House of Ante

You are the eighth guest at Ardwick House, and the causeway has closed behind you until dawn. Your host wears a plain copper half-mask, calls himself the Ante, and speaks only in rules. Tonight he will call three Figures. A Figure is a table, a ring of empty chairs, and a hand of cards — and the house has opinions about where each one may sit. No House may sit beside itself. The Mask must be flanked by silence. Whoever faces the window must rank below the hour. Satisfy every Edict and the table is seated. Fail, and the table seats you. Between Figures the doors are left open. Talk to a botanist who grows thorns against something that walks, a clockwinder who decides what the hour is, and a woman who has been invited back eleven times and will tell you why. Learn how a guest holds a card before you sit across a table from them.