As the party sits inside teh tavern meeting this strange new person a nervous-looking courier enters, looks around and approaches your group with some trepidation. She thrusts an envelope at you then darts out of the tavern.
Inside the envelope you find an invitation to come visit Torch’s “illustrious tavern and card room,” Silverdisk Hall. The invitation is
from the hall’s owner, Garmen Ulreth, and includes five certificates for 100 gp for use in gambling and entertainment at his establishment,
redeemable anytime during the next week.
Watanabe regards the certificate with a skeptical gaze, "Odd. Garmen Ulreth is an influential man, but a hirsute woman with a tail, Nina I think was her name, mentioned she had some dealings with the man. She also tried to sell me some steel claiming it was inubrix, so I suspect that his businesses might be on the illegitimate side. What I'm trying to say is, if we go we shouldn't bring a heavy purse, and we shouldn't engage in any card games."
"Understood... but... cards are fun sometimes. How about we check it out and stay within sight of each other just in case?"
Eskanii shifts most of her money in a nondescript satchel filled with spare socks and other under-vestments, then puts that package inside her backpack.
"I'm ready friends! let's go!"
Eskanii examines the voucher and it seems to be legitimate.
Eskanii adds, "Yep! I've seen these kinds of vouchers before. Maybe we can turn these into real gold. Assuming you want to go, of course... and if it's a trap, I have a surprise for them."
"We should go, but be wary. Garmen Ulreth has been associated with the Ropefists, a gang of thugs and roughs.... essentially the local theive's guild. Caution is warranted..."
"Fair enough." Watanabe gets up to go. He will check on Barlespin and sees if the grippli wants to join.
Barlespin, after a bit of a nap, has recovered surprisingly well. He nods to Watanabe. "This certainly seems a welcome change of pace from our last adventure. It is most curious, the things we found there ..." He looks off, lost for a moment in distant thoughts. He shakes his head, returning to the present, "But, now, let us go off to this gaming establishment, and see if these vouchers are worth the paper they are written on."
"Yes, let's go!"
"Yes let's go!"
You travel across the town towards the location of the Silverdisk Hall.
Arriving at the Silverdisk Hall you are greeted by a smiling human in studded leather armour. Hello and welcome to my hall. I see you have decided to take me up on my invitation. As you will see there are several games of change on offer here for you to enhance your wealth. I am afraid that I have pressing business but when I heard you were coming I wanted to greet your personally. Good luck and I hope to see you again.
He turns on his heel and heads through a door presumably into an office in the back.
Around you are four tables of games, two each of the following.
“Bounder, bounder, bounder! No doubles, no doubles!”
How to Play: Bounder is unique among gambling games in that both the players and dealer use dice. The dealer gets three 6-sided dice, and each player gets two 20-siders. To start, each player bets a stake (minimum 1 sp). Each player rolls his first d20, making his “point.” After all players have rolled their points, each player may double his stake if desired. Then the dealer rolls 3d6. Anyone whose point the dealer matches loses his stake. Then each player rolls his second d20. If the player’s two dice results are on either side of the dealer’s result—one greater than and one less than the dealer’s number—he “bounds” the dealer and wins an amount equal to the amount he bet. Otherwise, he loses his stake. If a player rolls a 1 and a 20 (or a 20 and a 1), he wins double his bet.
“What a mighty hero! Ready to rescue the ale from any mug!”
How to Play: To play, each player puts a marker and any number of coins on one or more of the spaces on the ghoulette wheel (minimum 10 cp per space). The croupier then spins Dungo until he comes to a stop. Dungo then issues an enraged insult at someone based on the particular topic he is looking at on the wheel. Any player who has coins on the subject matter of this insult is paid the amount of coins he bet in the next highest denomination—copper gets paid in silver (e.g., a 15 cp bet gets 15 sp), silver in gold, gold in platinum, and platinum in ten times the amount. If Dungo says “something nice,” (a 12 on a d12) each player gets a consolation prize of the amount of coins he bet in the next lowest denomination, rounded down (e.g., a 15 cp bet gets back 1 cp). Then the croupier presses a button that tilts the edges of the wheel slightly inward, and all original bets (regardless of win or loss) slide into slots under Dungo’s head and into the coffer under the table. (It is roulette. Bet on a number 1 - 12. On a 12 you get some back)
Also, you notice that one or two patrons are betting using silverdiscs very similar to yours. They appear to be worth 10GP each.
"Let's play against locals and not against ourselves... this way our group can get closer to owning that wand of healing..."
Eskanii approaches the Bounder table, looking at the other patrons playing while waiting her turn. She fishes from her silver purse, not showing any gold here...
Starting with a stake of 50sp, she rolls her die first die confidently:
The employee behind the Bounder table watches Eskanii roll.
"How many players do you allow at this table? any house rules I should be aware of?" asks Eskanii to the man.
A human-woman with red hair steps out from an alleyway and approaches you on the way to the casino. Her face is an emotionally blank slate as she speaks. "Val tells me you have been looking for Baine. She sent me to help. He's been gone too long and I am worried about him." And for myself. If someone discovers me without his protection... People's faces were hard to read, but it seemed to her that she had been given more and more strange looks since she had been disguising herself without the help of his magic.
Barlespin says, "My people are not much for gambling, so I will take a bit less, since I am likely not to do well ..." He counts out 75 gp worth of the chips and goes to the Ghoulette table.
Barlespin places one gold on number 5.
Morgan take 10gp puts it on the table and starts to play Bounder.
Deciding that the only way to win at these games is to not play, Watanabe exchanges his voucher for the value in chips. Then he does a tour of the place and returns to the cage and exchanges the chips back for money. He places the money in his purse and goes over to his companions and watches them play.
