A Tale of Fortunes Cross

Ch. 9: A Not So Risky Gamble.

Sarah didn't sleep well again. The heat, humidity, and the worry of not only dragons but bandits behind them made her anxious. She slept for two hours before Karaan woke her up for breakfast. After eating before going any further Karaan had the two injured sighn the contract. After all of them had signed it Karaan and Sarah went on. The bandit that could walk stayed behind the carriage helping his friends to stay on. Karaan told her to sleep on the carriage saying "I'll wake you up if I need you." They walked for most of the day pretty quietly. The two injured men no longer being numb to the pain would yelp whenever they hit a small bump. Karaan found it kind of funny. They cried trying to hold in their pain. Not very much happened that day. Sarah slept for most of the day before getting up. After waking up they walked for about two more hours before reaching the next town. They walked for another hour through the fields. They reached the town and were greeted by a guard who asked "Were you attacked? Would you like to file a report?" Karaan replied "No worries our attackers were subdued." The guard asked "Any casualties?" Karaan replied "No, but I doubt they will bothering anyone again." The guard replied "Ok that's good. For such a caravan I can assume you have some expensive goods. Do you have any poisons or uncommon weapons?" Karaan replied "We have some poisons for traps. Other than our carrying weapons we have none." The guard replied "Well as you may or may not know, we have some important guests in town and I will need to inspect your wares. I'll also need to confiscate your poisons." Karaan agreed asking "Sure that's understandable, would you mind escorting us to the nearest doctor first?" The guard agreed and they walked for twenty minutes to the doctor's office. This was another large town. It was much larger than the last one. After they got to the doctors they dropped the two men off and Karaan handed over the poison. The guard inspected Karaans wares. Then skeptically asked "Why do you have such a large caravan when your goods are so inexpensive?" Karaan answered "We met these three on the road after they were attacked we offered to help them in exchange they offered their house as payment. We were later attacked by the same bandits whom we dispatched pretty quickly. They didn't think that they would need a body guard. Not a great decision. We were on our way to the court to finalize the contracts right now." The guard turned to the man and asked "Is this true?" Karaan and Sarah stared at the man, after a short pause he said "Yeah, unfortunately." Karaan sighed with relief and looked back at the guard who said to Karaan "Well that sounds like a complete rip off, but it's completely legal I can't question your methods but don't ask me to buy anything from you. Karaan replied "No problem." He, Sarah, and the man walked to the court to finalize the contracts. Afterward Karaan had him lead him to the house it was among the smallest and oldest houses in the town. He let Karaan in, gave him a key, and showed him to their stash. Karaans eyes gleamed as he saw it. He said "Well I wasn't planning to sell my wares in this town. I'm going to have to take a bit of a loss on them and we'll have to take a detour. But I think I can turn this into a nice little profit." Sarah asked "Why do we need to do all of that?" Karaan replied "Well because most of these goods are pretty high priced items so I can't sell them at the next town we were going to." Sarah asked "Why can't we just keep ours and sell these in this town? Most of the people here look pretty wealthy, they should be able to afford it." Karaan replied "Because their all stolen. I should be able to sell one or two but when items are stolen, especially ones like these then they are usually reported. So if I walk around with a lot of stolen goods then I may be mistaken for a bandit and that wouldn't be good at all." Sarah said "Oh." The man asked "So how much do you think is here?" Karaan replied "Probably about two gold." The man stunned and surprised asked "Really? That much?" Karaan replied "Yeah. And I would hate to know what you all have been selling this stuff for. I mean you have a good eye but I doubt you've been asking much or you would probably have this house paid off by now." The man replied in a pitiful voice "Yeah..." Karaan turned to Sarah and said "I'll have you help me. We'll sleep here tonight then tomorrow I'll sell all my wares, you'll stay here and guard the loot." Looking at the bandit Karaan said "Sorry but I don't trust you, you must understand." He said "Yeah I don't blame you but I'll be at the hospital. So no worries." Karaan continued to Sarah "I'll sell the house tomorrow with twenty four hour move out condition, then we we'll sleep here again and pack everything into the carriage and head out first thing in the morning." Sarah replied "Ok I can do that I guess. But you'll owe me some good food." Karaan replied "No problem." The man walked out and went toward the hospital and Karaan and Sarah stayed the night at the house just as Karaan had said. That night Karaan slept fairly well. As did Sarah. It wasn't nearly as good as the hotel, but real beds and a house to keep the outside, outside made it all the better. Karaan and Sarah followed the plan. The next day Sarah stayed at the house and Karaan sold his goods. As he sold his goods he put up posters about the auction for the house and spread around the word. He got about 23 silver for all of his stuff. A little more than a two silver loss. At the end of the day as the sun was setting he rented the stand in the center of town and began the auction. The house sold for 1 gold and 5 silver. Karaan