[PbP] The Heroes of Silleria

Michelle smiles mischeiviously at Orens idea "I like the way you think, boy-o. And I can't WAIT to get out of these clothes..." She stops for a moment "uh.. In private, of course." Michelle's smile never wavers as she looks around the city.
"I'm a bit low on money right now, we need some way to get money... I just wish we'ld have gotten attacked by something with MONEY."
 

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You will have no trouble finding a good, clean inn. The prices are somewhat severe, though. For housing and stabling for your party it will be 10gp a day (or fraction thereof). You get the impression that Ambroi has little tolerance for those without money.
 

Kerith smiles back at Oren. "At last, something I know how to do... Sure, I'm up for it."

Kerith will chip in 2 gp to the group, for his and Buttercup's share of the fee. Kerith will clean up, too, if the group can find the facilities, if necessary, using his dagger to scrape the stubble that has accumulated on his face (DEX 17, so he better not cut himself... :) ).
 

Foran smiles as they reach Ambroi. He always did like the large cities. Far better than the wilderness or small, dinky towns. Everything moved with a kind of organized chaos.

Foran listens to Oren whisper to him, then whispers back "I could probably do that. The bard has a perfect alibi in a tavern, after all."

When they reach the inn, Foran chips in two gold and goes to clean himself up.
 

Oren will get his own room, trying to seem unconnected to the rest of the party -- part of the plan, he makes it clear.

Once they have some privacy, Oren will pull aside Kerith and Foran -- and anyone else who's interested -- to lay out his plan in a hushed whisper.

"Okay, Kerith: What I'm thinking, your job is to play the hustler, but the hustler trying to play the naive kid. You go in there, maybe with Foran, find a good table to sit at, somewhere open, where we can run if we need to, and somewhere it won't be strange for Foran to be playing his pipes.

"You seem to have lost your stutter, well, if you can, get it back. It's okay if it's fake 'cause they're going to think it's fake anyway: You can afford to be suspicious, because you're going in there to lose. Don't try to play that up or anything, just let them suspect you a little, not so much they don't let you play, just enough that they keep an eye on you. And if you go there seeming totally out-of-place, with someone no less, oh, they'll have their eye on you for sure.

"Now, a normal hustler will begin by losing a few hands, so it's perfect for you to be losing. Nothing big, just enough to keep up the image. They'll think you're trying to get their guard down, so they'll keep it up against you. Which is where I come in.

"I'm suave, I'm quick, I'm cocky: Just another gambler. I won't stand out at all from anyone else from the table, except in one way: I'll be winning. And I'll be winning because Foran isn't tipping off you like they think, he's tipping off me. If the atmosphere is right and we can do this musically, it'll be perfect, because then I don't even have to look at him -- just at the faces around the table. Which would probably be enough anyway, so Foran, don't trouble yourself too much trying to read things that you get caught, just try to pick up on things here and there. Just an edge.

"So I come in, start slow but just for a while, then hit a big lucky streak and take off while my luck's going strong. Maybe near the end I can lose to you big, then you guy's take off like you finally pulled off the big hustle, but since I'm the one who lost and I don't protest it's no big thing. Then I stick around, make a little more... Or whatever. We can work out the specifics, but first, are you in? Any suggestions?"
 

Keep discussing, this sort of plan should be ironed out well. In particular, you might want to work out a plan B if things go awry. (I don't normally suggest, but I'd hate for things to go terribly wrong before you even get to the Keep).

(Why must my players always try something like this? In my RL game the characters staged a series of gladetorial combats between them, with the wizard roaming the crowd with a "tip hat." Not that I mind, mind you, it's just funny)
 

(OOC -- Don't worry, I've accounted for a good many contingencies already -- hopefully the others can fill out any gaps I have. That post was just getting long, so I wanted to wrap it up as soon as I got the basic plan across.

BTW, see my post in the OOC thread.)
 

Kerith replies: "Oh, I can gamble like normal, and I shouldn't have too much trouble losing. But still, I only have roughly 20 or so gold in my pocket, and I worry that it'll be gone before you can get in the game."

Kerith thinks for a while: "I wonder if this sort of subterfuge is worthy of the Crown's own representatives, though. Perhaps we should just play our opponents straight up instead?"

[Rather than prolong the discussion, Kerith will accede to the plan if the principals seem to agree, otherwise Kerith will gamble straight up. He doesn't want to draw undue attention to himself.]
 

Very well. Let me see if I understand the setup. Kerith is at a table, trying to get locals to play [a misc card game]. Foran is sitting nearby, facing the game and the rest of the room, playing his pipes. Oren is going to join the game as if he were another local. Kerith is going not going to be cheating, or if he is, he'll be cheating to lose. Oren is going to play normally most of the time, except when Foran catches a glimpse of one of the local's cards. Then he will signal with his pipes in a predetermined code to let Oren know how to bet.

Right?
 


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