Walking around the crowded gaming hall, Girri dodges boisterous gamblers as they cluster around the twelve game tables. From all around she hears the dealers and players excitedly voicing statements intended to bolster interest or to bring luck. Observing a few rounds of play, Girri can garner an idea of how the various games are played.
“Bounder, bounder, bounder! No doubles, no doubles!”
Bounder
How to Play: Bounder is unique among gambling games in that both the players and dealer use dice. The dealer gets three 6-sided dice, and each player gets two 20-siders. To start, each player bets a stake (minimum 1 tooth). Each player rolls his first d20, making his “point.” After all players have rolled their points, each player may double his stake if desired. Then the dealer rolls 3d6. Anyone whose point the dealer matches loses his stake. Then each player rolls his second d20. If the player’s two dice results are on either side of the dealer’s result—one greater than and one less than the dealer’s number—he “bounds” the dealer and wins an amount equal to the amount he bet. Otherwise, he loses his stake. If a player rolls a 1 and a 20 (or a 20 and a 1), he wins double his bet.
“It’s you verses the greedy golem! Test your skill and take the monster’s pot!”
Golem
How to Play: Golem is played with a gilded amulet and a deck of cards divided into four suits of thirteen cards, each depicting a type of golem: flesh, clay, stone and iron. Golem is a player-vs.-player card game similar to five-card draw poker, but with a “golem hand.” Golem is played in a series of games; one game must be completely resolved before the next begins. The player to the right of the dealer gets the amulet to start the night. The dealer deals five cards to each player. Starting at the amulet, each player can bet, raise one coin, or fold. Anyone who folds is out of the game, and can’t come back in until a new game begins. Next, each player may discard up to two cards and receive that many back from the dealer. These discarded cards go facedown on the center of the table. Another round of betting occurs, starting at the amulet. If, at any point, only one player hasn’t folded, he wins the pot—the house taking 5 percent—and the game is over. If at least two players are still in after all bets are called, those players reveal their hands. Then the dealer “ups the golem.” The golem hand—those cards discarded when players had the chance to draw new cards—is revealed, and if the player with the best hand beats the golem, he wins the pot, and the game is over. But if the player with the best hand does not beat the golem, that player must put into the pot an amount of coins equal to what’s already in the pot, and all cards are collected so that a new hand can be dealt for the players who were still in at the end. This continues until someone wins the pot. The house takes 5 percent of the final pot, and then the amulet moves one position to the right and a new game is dealt.
“Step up to the lake and get your racers ready! There’s a storm a’comin’!”
Skiffs
How to Play:Arrayed on a table is a three-by-three grid of small lidless boxes next to a large wooden bowl containing a set of twenty-five identical ship tokens. Skiffs is a halfling gambling game played on a three-by-three board or set of boxes (the “lake”). Each player takes an equal number of tokens from the pool (“skiffs”). The dealer takes one skiff (the “racer”) from each player and then places the rest in a bowl called the “storm.” The storm is flipped over the lake in one smooth motion, so each of the skiffs falls into one of the 9 boxes. (If a skiff falls between parts of the lake, the dealer places it where more than half of it lies, choosing randomly between the two boxes if it isn’t clear.) The dealer places the racers in the bowl. Then the dealer pulls out one racer at a time, and that player takes a turn.
On your turn you must do exactly one of the following, if you can: • Remove any one skiff. • Remove one of your skiffs and any one skiff from anywhere on the board. • Remove one of your skiffs and any two skiffs from the same box. • Move one skiff to an adjacent box. When a box contains exactly one skiff, that skiff is “anchored.” An anchored skiff can’t be removed except by its owner, and no one can move a skiff into that box except the anchored skiff’s owner. In all cases, each skiff you remove is worth one coin, regardless of whose it is. After everyone has taken a turn, the dealer puts the racers back in the bowl, and starts a new round of turns. The game can end in two ways. The first way is if anyone has the only skiffs in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. In this case, that player wins all the skiffs still on the board. The house keeps the racers. The second way is if each box contains skiffs of just one color, or none at all. In that case, the game ends, the house keeps the racers, and points are counted. You get one point for each skiff on the board, and one point for every box in which you have the only skiff(s). Whoever has the most points on the board takes all the remaining skiffs. In the case of a tie, those skiffs are split evenly between the tied players.
