Stigméria
Stigméria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Materials
- 3 double-sided boards
- 1 die with 12 sides
- 11 help and actions cards
- 2 token bags
- 29 double-sided cards, of which 49 are schema cards
- 256 tokens, double-sided, in 9 colors: one side shows a stigmerian, the other a pollen (each token flips between one stigmerian color and its matching pollen color)
- First player token
- New turn token
- Wind arrow token
- Count turn and actions token
- Unlock action unavailable token (black side)
- Unlock action available token (white side)
Play time: 20 to 30 minutes in solo and 40 minutes in versus. 1 to 2 players (3 to 4 with 2 boxes, 4 to 6 with 3 boxes...).
Board Details
Each flower board is a grid of pistils. Around the outside is the recruitment area. Each petal of the flower represents one game turn: the first-turn petal has a single circle (the unique action of the first turn), the second-turn petal has two circles (the first action of the second turn, etc.), the third-turn petal has three circles, and so on. Each circle is a spot where the count turn and actions token is placed to track how many actions have been used this turn.
The wind rose symbol printed on the board reminds you of the wind's effect and shows the four directions: north, west, east, south.
Each pistil is a stigmerian/pollen token emplacement. The board also displays the corresponding flower's name (for example "VertigHaineuse").
Schema Card Details
Each schema card shows the corresponding flower, the difficulty level, the card number, and the final schema to make with the pollen tokens (i.e., which pollen colors must end up on which pistils). Some schema cards also show a starting set up that must be placed on the board before play begins (see the setup section below).
Principle
Pollinate Stigméria's flowers to produce edible seeds. Will you reach the given objective in time, before the carnivorous flower notices your presence?
With a learning curve built into the rules while you play through the game's modes, 3 basic actions, and at least 1 special action given by the flower you choose, you will challenge your reflection skills!
Find the best combination of available actions to create the schema of the chosen flower in a minimum of turns and actions.
Draw stigmerian tokens, place them following the rules so you don't get eaten, and move them around using the wind on the planet.
3 Game Modes
- Normal: Learn the game progressively in solo, two players, or more by adding boxes. You have to replicate the schema in 10 turns maximum. A scoring system will allow you to replay the same schema cards to improve your previous results.
- Normal Competitive: Play against other players once you have become acquainted with the schemas of the 5 species of flower in Normal mode. Perfect for games with two or more players and more boxes.
- No Limit: Go beyond your limits if the two previous modes hold no secrets for you. Use all the actions of the game and coordinate the stigmerians' movement at your best, sailing where the wind takes you. With this expert mode, challenge your friends or yourself by trying to beat your own score.
Rules Mode "Normal"
Made to play solo or to discover the game step by step with several players (two players per box). The player limit only depends on how many boxes you have. You can also play with everyone together on the same board, thinking as one player (cooperative). Win the game by finishing before the 10th turn in solo, or by getting the highest score at the end of the game in multiplayer. There is no interaction between players.
Setup (1 Player)
- Put the tokens in the bag. Put 15 blue stigmerian tokens, 15 yellow stigmerian tokens, and 15 red stigmerian tokens (primary colors) into your token bag. You always start a new game with 15 stigmerian tokens of each primary color in your bag. You only reset your bag with stigmerian tokens when you change the schema card.
- Choose the flower. Choose one of the flower species among the 5 available and take the corresponding cards. They are recognizable by their name:
- The VertigHaineuse, recognizable by its green, purple, and orange petals. Schema cards 1 to 6. Advice: the VertigHaineuse is the flower species to take for your first game. The InspirActrice should be played only after trying the other flower species.
- The MarOnne, recognizable by its brown petals. Schema cards 7 to 12.
- The SifloChamp, recognizable by its black and white petals. Schema cards 13 to 18.
- The DentDîne, recognizable by its permanent prancing pattern and rose petals. Schema cards 19 to 24.
