TEXT: Soul 
    Quest
  A Sword Queen Game 
  by Jamila R. Nedjadi
  Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest
  Soul 
    Quest
  
  A DREAM AWAITS YOU
  The dream has teeth, long and sharp. It has eyes, soft and wet.
  It has hands cold and tender. Skin to skin, the dream feels like a
  veil, an almost, a maybe, a gentle lie happy enough to stand in 
  for your truth.
  It’s a dream that forges a sword in your heart, a dream that 
  bleeds in your stead. It’s a dream that stands in the light, a 
  twisted shadow streaming free and undefined behind it.
  It’s a dream that has asked for nothing, before this point.
  You awake to it. In the dark, your body lies sleeping on the 
  behind behind you. In this place, the moon is a deep and 
  forgotten shade of lilac, and it sings to itself gently as the stars 
  flow like tears from its hallow eyes.
  You awake to it. Your body stirs and continues dreaming, you 
  see the cord growing softly between the two of you. From your 
  body’s eyelashes grow the faintest fern like strands, dancing in 
  the air, moving towards you with great purpose. The cord 
  strengthens now, bolder now, deadlier now. It wraps around 
  your soul, and it makes a sound like your ex-lover’s sigh, the 
  last one they made before they left forever.
  You awake to it. And the dream stands in the doorway. It’s 
  surrounded by mirror shards and rotting flowers. It smells of 
  the sand’s memory of the ocean. It looks at you with no eyes, 
  and you feel yourself changing to suit its gaze.
  You awake to it. It’s time to go, my love. 
  (page one) 
  
  (page two)
  This is just a game
  This is not real. Not yet. Not to all of you.
  It will become real to a part of you though, the 
  part that needs this the most.
  This is just a game
  This is just a game
  This is just a game
  This is just a game
  This is just a game
  This is as real as it needs to be.
  This is as real as it needs to be.
  This is as real as it needs to be.
  This is as real as it needs to be.
  
  (page three)
  to begin the quest
  Take a standard playing card deck. Six sided dice of two 
  different colors. Preferably red and black. (But Spirit will 
  understand if you deviate a little, really.) Paper, to draw your 
  map on. A pencil, to draw with. An object of protection. This is a
  photograph of someone or someplace forgotten, that you yearn 
  for. A gift given that carries heartbreak now. A flower pressed 
  between two books. A letter stained by time. Something, 
  anything, that will ground you. That will bring you back home, 
  should you stray too far. If you are desperate and there is nothing 
  to bring you home: on a piece of paper write your name. Then 
  write your hidden name, the name you call yourself when no one is
  looking at you.
  Go to a place that is safe. That is quiet. Where you cannot be 
  disturbed. But a place you can leave easily, if you suddenly need
  to hear a physical breath, to trace symbols in a warm hand, to 
  lightly touch a shoulder. Someone else may go on this quest 
  with you. But they must stay silent, and may only draw cards 
  for you. If they wish to say something, they must write it down.
  Take the deck. Split the cards into seven piles, savoring the 
  repetitive motion. Let your mind wander where it may. Regather
  the cards as you like (and if a card falls out: set it aside. This 
  card belongs to Spirit now, and cannot be taken back. It’s a 
  token of you, proof that you exist.) Set the cards aside, and 
  knock on the deck three times.
  Knock, knock, knock.
  Hello, Spirit. I am here. I am ready.
  Place the dice next to the deck. The quest begins now.
  
  The dream awaits
  The dream comes close to you now. It breathes along your 
  neck, wanting, wanting. It sighs and pulls back, and you feel 
  your heart open up now. Like a flower now. Like a flower 
  searching for the sun, the sun long gone, the sun the moon sings
  to searching and searching and sighing and blooming and now 
  the dream sheds and sheds and sheds and comes true and now
  Draw a card, beloved.
   WHAT IS YOUR DREAM LIKE? 
  ♠ It’s sharp and many-edged, it grins with too many teeth, and 
  reaches out with too many hands, it’s many eyes searching.
  ♣ It’s warm and flickering, like candlelight, but threatening to 
  burn and burn and burn everything around it careful now.
  ♥ It’s soft but barely there, straining against something unseen. 
  It’s gentle and tastes like summer fruit, dripping and dripping.
  ♦ It’s shining and earthy, smells of the rain through the trees and 
  feels like ash coating between the eyes a cross of protection now.
  Draw another card, my forgotten one.
   WHAT DOES YOUR DREAM WANT? 
  ♠ A sense of justice long deserved, vengeance if necessary.
  ♣ A reason to breathe, a light at the end of a long tunnel. 
  ♥ A kiss from someone or something forbidden.
  ♦ Tokens of your love, proof of your right to continue existing.
  (page four)
  
