Dragon Poker
A wizard stands in his room in the arcanist's guild. He's been urgently asking everyone for help, which is how you ended up here. Waiting for him to explain the situation. His room is... surprisingly bare given that he's a wizard, but his robes are exceptionally nice and you'd estimate that he's one of the more powerful of his kind staying here at the guild. "You see... I need some people to enter this tournament, and help me, because I think that the person I've been competing with has been cheating! All I need is for you all to come along with me and participate and keep an eye out for shenanigans! I'll take you to the location myself and bring you back when we're done. Entry fees for everyone will come out of my pocket, so you don't have to worry about that either." He smiles broadly and spreads his hands. "I'd really appreciate it if you could help, and if you win the tournament, I'll throw in an extra bonus!"
That is most definitely a different sort of request, but Seldan is nonetheless more than a little skeptical. As is his wont, he is dressed down, but now folds his arms across his chest, gaze steady, reserve quiet. "Tell me of this tournament, and its nature? What manner of tournament is this, and what leads you to believe that another competitor is cheating?"
Luckily for the wizard, Ravenstongue seems receptive to this proposal. She looks thoughtful as she taps her chin, an arm folded across her body underneath the elbow of the other one. "So," she says, "what does participating /mean/, exactly, like Mister Seldan said? Is it some measure of flashy magic? Are we trying to get an objective accomplished within a set amount of time? Or do you think your rival has just charmed the judging staff into a nice evening at the Fernwood and they can't stop talking about how cool he is?"
An Arvek Nar who is a study in grey tones stands in the room. She arrived in time for the briefing, by accident. Her intention was to speak with the Silverguard. She looms behind him, silent and waiting patiently. When he's ready he'll turn around and be happily surprised to see a skull faced hobgoblin in shadowy armour, facing him. At least, that's the pleasant reaction Ashlee imagines.
The wizard's pitch has caught her attention and she seems to have become involved. Her head turns, she looks his way. The robes are suggestive. Her last attempt to help some wizards didn't work out all that well, although it did for her. "Do you need help cheating?"
Randolf stands with his arms folded over his burly chest and a dour frown on his face. The -last- time one of his fellow wizards wheedled and pleaded for help, he wound up getting teleported off on an impromptu fishing voyage. "-Just- a tournament, then?" he grumbles, peering up at his colleague. "Right here, in Alexandria? Nae involvement wi' world-devourin' evil, or fearsome monsters, or great yuge dragons?" He tugs his beard, grumbling softly. "Well. That's all well an' good. But what happens if we -lose-? I've nae got any firstborn children tae offer up--not that I would even if I -did-. An' I'd -really- prefer tae keep me soul right where it is, thank ye -verra- much." After the last few months he's had, can anyone blame him for leaning into the dwarven penchant for grouchiness and suspicion? Because -this- guy right here? -Hella- sus.
The wizard looks around at you all and blinks twice. "Who _have_ you been dealing with? No, no. It's not here in Alexandria, it's in the City of Brass. Wonderful place, the Purple Tavern is hosting. We'll go there directly. It's a _card_ game, nothing dangerous! Well unless you count the location. The locals are a bit dangerous if you're not careful. But that's anywhere really." He stops himself and continues a moment later.
"As for the cheating _I'm_ not cheating! And I don't _want_ to!" He glares a bit at Ashes. "I just want to win fairly. And it's just not possible for the man I've been playing with to win so often! Numbers don't lie and it's just... well I won't go into the details but it's not _possible_ to win as often as he does! Must be cheating! As for if you lose... nothing bad happens. You just don't get to play in the tournament anymore. And you get a few chances before you run out of luck and get kicked out from the table."
Ravenstongue cocks her head at the mention of the City of Brass and... well, the fact they've been asked to play a card game. "A card game? Really? Like, what kind of card game? Don't you have to explain the rules to us first so we can help?"
Seldan blinks a few times at the description of what is required, and is silent for several moments, apparently assessing the matter. He does not answer immediately.