- The InspirActrice, recognizable by its various colored petals (blue, red, green, black, white, yellow, purple, orange, brown). Schema cards 25 to 30.
- Choose a schema card among the 6 available for the chosen flower species, among the different difficulties: Normal (★), Hard (★★), Very Hard (★★★). All players must execute the same schema, whether everyone plays on their own board or on the same board as a collective thinking exercise.
- Take the chosen flower board. The petal colors are only a reminder (stigmerian and pollen colors that the player can create with their special abilities). A second player may take any board with their preferred petal color; the illustration has no influence on the game. Position the board so that the petal with the stigmerian and a unique circle is farthest from you. This petal represents your first turn, and the circle is your first action point. Take a "count turn and actions" token and put it on the action point of the first-turn petal.
- Take the help and actions card of the chosen flower (named after the flower species). It gives you information on the different actions you can use on top of the basic actions (listed later in the rules). Every flower species gives you access to one or more special actions, which will allow you to create colors linked to this flower (on top of the three primary colors available in your token bag). Attention: after reading the Normal mode rules, read carefully the special actions on your help and actions card before starting a game. Golden rule: exceptions to the basic rules may appear on the help and actions card of the chosen flower — always follow the rules of the chosen flower to execute the schema.
Repeat the same steps (1 to 7) for every additional box if you are playing with more than two players.
Game Overview
Game turns and movement of the "count turn and actions" token. The game is broken into a series of game turns. Each petal represents 1 game turn, and inside each petal are circles on which you put your "count turn and actions" token; the number of circles corresponds to how many actions you can take on the current game turn (see the rules for basic and special actions). You always move your token clockwise, circle to circle.
- Put your "count turn and actions" token at its starting position. On the first game turn (the petal with 1 circle), you have 1 action available. You can use Land or Recruit.
- Then move your token onto the wind rose. Now apply the wind's effect.
- Then move your token onto the 1st circle of the 2nd game turn. You are now on the 2nd game turn (the petal with 2 circles): you have two actions available. Do your first action of this new turn.
- Move the token to the 2nd circle. Do your 2nd action of the 2nd game turn.
- Move your token onto the wind rose again. Now apply the wind's effect again.
- Repeat for every turn until the 10th game turn. The number of actions available is always equal to the current game turn number.
At the end of the 10th game turn, the game ends. There is no wind effect after the 10th turn, except in "discovery" difficulty. In solo, you win the game if you reproduce the schema of the chosen flower identically — there should not be more tokens on the flower than shown on the schema. In multiplayer games, the winner is the player who reproduces the schema identically in the fewest game turns and actions. In case of equality, count your score to decide the winner.
Advice: for your first few games, play with the discovery difficulty — keep going after the 10th turn if you have not finished the current schema. In this case, you start an 11th game turn by reusing the 10 actions of the 10th petal's game turn. Do the wind effect and use your 10 new action points to the fullest. If you have not finished at the end of the 10 action points of the 11th game turn, add a new "new turn" token and start a 12th game turn with the wind effect; you again get 10 new action points. Repeat until you finish the schema! From the 11th game turn onward, you always have 10 action points per game turn to use before the wind blows again. When the schema is done, count the number of game turns by adding 10 for every "new game turn" token used.
The wind blows between each game turn. Every time you change petal, an intermediary passage across the wind rose makes the wind blow. All stigmerian tokens that are on a round position of the flower (a pistil) have to move one pistil down. Stigmerians move vertically (not diagonally). Repeat this process turn after turn. This effect is mandatory and does not count as an action.
To Drop and Fix a Pollen
(Does not count as an action.)
A stigmerian of the right color, in the right position relative to the schema to execute, drops its pollen on the pistil: turn the stigmerian token over to its pollen side. From that moment on, it will not move from its position. This can be caused by a basic action, a special action, or a wind effect.
The pollen cannot move for the rest of the game, neither by a movement from the wind effect nor by a movement linked to an action. Flipping the token to its pollen side does not use an action point — it is an automatic, instantaneous, and mandatory effect. The effect triggers as soon as a stigmerian is in the right position on the flower and the right color.