"And a black makes for a colored flight; that hoard is mine!"
Three Dragon Ante
How to Play: Three Dragon Ante is played with a deck of 70 cards divided into five suits of chromatic dragons, five suits of metallic dragons and a handful of dragon gods cards and mortal cards. Each card in the deck has a strength between 1 and 13, and a special ability or power. Six cards are initially dealt to each player. There is a maximum hand size of ten cards and players are not allowed to have more than the maximum at any time. Players keep their hands secret from the other players. The undealt cards are placed face-down into a draw pile from which players take new cards. The game is divided into gambits in which gold is added and detracted from the stakes (similar to the pot in poker). Each gambit normally has three rounds (four or more can break ties). In each round, players play cards in front of them (comprising their flight). The strongest flight is the one with cards summing the highest numerical value. After each gambit, each player draws two cards. All ante cards and flights are then discarded.
In a gambit, players initially choose a card from their hand to ante-up (see poker). The highest ante determines the amount of gold every player must pay to the stakes.
The player with the highest ante plays first, triggering the special ability of her dragon. The special powers of each card varies from allowing players to draw more cards or steal money - from the stakes or other players. In general, good dragons allow players to gain cards, whereas evil dragons allow players to get more gold from the pot or other players. Mortals are especially powerful, so players often maneuver to trigger their mortals' special power.
After the first card in the round is played, players play cards in clockwise order. If the value of the card is less than or equal to the one played before it in the round, it triggers. Otherwise, it does not. The highest dragon in a given round determines the leader of the next round. The first card played in every round always triggers.
Most gambits end after three rounds, though occasionally a tie extends it to four or more rounds. In either case, the strongest flight (sum of the values of each player's three cards) wins. Additionally, special flights (color or strength) allow players to earn extra gold or cards. Players must buy cards from the deck if they run out of cards. The cost of new cards is determined randomly by flipping the top card of the draw pile; the player pays its cost in gold. This commonly happens, since replacing cards can be difficult.
The game ends when one player's hoard runs out at the end of a gambit. The house takes 5% from each hoard.
"Six great towers, which will you raise?"
Towers
How to play:This game is played with a Harrow; a practice considered abhorrent by Varisian Harrowers. The deck is divided into six suits of nine cards apiece with each suit representing an antribute: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Play centers around six figurative "towers". Each turn, you try to build on those towers. When you can’t build, you incur debt to the other players. At some point, your debt comes due, and when it does, you want everyone else’s debts to you to be far greater.
Setup: Separate out the neutral cards—those with the symbol in the center. Lay out these six cards in a row across the table, each more than two full cards’ width away from the others. These represent the foundations of towers: the Tower of Strength, the Tower of Dexterity, and so on. Shuffle the rest of the deck. Deal three cards to each player, face up in front of him—this is the player’s cache. Players must sit along opposite sides of the row of towers, with their caches parallel to the row of towers. Each player also has a balance—a pile of cards off to the side of the player. All players start with zero cards in their balance. Each player’s balance is his debt to the other players in the game, and this debt must be paid by that player as he leaves the game. Whoever has the card that is alphabetically first among all the players’ cache cards goes first.
Taking a Turn: On your turn, you may either flee or play any one of your cache cards onto one of the towers. If you flee, put all your cache cards into your balance, and immediately pay that balance in coins to each of the players still in the game. Turn your balance facedown to show you are out of the game. You do not get any more cards, nor incur any more debt. If you don’t flee, you must play a card so that:
1. The card’s title is toward you.
2. The card’s symbol covers one of the eight alignment positions surrounding the foundation’s symbol.
3. The card doesn’t cover any symbols.
4. The card’s symbol is next to the symbol of a card on the tower (not including the foundation), if any are on that foundation.
