[Game Thread] PART I: Cheat The Devil, Take His Gold!

[Colonel Crow]

Barrin finishes off his drink and puts the imp out of his mind. And his troubles as well, as best as he's able. "It may be that barmaid doesn't know all there is to know about whether there's any work," he says to himself, and wipes a bit of beer foam from his mustaches.

Taking his time, the dwarf makes his way across the room, pausing at a table or two to watch the games. Almost unconsciously, he finds himself in line at the exchange window, and when it's his turn he puts on his best smile, pulls four gold coins from his pouch, and says, "Two gold chips and twenty silver, I think." Best to start slow. He is not, after all, much of a gambler.

A few moments wait sees a space clear at the table he'd decided on during his reconnoiter of the gaming floor. The croupier never ceases in his chatter, "Bounder! Bounder! Bounder!" but notices Barrin and slides over a pair of the peculiar, many-sided dice that had caught the dwarf's attention in the first place. They remind him of the garnet stones his kin took from deep in the Mindspin Mountains.

When his turn comes around, Barrin looks from side to side at his fellow gamblers. "I roll just one of them first, is that right?"

Sliding five of his silver chips onto the felt-lined table, he throws the die. "Fifteen!" he says. He looks at the croupier, avarice in his eye, but elects not to raise his stake. If his point had been one or two higher perhaps, but with this roll... "Now you roll a fourteen and I'll be happy!"

[DukeofTuring]

Looking around the bar, Lon decides its more interesting to join the dwarf. Using 3 actual silver pieces unless anyone objects, Lon slides in beside the dwarf, saying "If you don't mind", then takes his turn at the dice. He grimaces when he sees the results. "Ugh. Well, we'll see."

"Beginner's luck?" he says to the dwarf with a raise of the eyebrows and a slight smile.

[paiute]

A soul...Sand sold his long ago but thats a different story. The itch started...but is was a calm one. He stood still gazing out at all the those gambling. Any other time he would have took advantage of the weak but his last few days in prison, and the reasoning why he was in prison, gave him a extra goad to push hard. Scanning the room he looked for the most skilled players and tried to see through facades of innocents.

He hesitated...

[Oghain]

Though possessing a moderate amount of gold (which he had consummately no use for) one of the few things that Gylmarix had yet to participate in in this life time was gambling. As the guardian of a necropolis, and even before that time, there had been little use for the common pastime and there was even less of an appeal now that it was being presented so garishly. In fact, it seemed as though the only realistic things in the entire building were Gylmarix himself and the 'demon' in the cage high above. Leaning against a wall the elf takes a moment to gaze at the critter properly,

Dice Knowledge: Planes check:

1d20+4

(4)+4

Total = 8

looking for any tell tale signs that it was actually a demon.

[Gunslinger 19]

Barrin

As the dice scatter around the Bounders table, the croupier, who is a plump halfling with stylized black hair, makes his roll. "Bounder, Bounder!" he chatters animatedly. The rolls come up with a ten. "Whooooaahh!" he gasps. "Let's see yer other ones, gents."


Gylmarix

Try as he might, the witch can't seem to remember learning anything about creatures like this. The creature is, however, very otherworldly in its appearance.

[Colonel Crow]

Barrin watches the man next to him pick up three silver with a winning lowside Bounder roll, then takes his own second die in hand and blows on it for luck. He throws! And...a fifteen. The dwarf watches despondently as the croupier rakes in his five silver chips.

But he's got chips left yet, so he lays down five more. When his turn comes around, he changes his throwing hand and rolls...a one!

"Now that's more like it! he says, doubling down with five more silver chips.

[DukeofTuring]

Lon grins when he rolls his second die, and silently collects his 3 silver pieces in winnings. "Keep the first three shillings, I'm still in for that much" he instructs the over-exuberant halfling running the game.

Once the first round has concluded and the table cleared, he rolls the dice again. Seeing the result of "10", he gives an exacerbated sigh but otherwise remains patient.

[paiute]

He hesitated because this seemed different. Maybe this time its for real no more second chances. As the recalls the last time the roll of the dice to his life for a ride he began staring at the beast in the cage. It seem as though in some life maybe not this one but another he knows this creature. It failed to make a reminisce complete. At the moment this life was digging its threshold deep into his mind.

[Tayln]

Jeukai had drank her drink in peace only turning to look when she had heard the host start speaking. Turning with her back to the bar she heard and her lips twitched in a grin. Win back her soul and all of his gold....His eye turned away and she looked at the temptresses and she snorted, her eyes rolling before she pushed herself and moved forward past a few of the men. Old Scratch's actions though brought a clap from her until Saul continued...

Of course this would only earn her laughter and a headshake. She would head back to the bar though and lean against it for a moment. She didn't know enough about gambling...but in a few, she'd for sure be getting herself into firt place...she just had to figure out what she was going to be doing at the moment.

[Gunslinger 19]

OOC I'd like everyone to make a perception check.

[Muggins]

Erica, stubborn as she was, failed to rush over to the gambling tables like 90% of her fellow patrons. She'd never really been one for gambling, not after the last time she tried it - sure, the deal had been good, but she thought the constant presence of a buy behind your back telling you what to do a bit unnerving. It was more unnerving when you knew they had a knife ready to poke your soft flesh. Instead of charging for the unwelcoming tables, Erica opted to finish off her drink and keep a gentle eye on the supposed imp hanging from the ceiling. She had no reason to deny the realistic nature of the imp from what she knew, and so she left it be. There was no reason to suspect the innocent of sinister tones - even if such terms were highly unfitting in her situation.

One drink proved to be enough for Erica. The thought of downing another at the time seemed somewhat unpleasant, and the tables seemed a lot less crowded now that people had spent their life savings and given up, thrown out of the premises with nothing but the devil's mark. According to the contract, they had lost both their money and their souls - though Erica couldn't help but doubt that information, now that she had seen the lighthearted nature of the inn's propieters. Her senses dulled by the drink and some outward thinking, Erica finally decided to give some gambling a shot. Ghoulette seemed the most interesting of the lot, and she'd heard the delightful head spouting the occasional one-liner from her seat at the bar. Erica gathered up a small amount of coins, far from willing to spend her whole fortune on the event, and headed over to the table.

But, as Erica ventuered closer to the table, some doubt pilfered further into her mind. Was she really sure how to do this? More importantly, how did she do this? She made sure to watch a few games from the sidelines, trying to grasp the rules before asking for any help. In time, she believed she grasped the right idea; or, at least, something close to that.

"Betting on a Five," said the Tiefling as she slid into a chair. With but a twitch of her eyes she drew a number of silver pieces, in accordance to the rules of the tournament, and placed them on the betting mat. "That's Ten silver pieces, and the category of 'Skill'," the girl continued in a somewhat ballsy, perhaps foolhardy, tone. It was one night, what could possibly go wrong? Except, of course, if she lost her wager and kept on betting ... she'd be sure to keep herself under control, then.

Upon the result of her wager, however, she found herself letting out a gentle sigh from her lips. It was all luck, sure, but there wasn't any reason to not be a bit disappointed by your lack of it. Erica hesitated for a moment, watching the room with an almost idle gaze before she focused on a target. She took a break from the Ghoulette, even hoping to find a little kink in the system to exploit, but most of her interest eventually found itself diverted to the many other events scattered around the hall.

Details Wager: 10 Silver Pieces Bet: 5 - "Skill" Roll: 2

[Oghain]

It was becoming increasingly obvious to Gylmarix that at some stage he would have to join in one of the gambling games going on around him. However, before finally succumbing to the urge to continue his investigation, Gylmarix took one long hard look around the interior of the building before trying to decide which game to join in.

[Gunslinger 19]

Erica

As Dungo the head spins around, he eventually stops on a "Bloodline". The ghoul happens to be staring at a bearded dwarf at the time, and spits out, "Which of your parents was an Otyugh?"

The dwarf glared at the head silently for a minute, but after realizing he's won, he bursts out laughing and collects his winnings.

From Erica's brief survey of the room, nothing really catches her eye.


Barrin and Lon

"Bounder! Bounder! We got some doubles over here! Let's see who wins this time, eh? Bounder! Bounder! Bounder!!!" Shaking the dice in his hands, the halfling finally shuts up and tosses them on the table. Meanwhile, as the dwarf and his new human friend browse around, they happen to catch sight of an oddity.

In Riddleport, seeing armed men in a place like this is not a strange sight. However, a few men in particular, who are loosely grouped together by the bar, seem particularly on edge. They're standing very stiffly, with their hands on their weapons. They're accompanied by a voluptuous one-eyed woman, a tanned beauty with long black locks.

 

Both of you make a sense motive check.

"Thirteen!" The halfling cries out. "Second points, please!"


Gylmarix

As the witchman peers around the room uncertainly, a few peculiar things catch his eye. For one, there's the group of men near the bar. They seem oddly tense, their hands near their weapons. In addition, as Gylmarix happens to look over by the privies, he catches a glimpse of something through the door. Inside, a robed nobleman is clutching a scroll in his hand, focusing very intently on it.

 

Gylmarix should make a sense motive check as well.

[DukeofTuring]

Lon waits impatiently for the halfling to finish his show, then rolls his own dice. "Ha! Seventeen!" he laughs with a clap of his hands."Keep my stake again, I'll just take what I've won" he instructs the croupier, too engrossed in the game to observe much else.

[Oghain]

Not one to be easily dissuaded from investigating the obviously suspicious, Gylmarix focuses on the man seeming to be reading a scroll and lets his mind wander; a small trick he had learned years past to open the way for his sixth sense to grant a flash of intuition.