Jammers:Turn 18, Chapter 6 Summary pt 2

The Ongoing adventures of my Spelljammer PBEM game.

Here's the Jammers web address:

http://jammers.s5.com/

Comments, questions always welcome:)

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

IC:

Continued from Part 2:

At the Mansion, over Mavis' very tasty gullion pie dinner Gwardolith
asks Allagan and Sekeht if they are still interested in a night on
the town. "If you two have decent purses, I'm going to a place we're
the stakes are substantial. It's not in the best part of town,
however, so I'd feel safer in a group. I know we don't know each
other well but we are housemates, and since the rest of the folks at
the table know we are leaving together..." he glances at the other
house guests and Mavis, most are engrossed in food or their own
conversations but several, at least, are listening, "Well, it seems a
safe plan and I would love to make this game. It's said to attract
some very skilled players. Tonight, I'm in the mood to try my skill,
rather then fill my purse!"

Allagan looks over at Sekeht and shrugs his shoulders, "Sure. That
sounds great. When do you want to leave?"

"Right after dinner, if you don't mind. The game does run late into
the night!" Gwardolith answers.

"What kind of game are we talking about here, Gwardolith?" Sekeht
asks. "We're interested, certainly, but I'm just curious."

"Bluff, for decent stakes. As long as you don't cheat, it's no
problem." Gwardolith says. [OOC: Bluff is a Bralian name for Poker.]

Allagan asks, "When you say the area is rough, how rough do you mean?
Should we bring our weapons?"

"Not that we're scared," Sekeht interjects. "Just cautious."

"I take my weapons everywhere I go on Bral. You should do the same.
But this place is in the Low City, near the docks." Gwardolith
answers.

"Great!" Sekeht says. "As long as the stakes aren't too high, we
should have enough coin to join in. And if we do well enough, we
could buy our own ship, I'm thinking." He scoops the last of his
dinner into his mouth.

Allagan finishes his meal and heads upstairs with Sekeht.  Allagan
says to Sekeht as he grabs his spear, "I don't think this is a trap
but if I see any Red
Masks that I recognize, which means they will recognize me, we might
be in some trouble."

"If you see someone you recognize, scratch at your left sleeve,"
Sekeht says quietly. "Harder if it's someone particularly dangerous.
We may not have the
chance to talk if it's a tight crowd." Sekeht changes into a navy
cote and black and navy cannons, attaching his scimitar to his
scabbard-belt.

The two return to the common room to wait on Gwardolith.

Dressed in the greys of a native Bralian Gwardolith's only obvious
weapon is a shortsword. He smiles at the pair, "Excellent, let's be
off1"

He leads them down through the Middle City with a confident gait,
making small talk (on Bral, most small talk revolves around shipping
and dangers to shipping).

After about half an hour of walking the trio finds themselves deep in
the bowels of the Low City. Neither Allagan nor Sekeht felt confident
they could find their way out of the maze again, as Gwardolith led
them through various hidden arches, up stairs and through narrow
alleys. They only knew for certain that they were somewhere near the
Shou district.

Finally Gwardolith smiled, "Here we are. This is Wu's place."

He went down few steps to a small green door half recessed into the
ground. He knocked a few times, spoke to whoever opened the door, and
then headed inside.

Inside the room is large, it must have been easily thirty feet by
forty feet in dimension. Red curtains hang on the windowless walls,
hiding any other doors or exits. Six round tables were scattered
about the room, each with half a dozen chairs. A bar is set up
against the far wall,

Two Shou with skinny mustaches that hung past their chins and a pair
of wooden clubs stuck in their sashes stand by the door. Another
stands behind the bar and a few others with the mustaches and clubs
are scattered around the room. A trio of blond women move about the
room carrying trays of drinks and food.

The tables are nearly all occupied by spacers of various races and
cultures all playing cards. The crowd is subdued but not unhappy or
morose, they just seemed to be taking their gambling very seriously.
A massively fat Shou sits at one of the tables and judging from the
way the waitresses showed him deference he is most likely the owner.

