Ed The Bard

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The human brain is a funny little place, with funny little habits. One of those is the psychological fascination with the number three. 
 Three blind mice, three little pigs, three's company, three doors down, three dog night, threesomes, three wolf moon, the three musketeers, the three amigos, the three brothers, the three stooges, and three times a lady.
"In case you hadn't picked up on that yet."

We love it. It is a pleasing figure. It's followed us from childhood, into adulthood and beyond. Three has always been there, lending a helping hand when we need it. It is more than two, less than five, giving us just enough variety without being overbearing.
Three is the magic number, kids. That goes double if you just happen to be a member of that prestigious, decades-old order of sadists and free-thinkers; The Game Master. How does the number three and Game Mastery go together? Lay down a tarp, dear reader, for I may very well blow your mind... creating …

As we approach the Christmas season, my thoughts drift to sugar plum fairies, snow-blanketed fields, and the joy of gift giving. They say that giving is the spirit of the holidays, and they're not wrong, whoever they are. There seems to be one gift that seems to net quite a bit of traction...

...a soul.

"For a nominal fee, of course."
Throughout mythology and literature, folklore and reality television, we are shown people who have made pacts to sell their souls in exchange for something, be it power, money, or some other unnamed thing. Whatever the case, the being making the deal with the lowly mortal usually isn't painted in a particularly positive light...

"Dude brought his own pen. He looks legit enough to me."
Despite this, the mortal in question still signs over the only real immortal part of their being. But why? Why would someone make a deal with some (typically) extraplanar entity? Anyone would be hard up to give you one compelling reason to do such…