Note: if the wind effect would move a stigmerian onto a pollen's position, that stigmerian does not move. It is likewise never possible to move a stigmerian onto another token's position or to pass through an occupied position.
Basic Actions
(Unless stated otherwise, every basic action costs one action point.)
- Draw: Draw a token randomly and put it in the recruitment area, showing its stigmerian side. You can have several stigmerian tokens in your recruiting area. Attention: you lose the game if your token bag is empty.
- Land: Move a stigmerian token (already in your recruiting area) onto a pistil position of the flower. It must be adjacent to a stigmerian or a pollen token already placed. If there is neither a stigmerian nor a pollen on the flower, put it on an emplacement of the 1st line (A).
- Move a stigmerian on a flower's spot: During an action, a stigmerian can be moved orthogonally to an adjacent spot from its original position, if there is no other stigmerian or pollen blocking it. You need to spend an action point for every movement. You cannot move a stigmerian diagonally (except if a special ability says otherwise). There are 4 positions available to a stigmerian. If a stigmerian blocks another token's movement, you cannot go through it or take its position — you need to go around it.
- Joker: Without paying any cost, once per game, you can exchange 4 stigmerian tokens of the same primary color from your recruiting area for 4 tokens of another primary color taken from the box. Example: exchange 4 blue stigmerian tokens for 4 yellow stigmerian tokens.
Note: you are allowed to move your "count turn and actions" token without taking any action; in that case the action point is lost.
Special Actions and Exiting the Board
The special actions are explained on the help and actions card of the chosen flower species. Every special action costs one action point, in the same way as a basic action, unless stated otherwise.
Exit the board. A stigmerian can exit the game area only by using a movement action, solely from the last line (J). All stigmerian tokens taken out of the flower are put back inside the box (whether the exit is caused by a color change or a movement).
Be careful: if a stigmerian on line (J) exits the game area by the wind effect, the game is lost. If a stigmerian exits the game area by a movement action made by the player (not by the wind effect), the game continues and is not lost: your stigmerian flew away without being detected by the flower.
Advice: when playing this mode in multiplayer, wait for each other when your "count turn and actions" token is on the wind rose symbol. You will all do the wind effect together. There is no interaction between players in this mode, but you can hold each other accountable to the rules if someone finishes early.
In multiplayer, only calculate scoring in case of a tie between players to decide the winner. Otherwise the winner is the player who succeeds in executing the schema in the fewest game turns and actions.
Scoring
If you complete the schema by the end of the 10th game turn at the latest (there is no wind effect at the end of the 10th turn, except in "discovery" difficulty), count the points of the flower played, add 1 point per unused action remaining in the current turn and every turn up to and including the 10th, and add 1 point per token in your recruiting area. Subtract 5 points if you used the Joker.
If you go past the 10th turn in "discovery" difficulty, score only the points for the flower's level:
- Level ★: 5 points
- Level ★★: 10 points
- Level ★★★: 20 points
Important Reminders
Be careful: Recruit and Land are two separate actions! You cannot recruit and land on a spot on the flower in one action.
Placement of stigmerians. Reminder: every stigmerian must be positioned adjacent to another token when you use the Land action (left, right, up, or down, but never diagonally). Exception: if there is no stigmerian or pollen anywhere on the flower, the first token you Land must be positioned on any spot of your choosing on line (A).
Wind: mandatory movement between each turn. Before your action on the next turn, all stigmerians on the flower move vertically one spot down (the bottom of the board is line J). Attention: only pollens are not affected by the wind effect. When a stigmerian that should move by the wind effect at the start of a turn is blocked by an adjacent pollen on the spot below it, it does not move during the wind effect. If several stigmerians are adjacent to one another in a vertical line, they still each move one spot down during the wind effect, except where a pollen stops some of them from moving. Move the stigmerians on the lower line first.
