"This is some bull--" The patron caught his tongue, but was far less careless with the cards he threw up in the air. A pair of sixes, a nine, a two, and a queen fluttered back down to the beer-soaked table. The burly man rose from his chair, knocking it over to the ground as he continued ranting and screaming at Madison. The witch, to her infinite credit, kept a perfect smirk plastered on her face as she slowly extended a pair of middle fingers in the air. Reaching out with her hands, she turned the birds sideways and used them to draw the pile of sparkling coins in the middle of the table back towards her own considerable stash. "You cheated," the man drunkenly shouted at her, the flecks of spittle that didn't stick to his thick beard flying every which way. He jabbed a greasy finger at Maddy's hand of four aces and a seven spread out on the table in front of her as it was slowly covered up with gold. "You're a cheat," he repeated himself, obviously incapable of checking a thesaurus for the multitude of other words he could've slurred at her. "And you're a mark," she muttered under her breath as she slid her cards out from under her stash of money. To be fair, the accusation was half correct. Madison played rather recklessly all night, luring the rest of Tully's patrons into a false understanding of how she played. Big, careless bets on hands that only had a fifty-fifty chance of winning. She was down, then she was up. Raise frequently, fold never. Let them think that she had no idea what she was doing. Let them think that her big wins were by the purest strokes of luck. "Besides," Madison said a bit louder for the sake of anyone outside the game curious enough to listen in, "that guy cut the deck." The patron's fiery gaze shot over to another player who remained in his seat, who opted to keep his mouth shut and only offer a dramatic shrug of his shoulders. While she was correct, she had been watching him all game long. The blond man had a tendency to split the deck exactly in the middle, twenty-six cards deep. A fair and even cut, he always said. And when three aces popped up in the previous hand, the woman said fuck it and slyly performed a little bit of practiced card manipulation and dealt them to herself. She was shooting for a full house; but when the fourth ace popped up in her hand after she pitched two junk cards, who was she to argue about the results? Especially when said results knocked this fat, belligerent bastard out of the game. He smelled like stale pretzels, cat piss, and soiled pants anyway--it was time for him to go. As the man turned to storm off to the bar to buy another drink with what little money he had left in his name, Madison stared at the empty chair next to her. She needed someone to fill the seat--having a table of five was slightly awkward to her. Also, it meant less money for her to earn by the end of the night. Looking around, the witch spotted a fresh-faced addition to the tavern. The catboy looked young and lost and absolutely perfect to fill the chair. Waving a gloved hand across the tavern towards the boy, she shouted, "Hey, you! Felis! Blue jacket, black hair! Come on over and join us for some cards, friend!" @Chris Seenter @Rat
Chris entered what appeared to be a rowdy inn at an outpost along the road. It was rustic looking with an old fashioned feel to it. He guessed most of this ‘world’ was set in a similar fashion, more medieval than modern day. And he liked it. That is until he got a strong whiff of the smell inside the bar. His eyes began to water and he nearly gagged on the stench as he entered. It was the scent of unwashed bodies, beer, and the slight hint of human refuse. It was enough to almost get him to turn around and immediately leave. That is until someone from a table called him over. He looked in that direction and saw a woman with dark hair and a leather outfit sitting at a table with five other people. A sixth chair sat next to her, and Chris figured it was just recently vacated. He debated before eventually giving her a nod that he’d be right over. He turned his back to the crowd in the bar and clenched his hand into a fist before opening it quickly and bringing up the menu. He quickly thumbed through the palm sized display until he found what he wanted. He tapped it once, and instantly his hands and mouthed moved of their own accord. He kept his voice low so as to not draw attention. ”Circulate.” A slight breeze circulated around him that was so faint that it didn’t even affect his clothing. The wind didn’t quite get rid of the stench of the room, but it did circulate it enough around him that it filtered out the worst of it. Now with the air more tolerable he walked deeper into the room leaning heavily on his staff. Learning to walk with a tail was a long process, and even with the staff to provide support it was still difficult. Still he managed to make it to the table without stumbling into anyone or falling on the floor. He sat down in the chair offered and looked around. He opened his mouth to ask PC or Resident but shut it when he remembered the man’s warning from earlier. Instead Chris turned to the one who called him over. He figured she was an actual player since she called him over. Unless this was part of an automated event, but he figured something this out of the way was unlikely. ”What’s the game?”
