved, maximizing the supposed evil influence of this lunar juxtaposition. Reputable scholars still regard this so-called influence as mere superstition, despite extensive historical correlation.
[4] - An account from Sergeant Farnes Derard, human guardsman assigned to the Barrier, recorded following his death in 1012 AM. The date being recalled is the 29th of Vintamanth, 1011 AM.
[5] - Probably sixty, which would be in keeping with the Prism’s sense of balance in a large group of paladins. Thirty on each side, five members of each primary Facet.
[6] - A Stone representing one of the seven Prismatic Facets – including White – resides in each of the seven courtyards of the Barrier. The Stones were erected at the end of the Merging War and serve as public memorials to the men and women who died then.
[7] - Dwarven word for “The Holy Month”. The calendar used by all mortals was originally laid out by the dwarves during the Dark Ages, but the original month names used were nearly all lost to history and have been replaced. Out of deference to their origins, the names currently used are rendered in the dwarven tongue. See Appendix A.
[8] - A human corruption of the elven word dracon, or flying lizard. (It should be noted that true dragons have not been seen in the known world since the early days of the Age of Lords.) Each dakkan is also capable of assuming one other shape of their choosing, although they are confined to the realm of beasts. No dakkan can, for instance, alter its shape to that of a human or demi-human, but lions, horses, and other beasts are well within the scope of their innate abilities. Once the alternate shape is chosen, typically in late adolescence, it is set for life.
[9] - A term used to describe all non-human peoples. In a world dominated by humans, it applies equally to dwarves, gnomes, elves, and denarae.
[10] - Dwarves and gnomes are referred to as halflings by the taller denizens of the mortal plane.
[11] - Each elven sect uses a prefix to denote the affiliation of an individual or community. The presence of the prefix when addressing an elf is arbitrary, though generally the prefix is used on more formal occasions as a sign of respect. It is also courteous for an elf to introduce him- or herself by including this prefix, and likewise courteous for another to name them such when first addressing them in a conversation. After the initial salutation, the prefix is typically dropped.
[12] - An elven term used to denote a valued youth. Masters often refer to a protégé apprentice in such a way. Other races have adopted this term as well, but it is still most common among elves.
[13] - Elves are the only race believed to practice “magic,” which they call Weaving. Magic is taboo to non-elves, but only the superstitious or the well-informed really believe it exists.
[14] - A dwarven term for a member of a city’s police-guard. Most such units have officially adopted the term for themselves.
[15] - Mantis-like demons with lightning-fast reflexes. The most powerful of the childris is the demon lord Aesthma.
[16] - Free city and home of the Prismatic Order. The name is taken from the dwarven word for “anvil”.
[17] - The Prismatic Order maintains a presence in most major cities on the mainland, ranging from a few offices in a building to full compounds with facilities for training and worship. The chapterhouse in Nocka is the headquarters for the Prism and houses the Prismatic Council.
[18] - In the immortal tongue, dishnara means (approximately) “enslaved” - there is no exact mortal translation.
[19] - A man-sized fish with wing-like protrusions on each side enabling limited gliding. Similar to the smaller fish the elves call the simaeron’ho (or “flying fish” in the human tongue”), though cons
iderably more dangerous to mortals.
[20] - A hunting cat related to the panther. Female faerers possess two stripes from their nose to the base of their tail. Males have three. The stripes are usually a bright color, and their bodies are neutral grays, black, or earth-shades of brown.
[21] - It should be noted that even in the Men for Mankind Coalition, there are varying degrees of xenophobia. The Coalition as a whole does not wholly condemn the use of non-human-made wares, but many of its more fanatic members refuse to use any item not crafted by human hands.
[22] - Most major cities have a shadow market where stolen or smuggled goods can be bought and sold. Selling items stolen in one city at the shadow market of another is a common practice to reduce the likelihood that the items will be recognized and traced to their source.
[23] - Dakkans, unlike other reptilian species, do not hatch from eggs. Instead, they give live birth in the nature of mammals. This is undoubtedly due to their shape-shifting ability, and the problems inherent with laying eggs in a non-dakkan form. No one knows for sure how a female dakkan carries the babies within her without damaging or altering her young.
[24] - A wooden sword, normally used as a practice weapon. The blade has a shaft of dense metal inside to provide a more realistic weight and balance.
[25] - For a full list of the cards in Dividha and the rules of the game, see Appendix B.
[26] - The River of Truth and the River of Fury, respectively.
[27] - Note for non-Dividha players: The deuces of the immortal suits are more powerful when coupled with the opposite immortal suit than with those of their own suit. Thus the Kaelus card would be better off paired with cards from the Heaven suit than from its own Hell suit or from any of the three mortal suits.