Example of a Game (Schema VertigHaineuse n°1)
- Turn 1: action "Land". Then apply the wind effect.
- Turn 2, 1st action: "Recruit". Turn 2, 2nd action: "Land". Then apply the wind effect.
- Turn 3, 1st action: "Recruit". Turn 3, 2nd action: "Land". Turn 3, 3rd action, special action "Mix". Then apply the wind effect.
Competitive Rule Mode "Normal"
This mode uses the same rules as the "Normal" mode, with additional rules.
Context
In competitive, all players execute an identical flower schema in fewer turns and actions than their opponents. In addition to your own board, you will all play on the flower "StigmaReine". This will be the common board used to unlock special actions. This board also allows you to recruit stigmerians using the basic action "StigmaReine". Advice: play a few games in Normal mode before trying this more advanced mode.
It exists on the planet a flower far more impressive than the 5 flower species you discovered earlier. It is called the "StigmaReine"; it presides over the flowers of the whole planet. For decades, the stigmerians have studied the mysterious powers of this odd flower. They have learned over time to control some of them, which gives them special capacities to change their own color and the color of the pollen they transport.
Setup
- Take a "Compétitive" flower board per player. The petal color does not impact the game.
- Put the "StigmaReine" board in the middle of the table: this will be the common board.
- Put 15 stigmerians of each color (blue, yellow, red) into the token bag of each player.
- Choose the first player for the first game turn: it is the one who watered a plant most recently.
- Choose collectively the schema to play among schema numbers 31 to 39. The first player chooses a blue, yellow, or red stigmerian taken from the box and puts it at the A5 position of the common board.
- Then every player draws a random token from their token bag and puts it in the recruiting area. This is part of the setup and does not count as an action.
- You start the game with only the basic actions (Recruit, Land, Move).
- Take the competitive special action cards A6 and A15: they allow you to unlock special actions. One card is used per player.
- Take card A7, "Competitive", which includes the turn order and the playable schemas. Take cards A10, A11, and A12 to know the rules and effects of the special actions you will be able to unlock.
- For the "Compétitive" flower schema of difficulty ★, you can unlock the special actions on card A10.
- For difficulty ★★, you can unlock the special actions on cards A10 and A11.
- For difficulty ★★★, you can unlock the special actions on cards A10, A11, and A12.
The common board is positioned at the center of the table and lets you earn special actions and recruit stigmerians present around the flower with the "StigmaReine" action.
You play the rules of the "Normal" mode on top of the following rules:
At the start of every game turn, from the second turn onward, all players count the number of stigmerians in their recruiting area. The player with the most plays first on the common board (before taking any action on their individual board). In case of a tie, the player with the most yellow stigmerians goes first. In case of another tie, the tied players draw from their token bag until one of them has the most yellow stigmerians. When the first player is designated, they take the first player token; put back the stigmerians that were drawn into the token bag.
The Common Board
The first player must take two actions on the common board before playing on their individual board. Then the player to their left takes two actions on the common board before playing on their individual board, then the third player, and so on. Once all players have taken their two actions on the common board, they cannot play on this board again during the current game turn.
Advice: once a player has played their two actions on the common board, the next player can start playing on the common board without waiting for the last player to finish playing on their own individual board. Players have the opportunity to play almost simultaneously on their individual boards.
On the common board, only the stigmerian token side is used. The token moves down one spot automatically at the start of every game turn. There is no schema to execute on this board.
If a stigmerian exits the common board, either by the wind effect or by a movement from a basic action, the players reset this board: they take all the stigmerians off the StigmaReine and put them all around it, outside the petals. The stigmerians around the flower become available to be recruited on the individual board of any player using the action "Recruit on the StigmaReine". The player who activated the reset, or who emptied the board, chooses a stigmerian freshly placed around the StigmaReine and positions it at A5. If there is no token around the flower, take one from the game box, among the primary colors. Players then get back to playing on their individual boards.