Cards. Ashes has some cards. Playing games with them isn't advised. Draw Death, the Emperor, the Two Lovers, a Joker and a four of rods and the world ends. They're for fortune telling and lately she hasn't consulted them. They tend to come up dark. "I'm not good at cards."
Dangerous locals are nothing new. Everywhere she goes is dangerous and she's local to nowhere.
She glances at Ravenstongue, at Pothy in particular, "Is magic allowed. Are familiars?"
Randolf taps his foot, his beard all a-bristle. "Laddie, I don't think humans live long enough fer me tae even -start- tae go intae the full extent o' the bullshit I've been havin' tae deal with," he grumbles. "But... cards. Cards? Aye, sure an' I can play some cards. I'm nae verra -good- at cards. I'm more of a dice man meself." He draws a deep breath and lets it out with a sharp sigh. "A'right. Fine. I'll go play some cards on yer behalf. But I swear tae fuckin' -Reos-, if I wind up havin' tae ante up me beard, or me soul, or me next month's supply o' liquor, I'm goin' tae be exceedingly -cross- wi' ye." He jabs a blunt fingertip towards the man. "Ye got that, boyo? Exceedingly. -Cross-."
The wizard holds his hands up in mock surrender at Randolf. "I promise! Just... Don't talk to any of the locals and you'll be fine alright?" He seems pretty insistant on this after Randolf's rant. Then, he replies to Ashes. "Familiars are fine but they have to stay in your corner. No using them to spot other's cards. And magic is a no-go. There's an antimagic feild at the table to keep cheating in check." He sighs and relaxes. "You all don't have to be good at cards. Just be there to let me know how _he_ is cheating. This newcomer is a real whiz at the game. Please help me."
Stena has been here! It's been a while since the pale-haired Aesir has had the opportunity to go on any kind of job, and thus, she is exactly here for this reason. She's blinking at Seldan's presence, though. Big damn hero on the premises! She's gonna have stars in her eyes. Big ones.
"Vardama owns my soul." The skull-faced hobgoblin says in monotone, to no one in particular. Perhaps Randolf. She shrugs, a large house centipede emerges from her shirt collar and circles her neck then climbs up through her hair to lie across her head like a tiara.
"Ok." A glance, at the Silverguard, another at Ravenstongue, her head turns back to focus on the wizard. She nods. She waits. She needs to make her intentions clearer, she decides.
"I'll go." Ashlee says, in her bored monotone, and then she adds, "What's your True Name?"
Seldan's eyes drift over towards Randolf when he starts to let the mage have it about the things he is dealing with, his gaze steady and disapproving. "Perhaps you wish to trade?" he remarks mildly, then turns his attention back to the wizard. "I shall do as you ask, although I am perhaps not the best person to ask to play games of chance." A small ghost of a smile.
"Pothy is really good at staying in place so long as he has snacks, so no worries there. He's sort of more obsessed with eating than he is doing anything useful at times," Ravenstongue says pleasantly, as though to make a sweet-yet-barbed point to her beloved white raven on his usefulness.
"Snack?" Pothy says, now thoroughly interested in the conversation again. Point proven, it would appear.
Well, Ravenstongue ponders it just a moment more. "Honestly? I don't have much of anything else to do besides worry my little head about fae lords, so why not? Sure."
Randolf holds that bushy-browed scowl on the wizard for a few more moments, then sighs again. "A'right. A'right. Let's get this done, then, shall we? I assume ye'll be teleportin' us? As I remember, the City o' Brass is a decent hoof. We'll be wantin' tae move fast if we're tae get there in time fer this tournament." Seldan is given a disgruntled look and a harrumph. Tallfolk. They just don't -understand-.
"Everyone just calls me Viktor." Says the wizard, eyeing Ashes carefully now. "And since you're all willing!" He casts a gate and ushers everyone through into what is clearly a tavern. Just... not a tavern in Alexandria. Or... Ea? The barkeep is red-skinned and red-haired, his eyes wise and wily. Arranged at the barstools are various beings that are _not_ human, and in some cases _humanoid_ is a stretch.
