Maiden of Thorns

* Front
* Back

**Maiden of Thorns** is a nemesis from The Void. The Maiden of Thorns is a bladed horror, bent on extracting as much pain from each inhabitant of Gravehold.

## Overview

The Maiden of Thorns places a double-sided token on the cheapest supply pile at the start of the game. As the game progresses, Maiden of Thorns will do damage to the players or Gravehold depending on how many cards are left in the pile beneath the token, and which token side is face-up. The Maiden will move the token to different piles, and upgrade the token to do higher amounts of damage.

## Rules

#### **Set Up**

* The supply must contain at least five supply piles with different costs.
* Destroy two cards in each gem supply pile.
* Place the Thorn marker Gravehold side up on the least expensive supply pile. The supply pile that the Thorn is on is the Thorn supply pile. When the first tier 2 nemesis card is played, replace the Thorn token with the "+1 damage" version of the token. When the first tier 3 nemesis card is played, replace the Thorn token with the "+2 damage" version. Whenever the Thorn token is replaced, place the new token onto the same supply pile such that the same side (Gravehold or Player) is face up.

#### **Additional Rules**

* At the end of the nemesis turn, if Maiden of Thorns has two or more nemesis tokens, it Impales. Any player of Gravehold (*based on the Thorn marker*) suffers damage equal to the number of cards in the Thorn supply pile. That player or Gravehold suffers additional damage equal to the nemesis tier minus one. Maiden of Thorns loses two nemesis tokens, and Advance. Repeat this until Maiden of Thorns has 0 or 1 nemesis tokens.
* Advance means to flip the Thorn marker over and place it on the next most expensive supply pile. If there are no supply piles more expensive than the Thorn supply pile, move the Thorn marker to the least expensive supply pile instead.
* When the Thorn supply pile is empty, Advance.
* When all supply piles are empty, the players lose.

#### **Unleash Effect**

Maiden of Thorns gains one nemesis token.

#### **Increased Difficulty**

**RULES:** When Maiden of Thorns Impales, if the nemesis tier is 2, that player or Gravehold suffers twice as much damage instead of 1 additional damage. If the nemesis tier is 3, that player or Gravehold suffers three times as much damage instead of 2 additional damage.

## Strategy

*This page is lacking strategy tips right now.*

## Lore

> "*Adelheim considers the Maiden with strange admiration. After all, it is a weapon of sorts. And like all weapons, its purpose is simple: to be lethal.
> This is not to say it lacks a mind. In fact, quite the opposite. It revels in cruelty. There is no easy death to be had from this creature or its ilk. Suffering is like air in its lungs, like blood through its vein.
> Xaxos wonders if it feeds upon knowledge. We have witnessed it supping from the skull of fallen mages many times. Poor Gadymir, just barely earning the moniker of mage, was impaled through his helm. And though the wound was superficial, he forgot his name, his training, everything. Now he pulls a cart in the dirt market for Ohat.
> Is it not enough to take our lives? Must The Nameless also erase who we are?*"
> ― Indira
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