That last rule means that if one or more cards have been placed on the tower, their symbols are all connected to each other. If the card you played matches the foundation’s symbol, you may play another one of your cards on any tower. If that symbol matches, you can play your last card as well. Any card you can’t play goes into your balance. When you are done, draw three cards to replace your cache and pass the turn to the player to your left.
Closing a Tower: If you play a card in a way that makes it impossible to play another card on the tower, the tower is closed. Starting with the opponent on your left, give one card from the tower to each opponent still in the game, continuing around until all the cards from the tower (including the foundation) are distributed. Those cards go in the opponents’ balances. (If you face only one remaining opponent, that opponent gets all the cards from that tower.)
Ending the Game: The game ends when no more cards can be played by anyone. All cards in players’ caches go into their balances. Each player’s balance is his debt to each of the remaining players. Unlike debts in fleeing, debts at the end of the game can cancel each other out, so if you owe a player nine coins, and that player owes you five coins, you owe that player four coins.
The house collects 5% from the stakes.
While disgustedly watching a game of Towers being played Girri feels a light touch on the small of her back. Turning, she sees one of the scantily clad succubi waitresses deftly holding up a tray clustered with empty glasses and tankards over her head with an upturned hand. "Can I get ya somethin from the bar sweety?"
OOC: Sorry for the tardy reply; I wanted to compile this info for you but have been rather busy this past week with a hectic move into a new condo.
Note that many of the games described above are rather slow to play through in a PbP format so, if you're interested in trying some of them we can opt for a quick gambling resolution system done by rolling either a profession (gambler) skill check or a Charisma check; whichever has a higher bonus.
Girri nods gratefully to the succubus waitress and hands over one of her teeth tokens. "Devil's horned tail, neat." After lingering with the waitress a moment to make sure her proffered tooth token is enough to cover the shot of hard cane liquor she's ordered, Girri turns to the Bounder table and puts down two teeth on a bet. "I'm in."
OOC
Charisma checks are probably the way to go, but I'm comfortable following your lead on this. At this point, I'm not sure whether I should have Girri aimlessly gamble or try to pump info out of someone. I'm sort of just going with the flow for the moment, which is probably what Girri herself would do--at least, that is, until she felt on firmer footing.
Sitting down at the Bounder table, Girri looks up at the croupier as he plunks down a palm-sized 20-sided die carved from horn and a leather dice cup. She'd noticed that his eyes seem oddly bloodshot earlier, but it's once he speaks that she catches sight of his pointed teeth and recognizes him for what he is; a tiefling. "Two teeth for the lady. Roll yer point." Girri dutifully takes up the proffered die into the cup, gives it a shake and plunks the cup upside-down on the black felt tabletop. Lifting the cup reveals that she's rolled a 3. The croupier repeats the process with three other players at the table: a female dwarf with a sallow complexion, a disinterested looking woman sporting an eyepatch and a toothless old man with calloused hands.
After the other players have rolled their points, the tiefling croupier takes up three 6-sided horn dice into a cup, shakes it, plunks it down and lifts it up to reveal a low total of 6; a number hard to bound. All of the players then scoop up their dice and roll their second number. Everyone fails to bound the croupier's roll and looses their stakes; that is except for Girri, who's rolled a 19. "The young lady bounds and wins two teeth."As the croupier pays her winnings, the dwarf and the man grumble while the eyepatch wearing woman simply wanders off into the crowd.
Taking up her chips, Girri is approached by the curvaceous succubus waitress who hands her a small glass with a reddish-amber liquid that smells of cinnamon along with five copper hearts in change. The scantily clad woman pauses for a moment as Girri takes a sip. Behind her, the tiefling is setting up for the next round. "Bounder, Bounder Bounder! Roll the bones! Try yer luck!"
Girri puts one of the teeth she's just won on the succubus's wait try and winks her thanks. First sniffing the drink more out of habit at the suspicion of being drugged than out of real suspicion that anyone here would try to poison or cloud her mind, Girri then sips at the syrupy amber liquid. Deciding the drink's to her taste after all, Girri takes a second heartier quaff from her glass then tosses a tooth to the Bounder croupier and quits the Bounder table in favor of milling about the room to look for someone she knows.
