Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 2741257" data-attributes="member: 6783">GamblingOn this cold winter evening of the last month of the year, Ker Stev Orundol is a happy man.  Things are going quite well for Ker Orundol who also happens to be the manager of The Blue Gorgon.  On the one hand this dark-haired middle-aged man is employed by one of the wealthiest merchant’s in Corlean, Ker Quereth Holtson.  Better, his stock with Ker Holtson is rising while the star of his chief rival, Ker Deverex, seems to be falling.  Conceivably in a few months Ker Orundol sees himself as Ker Holtson’s senior lieutenant; especially if he does well in the current tasks.Which brings us to the other hand, which is currently in equal favor.  Ker Orundol has a second, secret, employer – Father Dark.  To date Ker Orundol has done nothing to risk his job with Ker Holtson, nor has he been asked.  Instead, the Gorgon’s manager has passed on useful bits of information to Father Dark and has even distributed certain information on request.Four days ago Father Dark personally asked Ker Orundol to take on three advisors who were furthering a money-making scheme currently in the making.  These swarthy-skinned ‘advisors’ were remarkable in that they nearly identical-looking brothers who had just recently come south through the pass with Baron Roth’s contigent.  Normally this request would have made Ker Orundol nervous, but Quereth Holtson had standing orders to make as many contacts as possible with anyone of means or title.  Stev Orundol was able to pass on that he was doing Baron Roth a favor by allowing observers on his premises as a precursor to perhaps opening up business opportunities in the north.  Thus he was able to serve two masters.Stev Orundol would be greatly surprised to know how he was being played by the current events.  Fortunately for his peace of mind he was blissfully unaware of how central he was to certain dark and ugly plots.----The carriage drove up to The Blue Gorgon and slowed to a quick stop.  The four sweating horses hung their heads in fatigue.  The source of that fatigue was apparent when the carriage driver opened up the door and three large men stepped out, followed by a white-haired woman.All were dressed in elegant finery, though their taste in clothing and jewelry was haphazard ad seemingly eclectic.  Each of the men was large and in fit condition.  While they didn’t wear armor they each bore a sword with the familiarity of long use, and they had a presence and bearing that said they were field soldiers of some sort.The woman was a white-haired half-elf wearing a striking blue dress with a silken, black cloak and bearing a crystal-topped staff of some white wood.  Her taste in jewelry was as equally eclectic as her companions but like them she wore it like it was Imperial regalia.The four companions looked at each other and made their way up the stairs of the gambling house to the front door, ignoring the curious onlookers.---Ker Orundol was on the floor supervising when the four people entered.  Balraj, the oldest of his ‘guest advisors’ had shown him their pictures and had named each.  Unforunately neither Balraj nor his brothers were here this evening.  No one had thought that these four would be here so soon.No matter.  Ker Orundol moved smoothly through the crowd with an unflappable smile.  “Welcome to the Blue Gorgon.”  He greeted.  “Are you here for a game of chance perhaps?  We have several excellen tables…”  he started to sweep his hand towards the back of the house when he was interrupted by the youngest man.“Can we just hand over the money now and be done with it?*”Orundol stumbled to a stop.  He wasn’t expecting that.  “I’m sorry…?”  He asked, somewhat confused.  In broad terms he knew that these people were here to gamble and lose money publicly.  He wasn’t privy to the details but assumed there was something illegal involved.  Regardless, his role was clear and his innoncence had to be maintained.Gamely, the manager continued.  “This is one of the finest gambling establishments in all of Corlean.  It’s not normal for people to just ‘give’ us money.  They come here to take their chances at a fortune.”The younger man, Captain Kellron thought Orundol, looked exasperated for a moment but then covered it with a sigh.  “Very well.  A private room then with some sort of card game.  You do have those?”Orundol paused.  This wasn’t what was supposed to have happened, but he was capable of rolling with it.  “Certainly sir.  Are you sure…”“Quite.”“Very well.”  The manager brightened with a though.  “Let me get you a server.  We have several excellent young ladies who are quite quick and accommodating.”One of the other men, the middle-oldest, who had been surriptiously looking around pointed out a nearby serving girl.  “She’ll do.  Just show us to the room.”Orundol looked and saw that it was Semina who was just walking by with a tray of drinks.  He almost sighed.  She wasn’t the prettiest of his girls and he had no idea of how accomadating she could be – hopefully very accomadating.  Still the man had picked her out of the crowd and so was probably attracted to her.  Orundol signaled the girl and waved her over.  “Semina, tell Rina that she’s taking over your shift.  These folk are your newest responsibility.  Please show them upstairs to Jessica’s room.  I want you to supply these good people with anything they ask for.  Am I clear?”Semina curtsied.  “Yes sir.  I’ll take good care of them.”  She promised.Orundol nodded.  It would have to do.  He looked to the young woman who had accompanied the men, the wizardess Jallarzi.  “And you ma’am?”  He inquired.  “Would you prefer a more… manly server?”  He asked delicately.She looked bored.  “No thank you.  She’ll be fine.”“Very well then, I’ll leave you in Jessica’s more than capable hands.  Please inquire if you have any questions.”  With that Orundol bowed and let Semina take them to the private rooms upstairs.---The game was ‘Lord’s Luck’, a fairly simple card game that required more luck than skill, but could still be influenced by both bluff and strategy**.  There was a brief period of chaos while they changed out the bag of gems that Kellron laid on the table to gaming tokens.  it might have been easier not to bother, for Kellron turned out to not be a very good player.  In about six hours he was down fifteen thousand gold lions.  With the sunrise only a few hours off he and his companions decided to call it quits for the night, telling Jessica they would be back the next evening.The dark-haired dealer smiled prettily and accepted the proffered tip with grace, impressed with their generosity in adversity.  Jessica had seen reckless gamblers before and correctly pegged them as neophytes; but she had never seen a new player lose so much so casually or with so much boredom.  The next morning all her fellow dealers heard of her newest players, of their generosity and the enormous amount of wealth that they were willing to lose.---*Sadly, I don’t recall the exact conversation anymore, but it was more or less along these lines.**I presumed that all dealers in the house had +10 to Profession (Gambler).  The players were making untrained checks vs. Jessica’s every hour.  Every point of difference between the opposed check equaled 1,000gp that went to the high roller.</blockquote>

Verification