Allagan looks around the room and asks Gwardolith in a low voice, "Do
we just sit down at a table?"

Gwardolith looks amused, "Of course not. This Bral."

"I thought it would be louder," Sekeht whispers to Allagan. To
Gwardolith, he asks, "We've got standard coins. Do we need to
exchange them for Shou coins before we can get in a game?"

"Yes, if we want to start a new game we move to a new table,
otherwise we sit at  an empty chair and deal in." Gwardolith smiles
again, and points to the table with the fat Shou. "That's the game
for me. It's a fifty gold minimum to get into a game, 1 gold minimum
bets. The house gets a quarter of your winnings, if any, when you
leave."

The fat Shou guffaws as he lays his cards down and pulls the pot over
to himself. Two of the gamblers get up heavily and scrap few coins
into their hands. Looking resigned at their losses they walk quietly
out of the room.

Grinning Gwardolith smiles and walks over to the table. "Wu! I see
you've saved a spot for me! I've brought some friends this time."

The fat Shou chuckles, "Ah yes. I can see that. Come and sit, I've an
itching palm for your coin Gwardolith. You pluck the pigeons uptown,
and I pluck you. It's a beautiful system."

As Gwardolith sits Allagan and Sekeht examine the other two players
at the table. One is a green and brown mottled lizardman wearing only
a brown leather harness and a variety of tatoos. A wicked looking
two-handed scimiter hangs in its scabberd on the back of his chair.
The other is a goblin, surprisingly clean, in leather armor with a
short sword. He sports a long, thin mustache like the Shou guards.

Wu nods as the trio sit, "This is Ssrin," motions towards the
lizardman, "and this is Kanag the Finder." he motions to the goblin.

A shou guard wlaks over. He counts the coins that Gwardolith puts on
the table and then makes a note in a book he carries, which
Gwardolith then signs. Then he does the same for Allagan and Sekeht.

Wu starts dealing the cards...

For the first hour the game proceeds smoothly enough. No one loses a
great deal of coin, but Allagan clearly is doing the best. Sekht
quickly realizes he is very, very out-classed, but through some
amazingly lucky hands he manages to break even.

As the hour progresses there is relatively little small talk. The
other players seem intent on playing, not talking. As a short break
is taken at the end of the hour, however, Gwardolith leans back in
his seat and fixes a slightly sour smile on Allagan. "Ptah's Beard, I
brought you for back up on the streets, not to take all my coin. I
thought you were sailors, not gamblers."

"I didn't think we were gamblers, either," Sekeht says looking at
Allagan with a grin. "You must be a natural, Tyndel."

Allagan smiles an open smile and says with youthful exuberance, "Lorn
taught me cards between shifts, this is my first real game."

Sekeht discreetly kicks Allagan in the shin while he says, "Well, I
seem to have taught you better than I know myself. Ah, well, the
playing's fun." He glances
at Allagan, then casually around the room. Then he shrugs toward Gwardolith.

Allagan keeps smiling and seemingly is having a good time during the
next hour of cards.

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

Freneth, Ferric, and Nilaroo are determined to try for Golden
Brotherhood membership and so they leave the ship after dinner and
head for the Brotherhood's hall. They find it easily enough, on
Anchor Street overlooking the shipyard. The other taverns around it
are doing a rousing business, and the street is fairly crowded with
sailors, ladies of the evening, and other assorted riff-raff.

Inside, the dimly lit room has all the appearance of a fine tavern,
though the decor on the walls has a definite nautical feel to it. The
common room is pretty large. spacers of a variety of races sit on
stools at the bar or chairs throughout the room alongside tables.
Most are eating or drinking and the places is very merry. There are
easily four dozen of them, the room is almost full.

A hulking shadow steps in front of them. It's an impressively large
ogre,  complete with a club hanging from his belt. He sizes up the
group and asks, 'You lads aren't members yet?"

Freneth stares up at the large ogre for a moment, his mouth slightly
open. "Ummm, this one is not," he stammers nervously.

"Hoom, not yet, although I mean to join tonight," Nilaroo answers.

"No one gets in unless they are a member." the ogre growls. "You have
to survive three minutes in the ring with me. And of course pay the
entrances dues. You pay those first, if you don't make the cut, you
don't get in. Entrance dues are ten gold." the ogre answers.

Freneth glances at the other two for a moment, before stepping
forward, "If this one may inquire, what are the rules to the masters
contest?  Weapons? Limits of the contest area?"

"No weapons, we fight in the pit below." the ogre points to a
stairwell heading down.

"This one would also inquire if one may concede defeat after the
contest begins, outside of death?" Freneth asks.

"No death, you stay conscious and in the pit for three minutes, and
you are in. To surrender just climb out of the pit or let me throw
you out." the ogre answers.

Freneth nods his head toward the ogre.  "Very well, this one will
take your challenge."  The bearded halfling pulls a pouch from under
his tunic, and counts 10 pieces of gold from it.  Holding the sum in
his hand, he places the pouch back. "Where should this one place
this?" he asks.

The ogre laughs, "Good, very good!" He calls out in a loud voice,
"CHALLENGERS TO JOIN, MATES!"

Soon the others in the room have gathered around a large, railed area
in the center of the room. Meanwhile the ogre collects the coin for
membership from each challenger and hands it off to the bartender,

Then he leads everyone down the stairs which opens on a room with a
clear wall which allows the group to observe the 'pit' from along
side it. A door leads from this 'waiting' room into the pit itself.

"All right. There's a mate up there with a sandglass, once he sees
the first two of us out there he flips it and your three minutes
start. Cry uncle if you want to give up." The ogre grins with glee
and examines the group for a moment. Then he points to Freneth. 'You,
you will enter the ring with me first."

Freneth nods his head, and unstraps his atatl and javelins. Handing
them to Nilaroo, Freneth grins slightly. "This one may regret this
later," he says, and turns back to the ogre. "This one will follow."

Above the crowd can be heard taking bets on which of the trio will
survive with the ogre longest.

Freneth follows the ogre to the doorway into the pit, and pauses a
moment on the threshhold, examining the pit.

It's about ten feet deep, and about twenty by twenty feet across. The
floor is wood and covered in fine sand. The walls are also wood and
smooth, broken only by the door from the 'waiting room'.

After the moments hesitation, Freneth puts his shoulders up, and
moves quickly into the room, and along the wall, staying as far from
the ogre as possible.

The ogre immediately charges at the halfling, arms outreached to grab
the little man and hurl him from the pit.

Freneth ducks off to the side, diving to the ogre's left. As he
rolls, he scoops up a handful of sand.

The ogre spins back and grabs at Freneth again.

Freneth ducks back again, so that the ogre's hands just miss him. His
hand flashes out, the sand flying toward the ogre's face.

Momentarily blinded the ogre steps back as Freneth runs to the side.

Again and again the ogre charges at Freneth, but the little halfling
is too quick for him. Those who had bet on the ogre up above start
booing.

Finally, after the time runs out the timekeeper rings the bell,
ending the match. The ogre, slightly winded, holds out his hand to
Freneth. "You dodge good. I'd've gutted ya eventually but you dodge
good. Welcome aboard, mate!"

Freneth takes the hand of the much larger ogre, breathing a little
harder than normal. "This one is honored.  This one is surprised this
one lasted. The master would be a good friend to have during a hunt."

Freneth makes his way over to the waiting area to watch the others.

The ogre walks to the door into the waiting room and looks at Nilaroo
and Ferric. He considers both carefully for a few moments and then
points at Ferric. "You next."

Ferric matches the ogre for height, though he doesn't have the
creature's massive bulk. The duel is more interesting, as Ferric is
to large to dodge as easily as Freneth, but the ogre is hardly more
successful. Ferric blocks each blow, and twists his way from each
hold again and again, displaying great agility and hardly less
strength then the ogre himself.

When the period ends the ogre looks sourly at Ferric but growls, "You
fight good."

The ogre accepts a massive mug of ale from one of the onlookers and
drains it in two large gulps. Then he walks to the door and with
obvious reluctance motions Nilaroo out. "Your time now."

The ogre moves warily to the center of the room and drops into a
crouch, hands moving readily.

The hairy grom, who shed all his gear except his loincloth while the
other two were fighting, immediately begins tumbling around the room
like a furry cannonball.

The ogre turns, trying to keep Nilaroo to his front but the quarter
ton of rolling fur is too quick and after half a minute of acrobatics
manages to get behind the ogre for a split second.

Instantly Nilaroo's long arms fly from the ball of fur he had formed
himself into and grab the ankles of the ogre, pulling his feet out
from under him.

The ogre lands full on his stomach with a floor shaking crash, and
Nilaroo instantly leaps on his back...

Nilaroo hooks his legs under the ogre, squeezing powerfully and
anchoring himself as his right arm snakes around the ogre's throat
from behind and clasps his left hand, forming an iron like bar
against the ogre's windpipe.

The ogre claws at the iron like arms gripping his throat but can make
no headway against them, nor can he dislodge the quarter ton grom
from his back. He continues to struggle for several more seconds with
his efforts becoming weaker and weaker until finally he passes out.

Nilaroo stands up and checks on the ogre, who starts to come to
quickly now that his windpipe is no longer being crushed.

The stands and slaps Nilaroo on the back, "You win, fight very good!"

The pirates lining the railing of the pit all cheer and applaud the fights.

The ogre then leads the three up to the tavern.

A one-legged old sailor with an eye patch writes their names in a log
book and has them make their mark. "Mateys, ye be part of the
Brotherhood now. Ye'll be getting yer tatoo soon, and that means
something in this sphere. You'll be trusted as a good fighting man
and sailor, and ye owe something ta other members of the Brotherhood.
Ye have to accept any challenge for goods, rank, or life, as long as
the challenger offers ya a fair value of risk on his side. And ye may
challeneg as well. If ye blacken the name of the Brotherhood, we'll
hunt ya down and gut ya. Welcome aboard!"

The trio are then led through much laughing and joking to the tattooing room...

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

Meanwhile, for those attending the Mage Guild Ball, the time is
rapidly approaching for them to leave. Lady Dahlia's manor is at the
corner of Noble and High Streets in the High City, easily half an
hour's walk from the docks.

Emerging from his cabin, Holland is decked out in his formal attire.
Holland's hair is freshly washed and combed.  He is wearing a light
red long sleeved silk shirt stiched with gold mystic symbols down the
sleeves and chest.  Over the shirt Holland is wearing a silver silk
vest stiched with red mystic symbols.  Holland's hands are covered by
thin white silk formal evening gloves.  Holland's dress black pants
are tucked into highly shined, like miniature mirrors, high black
boots.  A single pouch and a lone dagger hang from Holland's belt.

Walking down to Leera's room, Holland knocks on the hatch to see if Leera is
ready.

Leera opens the door and emerges. Her hair is nicely washed and
styled (with perhaps the aid of a cantrip or three). She is wearing
her finest robe, low cut with (cheap) semi-precious gemstones around
the neckline. It is drawn tight about her waist with a thin
golden-colored rope. From this hang her dagger and a pouch. She
appraises Holland and tells him, "You look dashing tonight."

Holland smiles, "Thank you.  You look quite ravishing yourself."

Walking to the ladder, with a flourish of his gloved hand Holland
says, "After you m'lady."

Leera inclines her head. "Thank you, good magister."

Kain paces in the main hold, dressed in a white linen shirt and green
sleeveless doublet.  His black cannons are more trim then the
trousers Kain usually wears, hugging his calves until the legs of his
cannons are hidden by the shin high low-cut blackleather boots on his
feet.  Both his short sword and dagger rest
sheathed on his belt, and a green cloak lies draped over Kain's arm
as he paces.

Unused to the tight collar, Kain fidgets, pausing when he sees
Holland, and then quickly making his way to the room he shares with
Talus.  When he returns, Kain's shed the short sword that was at his
side, but still wears the sandalwood hilted dagger that has been with
him since the beginning of the Company's travels.

Kain walks quickly to reach the doorway as Holland and Leera are
finishing their appraisals.  He stands stock still, with a small
smile almost fixed on his lips.

When Oquid emerges, Kain takes two tentative steps forward, watching
her face rather than his own feet. Smiling nervously, he says, "you
look nice... very pretty tonight, Oquid."

Oquid smiles down at Kain and shuffles her feet nervously. She is
wearing her new sky-blue robe, bound at the waist by a gossamer
silver webbing. Her knife and a single leather pouch of spell
components hang from a thin leather strap slung from her hips. Her
long golden hair is bound in a ponytail with thin black strap.

There is a bit of an awkward silence before Oquid replies, "You're, I
mean, you look nice today, too."

Kain moves his cloak from his right arm to his left, then reaches
into one of the pockets of his doublet with his right hand.  "I saw..
in the market.. ahh.. thought it was something you might like.. for
the ball," he adds, opening his hand and offering Oquid a small gold
quill shaped brooch with a pair of tiny amethysts near the tip.

Oquid gasps slightly as Kain holds out the brooch. As she takes it
from him, she smiles awkwardly and thanks him, "It's beautiful. Thank
you." She struggles to pin it on, getting more and more visibly
embarrassed as she does so. "I'll just get Leera to help me with
this... Let's catch up with them."

So saying, Oquid bolts up the ladder. As Kain follows, she reaches
Leera, who helps her to pin on her brooch.

Above decks, Holland offers Leera his arm and escorts her to Lady
Dahlia's manor, sticking to the main streets.

As the couples debark, Billy comments, "Now don't you stay out to
late, and mind your manners..." As they get further away Billy yells
out, "And no kissing on the first date!"

Holland looks over his shoulder at Billy with a slight grin as he
makes a twisting motion with his free hand.  Holland faces away and
continues walking on as Billy erupts into a flurry of sneezes.

Leera takes his arm and makes idle small-talk as they walk to the
Ball. She mentions in passing that she's tried to learn more of the
spell used by Elrohir's mage to cloak the ship. She admits failing to
find out even the power of the effect.

Holland nods, "The first mate is very secretive about that spell. I
am almost finished with my research, but I won't be able to start the
actual  experimentation until a latter date.  How are you coming on
your new spell?"

Leera thinks for a second before answering "Oquid and I should be
ready to begin experimentation in another four or five days. Once we
do we'll need to take the ship up a couple of times every tenday to
try things out till we work out the details."

Holland nods his head letting out out a "Hmm," and continues on to
Lady Dahlia's manor.

While they walk with Leera and Holland to the Mage's Ball, Kain
engages in small talk with Oquid, asking how her spell research has
been progressing and other questions about her magical skills.  Once
they are on their way, it's easy to see that Kain becomes more
relaxed as the streets of Bral pass under the quartet's feet.

Kain's attempts at conversation seem to put Oquid more at ease. She
talks easily of the spell research, describing the library searching
with which she is helping Leera. She admits fascination with the
mental powers Kain possesses, and listens as he describes them.

Date/Time: 8th day of the 8th Month, 5049 OC
--
"We sleep safely in our beds, only because rough men stand guard in
the night, ready to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."
H.G. Wells.

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State University
Instructor, Humanities, Columbus State Community College