Having effectively dispensed her winnings to the Gold Goblin's staff, Girri rises and begins milling about the bustling gaming hall floor. Seeing as how most of the room's occupants are sitting or slouched over the various game tables, the tall Varisian woman has a nearly unobstructed view of the entire hall. Those that stand out from the crowd are the individuals who, like Girri herself, are milling about; seemingly uninvolved in the gambling action occurring all around them. Most are staff members: bare chested bouncers scanning the room for problems, scantily clad succubi waitresses with trays of drinks hurrying to and from the bar and couriers transporting chips or coins from the tables to the counting rooms in the back.
The purpose of some of the others milling about require a little more scrutiny to determine however. For good or ill the Varisian woman soon discerns some discrete signs and signals being exchanged between, if not personally known individuals, people who seem all too familiar in the services they offer. Tarted up young women and men reveal themselves to be quickwives and easy lads offering their company or carnal services to those with the money to pay for the privilege. Many sport yellow silk scarves, sashes, dresses, tunics or triple dagger talismans; markers that identify them as abbots and abbesses of the House of the Silken Veil, Riddleport's temple of Calistria. It wasn't so long ago that Girri herself was an "acolyte" being made to tithe a share of her earnings to the temple's tiefling high pristess Shorafa Pamodae. Girri picks out a few familiar faces amongst their number; an older Chelaxian woman named Cealta who'd been working the Wharves District for years and a skinny Varisian adolescent lad named Gef who, as Girri watches, leads an older man towards one of the hall's private side rooms.
Passing by the bar, Girri catches a whiff of a familiar scent that makes her gut churn with both desire and disgust; the enticing stench of shiver. Turning instinctively, the Varisian woman sees that a burly bearded man with the telltale under bite of someone with orcish ancestry is discretely negotiating a sale with a pock-marked sailor with sunken eyes. His heritage and current activities reveals him to likely be one of Boss Croat's dream-mongers. In a familiar move the drug dealer has uncorked the vial in his hands, letting the illicit concoction's aroma inexorably lure the addicted sailor into a sale. With some difficulty Girri forces her feet to lead her away from that which her body craves so desperately.
Seeking a distraction, the Varisian woman quickly takes another sip from her drink and turns her attention back to the crowd. Girri soon catches sight of an unfamiliar young half-elven woman with Varisian tattoos on her face milling around the room. Much like Girri herself, the tattooed woman seems to be ignoring the gambling in favor of aimlessly studying the crowd. Turning in place the woman eventually makes eye contact with Girri and, seeming a little startled to find herself being observed, blushes and smiles shyly. The woman's reaction seems somehow odd to the Varisian Harrower, though she initially can't put her finger on the reason. Then she realizes the reason; Girri is simply unused to seeing anyone blush in the den of iniquity that is Riddleport.
Girri averts her eyes from following after the boy as he leads the older man into the side room. Biting the inside of her lip with a shake of her head, Girri instead focuses on the unfamiliar young half-elven woman. Crossing over to the woman, Girri offers a smile and a word. "Odd choice for a night's entertainment. You're new here? Did you try the Bounder table?" Careful to maintain a casual tone to both her intonation and gestures lest she put off the newcomer, Girri sips the last of her drink then sets down the glass on a nearby unoccupied table.
The tattooed woman seems friendly though a little nervous when Girri approaches her. She laughs uncertainly and self-consciously adjusts her green cloak when the Harrower successfully guesses that she's new to town. "I'm just in from Magnimar. Gods, is it that obvious?" The half-elven woman peers around the room once more as if embarrassed to meet Girri's eye. "Bounder? Well, I'm not really much of a gambler..." The woman turns back to Girri quickly with a look of apology on her face. "Not that I have anything against gambling! I –I just don't have the luxury of participating in the tournament at the moment. Money is a little tight..." The woman smiles sheepishly at Girri. "Truth be told, I was hoping to find some Cyphermages here; I was told there might be some in attendance." The young woman tries to be discreet as she glances down at Girri's colorful assortment of scarves. "You, uhm, wouldn't happen to be in the Order would you?"
