PM to join Tipsy Topsy-Turvy (Sh'ky)

[Jessor Yellowmoss]

14th of Summer, 514 AV

The room was hot and stuffy with the bodies of men and women alike, all crammed in and trying to get a view of the game. The din of loud drunks quieted only to listen to the sound of dice spilling on the wood tabletop. The ale she had drunk earlier in the evening was causing Jess' vision to blur. Her breath was heavy as though she had just won a race, and perhaps she had, for a handful of Mizas were soon to be hers.

Jessor sat at the very center of the crowd, surrounded by anxious and eager betters. The Drykas was holding her breath as she waited for her opponent to take his turn, sending silent prayers to the most loved God in all of Sunberth- Ovek. Please Ovek, if you have any influence over gambling, show it now. Let him roll a 1.

The dice game was a simple one. One die was used. If you rolled a 1 then you lost everything. Any other number was safe and earned you points that your opponent would pay you for in Mizas at the end of the game. The score was nearly even (27-31) and Jess was getting nervous. Her sweaty hands clamped tightly around her bag of Mizas, filled with a hundred coppers. She hadn't dared bring any more or she would surely lose it all. The stakes were low, but the nerves were high-strung.

The man threw his die, clattering on the table in the sudden silence. Jessor couldn't look at the result, instead watching his eyes widen as he took in the outcome. His hands slammed down on the table, causing a flare of false hope in Jess' stomach. She grinned confidently and peered down at the die.

It said "5".

Her only reaction was a shout of anger. She stood and knocked over her chair with a clatter, leaning close to her opponent's face. "Petching vagik! You cheated!"

The man just shook his head and sneered.
"Naw," He drawled cockily, "But I tell you what. 'Cause I'm such a gent, I might just git a drink fo' you wit it."

Jessor drew up her lip in disgust and spat on the floor. She didn't want to take the man's money, but she wasn't about to pass up a free drink.
"The good stuff." She demanded.

"Nutin less, hun." He winked and grabbed his copper Mizas from her, sauntering off and leaving Jessor to fend for herself amongst the crowds.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky Naes

Sh'Ky had entered the Pig's Foot about three hours earlier, and had begun the night by observing the young woman get hammered, and gamble a hundred coppers away. When she stood up hastily, knocking her chair over on Sh'Ky's foot, his only reaction was of mild surprise. He was sure she'd figured it out earlier, the man was clearly using loaded dice. The way he alternated between dice on the table was obvious. Shaking his head, he took a sip from the small mug of piss-cheap ale in his hand. Well, let's see... should I take advantage of the poor woman while she's clearly drunk? Of course. She was stupid enough to "gamble" while sloshed.

Kicking the chair with the toe of his boot, Sh'Ky replaced the seat where the woman was sitting, so she wouldn't fall down. Bowing in an overly grandiose gesture, Sh'Ky motioned for the woman, clearly an outsider, to sit down. "Hello, miss. If you'd let me join you, it'd be with higher stakes. And possibly more money for you." As he leaned past her, he caught a vaguely vulpine scent. Is that a... fox smell? Rastia had a fox... No. Gotta focus on taking their money.

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Dallen McHenderson

[Jessor Yellowmoss]

More money?

It did sound enticing, made even more appealing by the thick cloud of ale fogging her mind. She could buy lots of things with more money, maybe even get out of this rathole town, depending on how much he was talking. As an added bonus, the man himself was something to look at. Without hesitation, Jessor sat herself down in the recently up-righted chair and nodded.

"I'll take ya on." Although typically well-spoken, even the most intelligent had to fall when under the influence of alcohol. Jessor's Common was choppy normally- as it wasn't her first language- but drunk and in Sunberth, this fact went nearly unnoticed.

Jessor hands tugged at her bag, counting her Mizas aloud. She still had around 60 coppers from her various wins and losses, but that didn't sound like the "higher stakes" this man was introducing.

"What kinda..." The new gambler searched for the word fruitlessly. Something to do with the money. It's called...A...An..."Ante! What kinda ante's we talkin' here?"

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky Naes

As the woman sat down instantly, without hesitation, Sh'Ky smiled, both to himself and the Drykas. This show was on the road. "I'll take ya on." Pulling out a chair from under the table, Sh'Ky lowered himself into the chair with an easy, lithe motion. At least, that's what it would seem to anyone who was drunk. Lounging, arms resting on the back of the chair, Sh'Ky waited patiently while the woman struggled to find a word. "What kinda... Ante! What kinda ante's we talkin' here?"

Pulling out his dice set, he plopped them on the table, along with five. "A half gold, or five hundred coppers, to be precise." Grinning at her, he raised his eyebrow, as if questioning her. "Are you still in?" From what he had gauged from the woman's persona, she would've accepted the challenge anyways, but drunk, well, anything could happen while you were drunk. There was always the off chance that she'd decline, but alcohol made people choose the worst options.

Bad decisions, like 'gambling' with Sh'Ky could be made.

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Dallen McHenderson

[Jessor Yellowmoss]

Ha! As if I would back out. More money is what I wanted. And it would be bad for my reputation to back out anyway.

A grin spread over Jessor's lips as she leaned forward on the table. "O'course I'm still in. I ain't no quitter." Jess blinked heavily, feeling the weight of the ale drag at her eyelids. She managed to stay awake and upright though, and even bobbed her head in confirmation.