walked to the bank paid off the debt and then walked to the hospital. He walked in and found the two men each in a separate bed being cared for and the third setting there with them. He asked Karaan "What are you doing here?" Karaan answered "I came to see how you're doing." He answered "Homeless, broke, and soon to be in a lot of debt. But were alive. Thanks." Karaan said "Yeah... about that." The man asked "What?" Karaan staid quiet and took a closer look at the two men in the bed. He asked the doctor "How are they?" The doctor answered "The legs were pretty badly infected. This one may lose one of them. They would have been much worse if it weren't for the sloppy treatment they received though. I guess I have you to think for that. You made my job a lot harder. Now I have to try to save 4 shot legs. If it weren't for you I could just cut them off and be done with it." The two men looked sick hearing that. Karaan replied "If it weren't for me you would be out two well paying customers." The doctor replied looking at them "Well they better pay up! Now if you'll excuse me I have to get some more supplies. Its medicine time." Karaan said "Yea I should be getting off two. Another big day ahead of me tomorrow." He followed the doctor out after saying his goodbyes. He stopped the doctor before walking out the door and handed him a gold piece saying "This should cover most of their treatment. Just give them a little while to pay what's left and treat them good. And see to it the third one eats well." The doctor smiled saying "Sure thing. But I don't see why you're paying off their debt. Either way money is money, I'll take it." Karaan replied "Oh yeah and hold off on telling them about this for a little bit. I still have to pay them back for a little scare that they gave me a few days ago." The doctor chuckled "No problem, have a good night. I know I won't." Karaan had him draw up a receipt for the amount just in case and took it to the court after he left asking them to send a copy to the bank for good measure. Karaan then went to a high quality restaurant that he had passed earlier. He bought himself and Sarah a good meal totaling a silver piece for both of them. He took it back to Sarah who thoroughly enjoyed it before going to sleep. The next day Karaan and Sarah woke up well before the sun came up and packed the stuff into the carriage. They left the town with a lantern before the sun came up. Sarah asked "Where are we going?" Karaan replied "The royal city of Bashan. It'll take us three days to get there. Two if we're lucky and we don't stop to rest." They walked for the rest of the day. The next day was pretty uneventful as well. That is until they met another trader coming from the royal city. They said hi and goodbye and continued on the way. It was the first time that Sarah met another merchant on the road. They ate what was left of the food that Veena had given them. They got to the royal city without much trouble. As they entered the city Karaan told Sarah "You better enjoy this stay, because this will be the last hotel we stay in with this type of cooling system for at least a few months." Sarah sighed and said "Well I'll try." They got to the town fairly late so they went straight to the hotel. Sarah thought she was dreaming, which she was most of the night. Karaan asked Sarah if she would like to join him for breakfast. She agreed and they found a nice small restaurant near the center of town. For breakfast they had some strange eggs. They were very small but delicious. Sarah asked Karaan what they were but he didn't know. He just knew that they came from a small bird that lived nearby called a shink. He knew that because of the menu. They also had some goat chops and a strange drink called kifv. Karaan had never heard of that either. He asked the waiter what it was being said that they wouldn't reveal it. And when he asked if he could purchase more he was told that it was only for the restaurant and that they wouldn't sell it for any other purpose. A good decision because anyone that wanted it had to eat at their restaurant. After eating Karaan gave Sarah 4 silver pieces for working as the body guard before they went their separate ways. Karaan it took Karaan almost two days to sell all of his wares making him two gold and tree silver pieces. A very good profit. Karaan and Sarah ate together on both days. Sarah was kicked out of three bars for cheating but more than doubled her money. Making more than 9 silver. They stayed another day getting Sarah kicked out of another bar earning her another three silver and allowing Karaan to buy 30 silver worth of supplies and goods to be sold in the next town. Sarah decided to keep all of the money that she had earned saying "If I keep it then I'll have more money to bet with in the next town." As they left the town they met with another merchant who decided to walk with them. This merchant strangely enough didn't have a body guard with him. He and Karaan talked about various trading opportunities, what was selling high or low and where. And various methods used in negotiating. He told Karaan of a few loopholes in some trading laws. For example some towns will charge a tax on anything that is brought into them for trading purposes. But any worn clothing or armor, or anything that isn't meant for trading can be brought into town without these taxes. But Karaan reciprocated this knowledge telling him of a few things that he didn't know of prior. After a little while longer Sarah asked him why he was traveling alone and without a guard, he replied "Well I only travel on the royal roads and their looked after very well so crime on them is minimal." She asked what a royal road was and he replied "It's any road that connects to a royal city. Because it connects to a royal city, it's guarded very well by the military. Knights can often be seen walking the paths and they have special permission to instantly sentence any person that they see fit to death with few exceptions. So crime on these roads is very limited. Only idiots walk these roads as bandits." There were plenty of advantages to walking together. They would share food and cooking strategies. And the man even told Karaan a few sleeping strategies in tight situations. For example sleeping under your cart when you believe a predator is near. The predator will often go for the horse rather than yourself. He also talked to Sarah a bit, however she was much shyer. They continued like this for about three days. They reached the next town about the end of the third day and walked together to the hotel. Normally it was 50 copper to stay a night and 10 for a horse and carriage. However the man trading in this area quite a bit knew the inn keeper well and negotiated a better price for himself and Karaan, something that could only be don't when you know the person well. Karaan and Sarah joined together to pay the 50 copper and the man allowed them to keep their horse and carriage in the stables free of charge. The next morning they went their separate ways and Karaan gave Sarah another 150 copper pieces. This time Sarah decided not to eat breakfast with Karaan so they just split up and agreed to meet up at the inn. Karaan sold most of his wares and bought about half as much as he sold. That night Karaan ate at a restaurant before heading back to the hotel. He met up with Sarah and they went to bed. The next day they agreed to meet up at one of the bars. Sarah told Karaan that she had made more than 3 silver. But that it was getting boring. Beating people was pretty boring when they barely knew how to play. They went to sleep that night, Sarah actually slept decently. Not very well, but decently. The next day they ate breakfast together before going their separate ways. It didn't take Karaan very long to sell his wares, but he spent most of the day buying new ones. After a he had bought all that he wanted to he went to meet Sarah at the bar. He walked in and saw Sarah setting at the bar. He sat beside her saying "How was your day?" She had obviously had a couple too many. She replied "Good. Very good! I won a few and lost a few, ha-ha." Karaan surprised said "You lost?" She replied "Yea, just bad luck mostly." Karaan replied "Wow, tough luck. Better luck next time I hope. So how much did you lose?" Sarah said "I lost about 10 silver pieces." Karaan even more surprised said "10 silver pieces?! And you still have more left?" She said in a disappointed voice "Yeah. I won a lot in the last town, it was good. But I guess it caught back up with me huh. But I had fun! A lot of fun! Drinks on me tonight! I'll buy us drinks till I'm flat broke!" Karaan chuckled saying "Sure I could go for a few right now. Let's have us a time." Sarah ordered him a drink saying proudly "That's the spirit!" The man poured him a drink and he gulped it down almost as fast as the glass took to fill up. Right away the man poured another glass. He was a large burley man with dark brown hair. He chuckled as he poured another glass. And another. He said in a calm deep voice "Looks like we got a little drinker here. Good on ya pal." After the third glass Karaan slowed down a bit. Sarah laughed "Dang your good at this!" as she chugged down another glass. She asked "So how was your day?" He replied "Well it was good I guess, I sold what was left of my stuff and bought some more. Spent about 20 silver buying stuff, but made a little more than a 20 silver profit on what I sold. So I actually spent less than my profit. That doesn't happen often." Sarah laughed kind of loudly saying "Good on ya!" Patting Karaan on the back fairly hard. He flinched asking her not to hit so hard. She replied "Man up little man." Followed by more laughter. Even the bar tender laughed a little. They talked like that for a little while exchanging jokes and laughing. After about three hours a man stood up yelling "You cheater! I don't know how you did it but that was definitely cheating!" The man calmly replied "If you have a problem with my playing style then go somewhere else." The man hit the table as hard as he could and walked off. Karaan turned to Sarah pointing at the two men left asking "Are these the two guys that beat you?" Sarah in an obviously drunken voice said "Yeah they've been getting lucky like that all night!" Karaan replied "Do you trust me?" Streatching out her words she replied "Yeahhhh... you know that?" Karaan asked "Ok, how much do you trust me?" Sarah said in a slightly more serious voice "I trust you with my life." Karaan asked "No matter what?" Sarah said "Yeah... Of Corse." Karaan replied asking her "Do you wanna earn your money back?" She said "Yeaaaaaa...." Karaan said "I feel like gambling a little bit. Maybe if they're so lucky then I will be too." Sarah said "That's a good idea!" Karaan chuckled and said "Ok good I just need you to trust me and we'll get all of your money back." Sarah yelled "YEAH!" Karaan waived his finger at the bar tender. The man walked over to Karaan and Karaan had him lean down. Karaan whispered something in his ear. The bar tender said "Sure thing." Karaan got up and walked to the two men with Sarah behind him and sat down asking "You guys want to play a couple of games?" The taller of the two men said "Yea sounds fun, but were pretty lucky so I hope you have plenty of coin." Karaan replied calmly "I do, and don't worry I'm feeling pretty lucky today too." The men smiled saying "Well a full round of drinks on us." He raised his hand in the air holding up four fingers. The bar tender brought over four drinks and handed one to each of them. The man sitting to the left of the first guy shuffled and dealt the cards. He said in a stern voice "The name of the game is Diller's Die I assume everyone here knows how to play." Karaan said "Yeah I know." They handed out the cards. The man next to the dealer said "My names John, I'll go first. We will go in a rotation to my left. So Morn here will go next, then Sarah I believe." Sarah said "Yea." Then John continued "Then you. What was your name again?" Karaan said "My names Karaan." Sarah said to john "You're pretty lucky he sucks at this game... but then again he said he's feeling lucky so you might actually loose ha-ha!" John said "I'll start." He rolled the die then threw the cup over the card in a dramatic way saying in a confident voice "We'll start out small, the first tiffle will be ten copper." Sarah yelled out "I'll get in on this too!" Everyone placed in the tiffle. He flipped the cup to revel a one and a six. He said "Below." Morn bet two copper pieces, Sarah said "I'll take that bet!" She put two copper pieces in the pot as well. Karaan said "Why not" and placed another two. The man flipped over the card to reveal a 9 saying "Well that sucks, I take the first loss." He drew another card and handed the cup to Morn. Morn, Karaan and Sarah divided up the tiffle. There was a single copper piece left, instead of dividing it up into stoans they all agreed to use copper as the minimum value in the game so they left it in the center. They each took 15 copper making a profit of three copper each. Next Morn rolled the die. Before flipping over the cup he said "The tiffle for this round will be 20 copper." They all placed 20 copper in the pot. He flipped over the cup to reveal a five and a one. He said "Well this is a tough one. But I guess I'll say below." John said "I'll start this bet off interesting. Another 20 copper pieces." Sarah was quick to double it to 40. Karaan placed a 10 copper bet raising the pot to just over one and a half silver. Morn flipped the cup anxiously revealing a 12. Karaan shouted out "YEAH!" The pot was divided up again. John took 43 copper pieces, Sarah took 86 copper pieces, and Karaan took 22 copper pieces, taking a small loss and leveling out the pot. It was Sarahs turn and she was pumped up. She made the tiffle a full silver piece. John said "Woah little girl, are you sure you want to go that high so soon?" Sarah said "Yea I do!" Karaan sighed and placed in the tiffle after her, followed hesitantly by John and Morn. She rolled the die and flipped over the cup. She rolled two threes. She shouted out "Under!" John said "Since the tiffle is high "I guess I'm betting high." He bet 50 copper pieces. Morn bet the same. Karaan said bet 10 copper pieces just in case. Sarah excitedly flipped over the card to reveal an 11. The look of despair on her face was almost priceless. Karaan chuckled saying "We'll that look is well worth my loss." Sarah pouted and passed the die to Karaan drawing her next card. The tiffle was devided up Karaan taking 46 copper pieces. Morn and John took 2 silver and 32 copper pieces each. Next was Karaans turn. He started by gulping down his drink saying "This is kinda fun! Another drink! The tiffle is 1 silver piece!" He raised his hand for another drink. Sarah sighed "Really? That's almost all of my money..." Karaan chuckled. Morn and John both said "Were up for that!" They all placed a silver piece in the pot. He rolled the dice and flipped the cup pretty quickly. He rolled a four and a two saying "What's with all of these sixes." Morn and John both laughed, John a little louder than Morn. Karaan yelled "Well I guess I'll go along with the pattern so far. Over." Sarah giggled saying "I guess that means I'm all in." Morn said "I'll raise you to a silver piece." John agreed also betting a silver piece. Karaan slowly flipped the card to reveal a ten. He gulped down his drink screaming "Wooooo! Another drink!" then drew another card happily taking the whole pot. Sarah slammed her head on the desk and with teary eyes said "I don't suppose you'll buy me another drink. Will you?" Karaan replied "No you've had enough for now." She sighed saying Well I don't have anything else to do so I guess I'll just set here and watch you beat these guys." Karaan chuckled saying "I thought I felt lucky." Morn said "Well the games not over yet pal." With a cynical smile. Karaan took Sarah's card, still face down, then passed the die to John. John said "It's starting to get a little more interesting. How about I make the tiffle two silver pieces." Karaan said "I'm up for that!" They all placed two silver pieces in the pot. He rolled the die. A five and a four. He said "Under." Morn bet another silver piece. Karaan said "I think I'll set this one out." John said "Sounds good." Flipping the card over. It was a two. He smiled taking the pot and drawing another card. Morn said "Really?" Karaan just shrugged. Morn took the dice rolling them saying "The tiffle will be five silver pieces." Karaan said "Woah now this is getting a little high for my taste. If you guys don't mind lets stick to 5 or less, sound good?" Morn and John both agreed. They all placed 5 silver in the pot. Karaan drank his glass and ordered another. Morn revealed the dice showing a six and two as the bartender came around with another glass. Morn said "Under." John said "I'll take that for two silver." Karaan didn't say anything just placed two silver in the pot. John raised it by another silver. Karaan shook his hand as a sign that he was going to stay at his current bet. Sarah sighed saying "This is way out of my league." Morn flipped the card revealing a seven. He barely won, but it was still a win. He passed the dice to Karaan who drank his glass and ordered another. He set the tiffle to 2 silver pieces. John and Morn were happy to abide. Karaan rolled the dice revealing two two's. He said "Over." John bet 30 copper and Morn bet 20. Karaan flipped the card to reveal a five he shouted "I knew I was lucky!" He drank his glass and drew a card passing the dice to John. John set the tiffle to 5 silver. He shook the cup throwing it down. He removed the cup to reveal a five and a three. He said "Above." Karaan said "I'll take that!" Tossing two more silver in the pot. Morn bet one silver. John flipped the card revealing a 12. Karaan yelled "Ahhhhh!" as John took up the pot. He passed the dice to Morn then drew another card. Morn was quick to toss the dice down. John anxiously tapping his fingers as Morn set the tiffle to 5 silver. He flipped the cup to reveal a six and a four. He said "I'm going with the trend so far. Above" Karaan said "You guys didn't set the deck did you?" John replied "You both watched s shuffle. Would you like to reshuffle really quick?" Karaan replied "No I trust you I'm just a soar looser. Please be under!" He bet one silver, John bet three silver. Morn flipped the card to reveal and 11. He shouted "Yeah!" under his breath with relief. Karaan said "I'm feeling lucky, let's go 5!" John shouted out "There ya go! That's the spirit!" John anxiously tapping his finger as Karaan rolled the dice, rolling two ones." Morn yelled out "Dragon eyes!" Sarah looked up Karaan shouted "Over!" John and Morn both looked reluctant. Karaan chuckled "Theres still a chance here. I'll even sweeten the deal. I'll put in another 10 silver. John shrugged "Sure I'll bet 50 copper. Morn said "I'll take you up on that. One silver." John yelled "Two" Morn "Two and a half!" John said "I'm not betting more I'm staying here." Karaan grinned as he flipped over his card. It was a two. He screamed "WHAAAT!!!!!" John and Morn gave each other a high five both simultaneously yelling "Yeah!" Morn and John divided up the pot. Morn took 16 silver and 39 copper and John took the rest. John Rolled the dice saying "The tiffle is 5 again." Karaan reluctantly put in 5 silver. He rolled a five and a four saying "Above" Karaan bet 50 copper and Morn bet silver piece. He flipped the card revealing an 11. Karaan slapped his face as John took the pot. He guzzled down his drink saying "I can see why the last guy thought you were cheating you really are lucky. But I don't plan on loosing just yet. I'm still feeling lucky myself!" Morn took the dice and rolled saying "Tiffle is 5 silver." Everyone placed the Tiffle in the pot. He rolled the dice. John tapped his finger still anxious as he lifted the cup to reveal a two and a six. He grinned saying "Above." John smiled saying "I'll take that, 1 silver." Sarah tapped Karaans shoulder. Karaan asked her what she said "I'm bored." Karaan said "Wait up." He smiled and doubled Johns bet John bet raised his bet to three silver Karaan doubled that too John said "Wow you're really anxious aren't you? You two better not be cheating over there." Karaan grinned saying "And how do you think we would do that?" John replied "Well I know when I'm beat I'm not betting that high." Karaan chucked chugging another glass." John let out a weird grin as Morn flipped over the card revealing an eight. He slapped his face as Karaan and John divided up the pot. Karaan happily took 16 silver pieces leaving John with eight. Still a slight profit. Karaan said "The pot is 5." Chugging down another glass. He rolled the die as Morn drew another card. He flipped over the cup as his next glass arrived to reveal a 2 and a 1. He yelled out "Over!" John shrugged saying "I guess I'll go to 25 copper." Morn shrugged saying "I'll go 10 I guess." Karaan didn't try to antagonize them this time. Karaan slowly, nervously flipped over his card. It was a 12. He yelled "Wooo! I'm getting back in this game!" He chugged his next glass and asked for another as he took up the pot. The game kept going back and forth like this for over an hour. Sarah had fallen asleep her head on the desk slightly slobbering at this point. Karaan drank another glass every time he lost and two more whenever he won. By the end of the game he had lost quite a bit le leaving him with just over two gold. On his last turn he set the tiffle to 1 silver piece. He rolled two twos. He said "Above." Morn and John both bet a silver piece. He flipped the card to reveal a four. John and Morn equally divided up the tiffle as he slapped his face drinking another glass. They started to put up the cards as Karaan said in a slurred voice "Wait, lets play another game." John looking at him asked "Do you even have any more money to loose?" Karaan said "Yeah, plenty." He took out the cards again and handed them to Morn to shuffle. The bartender came by at this time and said "Closing time buds head home. Karaan replied "Awwwwwe. Common just one more game, give me a chance to win, win my money back!" He looked at Karaan saying "You're a little drunk pal you should head out." John agreed with him saying "Yeah and besides I'm getting a little tired." Karaan sadly shouted "But I still have two more gold!" Excited John said "Well I guess I could wake up for one more game." Morn agreed and John looking at the bar tender said "C'mon one more game, were in here all the time buying drinks." He sighed looking at Karaan with pity in his eyes "Fine, but you keep ordering those drinks. I wanna get something out of this." Karaan said great fully "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Morn Shuffled the cards and dealt them back out as the bartender asked all of the other customers to leave. John went first with a starting tiffle of 5 silver. Karaan placed it happily. He rolled the dice rolling a four and three. He said "Under." Karaan chuckled betting 2 silver right away. Morns eyes gleamed seeing this. He bet a silver piece. John flipped the card revealing an eight. Karaan was happy to divide up the tiffle with Morn. It was morns turn. The tiffle was 5 again. He rolled a 5 and a 3 and said "Under." Karaan bet two silver again to Johns 1. Morn flipped the card revealing a 12. Karaan was happy to divide up the tiffle again winning back some of his money. It was Karaans turn. He set the tiffle to 6 silver John asked him "What about your 5 silver rule?" Karaan said "Screw that! That was last game! I'm here to wing back my money and I won't do that by betting low!" Karaan rolled the dice. He revealed two threes. He shouted "Over!" John and Morn both bet a silver piece. Karaan flipped over the card to reveal a six. He slapped his forehead as John and Morn divide up the spoils. "Karaan gulped down another glass." John set rolled the dice setting the next tiffle to 10 silver. Karaan yelled "That's more like it!" He rolled a six and a four saying calmly "Under" Karaan shouted "Ha!" and placed two silver in the pot Morn just sat there watching. Karaan asked "Well you gonna bet?" Morn replied "Oh yea. I'm just a little overwhelmed here that's all." Karaan laughed as he placed in two silver. John flipped the card to reveal a five. He shouted "Yes!" and smiled a huge smile as he counted up the pot. He said "Ten more silver and I'll have a gold piece!" Morn looked at him slightly disappointed. He set the tiffle to 10 silver as well as he took the dice. Karaan laughed as he rolled the dice. A four and a six. He said "Under." Karaan said I'm up for that!" gulping down another glass. He bet two silver again. John looked unsure but he bet two silver as well. Morn flipped the card slapping his forehead as he revealed a 13, the highest card in the game. Karaan and John happily split up the pot. It was Karaans turn again and before he got the dice he yelled out "Lets bump this up a notch. 20 silver!" John said "That's more like it!" Morn however hesitated counting out 20 silver, the majority of what he had left. John anxiously tapped his finger on the table as Karaan rolled the dice. He rolled two sixes. He shouted out "Yeah!" Gulping down another glass. He waited a minute before saying "Under." John quickly bet 5 silver while Morn hesitantly bet one. Karaan flipped the card to reveal a 5. He gulped down two glasses and ordered another that he quickly gulped down. As the game went on it didn't take long for Morn to catch back up. It went back and forth for a while. The more Karaan drank the more he lost and the more anxious John seemed to get. It was the last round, Johns turn. Karaan was down to less than 10 silver pieces with Morn and John both up to more than a gold piece each. As the last round started Karaan dumped the remainder of his money on the table revealing 6 silver pieces and almost 250 copper pieces. John Smiled saying "Looks like were about done here." Morn chuckled as a look of despair came over the obviously very drunken Karaans face. The bar tender walked over and sat in a chair saying to Karaan "I don't care how much you spend you've had enough. Alcohol poisoning is bad for business you know. Now hurry up and finish this up so you can all get out of my bar." He said handing Karaan a glass of water. John set the tiffle to 5 silver pieces. Laving Karaan barely enough to bet with. Karaan grinned taking one of the silver pieces and placing it to the side saying "This is my lucky piece. I won't bet it for anything." John grinned a malicious grin as he flipped the cup over revealing a one and a three. He said "above." Morn bet a silver piece further antagonizing the already disgruntled Karaan. Karaan bet one silver piece. John flipped over the card revealing a seven. Karaan screamed "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" hitting his fists against the table Morn spoke up loudly "Shut up and loose like a man! Not some drunken child!" Karaan began crying. Sarah woke up with a major headache due to all of the ruckus. She was more or less sober at this point. She had been sleeping for almost three hours. She said "Whats going on" John said "Your friend here's just being a soar looser is all." Sarah replied looking at Karaan "See I told you to watch out didn't I?" It was Morns turn and he happily set the tiffle to 3 silver pieces Staring down Karaan as he did it." Karaan agonizingly put the 2 silver and 49 copper pieces that he had left meaning that he couldn't make a bet. He might as well have lost. John put three silver pieces in the pot grinning as he did it. Karaan looked as if he were about to cry as Morn rolled the dice. John anxiously tapped his finger as Morn rolled the dice. They landed on two sixes. Morn grinned as he said "Above." As if he were mocking Karaan because John only had to place a bet of one copper to guarantee Karaans loss. He placed his bet, one copper piece. Morn flipped the card, amazingly revealing a 13. He won. He clapped his hands as he handed Karaan the dice. "You have a chance to win back 6 silver." John said menacingly. Karaan started to cry. He said I have more money in the bank!" John said "No people have run out on us far too many times using the same line. No can do pal. You want to get your money back we'll be here tomorrow." Sarah said to Karaan "You're obviously drunk. Make the bet and let's get out of here." Karaan gulped down the water. And slammed the glass on the table. He thought for a second and yelled excitedly "Sarah!" Sarah asked "What?" He said stuttering "No.No. I'll bet, I'll bet... Sarah!" John and Morn both looked at him with the same confused face as Sarah. Sarah asked "Are you crazy!?" He replied "No, no... Trust me on this. Ok. Ok. Trust me. Just trust me. I cant lose. I got a plan. Just trust me. I still have my luck. Trust. (hiccup) Trust me." Sarah's eyes were watering. She raised her hands to slap him. He said "Trust me." Sarah noticed something strange with the way he said it. A calming seriousness. The same feeling that he gives off in the middle of a major negotiation. The others didn't seem to notice it at all. The bartender askes "Can he do that?" Sarah replied "Yeah, I'm an indentured servant, but from my understanding slaves and indentured servants are the same thing up here. So I don't really have much of a say in it." She took a big breath and let out a sigh saying "I'll trust you. You drunk bastard. But you owe me for this. Got that?!" Karaan said "Ye... Yeah" John and Morn were distracted eyeballing Sarah. She had a look of disgust on her face seeing them look at her like that. John looked at Morn and then to Karaan saying "Sure, but don't come crying to us when we win." Karaan said "Ok she's worth at least ten gold pieces. But you might not agree to that either way I could sell her to anyone for 3 gold pieces without trying. I'm sure you could all agree to that." John looked at him with suspecting eyes saying "Let's say 1 gold." Karaan said "Unacceptable." He looked at the bartender "Would you like to buy her for 3 gold pieces?" He calmly replied "In a heartbeat." John said "Fine. But it's not going to do you any good." John and morn both placed all of their money in the pot. All of their gold totaled more than 3 gold and 20 silver. Karaan said calmly no longer in a drunken stutter "Good. Now I'm going to use my lucky coin to determine whether I should choose above or below." He got out the silver piece that he tucked away earlier and held it up for everyone to see. "You see this was given to me by a dear friend. You could say she was like a mother to me. Anyway, this coin is never wrong, no matter what." He flipped the coin. It fell down and hit the table, it bounced up and fell back down landing on tails. He smiled and rolled the dice. John had a terrified look on his face, he anxiously tapped his fingers much faster than he had before. The dice came to a settle and Karaan flipped up the cup. There were two twos. Karaan blurted out "Equal!" Johns face went pale. Seeing this morns eyes began to water. John stood up and held out his hand. Karaan stood up and grabbed his hand. As they shook hands John asked "When did you figure it out?" Karaan replied "I had my suspicions before our game started. But I made sure during the second game." Morn slammed his head on the table. Sarah stood up screaming "What's going on?!" Karaan explained it to her as the bartender poured five drinks. A strange orange liquid. "They were cheating." Karaan said Sarah asked "How? How do you know?" Karaan said "John here is a mage. More specifically an earth mage. Very rare for a human but very useful none the less. Basically I'm sure you noticed him taping his finger on the desk. He pulsed magic into the desk and changed the dice. He used it to tell what the card was. I'm not sure how he did that but it was pretty obvious that he was." He blurted out "I used a dwarven technique called clairvoyance. It allows me to see a tiny change in the chemical makeup of any solid substance from a certain distance away. I'm not nearly as good as most dwarves but I'm good enough for a card game." Karaan chuckled and Sarah blurted in saying "Yeah but what about your card it's not really a four is it?" Karaan flipped it over and it was. Sarah surprised asked "How?" Karaan said "I wasn't lying about my coin. It has a curse on it. It's never right actually." John continued "As a mage I could clearly see that it had a spell on it, and that it was a black magic spell meaning a curse. But that's a very complex curse I can't hope to dissect it but I can tell that part of it is luck. And going by what he was saying that it was never wrong told me that luck definitely had something to do with it. But curses aren't usually good. So that means that it's always wrong. But the fact that I can't read it makes me question what he thinks. Furthermore I don't know which side means what, so I don't have any clue what he's going to pick. That leaves me with only one option. I had to make the dice land on equal. The option that I didn't think he would make. But the thing is I only did that because I didn't know that he knew I was a mage. If I had known that I would have let the dice roll and I would've gone with it and hoped for the best." Sarah replied "Couldn't he have just done that with a normal coin though?" He replied "Yea but then I would have been able to think it through clearly and come up with a better decision. I might have figured out that he knew and have manipulated it to my advantage. But the curse on it and him saying it was never wrong completely threw me off guard. Plus he was moving so fast that I didn't have time to make a decision I just had to act. But him acting drunk was probably the key to the whole deal. If I didn't think he were drunk I wouldn't have been as distracted and would have been able to see him setting me up. Because I thought he was drunk I didn't give his actions a second thought. I thought I was controlling the game but in reality it was him. He decided every move, every win, and every loss. Some one that can manipulate a manipulator so easily and naturally, that is truly scary, and much less common than a human earth mage." Sarah said "Oh yeah. How did you drink so much and not get drunk?" The bartender replied in his deep calming voice with a slight chuckle under his breath "Before he started playing he whispered to me to water down his drinks as much as I could. Still making them look like drinks. Said he'd pay the full price, and well alcohol is a lot more expensive then water. I made a pretty good profit doing that. More than I'd normally make from five people!" He laughed handing everyone a drink one by one "It's on the house. Best thing we got in stock. For such a great show." Sarah turned to Karaan and asked "But what if you lost? What if he didn't fall for it and you lost? What then? Were you just going to lose me?" Karaan replied "No. And actually you're the reason I won. Without your trust and co-operation I could have never pulled this off. If he didn't do what I wanted him to. If I did lose that hand I would've just threatened to expose his secret. He would never have let that fly." The bartender jumped in saying "Yeah, I wouldn't either. I would've made him pay up. If anyone catches him he he'd have to pay up and jump ship, otherwise its bad for business." Sarah asked "If it's so bad for business then why let him do it in the first place?" He replied with a laugh "I charge him 20 percent of his profits plus whatever he buys in drink. But this little man you got here, he's a keeper he already knew all of this. He had to in order to pull this off." Sarah asked "Well why help him? I mean if you gave him real alcohol this wouldn't have worked right?" The bartender said "Yeah, but if I did then I wouldn't have gotten such a great show. And besides it's about time I watch that guy get his but beat. Plus it was worth it. I didn't know what he was up to but if he quit right away I'd be out some dough so I just plaid along." Sarah asked "But why didn't you tell one of these two or hint at them or something so they would be prepared?" The man laughed saying "You must think I'm in league with them. No hunny I just rent them the space. I make a profit no matter what, I'm not so stingy. Besides if it got around I was helping them cheat its even worst for business then letting them cheat in my bar. Besides as I said I absolutely loved watching the bastard get his ass handed to him." Sarah looked at Karaan "How did you figure all of this out so fast?" Karaan replied "I just looked at the situation. The way he won it wasn't luck. His opponent won just enough to keep them interested in the game while him and Morn slowly sucked him dry like a leach. He didn't jump right into it and start winning he won everything that his opponent had. Even if that was luck, it would be some ridiculous luck. And almost impossible with so many people." Sarah asked "But what if it was just luck you would have lost me?" Karaan replied "No. That's exactly why I played him in the first game. You see if it were just luck then there wouldn't have been anything to it. But his finger taping. That's how he changed the dice and just so happened to follow the exact pattern of the game. That's what gave it away. After that is when I decided to play this game. But even if that was just a coincidence I would have bought you back if I lost you. If I had to pay my entire lives savings. I would've payed more than 80 gold if I lost you. Then I would have let you go. The chances of that are lower than me accidentally killing a dragon by stepping on its toe because I didn't notice it standing there. Basically the chances were so unsurmountable low that it might as well have been completely impossible that he wasn't cheating." Sarah asked "Well why didn't you just call him out sooner? You could've called him out and got your money right?" Karaan replied "Not really. If I called him out he would've had to give back all of this money and I wouldn't have gotten anything both of us wouldn't just have the same amount. This way is much more fun and much more rewarding." The bartender jumped in saying "And he makes a few new, albeit, unusual friends this way." With a chuckle. Karaan responded "And I do like unusual friends." Chuckled as well. Sarah said "Ok I get it. I think... You're a genius." Karaan didn't reply but John and the bartender both agreed saying "Yeah, he is." The bartender said "You know I might have expected something like this from someone that comes in here every day for months. But from someone in here just a couple of hours. Amazing. I've never seen anything like it at all." Sarah sat there thinking about the situation. About how Karaan figured all of this out and how to use it to his advantage the way that he did all of this in such a short amount of time and ease. As she thought Karaan counted out 20 silver pieces and handed them to her saying "Here this is what you lost plus a little more for all the help." Sarah's eyes gleamed seeing it. Without thinking she jumped in and kissed Karaan. He stood there staring at her. Morn said out loud to himself "Lucky bastard." Sarah realizing what she had just done pushed Karaan off saying loudly but not yelling "You are drunk aren't you?" Karaan blushing replied "Just a little ha-ha. There was still alcohol in those drinks, just not nearly as much. I'm just really good at holding it down." She slapped him. As he rubbed his red face Sahar blurted out "I guess that's why you asked me how much I trusted you before we played." He said "Yeah and that's why I asked you to trust me." She chugged down what was left of her drink then turned around and walked out the door kind of angrily and putting. As she walked out she said "I'm going back to the room I'll see you there." Karaan chuckled and picked up all of the money. He finished his drink and sat down talking to John, Morn, and the bartender for about another half hour before heading back. He walked into the room to see Sarah laying in the bed. He couldn't help but to notice that she had taken her pants off. But he quickly looked away and laid on the couch facing away from Sarah.