Knowledge (local) +7. Knowledge (arcana) +6. Who are Cyphermages and where in this area can they be found?
Girri affects the face of someone considering an interesting question while she mentally wracks her knowledge of Riddleport, trying to think of an answer to the woman's questions. "Hmmm...cyphermages...yer best bet'd be ter go..." Girri stalls, hoping for a closer look at the woman.
Sense Motive +7. Is she from Magnimar, or is she lying?
Incidentally, there's some basic background information about the Order of Cyphers in this thread's initial post.
Thanks to her familiarity with the city, Girri knows that Cyphermages are a group of wizards, sorcerers and scholars dedicated to uncovering the purpose of the enigmatic Cyphergate and other Thassilonian ruins. A rising power in Riddleport, the Order of Cyphers' ways are mysterious and many of the more traditional inhabitants of Riddleport mistrust them, dirisively calling them fancyboys and fancygirls. The order is lead by its Speaker, Elias Tammerhawk; an accomplished wizard and Crimelord that some say might be poised to become the next Overlord of the city. The Cypher Lodge, the order's headquarters, is located in the Windward District on the western bank of the Velashu river. Possessing an unparalleled view of the mysterious Cyphergate, the Lodge is rumored to house the greatest library in northern Varisia.
The woman's accent and clothing would appear to confirm her claim of being Magnimaran. Her manner certainly seems altogether forthright and Girri is fairly confident that her nervous demeanor is largely due to her being in an unfamiliar environment.
Deciding the woman doesn't look as if she's lying about being new in town and from Magnimar, Girri nods her head twice but guides the woman away from the bulk of the crowd. "Ears all around, an' talk of cyphermages will no get ye friends in this place." Once Girri is relatively satsified that she may talk in whispered peace without the interferrence of listeners, she speaks up a bit more fully. "Cyphermages keep ter themselves--we mostly call 'em fancyboys, an' s'long's they keep their business quietlike, we leave 'em be. They gots a Cypher Lodge o'er in the Windward district along the west bank of the Velashu."
Girri sucks in a breath of smoke-laden air and pauses, then--remembering the Harrowing earlier in the night--blurts out, "I'll take ye, but it'll be fer a price. 5 gold. I know a quiet roundabouts way ter git there." Girri's eyes glitter with new purpose and sudden resolve as she beholds the Magnimarian woman.
The young woman allows herself to be led around thinking that Girri might know of a Cyphermage in the hall. She seems taken aback however once the Harrower asks for money; putting a little distance between them as she frowns with mild abhorrence. "Of course I went to the Cypher Lodge when I got here; I'm not a dolt! But I got turned away at the door right quick; the lot of em have been holed up in there ever since Blakely's Shadow* first appeared in the sky. Guy at the door said that they aren't accepting any visitors or applicants for the foreseeable future. I'm here at this... place... to look for individual Order members so I can try talking one of em into taking me on as an apprentice. I barely had the money to pay the damned entry fee; I sure as hells don't have five gold to spare for you. So thanks, but no thanks." The woman seems about to turn away from Girri.
* A local fancyboy named Argentus Blakely supposedly predicted the existence of an "atmospheric shadow" in the sky and so it was named after him when it eventually became visible above the city. Story is that he magically flew up to investigate it awhile back and reported it to be strangely cold, but that it seemed no different than a regular cloud—apart from its unusual color.
Girri grabs the bridge monkey by the arm. "Lookie here, love. 'Less you want an earth bath from a hushman, you let me do the askin' after a Cyphermage fancyboy." Muttering under her breath, Girri adds, "I don't want no quarrel with the Deck this night, might as well do its bidding." Girri gestures for the Magnimarian to sit at a nearby table beside a cheaply painted gilt screen. Scanning the room, Girri filters the occupants with new purpose, this time with an eye for a fancyboy or fancygirl.
Knowledge (local) +7. Is there a cyphermage here tonight?