The two actions of the common board. These actions are mandatory and do not count among the actions of the individual board. One of the two actions must be the combined action of drawing a stigmerian, then landing it on the common board.
Note: this action can be used twice; by contrast, the "Move" action may not be used twice. Attention: it is mandatory to take two actions per player on the common board before starting the turn on the individual board.
- Draw and land a stigmerian: Draw a stigmerian and land it adjacent to another stigmerian already positioned on the common board (except diagonally). Attention: unlike on the individual board, draw-and-land on the common board is only one action. The stigmerian that is drawn onto the common board comes from the token bag of the player, unless stated otherwise.
- Move a stigmerian one spot (except diagonally).
Benefit of unlocking 1 special action. If a player succeeds, during their turn on the common board, in aligning vertically or horizontally three adjacent stigmerians of the same color, they take the three stigmerians of that color and decide either to put them into their own token bag, into another player's bag, or to split them as they wish between bags. They unlock one special action that they will be able to use for the rest of the game, unless stated otherwise. A stigmerian can simultaneously validate a line and a row it belongs to; in that case the player does the same for the 5 stigmerians of the same color and unlocks two special actions.
To unlock a special action, every player uses their competitive actions card, chosen during game setup (one player has card A6, the other card A15) — put a competitive token on the action you choose to unlock. Every player can unlock a maximum of 9 special actions during the game. The special actions are explained on cards A10, A11, and A12. The special action becomes available to that player for the rest of the game from the current turn onward (the same action can be unlocked by more than one player).
Put the white side of the competitive token up to indicate that a special action is available to use. If the special action is one of the rare actions that can only be used once per turn, flip the competitive token to its black side when you activate it, to show the action has been used this turn; flip it back to white at the start of the next game turn.
Attention! On top of the basic actions, you have the basic action "Recruit on the StigmaReine". For the cost of two action points instead of one, take an available stigmerian from around the common board and add it to your recruiting area. This action is only available once the common board has been reset and stigmerians have been placed around it.
Joker (free action): instead of the joker from the "Normal" mode, once per game, every player, on their turn, can take a stigmerian from their recruiting area to use on the common board instead of one of their two mandatory actions. In case of a tie, the player who used their joker loses the game. Optional rule: you can play without the joker.
End of the Game
The player who executes the schema in the fewest game turns and actions wins the game. In case of a tie, the player who has not used their joker wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most stigmerians in their recruiting area wins.
Note: if you are not playing in "discovery" difficulty, it is possible that no one wins the game, if no player succeeds in executing the schema by the end of the 10th game turn.
Rules Mode "No Limit"
For two players, + 2 players per added box.
This is the expert game mode. It is advised to play it only if you are familiar with the rules of the previous game modes and have played many games. Play with the rules of the "Normal Competitive" mode, with the following changes and additions.
Setup
During setup, choose a "No Limit" schema card among numbers 40 to 49; this will be the schema to execute.
Expert meteorologist: wind direction. Throw the "event" die 9 times to determine the wind direction for game turns 2 through 10, at the start of the game (every player throws the die in turn, starting with the first player, then clockwise). The result of the first throw corresponds to the wind effect between turns 1 and 2, the second throw to the wind effect between turns 2 and 3, and so on. At every wind effect, all stigmerians on the boards (common and individual) move in the direction indicated by the "wind arrow" token. All players share the same wind direction.
Results:
- N: the wind blows north.
- S: the wind blows south.
- E: the wind blows east.
- O: the wind blows west.
- X: the player who threw the die chooses one of the following options — either throw the die again to determine the wind direction, or leave the direction unknown in advance (do not place a token on the corresponding wind rose; the die will be thrown at the moment of the wind effect).
- Black (no letter): the player who threw the die chooses the wind direction.
Put a "wind arrow" token to indicate the wind direction on every wind rose symbol on every player's individual board. When applying the wind effect, make sure to move first the stigmerians that might block the movement of others.