The wizard seems entirely unswayed by this fact, and wrangles you toward a massive table where a few individuals sit. The first seems to actually be human of some variation. He's got mousey brown hair and steely gray eyes. He's wearing a set of white robes over a black shirt and the white robes have the collar popped up like he thinks its cool.
To his left a few seats is a red-skinned and red-haired individual who is wearing diaphanous blue robes. It creates an odd purplish shimmering effect to his skin. The last is a very odd individual who looks something like a gelatinous cube only gray-red and more blobular in shape than cubed.
They don't really great you as you settle in, though you get a somewhat polite nod from the human-looking one. The wizard urges you to sit down, and the moment you settle into your chair, you're delt a set of five cards from the deck.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100 (86): 86 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (60): 60 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (39) 39 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100 (7): 7 GAME: Ashes rolls 1d100: (32): 32 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls 1d100: (57): 57 GAME: Randolf rolls 1d100: (84): 84 GAME: Seldan rolls 1d100: (52): 52 GAME: Stena rolls 1d100: (7): 7 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Bluff: (1)+9: 10 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Ashes rolls bluff: (3)+0: 3 GAME: Stena rolls Bluff: (8)+6: 14 GAME: Seldan rolls bluff: (1)+13: 14 (EPIC FAIL)
Ashlee steps through. She shows no outward reaction to the strange individuals, though likely she is inwardly excited. They all appear to be living, which sets her on guard. She has an unsettling aura, a bit like being in a graveyard, a slight chill. It isn't improved by the skeleton markings on her skin.
Chippen crouches down against her head, flattening himself.
She picks up her cards. She nods to the red-skinned individual, who reminds her of a friend, then stares rather blatantly at the globular gelatinous. She examines her cards.
"Oh." Well it's not the end of the world.
Having been to other planes on more than one occasion in the past, Seldan takes this experience calmly enough, although admittedly the gelatinous cube-ism is a new one on him. He did take a few minutes, before he left, to change clothing into something more appropriate to card-playing.
When he seats himself and examines his hand, he blinks a few times, but looks decidedly unimpressed with his hand in either direction.
"Oh, fuck it. I don't understand a word of this, so I'm all in!"
Stena is all in, apparently. She looks like she has no idea what she's doing.
... she does have no idea what she's doing, right?
Randolf boggles as he steps through the portal. Whatever it was he was expecting, it sure as hell wasn't this. "Beards o' me -fathers-," he breathes softly, looking around with dumbstruck awe. "-This- is the City o' Brass?" He goes to plump his hefty rump down at the table indicated. And he finds to his surprise that the chair actually adjust, lifting him up a few inches so he's not having to crane his neck to see! He nods his head in greeting to the other players--although that gelatinous neo-cubist sends his shaggy brows arching in astonishment. "How... how does he even -play- cards...?" he mutters under his breath. He takes up the hand he's dealt, tapping the cards neatly to gather them and then fanning them out. He hunkers in, eyes shifting left and right as he considers his play.
Pothy takes his place elsewhere's corner, merrily munching away on something that looks rather... Umm, well, the less that one thinks about it, the better one feels about it, probably.
Meanwhile, Ravenstongue stares at her cards and attempts to act all cool and composed. But she just keeps glaring at the brown haired man with a popped white collar. "Bet he's rich," she mutters under her breath, similar to Randolf.
The gelatinous individual, excited by Stena also goes 'all in' though its warbling needs to be translated to you by Viktor. The human-looking individual takes one look at his cards and then 'calls'. Whatever this is, it impresses the others and the cards are revealed. The human-looking man smiles thinly as he accepts congratulations from the group for winning the first round of the game. Then, the cards are dealt out again as Viktor explains that both Stena, and the blob, are now out of the game entirely. "Don't go 'all in' unless you're really sure that you've got a winning hand!" He cautions. (Now he cautions).
