The five sat in a poorly-lit room, around a table. Cub rocked his chair back, eyeing the others with suspicion. Iskall drummed his fingers on the table, making notes on their resting facial expressions. Ren and Scar were having an... interesting conversation, given that all their communication was being done in quick sideways glances. 

And Doc? He was rummaging in a bag that hung beside his chair, glancing up at the others occasionally. Eventually, he found what he sought: a small green box. He picked it up out of the bag, smiling at the soft rattling sound it made when it moved. He stood up, and cleared his throat. The others present sat up, looking at him expectantly.

After all, who wouldn't want to see what he'd brought to game night?

Doc slammed the box down on the table, cards inside shifting to make a quiet clattering sound. He took off the deep green lid to reveal a bunch of cards, each with a number and a colour. The elevens, for whatever reason, seemed to be decorated differently. There was an instruction sheet, which Scar pounced on.

"Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"These instructions are in German."

Doc took the paper back from Scar, chuckling. He folded it up, before gathering up the cards into  a deck, and beginning to shuffle.

"Elfer Raus is a card game I used to play a lot when I was young. It was... difficult to get my hands on this deck." He explained, continuing onto the rules as he dealt cards to each of the five present. "Basically, you need to get rid of all of your cards. That's done by building lines of numbers off elevens." He pushed stacks of 12 cards to each of them, taking one for himself. "You can play as many cards as you want, but if you can't play any," he slammed the remaining deck in the middle of the table. "You have to draw."

He kicked back in his seat, smiling and quickly organising his cards.

"Red eleven goes first."

Iskall let out a small grin as he placed the red eleven on the table, and play began. Cards went around the table, until Ren asked a question nobody before had.

"Do you have to play a card if you can?"

"As long as you can play one card, you have to play at least one. But you don't have to play every card you can." Doc explained, realising he'd forgotten to tell the others.

"In that case," Ren placed the blue eight down. "I guess I'm god now. Because I know I'm cutting off at least one of you by doing this."

"You may be god," Cub quietly cursed the lack of a blue seven, placing down his green sixteen instead.

"But we can kill god!" Scar put down his green seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, leaving him with the smallest hand on the table.

Play continued, until it seemed that, for whatever reason, people kept having to draw, except Ren. Doc quietly cursed himself, knowing exactly what Ren was doing. Sure enough, when Ren's turn came around, he played cards and didn't stop. The universal sign that he'd just won.

He folded his arms when he was finished, beaming. After all, his hand was empty. The four other Hermits congratulated him, and they helped Doc pack up.

"So, what're you bringing next month?" Iskall asked as they left the building, attaching his elytra.

"Now that? That's a surprise."

They parted ways, flying off to their respective bases. Another successful game night.

I love this game. It's a staple of my family, and we've been playing it a lot recently. So I thought, why not make a chapter of it?

Also, I might make a follow-up next month, because I think I know what game Ren's gonna bring.

OdalRune, signing off from the past!