There is no game turn limit in this game mode. Add a "new turn" token to the recruiting area: take a wind arrow token off the board and use its "new turn" side after the 10th game turn, for every new turn. After the 10th game turn, the wind is not predictable — throw the die at the moment of the wind effect to know its direction.
Add cards A9 and A13 to the setup cards of the "Normal Competitive" mode.
Positioning of the first stigmerian on the individual board. Your first stigmerian, placed via the "Recruit" action, is positioned on your board wherever you like on a spot of the flower's edge: a spot on line A, on line J, on row 1, or on row 10. You have more choice for the starting point of your first stigmerian.
Basic Actions
At the start of the game you have all the basic actions (Move, Recruit, Recruit on the StigmaReine, Land), plus the new basic action Final Drift. All special actions must be unlocked as usual. There is no joker in this game mode.
Final Drift. Free, does not cost any action point. Once per turn, before playing on the common board, choose one of three options, then throw the die and carry out the resulting action. Once the die has been thrown, you must perform the action. The explanations of the different options are on card A9.
Special Actions
You can unlock all the special actions of the game (★, ★★, and ★★★) from cards A10, A11, and A12, using the rules of the "Normal Competitive" game mode.
Exit of the stigmerian from the game area. Attention: in this game mode you keep playing normally if a stigmerian exits the board — you do not lose the game. A stigmerian that exits the individual board due to the wind effect or a die effect goes back to the recruiting area of the player (unless stated otherwise). A stigmerian that exits the common board is placed around the flower, to be available for the action "Recruit on the StigmaReine".
The wind or a die effect, depending on direction, could take a stigmerian off the edge of the targeted board (a spot on line A or J, or row 1 or 10). A basic action can take a stigmerian off the individual board at any edge in this game mode. On the common board, a movement action can only remove a stigmerian from line J, unlike a die or wind effect.
End of the Game
The player who finishes the schema identically in the fewest game turns and actions wins. The game ends at the end of the current game turn. In case of a tie, the player with the most stigmerians in their recruiting area wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most yellow stigmerians wins.
Rules Mode "No Limit Solo"
Play with the rules of the "Normal" mode and the "No Limit" mode, with the following changes and additions:
- Throw the "Expert meteorologist" setup die.
- Play with an individual board of your choice, without using the common board.
- Start with the basic actions, without the StigmaReine action or the Joker.
- Play with the basic action Final Drift from card A16.
Final Drift (Solo)
Does not cost any action point. Once per game turn only. Throw the die and act according to the result; once the die is thrown, you must perform the resulting action.
- Direction (N, S, O, E): after throwing the die, choose a stigmerian on your individual board and move it one spot in the direction shown on the die.
- X: take a stigmerian (not a pollen) of the color shown on the die off the flower's spot, if you have one, and put it back in the box.
- Black: play, exceptionally, one special action you have not yet unlocked from the special action list, without paying its action point cost.
Unlocking Special Actions (Solo)
Every time you apply the wind effect, unlock one special action, which will be available for the rest of the game, chosen from among:
Half Note, Choreography, Combination, Copy, Fog Die, Two Beats, Diagonal, Exchange, Fulgurance, Mixing, Mimicry, No Harm No Foul, Quarter Note, Fast Steps, Prediction, Rest.
You cannot unlock more than 9 special actions, even if you go beyond the 10th game turn. Take cards A10, A11, and A12 to know their effects, and card A16 to put a competitive token on the unlocked actions.
End of the Game and Scoring (Solo)
When you have executed the chosen schema identically, stop the game and calculate your score: 5 points for the schema at difficulty ★, 10 points at ★★, 20 points at ★★★, 40 points at ★★★★.
End of the game beyond the 10th turn: final score. Subtract 10 points for every completed game turn beyond the 10th. Subtract 1 point per action used on the last game turn (if you still have unused actions).
