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[SeriousConcentrate]

(My last post at the dinner.)

Rae threw her arms around Ria. "I love youuu, Ria," she slurred drunkenly. "You're the best, best, sissssster ever." After a few moments to get her balance, she managed to get upright in her chair. "I love all of you, you're all nice and great people... An', an', an' I wish I'd met all of you a long time ago." She grinned. "I'd've liked to, to have had you guys along when, when me an' Tali went through those sewers killin' rats, 'cause the innkeeper told me if you wanna be an adventurer you gotta kill rats first, so we killed rats. Whole lotta rats."

Rae slowly slumped forward, her eyes closing as she did so. "I love you most, Tali..." she said. A few moments later she was snoring quietly. Toman scratched at his goatee thoughtfully. "You know, she's got a point there. The first part of my training as a watchman was clearing out giant rats from a storehouse..." Anya giggled. "Wow, me too! When I was first learning how to use my powers, I'd cast Rays of Frost on the rats in the old barn."

Toman reached past Tali and shook Rae's shoulder gently. "...I'll carry her to her bunk, then I think I'll call it a night myself. It's getting pretty late." He smiled at Anya and Bael as he stood. "The fish was excellent, as was the wine. Thank you for the meal... and I had fun listening to everyone's stories." He picked Rae up and carried her off. Anya stretched and yawned. "I'm going to turn my chips in as well. You guys try not to have too much fun without me, or I shall be very put out. Good night." She stood, ruffling Rudra's hair and Luke's wings mischievously before sauntering off to her small room.

[Skyrunner]

Joshua and Scion were playing a game of cards with Max. A high pile of golden coins were stacked in front of Max, and both Scion and Joshua were sweating.

"So, Jo, want another go?"
"Please, save me from your horrible rhyming, Maximin."
"Not until you save yourself from bankruptcy..."

What kind of hand Joshua had was apparent on his face - he had no poker face at all. Right now, Joshua was definitely bluffing on a bad hand.

[Dwarmin]

Ria leaned her head on Baels shoulder as the others left, one by one. "I think my sisters going to be all right." She murmured, yawning.

"Well, I suppose they left us to clean up the mess..." Bael said with a feigned world weary sigh, standing to gather up the dishes.

Ria took him by the arm, smiling

"...leave them for tomorrow. You've got more important business to attend to."

"More? You work me so hard, my love..." Bael said, grinning and being pulled away from the table at high speed.

[The Fool]

Daero walked up to Alith. He looked him up and down, but he couldn't decide what to make of him. The smell of sea water was overpowering and he couldn't smell anything specific about the man in front of him with his heightened sense of smell. "How did you know my name? Don't you know that we split people in two on a whim and eat their flesh?" He unwrapped the bindings that held one of his short swords in place. "Aren't you afraid of the Fir'Selyth?" As he spoke he thought to himself, 'he's probably just heard stories of us. He'll cower like the rest if I give him a flash of my blade.' He clicked the handle of his sword upwards revealing the blade.


Meanwhile down below the decks Alfred had arrived with a teapot that he was carefully balancing with his talons. He flew up to Luke and Neciel, "Your tea, madame." He slowly descended to the dining room table. He flew off above the deck. "I'll be waiting for your call behind the deck. I have a nest there if you need me."

Neciel bowed slightly as Alfred passed. "I suppose we should have some tea then." She pulled a tea set out of her bag, and set it on the table. She poured the tea only to glance over and see Maximin winning at a game of cards, much to Joshua and Scion's dismay. A big smile crossed her face as she finished pouring the tea. She leaned to Luke, who seemed to be staring at the game of cards as he took his first sips of tea. "Watch and learn. I've gotten better at cards." Within moments Alfred was back and flapping his wings in front of her.

"What do you need madame?"