Eskani frowns at Watanabe and calls him over. When he's near, she gets close to him and whispers in his ear, "Friend, how often do you go around writing 100gp vouchers and distributing them in town, and then hand over 100gp to everyone that shows up? DO NOT cash in that voucher! if you have, at least spend it ALL... now!"
Eskani waits for all players to 'make their point', then doubles her stake with another fifty silver pieces (50sp). She then turns to a nearby waiter and drops a small bag containing about another hundred silver pieces in his waiting hand, announcing loud enough for everyone to hear, "Drinks and food for everyone at my table! Bring Blackhill Whiskey and a cask of Rusty Ale! lots of spiced meat cuts and some strong cheese and apples to go with it! let's have a party!"
Eskani scans the scene... hopefully to find some nice looking strong males...
Barlespin eyes the decapitated ghoul curiously. He notices the people using the silverdisks and looks through his, seeing if he can recognize any use for them that makes them so valuable.
A human-woman with red hair steps out from an alleyway and approaches you on the way to the casino. Her face is an emotionally blank slate as she speaks. "Val tells me you have been looking for Baine. She sent me to help. He's been gone too long and I am worried about him." And for myself. If someone discovers me without his protection... People's faces were hard to read, but it seemed to her that she had been given more and more strange looks since she had been disguising herself without the help of his magic.
As the party seems neither to reject her nor give a reply of any kind, Cera falls into line, a little confused. She seems uncomfortable at the casino, and settles in to leaning against a wall or pillar and watching, having none of the vouchers for herself.
Eskani frowns at Watanabe and calls him over. When he's near, she gets close to him and whispers in his ear, "Friend, how often do you go around writing 100gp vouchers and distributing them in town, and then hand over 100gp to everyone that shows up? DO NOT cash in that voucher! if you have, at least spend it ALL... now!"
Watanabe eyes Eskanii with a skeptical expression. The first one's free, that's how they get you. He places a token bet of 1 gp on bounder.
He does not double his bet.
"Val tells me you have been looking for Baine. She sent me to help. He's been gone too long and I am worried about him."Eager to disengage from gambling Watanabe talks to the woman, "You are correct. How do you know him?" As Watanabe talks he will explain what the party has experienced so far.
"Val tells me you have been looking for Baine. She sent me to help. He's been gone too long and I am worried about him."Eager to disengage from gambling Watanabe talks to the woman, "You are correct. How do you know him?" As Watanabe talks he will explain what the party has experienced so far.
Cera blinks at Watanabe. How much to say? she wonders to herself. "I was a house guest of his, lately."
After seeing Watanabe roll his point, Eskani smiles and says, "Dealer: I double my stake! here's another fifty silvers!"
"Come on dealer! roll your dice now! need a couple games under my belt before the drink gets here! once it does, all bets are off! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Lose
Lose - Consolation Prize of 1sp
Lose
Lose
WIN!!!! 1 pp
Lose
Lose
Lose
Lose
Currently you have lost 8gp, and won 1pp and 1sp.
The roller at the Bounder table rattles their dice in their cup and spills them onto the tabletop.
"Yahoo!!! same here, Watanabe! this game is great! not sure if I want to try that ghoulette or stay here! Waiter! where's the drinks?!" asks Eskanii, gathering her 200 silver pieces. She tips the dealer 50 silver pieces.
Eskanii is intrigued by Barlespin's methods and evaluates his play.
She decides to join him and bet on whatever he's betting to see where this will go... except that she picks number 2 instead of 5.
Eskanii asks the dealer innocently, "Hey pal: I heard the House is accepting vouchers redeemable for chips? is that true? just wondering if they're real or some sort of scam to hurt your boss..."
Barlespin and Eskanii both lose 8GP, but win 20GP each also.
The bounder roller distributes the winnings to Morgan, Eskanii and Watanabe.
We periodically get people presenting vouchers here. Although rare they are legitimate, I can assure you.
"Excellent! some of my friends do have one and I wanted to make sure we weren't stepping on anyone's toes before cashing them in. Much appreciated pal!" says Eskanii, giving half her winnings to the dealer.
"Say friend, any juicy gossip or piece of info that'd be useful for some independent contractors like ourselves?"
Barlepin says to Watanabe, "This ghoul is quite rude. Is this sort of game common in human communities?"
Eskanii decides to cash in that voucher after all. She looks around the establishment but stays close to her new friends.
As the evening progresses, he shares the details of the adventures with the new additions to the group.
"We went in to the tunnels under the torch. There is a curious tribe that lives there." "They asked us to help explore further in, saying that explorers have passed through. The caves lead into a giant sand pit - almost like some sort of arena - and there were curious four-armed humanoid creatures dead there. As we passed beyond that area, we discovered they were not dead, and had to defeat several of them as zombies." He shakes his head.
Large yellow eyes wide as the rotund, purple-skinned grippli continues his story, "We then moved into a metallic building. Blood covered the hallways, streaks of it, like people had been dragged through there. And there were strange machines that moved - some of which attacked us. Also nice things, though curious. There were jars of a jelly-like food with all kinds of different flavors, and charming little relaxation ponds in a room, in a series of stalls." He sighs. "But then some of the metal creatures attacked us again, one of them flying, and they were too much for us. I would have died, had my new friends not pulled me to safety."
"It has been an eventful day, to be sure. I say that we go now and rest, and set out again in the morning, when we are replenished and refreshed."
Cera nods. "I see. What a curious place. We will return in the morning, you say?"
"It is very interesting there. I can't wait that we return back."
You leave the Silverdisk Hall before your winnings garner you too much attention.
Returnign to your lodgings your bed down the the night.