[The Rearing Stallion] Where travellers meet (Closed)

[Akiva Korvashi]

She smiled as Kipps enjoyed his new friend. "Well it's easy, I'll teach you. I don't know any of the tricks though, just the basics of the game." She picked up the dice, handing one to Azerix. "You take one dice, and we make bets. Bets should be even, winner takes all or splits it, but I wouldn't suggest playing with more than one person. The point is to roll at least one six in four rolls. If you don't you lose. If you do, I lose." She rolled her die, getting a 3, a 5, a 2, and a 6. "See, just like that. I would have won that one, if we had made bets." She pulled out a handfull of gold and silver rimmed mizas, a few copper ones mixed in. "We'll bet in mizas, if you want, or belongings. Whatever you want really, but I would prefer mizas." She thought for a second, "but you don't have to bet at all if you don't want, though it's generally a gambling game, and the bets make it all the more fun. Adds a bit of suspense to it." She looked to Azerix again, "Would you like to test it out first, or would you like to begin?" she asked, hoping he would say yes. She was calm and collected now, her poker face.

[Azerix]

Azerix watched and listened as this simple game was explained to him "so...it is simply a game of luck then? no strategy...just hope you get a good roll? great...i am horrible with luck...but if it will entertain you..i will play..." Azerix picked up a Die and look at "well...i don't carry anything but Gold miza's with me so..." he placed 5 Gold mizas on the table and prayed he would have a hint of luck today He rolled the die in his and and tossed it on the table. he smiled feeling lucky and looked at the number...2... "ouch...." he attempted the move again '4' "well that isn't very fair..." he rolled again '4' "you are joking right?" he sighed picking up the die again. "please..." he dropped the cube and looked at the number '5' "yeah...me and luck don't mix well" He smiled pushing His coins to the Victor "Thank you for teaching me. I appreciate the chance." he picked up the Die and tossed it to her. It hit the table and landed on a 6 Kael's spirits dropped "see." he smiled and laughed. Finally he turned to the new member "sorry sir. forgot to ask you...any story's?"

[Akiva Korvashi]

She looked slightly sad, and didn't pick up the 5 gold mizas. "How about I have a go? The bet will be...5 gold mizas." She rolled her die once, it landed on 3. She rolled it again, gettinga 4. She didn't pause between the third and fourth rolls, getting another 4 and a 2. She slide his gold mizas back to him. "See, I don't have much luck either." She smiled and looked around. "Would anyone else like to play?" She set the dice in the center of the table.

[Mankros]

"I would play, but I never gamble, so I'll sit this one out." Mankros said in response to the girl's offer. "But," he continued,"I suppose could tell you all about how this happened." he said, sweeping back the hood of his cloak.

He was rather short, standing at only five feet, two inches, and his shoulder length sandy brown hair was clean, but rather disheveled. his eyes seemed grey n the shadows, but when he pulled off his hood they shone a brilliant green. the corners of his mouth mouth were pulled upwards into a small smile, and the creases at the sides of his mouth were evidence that a smile was never far from his lips; but, most importantly, his ears each had a small wedge taken out of them.

[Keorvic]

With a yawn, Keorvic sat back. He wanted nothing to do with the dice game at the moment, since he felt that any outcome would lessen his chances of getting to know this delightful Akiva any more; If he won money off of her he was afraid she my resent it, and if he lost money to her he would come off as a foolish gambler and she may view him as less than companionable after that. he pulled out the small cat carving he had been working on, and set to covering up a small nick he had put in the wrong place during the excitement earlier. "this shouldn't be too hard to fix, and after this I can give it to Akiva, and maybe finally move onto a new piece." he thought. he knew he had spent far too much time on this particular bit of scrimshaw, and was more than ready to part with it. It was a good piece, but nothing overly fantastic. he finished the last of his ale while he watched the quick exchange between Akiva and Azerix. with a small smile at the lack of luck for either of them, he stood up to pay the bartender and close out his tab. he knew he could do no better in the dice game anyways. He ambled over to the bar and payed the man, then walked steadily back to his table despite the 3 mugs of ale he had drank. "maybe the man waters it down so much that there's hardly any ale left." he thought to himself. with a shrug he dismissed it - the ale tasted good enough, and maybe it just wasn't as strong as the stuff he was used to. as he sat down among the his dinner companions, yet another person walked up to the table and asked to sit down. he was about to grant this offer when Azerix spoke up and assented. "Huh. well I guess with this many people, it really isn't my table anymore anyways." he chuffed out a short laugh. this newcomer was short, and when he had pulled back his hood he saw that he was also relatively young. as the man offered to tell his tale, Keorvic nodded his approval. "A good story is the best way to introduce one's self. I am Keorvic, by the way. Please do tell us what gave you such an unusual injury." He said to Mankros. He glanced at Wystern to see if he might have something to say, as the man seemed to be doing much more listening than speaking, but the Knight seemed to be contented with sitting in silence. "Ah well, probably tired after a long day patrolling the city, or whatever it is these City Knights do." Keorvic thought to himself. He also shot a furtive glance at the strange masked man who called himself Lich. Keorvic couldn't begin to guess what was going on behind that mask. The man could be asleep for all he knew. either way, it was not his chore to draw stories from those who wished to remain quiet, nor was there anything wrong with them keeping thier stories to themselves. after all, not everyone was capable of telling such stories as Vantha, nor were as many people inclined to impart such information to relative strangers.

