Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

"They know they aren't supposed to be here at this time." He looked her Aurae up and down, and smirked. "Fine. Suit yourself. But if you change your mind, you'll pay full price." The man raised his voice. "Drive those interlopers off. Just be careful not to break any bones. Wouldn't want to bother those fine soldiers."

The thugs nodded, both glancing at the guarded gate, then started off after the other two advertisers at a walk. They didn't seem interested in actually catching the men, just to insuring that they didn't stick around. It would be easy to catch either of the men.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She shook her head and followed after the man from the Blue Beetle.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

"Ah, good, I'd hate to see... well, you'll want directions, yea?" Without really waiting for a response, the man pointed along a side street, and indicated another three turns Aurae would have to make. "Now, if you don't have any other questions, I'm off to the West Gate. Still at least an hour of light left."

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She nodded and followed the man's directions. Her eyes scanning for trouble and the inn.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Aurae had to make several turns off the main street to find the Blue Beetle, each turn leading to a smaller street with fewer people. And the man from the Maiden's sigh had been right - blocks weren't clearly marked all the time, but Aurae's best guess would be something like fourteen blocks, not the ten the man had advertised.

The inn was three stories tall, and a little rickety looking. It could certainly have used a new coat of paint, though it was still obvious that it was intended to be blue. A somewhat comical picture of a beatle in a bed hung over the door.

By now the sun was almost touching the city's wall. It would still be some minutes until full dark, but barely long enough for Aurae to get back to the gate she had come in through, much what find her way to one of the other advertised inns before dark.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Well at least it doesn't look like a brothel. Glancing up at the sky she frowned as she noticed how late it was getting. She was very sure she did not want to be caught outside once night fell.

She decided to take a gamble and head into the inn. Her hands resting on the hilts of her swords.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Inside, the inn was mildly busy. Perhaps half the tables had at least one person at them, and half a dozen young women ran about carrying trays of food and mugs of beer or cups of wine.

The largest concentration of activity was around the bar, where a middle-aged elf was cleaning glasses and occasionally pouring the men at the bar new drinks.

There was as much variety among the patrons of the inn as she'd seen in the streets of the city.

There were a number of empty tables and one empty seat at the bar, but nobody came up to greet the half-demon, or seemed to take much notice of her in general as of yet.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She approached the bar, carefully to not bump into anyone. Speaking to the barkeep. "I would like to rent a room for the night." Offering him the 3 denariis that the man at the gate said was the price.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

The man grunted and rummaged around under the counter for a moment, before pushing a room key to Aurae. The key was simple, with 2 prongs, and on the ring with it was a short wooden block with "23" printed on it. He pulled the three coins back across to his side of the bar, peering intently at each one before making them vanish into his apron.

Then he walked down to the other end of the bar, where one of the patrons was indicating an empty mug, and waving around a coin.

It was still a few minutes before full dark, and a slow but steady trickle of people were coming through the door. Most of the people in the inn were eating or talking quietly, though a few seemed to have started a dice game in one corner. All of them, it seemed, were drinking.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She took the key and nodded her thanks.

She smiled as she saw the dice game. She walked over and gave them a wave. Using a soft and very innocent voice. "Can I join too?"

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

The greying man who seemed to be at the center of the game looked her up and down. "Do your coins clink?" He squinted at her. "Cup costs a denarii, you can join when we start a new round. Game's 'threes'."

In addition to the grey-haired man, two others had dice cup in front of them. Both were younger and brown-haired, one human, the other apparently a night elf. With Aurae's interruption done, for now, all three lifted their cups and revealed their dice. The young human pulled a three out of his five dice, and set it aside. The night elf pulled out a pair of threes and a one. The older man frowned sourly and pulled out one of his three twos.

Then each added a coin to the pile in the center of the table, and re-rolled their other dice. On the second round, the human added 2 more threes to his kept pile, while the others picked out some of their lower dice, always at least one per round. For the third round the old man threw up his hands with a disgusted sigh, while the other two paid for a third roll. He turned back to Aurae. "You follow? Lowest score wins, three's are worth zero, gotta keep at least one from each round. Only thing what beats five threes is five sixes. Gotta ante each time you roll."

The human rolled a pair of three's, and added them to the three he already had, grinning and collecting the pot. He immediately yelled for another beer, slapping a harassed-looking woman in the ass as she passed carrying empty mugs.

Aurae realized that while there were plenty of women in the tavern as a whole, even ignoring those delivering food and drinks, she was the only one around the dice table. There were at least a dozen, including those gathered around the table, sometimes throwing down coins of their own on the side of the table, betting against other watchers on who would win. Most of them were extremely drunk.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She gave a nod, though she still looked like she didn't quite understand the game. "Can I bet on you instead of playing?"

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

"Sure, if you're chicken." The man shrugged as he spoke, then promptly started ignoring Aurae. "Come on, one of you lot has to have two coins to rub together!"