"But, uh, I don' have tha much on me. Is at home," Jess slurred her words and waved her hand dismissively. "S'okay. I'll get it to ye later, eh? You stop by Tent City an' I'll get it to ya."

The Drykas watched his fingers move in a blur as he handled the dice. She squinted, trying to see their markings and gauge their weight in his hands but she could only hardly tell which number they were landing on from the short distance.

With the confidence that she normally sported amplified by her consumption, Jess asked him outright, "How do I know you ain't cheating like that last petcher?"

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky Naes

At her words, Sh'Ky frowned slightly, disappointed that she didn't have any more money. Shrugging, he thought, Oh well, I could always go to her tent afterwards and claim the rest. Shaking the dice around in his hand, he listened to them clack, and almost froze when she asked him, "How do I know you ain't cheating like that last petcher?", but he kept the smile on his face, and continued shaking the dice.

Holding up his other finger, he stated with a grin, "If I were cheating, then why would I bother with you, miss? There are plenty of other marks for a gambler or con man to hit in this room." Tossing one of the dice on the table, he kept grinning as it rolled a two. "Your turn." Swigging his ale, he forced his wits past the fogginess of the alcohol.

Hopefully, she wouldn't suspect anything.

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Dallen McHenderson

[Jessor Yellowmoss]

Only a 2?

The low roll put Jessor's mind at ease and caused a grin to stretch her lips and wrinkle her nose. If he were cheating, he would have rigged it to roll high numbers and earn him more...right?

Jess tipped her head up so her chin was in the air, exuding pure confidence that matched the easy smile of her opponent. He was drinking now too, she noticed with interest. You would think he would want to stay sharp for the game. Of course, Jessor had no room to talk.

As fast as she could move in her ale-soaked state, she extended her hand and swiped the die he had been rolling. She tried her best to weigh it in her hands, but her senses were dulled so much at that point that she couldn't tell the weight of a full mug from an empty one.

There was only one way to decide if it was loaded or not. "Ye wouldn't mind if we shared dice, yeah?"

The Drykas' blue eyes twinkled with mischief as she threw the die back onto the table.

4. Perfect.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky Naes

"Ye wouldn't mind if we shared dice, yeah?" Her words, and the motion of her grabbing the die caused Sh'Ky's guts to turn. Hopefully, she had grabbed that die. As it landed, it rolled a four, and Sh'Ky sighed in relief, and concealed it as a cough and a frown. That die was special, the one that was loaded, but only to roll evens. It didn't work out in most games, like craps, but it was a good way to allay suspicion in simple dice games such as this.

Picking the die up with his index and his thumb, he placed it with the others, in the middle of a stack. Hopefully, if she selected it again, it would roll a six. Taking another loaded die, he shook it in his hand, and then pretended to knock his drink over. The motion wasn't obvious, and it allowed him to see the number before the ale spilled over his die, causing him to say, almost apologetically,"Oh, I'm sorry, miss. I'll have to clean that up, but before my ale spilled, I saw it, it rolled a five. Here, let me wipe it off."

Picking up the sticky die, he wiped it with his shirt's sleeve, cleaning it off. "Here, now it's your turn. Oi, mate, could you get us a towel or dishrag?"Sh'Ky called out to the bartender, who nodded and began to approach their table, carrying a rag that appeared to be stained with many liquids. Hopefully most of them were beer.

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Dallen McHenderson

[Jessor Yellowmoss]

Jess gave the man a dubious squint. He had just happened to spill his ale on the die at just the right time? And it had been a five...Really?

He had taken his die back as well, burying it beneath a pile of others. Perhaps more angrily than necessary, Jess swiped a new die (or maybe she swiped the old one; it was impossible to tell). She shook the single die in her hand, listening to the muffled sound as it hit the sweaty walls of her fist.

"4 to 7, right?" She nodded confidently, taking down a mental note of the score as the bartender mopped up the spilled ale. Once finished, the bartender wandered off without a word, never bothering to wait for a thank you. Shrugging off the rude Sunberthian ways, Jessor shook the die again.

This time, she opened her fingers and tossed the die onto the table. It clicked and clacked and wobbled, seemingly undecided as to where it should land. At last, it toppled over and sported a positive six.

"Ha!" Jessor grinned ever wider and took a large swig of her drink to celebrate her good fortune thus far. Ovek must have heard her, if a little later than she had wanted. Better late than never!

Jess scooped up the die and let it fall back on top of his pile of dice with a smirk.

"It's yer turn, fella."

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky Naes

Sh'Ky, even though he was mildly disappointed that she had rolled a six, thus making her score a ten, he kept a congenial smile on his face. Couldn't make her suspicious in any way, as the ale trick would've been a tad obvious. As she took a swig of ale, he thought, Yes, please do get even more drunk, make my job easier.

"It's yer turn, fella." Nodding, he picked a die at random, and felt that it was one of his normal ones, not loaded. Tossing the die onto the table, he watched with satisfaction as it rolled a six. Raising his mug to the lady, he smiled and said, "Well now, miss, I wouldn't be gloating just yet!" And the best part about that roll was that it'd allay suspicions while making him get closer to winning.

At least, he thought it'd make her less suspicious.

ScoreJust thought I'd keep track.
Sh'Ky-12
Jessor-10

Other's Words My Words NPC's Words
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Dallen McHenderson