Twistbuck
| Twistbuck | |
|---|---|
| Names and titles | |
| Title(s): | Don |
| General info | |
| Occupation: | Professor |
| Home: | City of Greyhawk |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Human |
Description
Twistbuck is a Don (a headmaster) at the Count's College in the Free City of Greyhawk.[1]
Don Twistbuck is "tall", "kind of paunchy,"[2] and is widely considered a very clever scholar.[1]
Personality
Activities
As a professor, Don Twistbuck teaches architecture and cartography, and "also specializes in history and city planning [and] knows Greyhawk like the back of his hand."[3]
Twistbuck's Game
In Night Arrant, Don Twistbuck wagers with Gord on a game of Twistbuck's own devising, which is only referred to as simply a "game of legs" or as "Twistbuck's Game"—the title of the chapter.
Essentially, the game was that a pair of people would walk down the streets of the city, the players would take alternating turns counting the number of legs (if any) of the creatures appearing on the signs of inns and taverns as they pass them. The game's end comes with a set number scored, a set number of signs are counted, or by an agreed upon time limit.
"One simply notes the name or depiction, or both, on the sign above an inn, tavern or drinking house. If legs are implied in the name, then one counts them, modifying the count upward if the depiction on the establishment's sign should show a greater number... Let's suppose there is a tavern called the Fox and Hounds. A fox has four legs and hounds, being plural, implies two dogs and eight legs. Therefore, the minimum score of legs for such a place would be twelve..... Suppose the sign showed a single hound?... It wouldn't matter a whit! 'Hounds' is plural, so that calls for a score of eight legs. However, should it happen that the sign showed three or four hounds, then the score would be twelve or sixteen for the canines, plus the fox, naturally.
It is a matter of alternate occurrence .... Two individuals engage in a contest Each alternately counts the legs, if any, on the sign encountered during his turn. There is usually a time or distance limitation so that the game lasts a reasonable period and has a conclusion. Of course, the player with the highest leg count wins.
[Each player] gets one sign, legs or not appearing on it, the occurrence of a sign ending one player's turn and beginning the other's. ... after an inn, tavern, or drinking establishment is encountered, legs are counted and scored, and a running total maintained on paper. The person awaiting his turn can select the next direction of the route of the game, as long as it does not go back over territory already covered. After some set limit — say an hour's time, five signs each, or whatever — the total scores are compared. The person having the higher total of legs wins.... To add zest, the loser might have to buy drinks or perhaps pay a small sum for each leg his opponent had counted above his lesser score."[4]
See Also
External links
Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ a b Night Arrant—Gord the Rogue novel (1986), p.206, Twistbuck's Game.
- ↑ Night Arrant—Gord the Rogue novel (1986), p.205, Twistbuck's Game.
- ↑ Night Arrant—Gord the Rogue novel (1986), p.226-227, Twistbuck's Game.
- ↑ Night Arrant—Gord the Rogue novel (1986), p.213-215.
Bibliography
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twistbuck | Non-player character | Night Arrant | 206, 207, 211-227 | |
| Twistbuck's Game (Legs) | Item | Game/Sport, | Night Arrant | 212, 213, 218 |