It started with a most unusual deathbed request from Marianne's Great-aunt Dagma. A matchbox, borrowed ever so long ago, needed returning to its elusive owner, Cattermune. But how and where to find this creature? For Marianne, the clues took the form of a strange game, indeed...

In which reality changes from roll to roll, transforming Marianne into a malachite mouse in a dinosaur zoo... among other things.

In which Cattermune himself is oddly reluctant to receive the matchbox in question, expecting instead a more devastating settlement.

In which the souls of Marianne and her family are the ultimate prize to this malignant being who plays to win - and cheats to conquer.

The name of the game, it appears, is survival...