the contents

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ContentsChapter VIII

The
Satchel

Buy chessboards, battle charms and field tools in every town.

A worn teal chess workbook with a chequered cover and a ribbon marker.
A rolled parchment map tied with cord, showing a compass rose and a chequered border.
A gold pendant of two facing knights around a pale blue eye with a chequered pupil.
Dog-Eared Workbook · Route MapInsight Charm

The Boardwright, in every town

Every town’s shop is the Boardwright. It sells chessboards and nine items.

You pay in Pawn Bucks, which you earn by winning games, finishing lessons and taking on stories.

Battle items

  • A round glass flask of green tonic, corked in brass, with a chequered paper tag.

    Focus Tonic350Pawn Bucks

    Doubles battle experience for fifteen real minutes.

    Use
    Use it from your bag. Every battle you win during the next fifteen minutes gives double experience. Limited to one use per in-game day.
    Notes
    Before a Chess Club or several battles in a row.
  • A gold pendant of two facing knights around a pale blue eye with a chequered pupil.

    Insight Charm450Pawn Bucks

    Adds one hint to the current battle.

    Use
    Open your bag during a battle and select the charm. You gain one hint.
    Notes
    Against a higher-level opponent, when the level difference gives you no starting hints.

    Up to 3 per match

  • A gold-edged blue shield pendant bearing a rook, bordered with chequered inlay.

    Parry Charm600Pawn Bucks

    Blocks the opponent’s next attempt to parry your move.

    Use
    Open your bag during a battle and select the charm. The next time the opponent tries to parry, your move goes through.
    Notes
    Against higher-level opponents, including Chess Club Masters.

    Up to 3 per match

  • A short red firecracker with a chequered band and a lit fuse.

    Firecracker950Pawn Bucks

    Sacrifices one of your pieces to remove up to two neighbouring pieces. Kings are safe.

    Use
    Select it from your bag during a battle. It chooses the best square automatically.
    Notes
    Any battle except a catch puzzle. Useful when pieces are close together.

    Up to 1 per match

  • A banded wooden powder barrel with a brass ring at the top.

    Powder Keg1,800Pawn Bucks

    Sacrifices one of your pieces to remove up to three neighbouring pieces. Kings are safe.

    Use
    Select it from your bag during a battle. It works like the Firecracker, with a larger blast.
    Notes
    Any battle except a catch puzzle. Useful when the opponent’s pieces are close together.

    Up to 1 per match

  • A white knight on a plinth, wrapped in a ring of pale green light.

    Second Wind2,200Pawn Bucks

    Returns your most valuable captured piece to the board.

    Use
    After losing a piece, select Second Wind from your bag. The piece returns to a free square near its starting square.
    Notes
    Any battle except a catch puzzle. Useful after losing your queen if you can still win the game.

    Up to 2 per match

Field tools

  • A round blue-green stone carved with glowing runes and a bright vertical crack.

    Waystone1,200Pawn Bucks

    Takes you to a town square you have already visited. One trip per stone.

    Use
    Open the world map, select a town you have visited and confirm. The stone is used up.
    Notes
    To return to a shop, Chess Club or professor without walking back.
  • A worn teal chess workbook with a chequered cover and a ribbon marker.

    Dog-Eared Workbook1,500Pawn Bucks

    Doubles the experience from the next lesson you complete.

    Use
    Keep it in your bag. It is used automatically when you finish a lesson, then consumed.
    Notes
    Before starting a lesson. Every town has a professor.
  • A rolled parchment map tied with cord, showing a compass rose and a chequered border.

    Route Map900Pawn Bucks

    Shows how many pieces live on a road, how many you have caught and how many remain.

    Use
    Keep it in your bag. It starts working after you finish the map-maker’s story in Verdant Vale, then checks each road you enter.
    Notes
    When completing a road’s collection.

Your satchel

Your items are kept in one satchel with five shelves (drinks, battle charms, field tools, story items, keepsakes) plus a favourites tab.

  • Missing itemsEach shelf lists the items you are missing as well as the ones you own.
  • Search and sortType to find an item or reorder a shelf.
  • Item detailsSelect an item to read its story, how to use it and where it came from.
  • Story items and keepsakes cannot be discardedYou can throw away a spare charm, but never a story item or keepsake.

The Insight Charm adds a hint to the current battle, even if you have not earned any. The Parry Charm prevents the opponent’s next parry. See Parries & Hints.

In the free demo the Route Map is shown but not sold: it only starts working after a story in Verdant Vale, which is past the demo’s end.

the tenth item

The one item no shop sells

A gilt-framed painting of a family at a kitchen table over a chessboard.

The Family Portrait

A trophy for catching every catchable piece.

Brought down from the attic after you collect every catchable piece in Casteria.

It has no use in battle or on the road, and it cannot be thrown away. It sits in your bag as a trophy.

One other counter in Casteria takes chips instead of Pawn Bucks: the Chessino’s prize counter.

The free demo includes Openfield and Frostford. Your save carries into the full game.

Wishlist on SteamPlay the free demo