[Mankros]

"I would not refer to this particular tale as good; interesting, maybe; defining, definitely, but never would I refer to it as light-hearted or good," he replied.

"It starts nine years ago, a week after I had turned seven. My family lived in Ravok, but at seven, 'rough part of town' was not part of my vocabulary, much less a relevant factor in where I chose to play; at least until was grabbed by two hulking brutes, twins by the looks of them, each with part of a set of tamo daggers hanging at their sides. I became well acquainted with the daggers over the next few days; I was pricked, scratched, scraped, cut, and stabbed as a sick form of amusement for those two gargantuan numskulls. As the sun set on the fifth day, after they split my ears, and the idiotic brutes fell asleep, slipped the daggers from their belts and cut their throats, slipping off into the night with nothing but my breeches, still-bleeding ears, and these," he finished, pulling the aforementioned daggers from his own belt, balancing them by their points on his fingertips.

[Wystern]

Wys shook his head when Akiva asked if he wanted to play and then shot a glance at the bar owner. Kevith replied with a shrug and kept going on with his usual tasks. It didn't bother Wys to witness gambling in this place, it was that the girl was getting ahead of herself. Start betting and win, one might make some enemies; after all that's what Spinning Coin was for, and that place was a nightmare to guard. There was the owner who was in charge of the security, but the city always had a few Knights there, just to keep tabs. Gambling causes conflicts, conflicts lead to violence, and then Wys is supposed to put down whoever started everything.

Wyst threw an irritated look at Keorvic for his blunt question. Patience, good things come to those who wait, or in Wystern's case, good information. Maybe it was the booze, maybe he wasn't too bright, but Keorvic did ask the questions that Wys would like to hear answers to. Though, honestly, if the man would not want to talk about why his ears are like that, let him be. Crow then pulled up his shirt over the Windoak crest on his neck.

The Knight waved his hand, asking for another mug. It was his second one, and he was developing a strong tolerance for the stuff. Great, now he needed to buy more booze to sleep better.

[Akiva Korvashi]

She listened to the tales of the newcomer, only vaguely interested. A haze had come to place itself in the room, creating a foggy feeling in her mind. Keorvic walked over to the bar, paying his tab, and walked back. He didn't appear to be drunk in the slightest, despite his little act earlier. She figured he wasn't all along. He had probably felt threatened, as she had, by the appearance of the strange figure called Lich. She was sure everyone else still thought he was drunk though, by the looks they shot him now and then. She would have to remember to tell him not to 'act' drunk if he wasn't actually drunk next time they were in a tavern. Akiva yawned, it was probably getting late. "Thank you for the dice game Azerix, it was nice to meet you. If you would like to join us for an adventure you're more than welcome too, I'm sure I'll be leaving this city soon. I think it's time for me to get a room for the night though," she said, winking at Keorvic. She stood up, picking up her pack and putting her dice inside. She slung the pack over her shoulder and motioned for Kipps to follow her. She made sure she hadn't left anything at the table before walking through the tavern and slipping out the door, not waiting for a reply from Azerix. A few moments had passed before she poked her head back in. "Oh, and good night everyone." She waved to Keorvic, half motioning for him to come to her, half trying to make it seem like she wasn't.

[Keorvic]

"I see. Is it not good to deliver unto those who wrong you the justice they deserve? you seem to have at least received an interesting pair of daggers from this encounter. but this is indeed an unfortunate tale." Keorvic said in reply to the Mankros' story. He looked again out the window and noted that it was well and truly night, entirely missing the Knight's annoyed glance. "Forgive me for assuming that it would be a tale of joy or boasting, for those are the ones most often shared, and I tend to forget that there is indeed evil around every corner in this world" he said, inclining his head to Mankros slightly. "However, it is growing late, and I am tired from my travels. I neglected to find a place to stay before coming here, and may have trouble finding an inn. I'm going to see if I can catch up to Akiva and see if she knows of a place. good night everyone. " he had been nearly lost when he came in here, and that had been several hours previous. now he had no chance of finding his way back to the main roads without some directions.

[Mankros]

"Thank you for allowing me to join you, I am quite loathe to sit alone when there are people around to talk with, or to," he said, nodding his head toward the man with the metal face, wondering if he had fallen asleep, or just preferred not to speak much.

As he stood to leave, Mankros realized that he had stayed in the tavern all night without buying anything. As he walked away from the table, he 'accidentally' dropped a pouch holding five gold mizas in the corner for the staff to find.