Round One

Liam pulled out a dusty box from undeneath the couch he was sitting on. The four friends had been attempting to talk and joke around for the past 10 minutes, but the impending splitting of their paths had created a palpable tension on the room, making any attempt at conversation feel forced.

Wiping off the top of the box, he read aloud the title of the game. "Malleable Forms. What do you say we give the game a try?"

Michael, who's family owned the house, looked rather confused. "Huh? I don't recognize that game. Did anyone bring it?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Liam started to feel a bit uneasy. Surely Michael's family had owned the game a long time ago, but had forgotten about it under the couch. It wasn't as if a board game could appear out of nowhere, right?

Nevertheless, Liam opened up the game and read the instructions aloud. "In Malleable Forms, your objective is to reach the end of the board while maintaining as much as your original self as possible. On your turn, you must roll the die, then move your token the corresponding amount of spaces. After rolling, you must draw a card from the deck, then decide which of the two changes you wish to take upon yourself. Players may opt out of the game at any time, though they will recive a random change. The first player to reach the game wins, and may choose which changes they wish to retain."

What did the game mean by changes? Liam wasn't sure. Hopefully the game would make more sense once they started playing. After Peter read over the instructions again trying to make sense of them, they set up the board and each claimed a token. Liam decided to go first, because after all the game was his idea. He rolled a 4 and moved his token, then drew a card. "You may choose to bless your form with clarity, or endow it with definition."

Liam read it over again, and then chose: