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FROM OPPARA WITH LOVE
chapter 1
The Estelle Salon Casino, located in Westgate in central Cheliax, was a grand affair; plush red carpets ran the entire floor and crystal chandeliers lined the ceiling. Rose-colored glass globes, each featuring a single gem bathed in continual light, hung throughout the casino, washing the room in a comforting red glow.
Several tables featuring an assortment of games littered the floor and were crammed wherever they would fit, while leather clad women navigated the lanes carrying trays with drinks or exotic tobaccos. Large male half orcs dressed in black dinner jackets walked their circuits keeping their eyes peeled for cheats and troublemakers, while halflings of both sexes operated the games, each in uniform white shirt and black neck scarf.
The foyer of the casino was just as grand. Red-carpeted steps descended onto a landing where a nine foot white marble statue of a succubus stood-arms raised and wings extended. Flanking the statue were two water fountains set into the walls. Above the fountains were inverted stars-the symbol of Asmodeus. There was a light melody filling the casino, emanating from a black grand piano on a raised dais in the center of the room. A dark and most serious man softly but deliberately tickled the keys. The various perfumes and tobaccos in the air created a slightly repugnant scent to the place, as did the well-dressed security force. No matter who well bathed or groomed the half orcs could not mask their natural odor.
Near the rear of the room, beyond velvet ropes and more stern orc guards were four tables crowded with the casino’s wealthiest patrons. There were players seated and onlookers crammed in tight around the games. There were Taldorian, Cheliesh, and Karvosian nobles. There were swarthy looking and bejeweled Keleshites, heavily tattooed but somber Tian men surrounded by kimonoed geishas and muscled guards, plus a couple of Varasian women dressed in sheer, colorful gowns. There were a few adventurers, judging from their survival gear, mixed in as well.
Four games were being offered at the tables: Three Headed Dragon, Golem, King & Pauper, and Ghoulette. These games and more were offered else where in the casino, but here the stakes were the highest. The amount of gold and platinum being wagered here could feed whole villages for weeks.
Sitting at the Golem table were six figures. First a middle aged Tian man wearing a goatee and a black noble mans outfit. Next to him was a local man of mixed blood-half elf by the looks of him, sporting spectacles that made his eyes appear three times their size. The next two men, merchants from Osirion, wore clean white robes and turbans with heavy gold jewelry hanging from their throats and wrists. The shorter of the two men was obviously of higher station from the way he belittled and insulted the other Keleshite, who dutifully matched the others bets. A ravishing Chelaxian woman occupied the fifth chair. She had long dark hair that disappeared down her back, and a long skirted blue dress that was generously cut to accentuate her ample cleavage. An expensive silver belt with a demonic faced clasp dangled at her waist. Her eyes were a mixture of green and gold and were slightly cat like. Finally in the sixth chair sat another foreigner, a bronze skinned Taldorian man with a head full of short black curls.
He was beardless, the Taldorian, a symbol that relayed his status to other Taldorians. He was not an important noble, a member of the senate, nor was he a rich public figure. The man was a commoner. He wore a simple black dinner jacket, not expensive but not cheap, the style so common it could have been tailored anywhere. He had ice blue eyes with a stray black curl from his head rested like a comma above the left. These cold eyes watched the other players while simultaneously reading the cards before him.
The current hand of Golem was in its second betting round. The pot was thick with gold and platinum and three of the players had already folded. The remaining three discarded cards and put the obligatory ante into the pot, in this case five gold coins. The Tian man took two cards, as did the Chelaxian woman. The Taldorian just took one and signaled to the waitress.
The halfling dealer, a female with bright red hair and striking green eyes, took the five cards thrown back by the active players and lined them up face down next to each other.
“Bets to the left.” The halflings said putting her palm on the table towards the Tian man.
A waitress arrived at the table. She was a Varasian woman with tattoos on her neck. She was dressed in the tight black leather "devil" uniform that all of the waitresses wore which was little more than underwear.
“Yes Milord?”
The Taldorian did not look up, but stared hard ahead at the Tian man.
“A drink. Two ounces of Northern Ulfen vodka, two ounces of Karvosian gin, shaken hard over ice-not stirred-and served in a wine glass garnished with a single peel of lemon.”
“Yes Milord.”
“Taldorians.” The Tian man said, contempt in his voice. He dropped two platinum pieces into the pot.
As the bet came to the Chelaxian woman she instead folded, throwing her cards face down onto the table. The halfling scooped them up with a slender wooden rake and added them to the discard pile.
“Too rich for my hand.” The woman said. She reached into her handbag and removed from it a thin black, Vudran cigar.
The Taldorian took his time before casually sliding forty gold pieces towards the pile. He then sat back and watched the other player hard with his ice-cold eyes.
“Twenty gold raise to you sir.” The halfling reported, palm down towards the Tian.
The Tian man looked nervous now, and scowled as he scanned his cards.
“A forty gold bet before getting your cards back while the Golem has a full hand. Chasing the pot are we?”
The Tian was referring to the fact that unless there was a clear winner from forfeit, the remaining players would have to match their hands against the ‘Golem’s; the hand made from the discarded cards from the active hands. If the Golem’s hand were better than the remaining players, they would all lose and pay a penalty to the pot increasing it in size for the next round. The only way to win the pot was to bluff all the opponents out or to beat all the players and the Golem.
“The chase is the more entertaining part of the hunt.” The Taldorian replied.
“You’re a hunter are you?” The Tian said.
“Aren’t we all?”
The Tian man smiled and matched the bet.
“So very true.”
The bets matched, the halfling dealer drew two cards from the shoe and slid them to the Tian and then slid one towards the Taldorian.
“Bets to the left.” The dealer said.
The players took up their cards and examined them. Unnoticeable except to the trained eye, the Tian man shifted in his seat and a slight smile flashed across his face. It was brief, but it was a tell to the practiced Golem player. He dropped two platinum into the pile.
“Good fortune?” The Taldorian asked in the Tian man’s native tongue. The latter man did not seem amused.
“We shall see.” He replied in common.
There was a sudden burst of noise from the next game. Someone had struck it big on the Ghoulette table for the hideous head had yelled out a particularly rancid insult resulting in cheers from the assembled crowd. The lucky winner was standing and cheering the loudest.
The outburst had had another effect too. It caused three of the kimonoed women standing behind their almond-eyed boss to go suddenly erect, their hands disappearing into the folds of their dress. As the noise from the next table died down, the women relaxed a bit.
“You’ve got jumpy guards.” The Taldorian said, matching the two platinum pieces. “A couple of trained Opparans would do you well. Less obtrusive.”
The Tian man reddened a bit and aggressively threw two more platinum on the pile.
“You decadent Taldorians think your women are more lovely than my lotus blossoms? Such arrogance.”
“Arrogance is the insult of the envious. May as well call my mother a pig.”
The energy between the two players was charged-it was clear that they were annoyed with each other-perhaps more than so.
“Are you men going to play swords or play cards?” The beautiful dark haired Chelaxian said.
The Taldorian, noticing that her cigar was still unlit, offered her a small tinder twig, which he lit and held before her. She smiled coyly and let the flame dance on the end of the cigar as she slowly puffed the thing to life.
“Finally a gentleman. It is so difficult to find gentlemen these days. Men around here usually leave damsels in distress.”
“A shame on them. There are so much better ways to leave a damsel.”
The Chelaxian woman smiled wide and a playful gleam came to her eyes. She took a large pull off the black cigar and let the smoke curl slowly over her slightly parted lips.
“Yes. There are.”
The Taldorian kept his eyes locked on hers.
“Twenty gold to you sir.” The halfling said and the Taldorian matched the bet.
The second betting round was over and since no one had won through forfeit the remaining players had to turn over their cards and face the golem. The Tian man flipped over his cards and sat back, stroking his goatee and looking quite proud of himself. He had a ‘Guild hand’ three queens and two five’s. It was a strong hand.
With a slight smirk on his face the Taldorian turned over his cards and an audible gasp erupted from someone in the crowd around the table. It was another guild hand-kings and sevens. A better hand.
The Tian man stood up quickly and balled his hands into fists. His face was a dark shade of red now and he seemed to be barely containing his rage. The kimonoed women had looks of anxiety about them as if they feared what might come next.
But the game was not over.
The halfling woman flipped the golem’s hand over slowly, card-by-card, revealing four three’s and a Cyclops. There were a mixture of applause and groans from the crowd. The dealer paid out some side bets and the Tian man relaxed and sat back down. Better to lose to the golem than to the obnoxious Taldorian it seemed. The dealer recovered all of the cards while the two men paid their five gold penalties to the pot. The red haired halfling began to stack all of the coins into neat, even columns.
The Chelaxian woman stood and left the table, making her way towards the front of the casino while the two Kellesh men anted up for the next hand. The Tian anted up as well, eager to win back his coin. The Taldorian seemed to consider another hand but stood up as well. The Varasian waitress had returned with his drink. He paid her a gold piece-far too much-and downed the stiff drink in one gulp.
“Leaving so soon mister?” the Tian said, his voice patronizing and questioning.
“Wade. Purvis Wade.”
“As I said, leaving so soon Mr. Wade? I thought you were chasing the pot.”
The Taldorian, Purvis Wade, looked away from the table and towards the rapidly disappearing form of the Chelaxian woman.
“No. I’ve got something better to chase. If you’ll excuse me.”
Wade turned and, after tipping the halfling dealer a gold coin, followed after the beautiful woman in the blue dress.
continued in chapter 2