The Big Game (Part 1)

The sun had dipped below the horizon, but the gathered crowd could still see without the help of the smoky orange torches that lined the yard and the tables. Several tables were scattered in the courtyard of the Four Winds, and they were all full of gamblers. The Four Winds would be the biggest winner of the night, with many bowls of expensive fish soup, many flagons of ale, and many dishes of capon and beef being served to gamblers and to the spectators. Jan's duties being completed, he tried to assist Fred in increasing the stake, but sadly, the stake was reduced instead to thirteen bits. But it was useful activity nonetheless, for Jan noted that the dice in several instances were not fair, and these loaded dice would likely be used in the Big Game. Apparently the house was not above physics, even if there were scruples about using metaphysics in the commoner's game. He warned Sartoma about this.

At a certain time, the crowd was slowly but steadily attacted to one table. This was to be the table where the mages would gamble. The Master of Ceremonies rose at the head of this table, and extended his hands outward in a gesture that requested the crowd's attention. After the crowd quieted, he said, "Know all you by these presents - this is a game where anybody can use his skill to improve the natural result of the cast. If you do not wish to participate, please stand down before the white line, to allow the others to do so.

There were eight men, all of whom Sartoma had recognized. So far that was a good - Sartoma was confident that she could beat these men. After a couple of hours, she should be able to bleed them for a few sovereigns, and they could put Tupport behind them. Sartoma crossed the white line to the shooter's end of the table.

The Master of Ceremonies said, "Excuse me, Miss, but are you sure that you wish to participate? This is a game for those skilled in the arcane arts, and the betting starts at one silver piece."

Sartoma smiled, and said, "I would like to try my skill - I come from outside of Tupport. My name is Sartoma of Mount Erebus - and here is my show of good faith." At that, she placed her one silver piece on the planed wood table.

"Fair enough!" boomed the MC. Sartoma was a novelty - foreign, a lady, and a pretty one at that. The Four Winds would have a good take tonight.

A young signalman was Sartoma's opponent. He sent a silent message, wishing her luck when she was not shooting against him, but Sartoma just nodded and smiled back. Sartoma would be the first to shoot. She noted that the dice felt odd, as Jan warned her that they might. There was a resin of some sort inside the corner where the 1, 2, and 3 faces met. If you knocked them on the table, the resin would change in such a way that one could almost guarantee a 4, 5, or 6. And with skill, one could improve it from there. As the first one up, she wanted a high number, as she would win on any combination over 42. She concentrated, tapped the dice on the table, and slowly rolled then against the back. The MC called out - Five, Six, Six, Five, Five, and Five. 32. Eleven goes to the lady!" Her opponent then rolled. With these dice it would be difficult, even for a mage skilled in manipulating the movements of physical objects, and as a signalman, this mage was not. The MC called out Four, Four, Four, Two, Four, and Four. 22! A silver to the lady!

Sartoma switched positions to the difficult one of rolling low. The key here was not tapping the dice, and gently letting them hit the back plank, making the movement appear as if it were by chance but in reality keeping it controlled. Fortunately, her opponent was not astute enough to understand that the dice were not fair, and did not tap them. The throw was decent enough at 27, but Sartoma managed to undercut it at 13 and gain another silver piece. The man lasted another two rounds before he bowed out.

The next mage was more skilled in the manipulation of the dice, and understood the purpose behing the tapping. He had managed to take a silver back the first time that he had an opportunity to throw high, scoring a perfect 36 (all sixes) that Sartoma could not undercut with a 6 (all ones). However, Sartoma was starting to get the feel of the dice, and her results were getting better. The second mage soon had enough.

Sartoma was now two sovereigns and eight silver to the good. Word had spread throughout Tupport that the Big Game was unusually good that night. The smell of fresh fish, smoke beef, strong ale, and sweat made the air stuffy and close, but added to the attraction of the event. Bets were now being made as to who, or if, Sartoma could be beaten. Brennus had been in the crowd, but now Lucius had slipped unnoticed just beyond the white line. He spoke silently to Jayton. "Now is the time for you to engage her. I would like to keep her at three sovereigns.

Jayton acknowledged him. He advanced to the table, and did a quick calculation. He would double the stakes to two silver. He noted that Sartoma was twelve silver short of three sovereigns, so he needed to lose about six times before getting serious. He was expecting the lady to signal to him silently, but to his surprise, she did not. In fact, he did not feel any magic coming from her. She was concentrating on the dice.

Sartoma duly collected the twelve silver pieces over the next six pairs of throws, as he had planned. Then he heard Lucius speak to him. Now! was all he said. Now Jayton would compete in earnest.