The young woman seems somewhat startled as Girri grabs ahold of her, brusquely turns her around and all but pushes her into a nearby chair. Bewildered by the Harrower's slang-riddled declaration, the would-be apprentice seems momentarily uncertain whether she should hold still as instructed or bolt into the crowd. Girri takes advantage of the girl's confusion to turn and scan the room for possible Cyphermages slumming it in the Gold Goblin. She catches sight of Saul Vancaskerkin speaking to a well appointed dwarf as they exit the hall through a door into the rear offices. Above the large guarded chest is the brooding imp Old Scratch; he sneers rudely at the Harrower when he notices her looking at him. Unfortunately for the Varisian woman, she's had few opportunities to interact with Cyphermages; few self-respecting fancygirls ever deigned to visit the Bent Trace Futurities. Just when Girri is about to turn back in defeat she catches sight of a likely mark; a tall lanky man in dark green robes with a brocaded collar, sporting a pair of polished bracers, a carefully trimmed goatee and a predictably haughty demeanor. As she watches, the man rises from one of the gambling tables, pauses to look towards the rear of the hall and then turns as he walks hurriedly towards one of the public lavatory doors along the side wall.
OOC: I had to reread your previous post a few times to make sense of all that slang. At first I thought you'd mistakenly posted something intended for another bpb game.
"Right, him then." Girri nods to herself in satsifaction as she watches the haughty fancyboy head to the lavatory. Quickly wheeling back around to face the Magnimarian bridge monkey, Girri sits down in the chair opposite and leans in. "Tall, male, all legs an' arms, an' wearin' fancy-dancy dark green robes. Got some kind of silvery threaded collar on his robes, plus white metal wrist bracers, and a pointy bit of beard on his chin. Just went to the loo, probably be back out in a moment. Got cyphermage written all o'er him." Girri leans back in her chair and nods once in satisfaction at the bridge monkey. "What you do with that bit o' info's up ter you, love, but that's what yer wantin' an' make no mistake."
Girri privately decides that the Deck has ordained this encounter and that she'll follow after the Magnimarian at a safe distance to see what comes of the bridge monkey's encounter with the fancyboy.
Stealth +3. If Girri thinks she a silence spell would help her pursuit (in case the Magnimarian and the fancyboy leave the Goblin together), she'll cast it on a pebble--or herself if need be--and follow after.
The half-elven woman straightens as if suddenly on guard against what Girri might do next when she suddenly turns and seats herself across from the would be apprentice. The woman blinks confusedly a few times as the Harrower describes the green robed man. Finally catching on, she bites her lip as she catches sight of the presumed Cyphermage making his way across the room. Standing, the young woman looks back at Girri with uncertainty. "Um, well thanks. I'll go wait for him to come out to talk to him." Turning to watch her go, Girri once more catches sight of the fancyboy as he pauses by the lavatory with one hand on the door. Half turning, he seems to be scanning the gaming hall for something but takes no notice of the half-elven woman determinedly making her way towards him. Then, curiously, Girri sees the man turn and push the door open while pulling out what appears to be a piece of folded parchment from beneath one of his bracers. He then disappears into the lavatory. A few tables away, the half-elven woman slows her pace as she looks expectantly towards the lavatory door. A raucous cheer goes up as a gambler wins a substantial pot from somewhere across the bustling hall.
Girri gets up from her small table for two adjacent to the painted screen and slowly threads her way through the gambling room toward the lavatory. She picks a place to stand out of the way where she can see and hopefully overhear any conversation that goes on between the fancyboy and the bridge monkey.
Stealth +3, if need be. And, again, if they leave together Girri will try to follow unseen/unheard by casting silence.
Getting up from her seat, Girri passes a succubi waitress hurriedly moving towards the winning game table with her serving tray in hand. Neither she nor the tattooed half-elf woman seems to notice the Harrower as she moves surreptitiously past them. The latter instead crosses her arms and glances at a nearby game table as she waits for the mage to be finished in the lavatory.