Eventually one, a middle-aged man with a pair of blunt horns, took the fourth seat and cup. They each put in a coin, and started rattling their cups. A few people asked for bets, but none were taken up.

The human, having won the previous round, showed his dice first, and seemed fairly happy with the results. A pair of twos, a pair of threes, and a four, of which he kept both threes, dropping the remaining dice back into his cup.

The old man went second, throwing a one, a two, a pair of fours, and a six. He sourly pulled the one aside, and dropped the other four into his cup.

The elf threw a pair of ones, a three, and a pair of fives. Only the fives went back into his cup.

The newcomer smiled as he revealed his roll. A two, three threes, and a five. The two and five both went back in the cup.

Each of the four players threw another coin into the center, and started rattling their dice again. Now just about all the watchers had coins in their hand, and bets were starting to go down.

Spoiler

The complete rules:

The goal is to get the lowest possible number of points. Each die counts for its face value in points, except for "three", which counts for zero points.

At the start of each round, each player must pay 1 denarii into the pot in order to be allowed to roll. After rolling, they pick at least one result to "keep", the remainder being rerolled in the next round. They are free to keep two or more results if they like, but once "kept", a result can never be rerolled.

The game ends under three conditions. Firstly, if someone ever has five sixes, everyone they have "shot the moon", and win. Secondly, if someone has five threes (and nobody has five sixes), then they win. Finally, once every player has chosen to keep all five results (at most five rounds) the game is over. In the event of a tie, all five dice are rethrown, with the lowest point total winning, and the tied players continuing to ante each round.

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She spoke to one of the men taking bets. "Two coins on the newcomer."

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

A middle-aged high elf unabashedly looked Aurae up and down before throwing his coins down on the table. "Done!"

The previous winner tossed his dice and got a three and a pair of fives, keeping the three. The old man rolled a pair of twos, a three, and a four, keeping only the three. The elf rolled a one and a six and kept the one, not looking happy about it. The man with the horns rolled a three and a five, keeping the three.

Spoiler

Human: 3, 3, 3 = 0, 2 dice left
Old man: 1,3 = 1, 3 dice left
Elf: 0,1,1,1 = 3, 1 die left
Horns: 3,3,3,3 = 0, 1 die left

People who had bet on the newcomer cheered, while the man who had bet against Aurae spat a curse. Each of them men anted up another coin, and started rolling again.

The previous winner rolled a 3 and a 5, tossing the latter back into his cup to cheers from those who had bet against the newcomer. The old man rolled a four, a five, and a six, and threw up his hands in disgust, declaring "Sixteen."

The elf rolled a 3, declaring his final score as three, and looking relieved.

Which left only the newcomer, for this round. He would have to accept whatever his single die rolled.

Spoiler

Human: 3, 3, 3, 3 = 0, 1 die left
Old man: 1,3,4,5,6 = 16 (final)
Elf: 0,1,1,1,0 = 3 (final)
Horns: 3,3,3,3 = 0, 1 die left - still has to roll for the third round.

So, to be clear, if Horns here rolls a 4, 5, or 6, Aurae loses her bet. If he rolls a 1 or 2, it comes down to the previous winner's final roll.

Horns: 39% win
Human: 36% win
Elf: 25% win

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

She clapped and cheered excited as the newcomer got some good rolls. Her smiling growing as the man who bet against her started to curse. She bent over to examine the results, still unsure about how the game worked.

Standing back up she couldn't help but bounce happily as she saw that the newcomer was winning. With a smile she waited to see what the newcomers final roll will be.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Aurae's bouncing drew as much attention as the horned man's roll, but that didn't stop him. He lifted his cup to reveal a three, and grinned as he pulled the pot to his side of the table. It was only 12 denarii, but that was more than Aurae had to her name. Three times as much, in fact, once she collected her winnings from her side bet.

Several of the people who had been watching her bounce congratulated her as she gathered her winnings. One of them pushed a mug of beer into her hand. Meanwhile, the elf stood up, declaring that he'd had enough. The others tossed their dice back into their cups, and the old man finished his current beer, then declared "Well I'm still up for a couple more rounds! Anyone else want in, or are you all pussies? And someone get me a whiskey!"

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Sge mumbled a relieved thank you as someone handed her a mug of ale. She stopped bouncing as she gathered up her winnings and slipped the coins down a pocket with a smile. She set the mug of ale down and walked over to the nearest waitress, an unintentional happy sway to her hips and tail.

Making sure to speak only loud enough for the waitress to hear. "Is there a bathing room here?"

 

[thetwo]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the maid understood why Aurae was practically whispering. "A bathing room? No. But we can bring a bath and warm water to your room, for another one denarii a night."

 

[Rathuris]

Re: Mother of the Year (Rathuris) GM'd by thetwo

"Okay, room 23. Here you go." Handing the waitress a coin with a smile. She then proceeded to find her room for the night.