  (page five)
  Draw two cards, there is no turning back.
   WHO GUIDES YOU ON THIS JOURNEY? 
  ♠ An angel with sword and shield. Their clothing torn, blood 
  streaming from their eyes. They glow with righteous anger.
  ♣ A demon of shadow and smoke. They smile patiently, twirling an
  echo of your soul between their fingers.
  ♥ A love long lost, taken by time or death. They stand with you 
  now, smiling, as if they had never left. As if they will never again.
  ♦ A spirit unformed, curious and confused with the summoning. It 
  asks you if all the papers are in order, if you have filled all forms.
  Draw three cards, get ready to fight my love.
   WHAT DO YOUR GUIDES GIFT YOU WITH? 
  ♠ A weapon, strong and true; OR a secret, sharp and dark.
  ♣ A light to guide the way; OR a reason to come home. 
  ♥ A flask of healing water; OR a kiss of passion and sweetness.
  ♦ A soul coin with your name on it; OR a promise you must keep.
  Draw one card, the portal reveals itself.
   HOW DO YOU ENTER THE OTHER WORLD? 
  ♠ Someone whispers your name, and a forest grows around you.
  ♣ A star casts its light, the moonlight creates a path just for you. 
  ♥ A memory comes undone, and within it the road leads home.
  ♦ A strange house builds itself, and a door slowly creaks opens.
  
  The map is revealed
  The world opens up to you now. It’s been asleep, for a long 
  time. Sleeping under the tyranny of your waking dream, 
  suffocating in silence and fading dying rotting twisting but
  Roll the dice, my precious.
  The number that shows on the red die is the number of miracles
  that await you, yearning to be discovered. Pull that many cards, 
  refer to the oracle below, and draw them on your map.
  The number that shows on the black die is the number of curses 
  that lurk in between the lines. Pull that many cards, refer to the 
  oracle on the next page. In the corners of your map, in reaching 
  letters, write down what darkness awaits. 
  Draw the cards beloved, create your miracles.
   WHAT WONDERS AWAIT YOU? 
  ♠ Oasis of truths; soldiers from a forgotten war; a library of books 
  written in light language; singing saints; paintings as portals.
  ♣ Structures of power; beings of fire and dance; sunsets trapped in
  spells; mountains with faces, demons turned into gentle muses.
  ♥ People of the land; children with ancient eyes, wise ones with no
  faces; colorful beings of gold and purity; the forgotten ones.
  ♦ Treasures beyond compare; memories encased in glass beings; 
  delicate gem-machines; souls encased in forests; golden waters. 
  (page six)
  
  (page seven)
  Draw the cards my dearheart, spin your curses.
   WHAT HORRORS AWAIT YOU? 
  ♠ Blood and bone; creatures with skin made of teeth; 
  doppelgangers with the longest knives; beasts of nightmares.
  ♣ Storms and disaster; screeching lightning; rains that burn away 
  lies; floods of vines; skeletal forests uprooting themselves in anger.
  ♥ Memories and despair; ghosts thirsting for life; fallen angels 
  bleeding black; an army of you bearing powerful witchcraft.
  ♦ War and violence; blazing ships that plow through land and sky;
  Valkyries twisted by hate; a horde of animals tearing flesh.
  The world is laid bare, trembling beneath your fingers, praying 
  for your bravery. The whispers urge you ever forward, and your 
  soul shivers in response. In the undiscovered expanse, destiny 
  awaits your hand. 
  How will your soul journey onwards? What shaman within you 
  awakens, what lingering blessing waits and waits and waits 
  beneath the fragile surface of your consciousness?
  (This is the moment now, now,
  now, if you want this to remain a game, allow your eyes to defocus
  and read on. There is nothing for you here but my love if you
  desire this ritual to become, to become,
  to become real then whisper to yourself under the breath) or in 
  the ear of one next to you whisper whisper whisper to them (
  Soul, I release you from the shackles I created for you. I 
  befriend the fear, and call it by another name: an unamed 
  dream. Rise, Rise, Rise in me, and take a name for yourself
  (draw a card, and write down this name on the card. Shuffle it 
  back into the deck, and grant it luck and good fortune)
  
  (page eight)
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The Journey-Spell is Cast
  The rules of the quest are rules but they are not 
  stone unyielding, they are like the air awaiting 
  your breath. Bend, break, discard the rules as you 
  like. Hold them close, cherish them, as you like.
  
  The rules of quest
  Start somewhere, anywhere, on the map.
  Speak out loud of your journey. Your voice soft, low, the softest 
  shudder of a chant settling into your throat, your stomach, the 
  seat of your soul, your soul, your soul it reaches now and moves
  the hand the hand the hand picks up the pencil and it draws it 
  draw it draws circles within circles shapes within shapes curses 
  within blessings mazes of the mind of the heart of the spirit and
  when the pencil reaches a miracle on the map, stop chanting. 
  Stop and
  stop and
  stop and
  draw a card, my brave one, my beloved, my all, my heart.
  Draw a card and reveal all of your heart to me;
   DOES THE MIRACLE ACCEPT YOU AS YOU ARE? 
  ♠ NO AND; a curse is released. It crashes through and makes 
  demands. Look to the corners of your map. Choose a nightmare, 
  and unleash it. What disaster strikes?  Something precious is 
  taken, corrupted, destroyed. How are you left haunted?
  ♣ NO BUT; one of your guides proves the worth of your soul. In 
  doing so, they are destroyed. Should both guides have been 
  destroyed, discard this card. Return home, journey unfulfilled.
  ♥ YES AND; they have been waiting for you for so long, so long, 
  my love. What celebrations, miracles, and victories await you?
  ♦ YES BUT; they ask you to change. Form, speech, song, desire, 
  fear, something, anything. How do you change? What is lost and 
  what is gained through the change? 
  (page nine)
  