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (75): 75 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (3): 3 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (1): 1 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls 1d100: (44): 44 GAME: Seldan rolls 1d100: (28): 28 GAME: Ashes rolls 1d100: (35): 35 GAME: Randolf rolls 1d100: (33): 33 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Bluff: (17)+9: 26 GAME: Seldan rolls bluff: (11)+13: 24 GAME: Ashes rolls bluff: (11)+0: 11 GAME: Randolf rolls bluff: (2)+0: 2
Ashlee has survived the first round! She remains placid and implacable. Chippen however, does a little dance on her head. He's a centipede, lots of legs. The Mourner sits still, waiting for the cards to be dealt, picking them up once she has.
There are odd shifts to her clothing that occur while she's apparently sitting still. The source of these movements is unclear. She stares at her cards. After that, she lifts her head and examines the other participants once more, looking for strange cues.
Don't go all in unless you're really sure you've got a winning hand. Good advice. Perhaps there will be more useful advice next round too. She doesn't go all in.
GAME: Ashes rolls sense motive: (13)+13: 26 GAME: Stena rolls sense motive: (2)+0: 2
Seldan's second hand - well, it's hard to tell. He studies his cards thoughtfully, but this time, when he glances up at his fellow players, it is with much of the same quiet reserve that he is best known for. Eyes look from face to face, companions and opponents alike.
GAME: Randolf rolls sense motive: (1)+3: 4 (EPIC FAIL)
So, let Stena be a lesson to you. Don't take a strange teleportation to play a game you don't know the rules of. She's very bad at it, and it shows.
...but hey. She got to teleport, which didn't seem to impress OR bother her that much.
"...I should have played more card games over the years, eh?" she says, cheerfully unbothered.
GAME: Seldan rolls sense motive: (10)+19: 29
Ravenstongue finally is in her zone. She takes her cards and looks very smug with herself, a smirk on her lips that suggests she's the one with the best hand in the group. And paired with the expression are a set of careful eyes, observing her fellow players to see if they writhe in their seats.
GAME: Randolf rolls knowledge/the planes: (17)+11: 28
Randolf takes up his next hand of cards. And immediately scowls at them. "Aww, piss up my arse, this is -garbage-!" he grunts, slapping the cards face-down onto the table. Well, he -did- mention he wasn't much of a card player. For all that dwarves are supposed to be stony-faced, he's about as subtle as a roundhouse kick to the face.
Both the wizard Viktor and the demon go 'all in' this time, with Viktor's eyes lit with feverish glee. The human-looking man arches an eyebrow, but again he 'calls'. Which leads to a _lengthy_ argument between Viktor and the red-skinned individual sitting next to the man who called. The argument is clearly over the cards, and Viktor seems to be winning the argument until the red-skinned man points to Stena. "And that's a female. Which means..."
Viktor deflates instantly and plops down in his seat dejectedly. "She... She nullifies my hand." He holds his face in his hand and looks utterly horrified. He's gotten it seems... kicked out of his own game. Just like that. With that decided, it seems that the game is down to Seldan, Ravenstongue, Randolf, Ashes, and the unnamed gentleman with the white robes.
You versus the champion. Who's won the last two hands...
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d100: (61): 61 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls 1d100: (7): 7 GAME: Ashes rolls 1d100: (71): 71 GAME: Seldan rolls 1d100: (17): 17 GAME: Randolf rolls 1d100: (91): 91 GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Bluff: (10)+9: 19 GAME: Seldan rolls bluff: (3)+13: 16 GAME: Seldan rolls sense motive: (2)+19: 21 GAME: Ashes rolls bluff: (18)+0: 18 GAME: Ashes rolls sense motive: (11)+13: 24
Ravenstongue presses her lips together for a moment, focusing on her hand with great intent, before she finally just goes all in. It's time to duel with this stuck-up looking popped-collar asshole!
Meanwhile, Pothy murmurs, "Heart of the cards," as he rips off something that looks slightly meaty-looking from his meal of unknown origin.
The truth is that Seldan has little experience with card games and other games of chance, and has not played since he was a teenager - and then not much. It shows in the expression he wears as he examines his cards, a thing that is halfway between crestfallen and disgust. He leans back in his chair, studying the other faces around the table.
