Hopestones (Game)

Hopestones is a gambling game using flat tiles on which symbolic designs are drawn - it resembles Mah Jong in aesthetic and is a game of set-making and bluffing.

Overview

Hopestones is a game played through the land of Kaevil, often for money though not necessarily so. It has many variants though this description touches on those only briefly. Some scholastic adepts consider the Hopestones to contain an encoded understanding of the nature of reality and use the tiles for divination. Again that will be touched on only briefly.

The Basics

Hopestones is played with 64 coloured tiles, and between 2 and 4 players.
The objective of the game is to discard the tiles in your rack by making sets, each of which scores a variable number of points. The game ends when either one player’s hand is completely emptied or when all tiles are face up. At this point the player who has amassed the most points from making sets is the winner.

The Tiles

There are 16 each of Yellow, Blue, Red and Black tiles as follows (Tile names shown in italics): Power Provision Force Shadow Court King Queen Prince Concubine Council Chamberlain Treasurer General Spy City Mayor Merchant Hangman Thief Country Smith Farmer Hunter Witch
The tiles are organised in columns referred to as “Orders” – Power, Provision, Force and Shadow
They are also organised in rows referred to as “Domains” – Court, Council, City and Country
Sets are played by laying down four different tiles of the same Order, or four different tiles of the same Domain - for instance “King, Queen, Prince & Concubine” to complete a Court Set or “King, Chamberlain, Mayor, Smith” to complete a Power set. The set must either all be of the same colour or one in which each tile played is a different colour (one of each). Sets of the same colour are called “Matched Sets” and rank higher than “Mixed Sets”.
There are extra points available for laying down an Order set of a particular colour as follows:
Power: Yellow Provision: Blue Force: Red Shadow: Black

Esoteric Interpretations & Divination

Yellow (or Gold) tiles represent the highest expression of a force, its archetypal quality, and the element of air. These are the initial motivating forces of reality. In more religious times this was often seen as representing the actions of the gods.
Blue tiles represent the formative expressions of a force, the ability to provide and extend the qualities of the force to where they are required. They correspond to the element of water. Blue tiles generally have connotations of healing, nurturing, protecting.
Red tiles represent fire and active energy, the impulse to make the force real even in the face of opposition. Can often indicate risk or over-abundance of the force. Can suggest conflict, opposition and the need for strong action or courage.
Black tiles represent the element of earth and the expression of a force in the material world, often interpreted as the basest and least exalted expressions of a force. Often represent hidden forces or detrimental influences.
So to interpret a particular tile that is drawn or revealed during a divinatory reading seek for the conjunction of the name of the tile and what that implies and the colour that denotes the nature of the force in play.
Kings represent authority for instance, a commanding figure against which no opposition can be raised. A red King would represent an unstoppable and perhaps destructive use of power or authority, something against which it would be hard to prevail. A blue King on the other hand would denote that same level of authority and command but used in a nurturing and providing way, a situation perhaps that is beneficial and arriving entirely without the action of any human agency.

The cost is a silver coin my friend. Thank you. Now mix the tiles, face down, carefully now, they say that if any drop from the table it’s the worst of foul luck for you and yours, for these are stones of fate itself.
There. Now draw a tile. Ah, the Merchant and in blue. A good start and the first tile shows what has brought you here. Our friend the Merchant loves to make deals, give and take. He gives nothing without a price, but an honest Merchant like this one gives good value. Your journey so far has not been without hardship has it? You had to give something up to get this far in life, perhaps a lover? A home? A safe job? But it has been worth it. You paid a fair price and got a good deal and ended up far better than you began. You smile, this means something to you. Good.
Now let’s see what the present situation is, draw another tile. The Concubine… and in red. She deals in secrets and intrigue, in gossip and scandal. She knows things she should not and while she can offer pleasure she’s more likely to be a selfish schemer. And in red… Someone is acting against your interests, deliberately and boldly. If you have a partner in your schemes you should judge their loyalty carefully. You may come out on top but not by cunning… the Red Courtesan is better at those games than you could ever be.
The third tile now will show us the future. Take your time… let your intuition guide your hand… You’ve chosen? Then turn it over. The Hangman. And in Black. This is not an auspicious tile. The Hangman delivers justice in the harshest possible way, without mercy, without remorse. And the Black of the tile… That bodes ill. I pass no judgement my friend, but if the secrets that the Red Courtesan knows are ones that incriminate you, that could bring about some just fate that you are hoping you can avoid… then abandon such false hope. You will face justice. Hard and final. That good deal you got when you set out in life… you should have made better use of it. Go now.

Components and tools

Flat tiles with symbols on, each set being replicated in four colours. Expensive sets use precious metals and gems, but it is possible to play with slivers of wood and charcoal scratchings.

Related Ethnicities

• Norlander