Poker. Among the most boring of games, truly... Rat did not like it; barely felt compelled to participate in it, yet nonetheless was here at the table and suffering through hand after hand of the drab game. She had not been doing particularly well; an actual ignorance of how the game even worked prevented Rat's player from wiping the floor with her skills and cleaning house. But what she lacked in knowledge, she made up for with gusto. Like the time she had excitedly raised when she had two pairs of three of a kind... an impossible feat, except that she had accidentally dealt herself an extra card and wound up with three jacks and three fives. Truly, a master of the game. She had forfeited that hand; won others. Out of blind luck she happened to come out on top often enough to stay in the game. Well... that and, it wasn't too difficult to sleight of hand a chip here and there in order to make sure she never totally ran out of something to ante in with. When you had mastered Incognito, what else did you use it for but cheating at a game you didn't know? The saving grace of her situation was that, with the bandage over her left eye and a blank expression on her dirt-covered face, the woman was impossible to get a read on. If she had known the rules to the game, or bothered to remember them after they were explained for the umpteenth time, it would have made her a considerable foe. Instead, she merely seemed to stare with dead and uninterested eyes at the cards until it was time to reveal hands... at which point, she suddenly exploded into livelihood. Usually hoping that a Jack, Ten, Five, Seven and Ace meant something good. She glanced up as another man joined the table shortly after someone had stormed off, driven away by the gothic woman that seemed to be dominating most the game. "We're playing Old Maid," she said to the oddly eared man that arrived. "Poker!" one of the men at the table corrected her. "Poker!" she affirmed, as if that had been what she'd said in the first place. "I raise," she added, tossing a few chips into the empty center of the table. "We haven't DEALT yet!" "Then I raise after we've been dealt. C'mon let's go."
Madison couldn't help but to glare at the weird-ass woman with the bandage over her eye. "It's Poker, sweetie," she muttered to the new arrival as she slid a small stack of gold towards him. "Five Card Draw, no wilds. I'll spot you a few coins to start." Not like I won't get it back anyway, the cursemage mused to herself. In addition to whatever else these nerds put up on the table. The woman passed the deck to the rust-haired mug to the left of the new felis, not wanting to immediately scare him off by making him the dealer. She learned that a lot of strangers in Terrasphere were naturally paranoid and skittish--this boy appeared to be doubly so, with the wild look of wonder and uncertainty written across his face. There was a sort of confidence that seemed to be lacking with him. A stranger in a strange land. Madison remembered when she was like that, not too long ago. She'd have taken a moment to reflect on how much she changed in the couple months that followed, but there were five nerds that required her immediate attention. Money won't make itself, after all. Cards were dealt, and the blind bets were made. Each of the players looked at what they had. Rat had to be reminded that you don't bet the cards that you have in your hand--and, no, you can't pitch some yet. It amazed the cursemage that the bandaged woman didn't know much about the game. There wasn't much else to do in the taverns of Terrasphere besides get drunk and start fights. Not to mention how prevalent it was in the real world--video games, movies, online gambling sites, that TV show they had on ESPN for a while, and even actual cards with actual people if you could find either of those two. How did you not know Poker? The woman took a peek at her cards, liking what she saw for the most part. "I call," she said as she matched the big blind with a pair of coins.
Poker? Chris was mildly surprised that such a normal game actually made it into the world. But as he thought about it he realized that most of what was brought into the world was brought by the players. Indeed it looked like most of the people at the table were players, or at least knew enough about the Earth card game. Well except for the woman with one eye covered. But she also mentioned another Earth card game, so she must also be a player. Pasting a grin on his face Chris accepted the gold from the woman to his left and gave her a respectful nod. ”T-thank you.” He only had a few gold in his pocket as ‘starting money’. He didn’t know enough about the game to realize how long it would last him, but looking at the Palm Menu he noticed bars for food and water. Maybe it was enough to get him by until he could learn how to earn his own funds. He was determined not to use it on the card game however. If he lost the gold he was given then he’d leave the game. But he knew how to play poker, so this would be a pleasant distraction. It was one of the few games his parents allowed since his father was an avid poker player. Someone walked behind him but Chris didn’t pay it much mind until an intense pain shot up his spine. He let out a howl of pain and tried jumping up from his chair as if it was a hot seat. He didn’t get far as something kept him firmly in a sitting position, and it took him moment to realize it was related to his pain. Someone had stepped on his tail. ”Oh, sorry. I didn’t see it there.” The voice had a drunken slur to it, and Chris looked up to see a tall muscular man holding a mug. The man wobbled unsteadily on his feet, and each time weight was put on the foot closer to Chris another intense pain shot up the new player’s spine. Chris just glared at the man through tear of pain and only received a witless smile in reply. ”The tail.” The man looked down to see he was still standing on the black fur appendage. ”Oh, right.” He took his foot off the tail with the exaggerated movement that Chris associated with drunkenness. Chris quickly grabbed the tail and stuffed it up the backside of his shirt. It was uncomfortable, but better than getting it stepped on again. He turned back to the game with a grumble and placed the required coins. ”Call.” @Rat
[too sick to keep pace and don't want to drag this to a halt so Rat just folds out, gets up, and leaves]