Some more advice. If you have played all the schemas of the game, you can replay schemas 1 to 30 with the rules of the "No Limit" mode (in multiplayer or solo). Have you done all the schemas of the game? Congratulations! You can now create your own schemas and play them in "No Limit" mode. Join the Stigméria Facebook group to compare your score with the community and discover new challenges!
If you play "Normal Competitive" or "No Limit" mode with kids or unexperienced players, unlock for them only the special action Pilferer during setup, to give them an advantage.
Glossary
- Primary colors: blue (cyan), yellow, red (magenta).
- Adjacent: a spot situated next to the current spot, not diagonal to it.
- Circle: the spot inside a petal where the "count turn and actions" token is placed.
- Position: a spot on the flower.
- Draw: take a token randomly from the token bag.
- Token bag: the bag from which tokens are drawn.
- Common board: the board used by all players.
- Pollen: the token side representing a crystal pollen.
- Stigmerian: the token side representing a stigmerian.
- Wind: a free and mandatory action that moves stigmerians, or an action triggered by the die.
- Recruiting area: the storage area for drawn tokens, situated on the exterior of the flower.
- Once per game or turn: affects only the player who performed the action.
Story
Hear the prophecy!
The cataclysm is coming.
"Flee, flee! The cataclysm as announced begins. Death is here! No life will be spared! Run, flee… Listen to me!
Stop mocking me, laughing and singing — darkness is already winning!
Here! The portal! Quick! Go! Into the universe, dive! To the unknown, take the step…
Please, escape! The flourishing will save you: you will be reborn!"
To whom you believe they escaped, braving fire, braving night. Thus is the adage, the scholar's adage: is the Sage crazy? Wise is that crazy! To whom who believed him… spared is their life.
The saviors are arriving!
At the sight of the sacred portal, some rushed, but at the entrance their consciousness declined.
Strange creatures had been warned; soon they hurried by the hundred, by the thousand. Winged beings, half-elves half-fairies!
All is desolation, all is annihilated! It is stigmerians that we hear shout. Seeing the lifeless bodies, for a long time they cried!
Then nothing, not a noise, not a whimpering… Only, maybe, wings, a swishing.
Wings deployed, they are busy from now on! With care they will lift all those they can carry!
A benefactor swarm saved the terrians, elves and musicians, gnomes and leprechauns.
Crossing the sacred portal, the stigmerians brought far away their inanimate bodies…
Tell Me a Story...
The beginning!
Bloug gloup bloup... It's you, you are here!
You are on the edge of waking, but you cannot open your eyes. The sounds that reach you and the atmosphere surrounding you do not reassure you. You remember the last moments on your planet before someone came to save you.
You cross this renowned portal that appeared during the great cataclysm. The stigmerians, an indigenous species of an unknown planet until now, caught you midair at the entrance of the portal. You lost consciousness the moment you crossed this portal.
You start to doubt. You think that you should not have trusted the scholars of your city! But it is too late now... You keep fighting to open your eyes. To no avail! You cannot even move. Slowly you are starting to give in. Your heart does not chant its pulsation to the rhythm of your breathing. You feel an odd sensation, the impression of reliving your birth...
Now that you have stopped fighting, a voice, until now inaudible, makes itself heard in an unknown language that you are, however, surprised to understand.
"Hello to all of you alive extrastigmerians! Do not fear, the first time is always intimidating, being connected to Stigméria. But progressively, we get used to it...
If you can hear and understand me, it is a good sign: your metabolism is tolerating the process of connection and regeneration of Stigméria. Some, unfortunately, did not get that chance...
I highly recommend you follow my advice: exhale strongly when you are able to open your eyes — this will cause your BulbaStig to open. It is your adaptation and regeneration cocoon."
You are really attentive to this voice. You will follow scrupulously that precaution. You finally succeed in opening your eyes. You exhale deeply and the process works! After a few minutes, particularly painful, extracting yourself from your BulbaStig, you raise yourself to the cocoon's surface. You can finally move and breathe without assistance!