"I'm going to play a game of cards. Would you care to join me?" She turned her back to the card players, and made a small hand movement as Alfred hopped onto her shoulder. She turned, lifted her plate and tea cup, and moved over to the card game. "Would you mind if I joined?" She sat down at their table, and Luke sat next to her, waiting to see what gambling tricks she picked up. He knew full well that she prepped a spell, but he just wanted to see what would happen.

((Let's see... she's a fatespinner who manipulates outcomes, the familiar is holding a silent Unluck spell, and she has ranks in gambling if all else fails. This will be fun. Maximin won't know what hit him.))

[SeriousConcentrate]

(A challenger appears! She may not have Unluck and isn't a Fatespinner yet, but she does have ranks in Gambling and Bestow Curse. )

Anya also approached. "I heard there was a card game going on. You guys didn't invite me?" she pouted. "Come on, we don't even have to play for money this time." She noticed Neciel also sitting down and grinned. "Interesting. It'll be fun to play against a new face. Are you game?" She took a seat and got ready to be dealt in...

[Skyrunner]

Neciel cast her spell, but nothing seemed to happen.
This time, Anya won the pot with Maximin in close second. Ciel looked up to see Scion looking straight at her winking. He just seemed to have finished a spell...?

Poor Joshua was getting fleeced.

[The Fool]

Neciel was looking at Anya with disdain. "You win this time, Anya." She shot Anya a glare as she pouted.

Luke was getting tired of watching cards when he could join in as well. "Would you mind if I tried my hand at this? It's been a while since I last played." Luke stretched and flexed his fingers outwards. "We don't even have to play for money. Though I don't want any spells cast while I'm playing." He said it with a smile, because he knew that his skills as a detective may just win him the pot this time. "What do you say Anya?" He slid his coat off his shoulders and slid it down his wings. He caught it behind him, and placed it to his side. "We can talk about where we're going next as we play."

((Sense Motive? Bluff? I has those.))

[SeriousConcentrate]

Anya fancied she heard a familiar jingle as she raked in the chips with a grin. "Sure, join us, Luke! It's much more fun with more players." She finished shuffling and began dealing the cards. "So, for this round, how do you feel about two's being wild and only being allowed to exchange two cards?" She was the dealer, so she got to set the rules. Once she was finished dealing, she set the deck aside and glanced at her hand... (Just for fun, her hand is... Card 1: 1d4=1, 1d14=1, Two of Clubs. Card 2: 1d4=2, 1d14=9, 10 of Diamonds. Card 3: 1d4=1, 1d14=5, 6 of Clubs. Card 4: 1d4=2, 1d14=8, 9 of Diamonds. Card 5: 1d4=4, 1d14=10, Jack of Spades.) Pretty good. Just exchange this card... (Anya exchanges 6 of Clubs. 1d4=2, 1d14=8, contradictory result, rerolling. 1d4=3, 1d14=1, 2 of Hearts.) If she wasn't keeping her poker face up, Anya would have grinned very, very evilly. With that card she had a nine through King straight.

As for Toman and Rae, Toman was in the hold moving crates around for safety purposes and also to stay in shape. A physique like his required maintenance, after all. Rae was currently cooking a sort of stew out of the left-over fish and some stored vegetables and things, as well as singing to herself. "♪Some guys have all the luck♫ ♫Some guys have all the pain♪ ♫Some guys catch all the breaks♫ ♪hmm~mm~mmhm♪"

(Just for reference, Anya has Bluff +18 and Gambler +8. Her Sense Motive is only +1, but I figure she's reckless enough that she'll always try to Bluff her way to victory even if she thinks her opponents have good hands.)

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Alith smiled and drew his sword.

"Ah....Fir'Syleth. I read your mind, and your next actions. You think I assume much? I do not fear you. I do however, know I am outmatched."

He ran towards the lower decks, knowing that if he attempted to engage Daero in melee combat, he would die.
"I need help...ah...they'll be gambling. I can sense minds in the gambling room."

He knocked on the gambling room's door.

[The Fool]

Luke kept a straight face despite his hand. He had drawn the king of hearts, spades, and diamonds as well as a 3 of hearts and a jack of hearts. He silently discarded his 3 of hearts and drew a jack of diamonds. 'This just gets better and better.' he thought to himself as he looked back at Anya who was trying to keep a straight face. Little did she know that Luke had just sealed her fate.

((I used random.org to draw cards. I'm happy that I did.))

Daero smiled and pressed his palm to his face as Alith ran away. "He read my mind, yet he still ran away. At least he knows his limits." Daero bound the handle of his sword again and leisurely moved down to the lower decks. He saw Alith heading into the dining room where everyone was playing cards. "Did you really think I would kill you? Unless you attack me don't expect me to be a problem alright?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Oh, I don't expect you to be a problem. I just have a problem with people going up to me with bloodstained swords and threatening me with a blade."

[SeriousConcentrate]

(Ah, two things. Anya's not grinning, she's got a better Bluff than that. The other is that you're not going to draw for Neciel?)

[Dwarmin]

Next day... ((go lore post ))

Bael blinked out of his restive trance, upon hearing Raes playful singing from belowdecks. Ria was close, drawn up to him-she 'woke' up at the the same time-though, at least in a literal way, Elves didn't sleep.

Lucky guy? Is she singing about me? Well, she's right... he thought, grinning.

Without any conscious decision, the couple fell back into meditation a moment later...walking the green paths of dreams, together. Bael much preferred it that way-Ria helped him face down the shadowy things born of his own inner self, and slowly but surely was helping him overcome them.

In time, as the ages rolled past, they would begin to be of one mind, almost the same being. Their union was true, though-neither would become dominant, nor strive for control. It would be perfect harmony. It was the reason Elves tended to choose their companions carefully-a strongly tended relationship, was likely to be permanent...barring tragedy, of course.

--------------------------------

Tali didn't rouse at all, though. As was usual for her, she would gladly sleep till noon-until Rae or a random encounter happened to interrupt her.

Her hands twitched in sleep, fighting another invisible enemy-most of her dreams were like that. Striking against foes she couldn't see, desperation and rank fear. There were other, worse thoughts just under that...but, Tali had never shared her own dreams with Rae.

It was not entirely impossible for an Elf to do so with another willing being-but, it was an act of the deepest intimacy, and not done lightly.

[The Fool]

Neciel looked over her cards. 10 of hearts, queen of diamonds, queen of spades, a three of diamonds, and a two of diamonds. She discarded her 10 of hearts, and picked up a nine of clubs. She buried her head, as the raven spoke. "She folds. More tea madame?"

She batted at the bird on her shoulder, "I'm fine."

((I fixed the last post. Gah. I'll be back on later. Got to go.))

[SeriousConcentrate]

(No problem, just curious.)

Anya clicked her tongue, one of her many false tells that could mean 'I've got a lousy hand,' 'I bet I can bluff on this,' 'I'm probably going to win,' 'I've got this in the bag,' 'I wonder what Gannon Toman's up to,' 'I've got something stuck in my teeth,' or even 'I started drinking way too early today.' After a few moments of feigned indecision, she pushed in sixteen chips. "Raise."

Rae returned to the room she shared with Tali with the tray in hand. The dwarf seemed to be sleeping soundly, although a hand twitched. Perhaps she subconsciously smelled the food that was brought in? Rae set the tray down on the heavy barrel that served as their table and sat on the bunk by Tali. "Silly dwarf... you'd sleep all day given half a chance, wouldn't you? Must be from being raised underground... and preferring to work in the shadows..." She leaned over and kissed Tali's forehead. "Good morning," she said brightly as she stood up. "I made us some breakfast."

Truth be told, Rae slightly nosy and had looked around for that project Tali had been working on... but she couldn't find it anywhere! She hoped her own forays into secret crafting also remained hidden, but Tali being good at finding hidden things, she doubted it. Luckily (in her opinion) all the dwarf would find were prototypes and random objects since she had yet to actually begin carving what she wanted.