  (page ten)
  Once a miracle is explored, blossomed, come to life, birthed again
  in your mind and takes residence in your soul then erase it from 
  the map. The miracle is spent, gone forever, released to the 
  processes of divine creation. You may thank the Miracle, leave a 
  token or sigil drawn on the map where it once was. The power 
  spent is yours now. Cherish it, yes?
  Once the miracle is gone, allow your eyes to drop drop drop and
  allow the body to sway sway sway just a little just a touch just 
  as much just as you pick up the pencil and whisper of the 
  journey chanting again from a place deep and lingering and soft 
  and precious and yielding and surrendering to the magic to the 
  magic to the magic and do this again and again and again 
  stopping
  stopping stopping
  stopping when
  when the lines of your pencil hits another miracle. Draw a card 
  again, my love, the page before remains the same, the oracle 
  guiding the journey as needed.
  Continue continue continue the journey the journey the journey
  for as long as your soul can bear. If the soul grows tired and 
  desires to return home announce it, tear apart the map. Crumple
  it, burn it, throw it away. Allow someone else to take this 
  journey for you, my love. I will do it for you, my love.
  Ah but, you ask, what if I make it all the way to the end? What 
  if every miracle is erased, its power taken into me? 
  This is your apocalypse. 
  Lovingly crafted, dreamed of, prayed for. And in this apocalypse
  you will shatter, every blackened mirror shard falling away, 
  falling away falling away and turning into dust into dust into 
  Take the map. Quickly, don’t hesitate. Take a deep breath, and 
  on what remains, write your name again and again. Write your 
  name, until something changes, shifts, bleeds, sings, dances.
  
  (page eleven)
  Take the paper. Fold it, again and again and again 
  until it yields no longer and then hold it to the 
  lips, whispering your name.
  (if your name has changed by now, whisper that 
  name instead. Let it be free, give it wings, give it 
  the love, the love I have for you, that I ve always 
  ’
  had for you.)
  The Journey-Spell is Broken
  The Journey-Spell is Broken
  
  Coming back home
  Take the paper. If someone was playing with you, give it to 
  them. Thank them for their soul, their presence, the space they 
  offered. For standing with you, dream to dream to dream to.
  If you played alone, thank yourself. Be kind, and love you, as 
  much as I love you. More than I could ever. Be kind, be kind.
  If there is someone you pray for, wish for, long for, worry for, 
  sing for, smile for, if there is someone who does the same for 
  you give them this paper instead. But not in person, no. Place it 
  under a pillow, dream a dream of them. It may take many 
  nights. It may take forever. It may take a moment. Once the 
  dream is dreamed leave the paper in a forest. Plant the seeds of 
  your beauty, your bravery, your miracles and curses. Bless every
  journeyman that makes it way through the forest, be it a forest 
  of trees or a forest of buildings or a forest of walls or a forest of 
  the sky.
  If you made this game into a ritual, you wrote your name on 
  one of these cards. Was it drawn? Did it remain hidden? 
  What does this mean to you? Regardless, take the card now.
  Erase your name, if you like. Keep it there, if you like. 
  Keep the card, pull it away from the rest of the deck, 
  rendering the deck incomplete and unplayable. Or leave it 
  there, a strange token, proof of your ritual. Or give the 
  card to someone you love. Perhaps that someone is you.
  Thank you for your magic.
  (page nine)
  (page twelve)
  
  CREDITS
  Many thanks to The Blind Sword for your
  endless inspiration, kindness, magic.
  Maria Mison for your support and sheer power.
  The Sword Prince makes games at https://mariabumby.itch.io/
  Matthew Arcilla, who guides me through love
  and calls my soul by its most precious name.
  SWORD QUEEN GAMES is
  by Jamila R. Nedjadi. I am a Filipino game designer, queer and non-binary.
  I am a Reiki-Shaman, and enjoy leading others through shamanic journeys.
  This is a game that is not a game, a game that is a ritual, a game that holds
  some of these shamanic totems and paths. Thank you for your journey.
  Soul Quest will be playtested and refined. To keep track of this, please feel free to
  follow me on Twitter (@temporalhiccup) or itchio (https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/).
  You can also become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/swordqueengames,
  this game was made for my patrons as a timed exclusive.
  Special thanks to my King of Swords Patrons:
  Floo Floo, Minea, and Grasswatch Games!
  License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
  Writing, Design, Layout, by Jamila R. Nedjadi;
  Photography from Unsplash.com
  Fonts used are Eutemia I, Kenzo, & Averia Serif. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Self-Exploration, Emotional, & Relationship/SoulQuest.pdf