[28] - The dragoenix is considered a myth based on a myth, so to speak. The origins of the creature are unknown, but it is supposedly a crossbreed between a true dragon and a phoenix. Since phoenixes are wholly mythological, the dragoenix has always been regarded by scholars as an extreme in absurdity and common ignorance. Recent research, however, suggests the dragoenix did once exist eons ago, and that the mythological phoenix was actually based on the real life dragoenix, not the other way around.
[29] - A dark, bittersweet drink, introduced to humans by the gnomes. Dwarves often claim the drink was discovered by a gnome who was trying to create a paint solvent. That doesn’t stop them from drinking it, however.
[30] - Formal name for the last three days of the standard week, from Octday through Decaday. Traditionally, these are days of rest. This period includes the primary day of worship, Niday.
[31] - The origins of this phrase are unknown, but it generally refers to experiencing some mixture of good and bad luck tied together. A popular fable tells of a merchant who leaves work early and unknowingly escapes a lethal fire, only to return home to find his wife getting dressed with another man.
[32] - While the belief in Fate as an incarnate goddess faded in the First and Second Centuries of the Age of Lords, certain ancient idioms persist even in modern thought and language.
[33] - An immortal’s āyus is the very substance of their being and the measure of their strength and power. When we speak of a demon or angel being more or less powerful than another, it is a question of the strength of their āyus rather than physical strength.
[34] - A youth may be taken in by a paladin as a squire to seek his sponsorship into training in the Prismatic Order. While no longer a requirement for entry, having a sponsor can smooth the entrance process while providing an initial level of training other enrollees might lack. The use of squires is a holdover from past centuries when such sponsorship was practically the only way to enroll as a trainee, and while many have criticized this change as a lowering of standards, no one can deny that enrollment numbers have been at an all-time high since the turn of the millennia.
[35] - The word for “journey” in the immortal language, the term is used as a quest or important mission assigned by the Prismatic Council. Also the name of the group assigned to such a quest. Typically, one representative from each Facet is chosen to go on the jintaal, with one paladin designated as the leader of the group. Larger jintaals are composed of equally balanced forces.
[36] - A sturdy belt favored primarily by soldiers, deron’dala, and miners for field work. The belt is made of a thick, fibrous weave and can easily support the weight of a full-grown man. Most field-issue canteens and pouches are designed to accommodate the thick belt.
[37] - A standard dwarven compass consists of a sighting wire set in the cover plate, a foldout lens beneath an aiming notch, a marked bezel ring (120 tick marks representing 3 degrees each), and the floating dial and needle.
[38] - A racial slur for denarae. They’re often referred to as “shadows,” which is then shortened.
[39] - Inquiries among angels indicate this is indeed the word used to describe their telepathic communication. In the immortal tongue, the word kythe means “to make known to,” as in sharing one’s thoughts.
[40] - The outbreak began in 981 AM. Fortunately it was mostly confined to the city of Ankor and did not spread far beyond the immediate vicinity.
[41] - The name originally given by dwarves to the genocidal war in which they wiped the Dale gnomes from the face of the known world. As the sheer immensity of their actions sank in, many have tried to change the name to something less damning. Others maintain the name should remain as a mark of shame, and a minority still feel their ancestors were justified in wiping out the Dale.
[42] - A signaling code developed by Darek Stonethumb, a dwarf, during the Fifth Century AM. The code uses a series of long and short signals, either written or by intermittent flashes of light, to stand for various letters of the Dwarven alphabet or in some cases complete words.
[43] - Dwarves prefer squared corners and indelible order, which coincides with their fascination and talent for working in stone. Their cities tend to be laid out in perfect grids, and normal buildings are rarely more than one or two stories tall. Basements are ubiquitous throughout dwarven architecture.
[44] - Dwarven for “little beauty”.
[45] - A powerful species of demon, daemelans have an equine body covered with scales, cloven hooves, and a humanoid torso with four arms. They are few in number and serve exclusively as the elite guardians of Mephistopheles. The demon lord Bau was first among them until he fell during the Great Schism, slain by Zamiel – the so-called Angel of Storms – who was in turn slain by Mephistopheles himself.
[46] - See Appendix B for more detailed rules regarding cards for The Three.
[47] - Before engaging in a game of Dividha, be sure to inquire about specific rule variations or “House Rules” to avoid being caught by an unanticipated twist. Major tournaments are always conducted using the standard Nocka Rules established in the Fifth Century (AM).
[48] - Obviously, games need not always be played for money, but the relative value of varying currency should be established up front. Friendly competitions are often held using pebbles, while slightly more serious players often use valuable items as collateral for their games. Gnomes are well-known to use as game currency various nuts and bolts taken from their inventions, occasionally resulting in the explosion of whatever device formerly relied on the now-missing part.
Hunting The Three (The Barrier War) Page 45