You then discover the world surrounding you and you are speechless: a tree towers over a multitude of BulbaStigs that are connected by roots. They seem strangely lively to you.
You suddenly spot beings flying from the top of the tree in your direction. You can at last put a face to your saviors! Your stupor doesn't stop there — something is itching on your back...
Two prominent lumps appear. Although you have not fully regained your lucidity, it seems that wings are growing on your back! That is not all... A multicolor tattoo abruptly appears on your body. Stupor takes you. You are submerged by it! You strongly hope to have reached the end of your surprises.
You will yet discover that you escaped the cataclysm of your planet and are among a handful chosen to land on the planet Stigméria. Your saviors were only able to catch your peers of small height during the crossing between the two low and ephemeral portals that link your two planets.
Life is harsh here, and the stigmerians need you in return! If you dreamed for a moment of spending the rest of your life lounging on this new planet, know that it will not be like that at all!
You will be put to contribution to produce food resources, defend the habitations, and go explore via portals to look for fragments of art spread across different planets — but that will be for the future of this story...
For the time being, your monthly regeneration phase inside the BulbaStig gives you a few self-sufficient days on Stigméria. The BulbaStig grants you a few essential powers for your survival and your capacity to cohabit with the inhabitants of the planet. There is certainly something in your genome that has been altered to live on the planet, but you have also gained a few new exceptional capacities that are hard to control by yourself.
Stigméria is equipped with an energetic flow that resonates with everyone, randomly. It manifests itself through colors; it appears in the fauna and flora but also in the collective consciousness of individuals. This energetic flow allows the inhabitants to connect with each other and communicate at a distance.
This acuity is given to you temporarily by your renowned BulbaStig, in which circulates a flow that impregnates your cells. The BulbaStig supplies itself from a number of majestic trees that are linked to the heart of the planet by their roots.
The time of your first task is upon you. It is certainly the most important one in your new life...
You need to feed yourself, and you will have to help the stigmerian gatherers pollinate the flowers of the planet. I can hear your stomach rumble; wait for me to explain in detail what awaits you, and you can then go on mission.
The first source of food on Stigméria comes from seeds that can be found in different colors. They give all the necessary nutrients to live on the planet. It even seems they grant a number of powers....
The stigmerian gatherers haul strange pollens that look like crystals. It is enough to be in contact with one of those crystals for your body to take on its color. In some rare cases, it happens that the crystals change color as well...
We can find 9 different colors that correspond to the energetic flow of the planet. Although only the wisest of Stigméria know how to control this flow, which grants unusual capacities, all beings on the planet are subject to it in their daily life. The rumors going around suggest that the monthly regeneration phase in the BulbaStig runs this flow through everyone's blood.
The gatherers bring the crystal pollen to the giant flowers. They tower over the landscape and can measure as much as ten meters. Those flowers are so big that they can host around a hundred stigmerians! The gatherers must follow a specific protocol when they come alongside a flower. A wrong move and the flower closes on itself, gobbling up all those who land on it.
When the protocol is respectfully followed, the gatherers put the pollen down in the specific pistils of every flower. A certain number of the right pollen, at the right position and of the right color, is needed to start a chemical process. The flower transforms those pollens into seeds.
There exist five species of flower that can produce edible seeds. They are all recognizable by their distinctly colored petals. It is based on their petals that we know the protocol to follow and which color seeds they will produce. The gatherers named each of them, using the names as a reminder of the protocol.
Here are the five flowers that can produce edible seeds on the planet: the "SifloChamp", the "VertigHaineuse", the "InspirActrice", the "DentDîne", and the "MarOnne".
The energetic flow that every flower emits gives the gatherers temporary powers, allowing them to follow the appropriate protocol.
The gatherers' life is hardly restful — the wind does not spare them either. The great Sage loves to tell the apprentice gatherers this adage:
"From pistil to pistil often you will fly, from petal to petal the wind will carry you, but if it pushes you too low, the flower sometimes will eat you."
You are now ready to go on mission. Good luck!