Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Gold running through our veins. (1x1x1)

Stevie groaned a little bit and sprawled her arms out across the table, chin resting on its surface as well. She huffed. "I wish he'd just smack me 'n get it over with already. N' I don't really have pride, y'know? Not that I can think of." She shoved a pinky in her ear and scratched for a second, popping it out with another huff. Frustrated? Just a little, but not much.

Unlike Flavio, she couldn't quite listen in on what was said at the bar over the rest of the tavern's chatter.

Bender grinned a little."Well, I be farin' well enough seein' as how I'm buyin' ya all this food 'n drink, matey. Now that yer part o' the crew, I suppose I can tell ya the secret behind me generousity." He said as he leaned in closer. He started speaking softer now."We got ourselves an ancient map. Elven built, we believe. Whatever the case, it led us to a dragon's hoard! Untouched in centuries. Thing is, a giant guards the hole in the mountain 'n we can't get out enough without us dyin'." He explained.

Bender didn't reply to Stevie, but Norin did once he returned from his talk with Hooke. He patted her on the head as he passed by."Cheer up, lass. I'll take ya to a dice game later today. That ought ta cheer ya up." He said as he sat back down."Hooke's a lil' suspicious." He started explaining."He's seen a bunch o' ships 'n don' trust 'em." Bender shrugged."I don' need no superstition. What he ought to know is that in a few days we'll start sailin' again. I've had enough o' the solid land fer a while now."

Flavio leaned in close to Bender even if it was unnecessary, he could hear Bender clearly either way. "Sounds rough? Got a plan to get in anyway then? Or you going to let it shoot?" The gnoll whispered back, his eyes darting around to make sure there weren't any eavesdroppers for the moment.

When Norin sat back down Flavio also straightened up, grinning widely at the dwarf and laughing when he spoke. "Seen a bunch of ships in a port? Why! That is suspicious!" The gnoll laughed as he eyed for the orc.

Stevie listened in on the whispering. "Sad thing is, with what lil' we got, we still wound up losing a handful of people," she added in a whisper. She settled down, biting her lip a bit. She hadn't told Bender exactly how she was able to figure out the puzzle, either. She just blamed it on luck.

Shaking those thoughts away from her head before guilt began to settle in,she looked back up to Norin when he patted her. "Ah, thanks Norin. That'd be great, actually." When the ships were mentioned, Stevie didn't feel too suspicious about it. "I mean, yeah, it's not really abnormal - but is it a lot more ships than usual comin' in at once? I guess I can understand that a bit but even then, that's a lil paranoid iffin' you ask me."

Bender couldn't help but agree."Aye. Giantsport has seen busier days. I doubt this 's somethin' out o' the ordinary." He stated as he stood up."Ya know what, I'll gladly come with ya to the dice game. I needs me some new boots 'n I don' feel like payin' fer it meself." He grinned."Ya comin' with us, lad?" He asked Flavio."If ya dice half as good as ya eat, Ya'd be rich in no time." The old man laughed.

Norin would lead those who followed to an alleyway a few blocks away from the tavern right next to a huge warehouse. The way was rather narrow. So narrow in fact Bender couldn't fit without sidestepping through it due to the size of his mechanical arm. But soon they would find themselves in what seemed to be an "open area" within the alleyway. There a bunch of shady looking folk were hanging around, rolling dice over the floor. In the distance the shrieking of roosters could be heard, presumably a bunch of cock fights were going on nearby as well.

Norin knocked on the wall of a nearby warehouse."Good mornin', gents." The Dwarf proclaimed. Three of the five scruffy looking pirates looked his way and quickly welcomed them group to join them."If yer friends got the coin, they can roll." The bearded pirate with the eyepatch said."Lay it down 'n start playin'. No cheatin'. We're honest men 'ere."

Flavio finished his drink and stood up to follow Bender with a smile, of course he was up for it. It seemed the gnolls had little other business besides it and he was certainly up for some play. When they were there though the gnoll stepped up towards Bender. "You all go in without me for now, I'll be with you shortly but I have ehm..." The musketeer looked down and patted his stomach, which gave a timely gurgle. "Business to take care of, in a hopefully nearby alley."

The pirate looked around him with a hurried look in his eyes and with one last sheepish grin to Bender began to jog away in an almost comical way as he held up.

The halfling followed, keeping quiet but a bit excited to play this game. When they squeezed through the alley way (which she had absolutely no problems with thanks to her size), she just looked around, grinning like a doofus.

Stevie felt that she looked out of place here. Strangely enough though, that was primarily because she was a fairly excitable younger individual. Although a little unkempt, she still appeared to be decently well taken care of. Her only scar was the burn on her arm. Basically: a fresh slate. Something smooth like marble or ivory walking into a room full of scoria rocks. Still! She did not feel that way. Probably due to the months spent with the crew, really. She felt like one of them.

"You first, Norin!" she whispered. She was grinning pretty big - but she wanted to see how it was played exactly before she did anything.

((Sorry about how long it took me to make this post. I've completely lost track D; ))

Bender hunkered down. The massive figure would be like a road block once he sat down near one of the alleyways' exits. He nodded towards Flavio when he announced he had other business."I get what ya mean." The pirate grinned."Try not eatin' the winnin' birds." The captain mused, thinking the sound of roosters fighting might have lured the Gnoll to other places.

Norin took a little box containing five dice, which he proceeded to roll into a large wooden casket. Three of them landed on six eyes, the other three were a one and a four."Three o' a kind!" Norin announced. The scruffy pirate gritted his teeth as he threw his five dice in, which were colored black instead of Norin's brown ones. He was less lucky with the numbers. Two threes and a one, two and six, which he grabbed to re-roll. He wasn't lucky with that either. A five, a one and another three, but Norin had the higher number.

"See, it's not a difficult game, lass. It's like poker, but fer people who've got the attention span o' a hyperactive squirrel." The Dwarf laughed."Go on, give it a try. Try 'n get as many of the same kind o' eyes on the dice ta win. The second round ya get to re-roll whichever ones ya like in case round one gave ya a hard time." He explained as he scooted over, picking his dice back up."Let's see Stevie beat 'n old runt like meself." Bender said as he took place where Norin's opponent sat before, dropping three silver coins next to the open crate and getting his own little box of dice, colored red.

As the crew of Bender was playing there was a lot of shuffling around the table as suddenly a big group of people seemed to have arrived. Not only that, a perceptive soul might notice that as more newcomers came in, many tanned sailors in flamboyant outfits, the more overseers seemed to go out for a break. Some of them just couldn't help but throw looks in the direction of Bender's crew either, how odd it all was.

((No worries! .))

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Stevie watched as Norin demonstrated. It seemed everyone had their own box of dice, but Stevie had none! She wasn't at all jealous over such a dumb thing, but she did think she'd be unable to play until she got her own box. This feeling grew substantially when Norin explained the rules.

However, when he scooted over, she sat down nearby, her eyes focused on his hand when it picked the dice up. "Do I use your dice?" she finally asked.

Norin nodded at Stevie."Aye, lass. 'Till ya get yer own set, o' course. But if ya want 'em decently made ye'll have ta find yerself some dwarves. Only we can make the perfectly weighted dice. Others ain't official, I tells ya." He boasted.

Bender rolled his dice, but the sight of the newcommers seemed to have fazed him. His eyes were set on the flamboyant looking strangers who have gathered here in this corner in the middle of nowhere. The old captain gave them a glare."Ya lost, lads?" Bender asked them. It couldn't be they were all looking to see roosters die, and not many people knew of this dicing area. Something was fishy.

One of them, a rather slender man in a long blue mantle and wearing a fancy hat sat down in front of Bender, before he was on the ground one of the other flamboyantly dressed men slipped a cushion under him so he could sit comfortably. His dress did not match his face, which was weathered and looked like the face of an orc slapped onto a man, a very thin man too.

"Ya must be Bender of Iron Will? I've heard so much about ya." The man barked as he took some dice. "My name's Dirk the Dead? Ever 'eard of me? Ah managed to escape a navy ship once with only me trusty dirk, I should be dead, but ahm not, as ye can clearly see by my 'andsome face, ehehehehe."

As the tension in the room rose a few patrons who clearly had nothing to do with this stood up and made for the exit, if any of Bender's crew tried to get up they'd find themselves blocked off by Dirk's flamboyant goons though, all of whom had their hands on their rapiers.

"How's about we play them dice, jus' you an' me? Got anythin' worth betting?" Dirk asked, raising his right brow and then his left.

Stevie again didn't seem to pay much attention to the individuals approaching until they got close enough to address them. Even then, it took her until Bender said anything to look their way.

By then she had the dice in her hands, but had yet to roll them. She leaned over to Norin and whispered, none too subtle about who as she kept her eyes on Dirk, "Name's kinda cheesy, ain't it?"

She shifted some when she noticed the tension rise. They were blocked in? The halfling frowned. Not good. Wonder what they wanted?

Bender eyed this Dirk the Dead."Nicknames ain't much o' a concern o' me, lad. If yer 'ere ta boast get yer hide to a tavern. I bet the wenches 'll go crazy when ya tell yer story." He grumbled. Clearly he didn't like the look of him. Especially due to the fact of with how many they were. It wouldn't be the first time someone thought he had valuables on him to rob."Laddy, don' ask me any stupid questions. If ya've 'eard o' me, ya know I got plenty ta gamble." He said as he grabbed his dice and threw them in the wooden tray.

Norin got shoved out of the way, but he said nothing about it. Instead he took a few steps back and grabbed Stevie by the arm, grabbing her along with him."Got yer gun, lass? We're in the eye o' the storm 'ere." He whispered while his captain spoke. The dwarf nudged his shoulder and Mr. Pickles, who rested atop it, flew off into the sky.

Dirk the Dead threw his dice in too and wonder by wonder, the man won by just a hair. A laughter went through the crowd as the alley was now mostly filled with Dirk's flamboyant goons, all with a hand on their sabre as they watched their leader at work. "Ah don' boast, ah jus' warn people, t'is me good nature." The thug-leader took the dice again and looked at Bender. "Ah win t'first game, but ey, y'don' 'appen to 'ave some'ing betta to bet? Like, lessay.... A map?"

That word brought silence to the alley, now the goons all had their hands around the hilts of their sword, ready to draw them as Dirk had gotten to business. The tension was now at a boiling point as everyone awaited Bender's reaction.

Stevie's attention stayed on Dirk all the while, but when Norin was shoved away, she followed him and kept her gaze on him. Her gun? Hell yeah she had it. The Halfling nodded and patted the thing at her side.

"I guess it's too late to ask what exactly's goin' on. Just gotta wait it out, mm?" she whispered in return to the fellow.

And it was then that he mentioned betting a map. Her eyes widened a little bit as she looked toward Bender. What map was he talking about? The map of the last little adventure they went on? Or something new? Gods, he didn't wanna go there. Was a terrifyin' place.

It seemed like, with the addition of armed goons prepared to battle, the Captain likely had to bet the map. Or whatever it was.

Jeeze.

It didn't seem to surprise Bender when Dirk mentioned his map. He was more surprised just by how little he had lost. However, the mention of the map did have a serious impact upon anyone who chose stick around the alleyway. It was no use to deny the existance of this illustrious map.

"Map, you say? Hrm, old crumbled pieces o' paper 'r hardly somethin' worth bettin' on, wouldn't ya say?" He grinned, his eyes rolling over to Stevie."Defeat the lass o'er there 'n I'll consider handin' it over." He spoke.

What kind of descision was that?! Even Norin's eyes seemed to grow bigger as he was shaking his head."Captain, what the hell 're ya doin'? She hasn't even rolled any dice yet!" The old captain didn't seem to care, though."That means she's got beginners' luck on her side." He proclaimed."Go on, Dirk. Ya think ya can handle it?" He taunted at the man as he beckoned Stevie to come sit in his place.

Dirk seemed content to play this game a little longer, with a nasty smile he answered. "Sure, let the halfman play. Let 't not be said Dirk the Dead dun play a fair game aye." He waited until Stevie sat down and then took the dice in his hands. "I'll let th' kid go first, ain't ah a sweetie?" The men around him laughed, some genuinly, some just to stay in good standing with Dirk.

Stevie's eyes widened when Bender put this on her. Oh. Crap. "A-are you sure, Cap'n? I'm not even sure what I'd be doing...!" she whispered to him, though understood the concept of beginner's luck. She felt queasy from this nervousness.

This was just supposed to be a game! Wasn't supposed to be as serious as it was. Agh. "Hey! I ain't no halfman." Yeah you are, Stevie. "'Ave some respect." A huff or three later and she took her seat, grabbing Norin's dice since he so kindly offered to let her use his moments ago.

"Before I roll - what is it you're betting? Only fair to match a bet, wouldn'tcha say?"

((Awright guys! Sorry this took so long. I have a question though - am I supposed to roll dice in the next post? If so how many? Or is this predetermined? .))

Bender grinned as he passed Stevie."Ta be fair lass, I'm pretty drunk right now. Just win, 'lright?" He laughed, patting her back with his robotic arm. After that he stood next to Norin, his arms crossed. Norin was anxious as all hell, though. He was keeping his hands on his guns, as he felt he was going to need them pretty soon if this didn't go well.

((No worries. If you want you roll six 1d6 die. The person who has the most and/or highest matching rolls wins, and we'll see what'll happen!))