Sartoma now had the first roll. Jayton spoke to her silently in the mariner's language, suggesting that she was getting tired, and that she needed to take a little off the roll. Sartoma simply ignored him and rolled a 36. Jayton shook his head, and concentrated. He knew that it was going to be difficult to save this. He asked, silently, for help from a couple of his friends. He concentrated, imaging the casting the six that he needed. Then he threw the dice against the back, heard a tell-tale clink of two knocking against each other, and saw four ones and a pair a fours, for a total of 12.

On the return, Jayton managed to return the favour after tapping the dice hard on the table and cast a 36. He expected that the resin inside the dice would remain light, and load the dice toward the high numbers, so that he would get the two silver pieces back. But Sartoma hesitated, and nibbled on a little piece of beef between two pieces of bread, before casting the dice. By this time the resin had settled back, and she glided the dice easily across the table, and they turned up as a 6. The silver remained on the table. Jayton glanced at Lucius. His expression did not change.

Sartoma delivered a 35 on the next roll, but as Jayton was set to cast, Sartoma smiled at him in a flirtacious way, and he lost his concentration and cast a 20. He cast a quick look at Sartoma, who was now wearing as deadpan of an expression as Lucius, and then to Lucius. As he returned to cast the dice again for the next throw, he noticed that Sartoma was now looking at Lucius, as if she read who was the master at this table. Jayton became increasingly disheartened as he proceeded to lose another sovereign's worth of silver pieces.

At that point, Jason stood down, a beaten man, and humiliated before Lucius. Nobody else challenged Sartoma. Two of the other mages started a round where the competed against each other. Sartoma joined Fred and Jan beyond the shooter's line, and talked to them with some excitement.

Sartoma said, "Four sovereigns should be an excellent start! This will take us to Colonia Gallia. If we can get perhaps another two for provisions, then we could start tonight."

Fred replied, "This is excellent. I would say that if we can get ten sovereigns, we could purchase horses instead of hiring them, and ride all the way to where we need to go."

Jan then cautioned, "I think that we have run out of interested gamblers. They seem to know your strength now, Sartoma. However, I have been told by someone at the fish gutting tables that there is a man in town named Brennus, who has arrived from Colonia Gallia. He might be able to help us with the journey north."

The crowd was starting to shrink somewhat, as the spectators moved to other tables, or to the casks of ale. Checkers had expected to have awakened in the afternoon, and to have given Fred and the company the latest news. However, the journey to Red Deer and back had taxed her more than she had thought, and she had overslept and had just awakened. Checkers drifted unnoticed against this crowd, and found a tree near the table where the Big Game was taking place. She climbed into its dense foliage, and waited. She noticed that Sartoma, Fred, and Jan appeared to be talking and having a merry time, but she decided that it was not yet time to join them, as it appeared that they were doing well and were the centre of attention. She was wary of humans, and did not want to bring attention to herself unless there was some need to do so. She would discreetly join the company after they had left the game.

There was now a break in Big Game, as the mages of the town tired. Lucius crossed the shooters line, and said, "Master of Ceremonies, I would be interested in a friendly game. You know my background, so I assume that I qualify?"

The crowd hushed. The Master of Ceremonies replied, "Most certainly, Lucius. Everyone - listen! Lucius from Colonia Gallia is here! This is a special night. Does anyone wish to challenge Lucius to a friendly game? Anyone?"

The crowd became uneasy. Everyone thought, "What is Lucius doing? His throwing dice against our mages is an unequal contest, and he knows it. What is his point - unless he is going to challenge Sartoma. That has to be it. God help her."

Sartoma noticed the concerned looks on the faces of some of the local people, but most of their thoughts were unreadable to her. Still, she would take a chance. Even if she lost half of her current stake, they still have a good foundation - and perhaps Lucius could help them in some way. She rose, and broke the awkward silence.

"I am willing to match against Mister Lucius in a friendly game," said Sartoma. "Although he must excuse me if I break off early. It is getting late."

Lucius replied silently, and in a lightly accented mariner's language, Worry not, Sartoma. I know why you are here. And then he said, aloud, "This is not a match to the death. But as it is getting late, I will make a suggestion to make it shorter but more intense. Silver pieces and copper bits are hard for me to keep track of. I propose to raise the stakes to a half sovereign a round.

Sartoma was trapped. But the unwritten rules, she could not back down without losing face. She accepted, and felt good about her chances, but her heart now beat faster.

