The Sudden Approach of Unexplainable Power: IC

[Nonlethal Force]

The room is hazy, but the large room seems to contain roughly fifty patrons (give or take a dozen given the quite estimate). Not all of them are sailors. In fact, probably less than athird are tried and true sailors. Not all of the patrons are big and beefy, either. There are a few that catch Aekalos' eye as being shrewd gamblers - perhaps even managers for those planning on fighting. Aekalos can also see six waitresses walking around the room. None of them are dressed the same - but none of them have any more clothing on that his own waitress. Most of them have dark brown or black hair, but there is one with a deep red hair bopping around the other side of the room.

Merrick replies, "Aye." he leans forward and lowers his voice a bit. "The daughter of Severin Tauroni, Miss Ella Tauroni, has disappeared. If you don't know, Severin be one of Earl Patrons minor annoyances in the royal court. He's a merchant - a shipper - to be more precise. Of course I can be understanding how you'd think that puts us at natural odds. Well, if you be D'ahr Voorhees that innept cap'ain of the guard, that is. He arested our cap'ain assuming that he be guilty as the one with the most to gain. True, we be profitting in any regard that weakens the sinister Severin."

Badrick smirks, interrupting Merrick. "And you left out the most incriminating part, of course. We be the first to confess that our cap'ain has been low enough to spend more than a few nights alone pleasin' himself with the young Miss Ella. She's definately got a woman's qualities about her; and our cap'ain can't help but know that if Severin found out that his daughter be spending time in the local bars and spending the nights aboard the Queen Forseth being pleased when we're in port it'd anger the weasel Severin. Yet our cap'ain be not guilty. Our cap'ain might like to be having fun with the women folk. But he'd not be doing anything to harm Miss Ella. What be starting as a minor prank against a rival for sure. But now our cap'ain has a fondness for Miss Ella. In fact, he's even got us calling her Miss Ella. He wouldn't be causing her harm."

 

[unleashed]

“That sounds like quite a tangle your captain’s gotten himself into, sneaking around with the daughter of a rival...I can imagine the furor that would cause, if it were revealed. Well, as you assure me he wouldn’t do such a thing, I don’t suppose you have any idea who the real culprit is or where Miss Ella has been taken?” Aekalos asks, glancing around to see if anyone is paying special attention to their conversation.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Tiergar also seems to be keeping an eye on the crowd as well. There doesn't seem to be anyone in particular who cares about the conversation.

In the center ring, two brutes and a skinny but tall man step into the ring. Tiergar smiles with almost a school-girl glee. "Now, besides the women, this be the best of the night."

The tall skinny man that claimed in the ring begins, "Gentlemen and scoundrels alike! Out first bout this evening will be between George 'Rocks'em to the Quarry' and Terre 'No Blood Like Your Blood.' Terre is coming off a win last week, so the house has established the payoff odds at 60% George and 30% Terre. This is a no-magic fight. Place bets with your waitresses. They'll be around."

Already interrupted in their tale of the captain, Merrick and Badrick allow Tiergar to cut in and explain the betting. They give Aekalos a look that implies they'll answer his question once Tiergar ahs finished.

Tiergar states with enthusiasm as he himself begins to shuffle through his pockets for some coin. "The house starts the betting by establishing the odds. You've been no doubt noticing there are a few guys around here that don't quite look right up for the ring? They be the odds setters, most likely. The house puts up a certain amount of money as the balance to set the odds, for example in this case 65% of their money was bet for Terre and 35% of the money went on George. Now, other people join in placing bets of 10 gold minimum - and you have to be betting' in amounts like 10, 20, 30 ... well, a smart lad like you probably be knowing the fancy name for that anyways. As the money comes in, the odds begin to change based on how much money is on either fighter."

He pauses for a quick breath. "The amount of money on the losing fighter be split appropriately between those who be betting on the winning fighter. For example, if you be betting 10 gold and I be betting 20 gold and both of uspicks the winning fighter, I be getting double the share that you be getting. The percentages are set up so that you be knowing the payoff. In this case most of the money was put on Terre to begin with. So, the people who bet on George would get more if George wins than if Terre wins cause more money is already on Terre that needs covered. The house takes the percentegaes and automatically takes the left over percents for itself as a fee. Thus, although 65% is put on Terre to begin with, they make it 60% available to those who bet on George and are keeping 5% for themselves. Same thing with Terre, should Terre win as expected. You can tell how much you're going to be winning by the percentage. As it stands, if you bet 10 on George and he wins, you be gettin a payoff of 6 gold. The same bet on Terre, who's expected to win, will be paying off only 3 gold. And the percentages be changing, of course, as people be betting. You got any questions?"

[Sblock=OOC]Mechanically, here is how the game of chance works:

1. I roll my % dice and round the result to the nearest odd multiple of 5. In this case, I rolled a 39, so the result I used was 35. Thus the other result became 65%. Drop both of those to the nearest multiple of 10 gives the respective payoffs of 30 and 60 (and thus 10 for the house).

