Rider: Jenn Martin
Steed: Sean Nittner
System: Moonblind
In this writing-focused, GM-less RPG for two players, channel The Rider and The Steed through playing card divination and shared storytelling. Interpret card draws and their image-rich story prompts together; then, use the tale to inspire your own five-line, pre-structured poem to share aloud.
Jenn and I played online, each writing our poems together.
The Rider
Black boots and measured steps,
Eyes searching the horizon,
Falling upon a dead future
Violet dress made dull by dust, discarded
A full moon witness to madness
Riding through the storm of dust
The horse, felled
My steed- not young but strong and loyal
The well trod path I freed him from
For better or worse
The home that would be mine, ash
Echoes of laughter from children I will never meet
The cracked old reigns snap, broken
A bright star points to where I wish to go
Teeth gnash on iron
I turn toward the rising sun, grateful
The Steed
A bit and bride worn by desire;
aged by more than years.
The miller’s wheat always beyond reach;
all I wanted but could not have.
Her eyes search for memories of a life she never had;
fingers cannot be delicate enough to hold the ashes of a dream.
Waking in my saddle, the dawn sun in her eyes;
we struggle, the bridle breaks.
Between the dust and the stars there is only us; I carry her from sorry to lonesome solace.
The Rider – Debonair – jilted by fiance who went off to be a bandit
The Steed – Workhorse – ran the mill in the millhouse
Tone: Loss & loneliness, isolation, self reliance. Hints of supernatural at most
Bond: What tests us most?
Past
Rider – Jack of Spades – Pushing into the gale, sand abrading your eyes
Steed – 7 of Diamonds – A faded signpost: Souls Blessed – Free for Bad Folks & 2c for Good Ones
Present
Rider – Joker – Hard luck, Diamonds – Resolve & Patience
Steed – 4 of Clubs – A cabin in ashes, the stone hearth a black cairn
Future
Rider – 3 of Clubs – Stampeding cattle ahead of the flood, a rush in your ears
Steed – 10 of Spades – The sky stretched thin and white, the sun a mirror; the water ran out yesterday
Bonds, revealed – Two of Hearts – Dust, violet, star, grave, iron, cord, birch, quartz
