Virgo Sign

The old farmers marked their year by twenty-four solar terms, and every term had its rule. This game keeps the same calendar, and the same rules. GRAIN BUDS — The first ears drift down slow and golden. Learn the swing of the sickle. A short swipe cuts one ear; a long swipe clears a row. GRAIN IN EAR — The field thickens. Among the wheat come thistles, purple-headed and patient. The almanac says: the reaper who cuts everything harvests nothing. Spare the thistle. SUMMER SOLSTICE — The longest day, the fastest fall. Your GRAIN meter bleeds whether you swing or not, so swing. Every sheaf you bind feeds it. Every thistle you touch wounds it. WHITE DEW — The old ones say the ward-dolly braided in spring still works in autumn. Carry one Harvest Ward and the first thistle cut costs you nothing. FROST'S DESCENT — When the field falls too fast to read, spend a Harvest Hush and watch it slow for eight breaths. When the ears grow thin, spend a Golden Sickle and the blade swings wide and pays double. THE REAPER'S RULES, AS THE ALMANAC RECORDS THEM 1. Wheat cut is wheat kept. Wheat fallen is only wind. 2. The thistle punishes the greedy hand, never the patient one. 3. The field quickens with every stage, and the meter never waits. 4. When the blight finally takes the field, a Second Harvest buys one more dawn.