2. Once all bets are placed, I roll a d20 twice. The first result of the d20 is added to the smallest % from above - in this case 35. The result of the second roll is subtracted from the smallest % from above - again, in this case 35. So ... that means that when it is all said and done the smallest % could actually change by +/- 19. So in this case, the odds of George winning are actually somewhere between 35 +/- 19: or 16 to 51. Thus, the odds of Terre winning are between 49 to 84. (Hence why George has the biggest payoff above and Terre's is smaller).

3. Once the d20 results are tabulated, I roll a d%. Wherever the result lands is who wins the match.

4. Once the winner is declared, then money is handed out, percentages rounded down to take out the house's share, of course.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Right now the odds are 35% George / 65% Terre of each of them winning. [Thus the payoff is reverse with George's payoff at 60 and Terre's payof at 30.]

I roll a d20 twice and get the following results: 3, 12. So, George's odds change according to the following: 35+3-12 = 26% This would represent that the majority of people betting didn't think that George would win, thus the majority of money went to Terre winning.

I roll my d% knowing that a result of 1-26 means George wins while a result of 27-100 means that Terre wins. In this case, I get a result of 06. Since 6 is clearly within George's range, George is declared the winner.

The odds were 26% George win / 74% Terre wins, thus the payoff is 70% on George and 20% on Terre. Since George was declared the winner, the bet would be multiplied by .7 and that much gold would come the players way. For example, should Aekalos have bet 30 gold on George, he would retain his 30 gold plus have earned himself an easy 21 more gold.

Obviously, this is purely a game of chance in which the only skill involved is figuring out percentages. The d20 rolls in the middle make it even more odd because a fair fight (like a 45/55 split) could suddenly become as lopsided as a 26/74 split while a nearly sure thing (5/95 split) could even end up being slightly more fair odds of 24/76.

You don't have to play, of course. But if you are a gambling person you are welcome to try. There are typically 5 bouts a night, although on a boisterous night volunteer fights can extend that. So, if Aekalos wanted to bet on himself and pick a fight with someone (he could choose the quality of oppenent) I would set up a 'mock' combat round in which the goal would be to knock the opponent unconscious - never a fight to the death. No weapons allowed, combat is with fists and magic only. Damaging spells are only allowed if they can do non-lethal damage or otherwise not actually physically harm the opponent.[/Sblock]

 

[unleashed]

“No, I think I’ve got it, thanks Tiergar...the only real question is, who’s going to win and give me a return on my money,” Aekalos chuckles. “Hmm, I think I’ll go with George and bet against the odds first time up, when our lovely waitress returns.”

[SBLOCK=OOC]I don’t think Aekalos will be going for a match this time around, even with his sleep spell ready to go. [/SBLOCK]

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Badrick smiles and says, "Heh. We'll see. Perhaps I'll go opposite you just to make it friendly! Anyway, getting back to the situation at hand with our cap'ain. The biggest threat to our shipping isn't the land shipping of the lizard Severin. It be the Sahuagin tribe just off the coast to Huntsville not far from here. But I doubt they'd be making waves with kidnapping a nobleman's daughter. They're most interested in taking down a ship and feasting on its cargo and crew, of course. We're not knowing much about it, of course, but there be an orc tribe west of Partuss that interferes with the landluber shipping often. They could be having a score to settle with the forked-tongued idiot Severin."

Merrick adds, "Well, there could be a number of enemies among the Earl's court, too. An idiot like that Severin be never far from a dagger in his back. But speaking of money, the smart money's on the orcs. Well, the orcs ... and Terra." He grins as he announces his notion to bet against Aekalos.

 

[unleashed]

“Well, hopefully the more you gentlemen bet against me, the more I’ll win,” Aekalos grins, as his companions indicate their bets will be on Terra. “Sahuagin? Damned nasty brutes, I hear, and none too pleasant to look at either...a scourge to coastal and seagoing folk everywhere,” Aekalos remarks, displeasure in his voice, before shifting back to the matter at hand. “So, if you think the orc tribe is behind this, why haven’t you looked into it yourselves?”

 

[Nonlethal Force]

"Would absolutely love to, lad. But like I said, the incompetant captian of Earl Patron's guard would likely take advantage of our absence. We step out of town, nobody is here to protest the public execution of a pirate. And by protest, I mean with steel if necessary. The town guard can't hold their own against us." Merrick replies.

 

[unleashed]

“Actually you hadn’t mentioned that, but it’s good to know nevertheless...hmm, well I suppose I could pay a visit to the orcs, if you feel you need to stay to protect your captain...” Aekalos replies.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Badrick replies, "No, he hadn't mentioned that the captain of the guard would take advantage of the absence, but he did say the captain of the guard was innept. And he is that, for sure."

Merrick adds, "If you're interested, of course. We'd be paying you for your trouble, of course. What price would you be setting for such a task?"

 

[unleashed]

“I’m interested, otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but not knowing how dangerous it might be, I can’t price my services with any certainty... so I’ll ask how much it’s worth to you gentlemen...” Aekalos remarks with grin and a wink, as he turns the question back to his companions.