Moving towards the Goblin's Tankard side-room so as to be in a good position to discreetly listen in once the mage emerges, Girri passes by a Bounder table near the the rear of the hall. She notices the eyepatch sporting woman she'd been playing alongside earlier as she drops a handful of her chips to the floor. "Oops!" In and of itself, this would seem to be a trivial incident except that the cadre of gamblers at her table suddenly tense up, shut their eyes tight (as does the woman) and put their hands on the hilts of their blades. Sensing that something is amiss, Girri is suddenly on guard.
Before she can act however, the burning braziers arranged around the central dais explode in a blinding pyrotechnic display of flashing, streaking and scintillating lights. As cries of surprise and panic begin to spread across the gambling hall, Girri distinctly hears the ringing of steel as weapons are drawn at the nearby Bounder table. As her vision begins to clear, the Harrower sees that there's pandamonium throughout the hall; most patrons and staff are rubbing at their eyes or reaching out tentatively in reaction to their sudden blindness: "WHAT HAPPENED!?!" "I can't see!" "I'M BLIND!!!"
With spots in her eyes, Girri quickly looks around. She sees that four thugs at the Bounder table have drawn swords while the eyepatch wearing woman is looking around, seemingly pleased by the mayhem. The bouncers surrounding the central dais seem mostly cognizant though have yet to react. Near the lavatory door, the half-elven woman seems to have been blinded by the explosion of lights as were most patrons. Past her, Girri notices that the lavatory door is slightly ajar.
OOC: This is a surprise round. Girri made her save and is not blinded; she can now take a single action. The four thugs have already acted by drawing swords. The eyepatch sporting woman has yet to act and neither have the bouncers.
Frowning at the mayhem that suddenly erupts in the gambling hall but not wanting to be caught without protection against whatever trouble is obviously afoot, Girri tries to make herself as unthreatening as possible. Girri Quickly uncoils a length of colored scarf from her left arm and gives the scarf a shake to free the blades concealed within. Her weapon at the ready, the Harrower keeps a steady eye on the lavatory door in case the cyphermage tries to make a break for it.
OOC
The robbery is between the robbers and the Goblin's guards. Girri won't tattle, but will try to make herself as unthreatening as possible in order to not get involved and to avoid blame. Her interest is in the cyphermage and the bridge monkey, and she's not about to loose them now, not even in the craziness that just broke out in the gambling hall. If the fancyboy doesn't come out the restroom right quick, Girri is going to go in after him, if need be--since he went in right before the "explosion," Girri thinks he's somehow involved.
in the midst of a hundred panicked people blindly stumbling about, Girri has little reason to fear that her actions will be noticed. Indeed, the most threatening thing the harrower faces is a spilt drink and the probing hands of a blinded patron who stumbles into her. "Help me, please. I can't see..."
Just then, a piercing whistle causes most people to quiet down somewhat and turn towards its source. Girri glances past the blind man in front of her and sees the eyepatch sporting woman withdrawing her fingers from mouth. She calls out boldly: "All right folks! Drop to the ground and you'll live through this! Don't nobody try anything stupid." Immediately, roughly half of those in the room either sit, kneel or lie on the ground as instructed. Most of those remaining on their feet either continue to stumble around blindly or stand confused.
To the Gold Goblin's staff's credit, three of the six bouncers in the hall seem to retain their vision; one near the dais and another near the main doors even manage to draw their scimitars defensively. Then, as the four thugs surge from their table towards the dais, Girri notices the mage discretely exit the lavatory. He likewise moves purposefully towards the dais albeit in a much more covert fashion. He ignores the half-elven woman as he does the other blind patrons. As he walk, the mage withdraws another folded piece of parchment from beneath his other bracer.
The thugs draw weighted saps as they swarm over and around the dais to overwhelm the Goblin's remaining defenders. The lead bouncer succeed in delivering a wicked slash to the midsection of one of the thugs as he runs past. Unfortunately he, along with the other remaining sighted bouncer at the dais, are quickly surrounded by the thugs and beaten with saps until they collapse to the ground.
OOC: We're now halfway through the first round of combat. It's Girri's turn.
Initiative:
Mage 22
Thugs 22
Girri 18
Woman 17
Bouncers 1
Linear Mode
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