"Yes." Ashlee answers Stena, staring at her. The grey hobgoblin holds her gaze on the woman before looking away, as if to say 'look how much damage you just caused in this game no one explained the rules for'. Except, she doesn't. She turns her skull-face on others. She has a spider drawn in makeup beside one eye. It's a very jovial looking skull.
Still, a skull. Little to read.
She looks over her companions around the table. The last round, Viktor was clearly happy with his cards, too bad it didn't work out. One is simply impossible. The suspected cheater... the champion... isn't cheating, as far as she can tell. He does seem nervous. Sweating bullets.
Her eyes fix on him across the table. He's not good at hiding his emotions. It's amazing he's made it this far in the game.
"What did you bet? I don't recognize the coins on the table." A question for all, really, but directed at him to see how he rattles.
Yes, Stena sure did a lot of damage by losing immediately!
She clears her throat, then stares at the rest of the players with obvious excitement. Nevermind anything else. She's totally all in on the drama here.
Randolf tugs his beard, studying the cards in his hand. He glances up and around. At Raven, then at the reigning champion. He furrows his shaggy brows, then clears his throat. "I call," he says flatly.
The champion looks at Randolf. Squarely. Then shakes his head and says, "I fold." He sets his cards to the side and as the cards are revealed it turns out - as Viktor explains, that Randolf has won this round! Viktor looks victoriously at the other man who shrugs. "I would rather fold, than lose. Though I too am out of the game since I folded in the third round."
Viktor throws a glare at Ashes for her question, and hurriedly starts to shoo everyone to their feet. "Viktor." This from the champion. "Next time don't bring a bunch of amateurs to game night just to try and show me up." The man waggles a finger. "It's rude to both of us."
Viktor glares and opens another gate, trying to hurry you through it before any more questions can be asked.
"Rude? You're the one with a popped collar; that's like, the uniform of rude," Ravenstongue quips as Pothy abandons his meal to fly back onto Ravenstongue's shoulder. She zips through the gate before the champion can say anything back. Gotta maintain the cool, even if she lost. Never look back. Let the sick burn sink in.
Randolf rises to his feet, puffing up his burly chest with a grin. "Ahh, now don't be a sore loser, laddie. It's nae becoming of ye," he says with a chortle. "I'm just that damn good! Hardly -my- fault, is it?" He turns to follow Viktor through the portal, still snickering to himself. "Well... so it really was just a game o' cards! An' that gelatinous lookin' thing din't even try an' eat me! Nicest day in -months-!"
The Mourner is hurriedly shooed. These are not things she does, hurry or shoo, though she is willing to be blown about by the wind. With slow reservation and her general lack of expression, Ashlee stands. She adjusts the strap on her satchel.
There's a long, lingering look on each of the participants before she raises her head to examine the game room. Mysteries within mysteries, and she's already entangled in a big one. This one will have to wait.
Movement under her clothing and Chippen in her hair lets her know, all passengers are aboard. There is a brief moment where she considers some departing well-wish. These are always confusing. She wasn't greeted when she arrived so... no one is interested in her leaving.
Which she does. Ashes exits through the portal.
GAME: Ashes rolls perception: (10)+4: 14
Seldan's eyebrows go up into his hair at the back and forth between the two. He keeps his thoughts to himself, though, and turns away, turning himself towards the exit and the waiting gate. No concern of his, although it is hard not to feel as thought his evening was wasted.
The wizard is the last through, and he offers a pouch of coins to Randolf as a reward for winning the game. It's a fair sum of money, but he mostly seems pleased that the other man didn't win. Even if _he_ lost. In any case, he asks you if you caught any signs of cheating, but there were none so the mystery of how the champion kept winning remains that. And with that, he sends you off.
Ashlee is sent off. As she drifts away she does so past the Silverguard. "Our sewer expedition was delayed." She tells him, in monotone, in a manner that sounds like she's making it his problem without actually asking for help. She isn't doing either, but has that kind of presence.
The wizard, Viktor, if that's really his True Name, gets a nod. "I didn't see any cheating. I'm not good at cards."
Words delivered, she goes.
-End