Farewell to an old companion

When I was a university student I used to live in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I had a favourite second hand bookstore in Cashel Mall, and I used to go in there whenever I had a chance.  That and the two second hand record stores were the places you'd see me then (unless I was in the pub). In about 1997 I went into this particular bookstore and found that there was a game there called Terrible Swift Sword.  It looked battered, but I decided I had to get it and used up a night's beer money to grab it for $25.

That bookshop now no longer exists, after being destroyed in the great earthquake of 2011, but I still have the game, or will do until tomorrow.

Because, not without a sight tinge of nostalgia, I've decided to part with it. It's not just that I've taken it around the world with me without ever having played it, but also that I know a fellow who had it when he was a young buck, would love to have it again, and will put it to good use on the table.

As Tennyson said:

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!

So tonight I got the map out for a look for old time's sake, took a few photos, and readied it for the post.

I'm very pleased that it's going to a good home and hope it will bring back some happy memories and help create a few more.

And here she is, in all her 1976 SPI glory!

the box

the battlefield

a certain town

a certain eminence