Lucius rolled first. He smoothly rolled a 30 - six fives. Sartoma thought, He was very precise, but hasn't gotten comfortable with the feel of these dice. I have to strike now. She then rolled. The dice did not cross each other, which would have doomed the roll. She had achieved an 8 - not perfect, but good enough so that her stake was now four and one half sovereigns. She nodded at Fred and Jan, who smiled back at her.

Sartoma won the next two rounds, which pushed her stake to 5 1/2 sovereigns. She could work with six, and ten would make their task easy. And she would gain the respect of this strange mage. But she was losing her concentration with these thoughts. She had the first roll, and somehow a pair of dice got crossed and gave her a 28. She watch helplessly as Lucius easily undercut her with an 11. Now she was still in good shape at 5 sovereigns, but she had to stay focussed. Was it just her imagination, or was Lucius trying the same distracting tactics that Jayton tried, without success?

It was Lucius's turn to make the first cast now, and he nailed a 36. Sartoma concentrated completely on her cast. Beautiful, she thought as the required 6 came up. The sovereign stayed on the table.

She now made the first cast, and made 36. She dare not use the silent speech to try to distract Lucius - the bad experience with Charlie had cowed her. Lucius was now getting the feel of the dice, and threw another 6. The two sovereigns stayed on the table.

Lucius took his time now, and cooly knocked the corners of his handful of dice on the table. He casually remarked, "Sartoma, I hope that the voyage in went smoothly. Some unfriendly ships there are out in the Western Sea." Then the dice separated wonderfully, evenly spaced, at he rolled a perfect 36. This was now 5 straight rolls of the dice where the shooter had the ideal roll. Even with loaded dice, this was uncommon. It took great concentration to control six dice even without another mage trying cause a distraction. Sartoma needed this badly. She concentrated, and imagined a perfect separation of the six dice into six ones. She threw, and got her 6. There were now three sovereigns on the table - and after she laid another half down, she now had three left in her pocket.

She then said, "The journey in was rough, but I made it here." Then, as she was casting, she heard, in the silent speech, Did you run into a renegade signalman? I have had heard some bad stories. Sartoma was sure that this would be the imperfect cast, but the dice barely stayed within the lines she hoped for, and she picked up her 36.

She did not dare respond, although Lucius had obviously guessed that her mind had been assaulted. She wondered how good Lucius really was? She wanted to snoop - read someone's mind - but she did not dare....

Lucius now rolled a 6, with one die barely holding on to keeping a one on its upward face. Eight straight ideal rolls, and four sovereigns on the table.

There would not be a ninth. Two of the dice on Lucius's next cast tipped into each other, resulting in a 33. That was usually an excellent cast, but in this game it looked like Sartoma would pick up the five sovereigns that were at stake. If he can guess it, how much damage was done? thought Sartoma. She paused, and then cast. Damn! One die clanked against the table while she cast it, activating the resin. She was lucky that a four came up. 1-1-1-1-1-4. Nine! Another 42! And five sovereigns stayed on the table.

Sartoma placed another half sovereign on the table. She was sure that Lucius was trying to distract her, but there was something more to it than that. He was not taunting her. His game was subtle. On the next throw, he said nothing, and Sartoma cast a 36. Sartoma pulled at the neckline of her dress and smiled nervously. Lucius bowed, smiled back, and coolly cast yet another six. Six sovereigns stayed on the table.

"I almost have him," thought Sartoma. He has been on the brink of going down during this entire sequence. She placed another half sovereign on the table and started to hum to herself quietly. Lucius again spoke silently, complimenting her on her voice, and then said, I can diagnose and fix any problems from a mental assault, you know. Special medicine in Colonia Gallia is the best in the Eveninglands. He then paused, tapped the dice, and cast yet another 36. There was more pressure on Sartoma. It seemed that her skills in manipulation were better than she remembered. Could that have been Charlie's work? Then she put the dice down, and took a deep breath. She almost hoped that she would fail here, just so she could withdraw. But she concentrated, her pride on the line. Yes! A six. There were seven sovereigns standing on the table.

She placed another half sovereign down, and quickly cast a 36, before she could think. She wanted to talk to Lucius, alone. But did she dare initiate a conversation? Now was not the time to do it. She placed her hands on the table, and leaned down, hoping to distract him. Lucius smirked, and cast a 6. There were eight sovereigns on the table.

Suddenly Jan spoke up. "Excuse me, Miss Sartoma and Mister Lucius. I have to go relieve myself." There were mutters of agreement. The members of the crowd did not want to miss the climax of this fascinating duel, and appreciated Jan's suggestion. The MC, aware that a break would mean more sales of food and drink, readily agreed.

Fred then quickly came up to Sartoma, and whispered, "You are down to your last sovereign. Walk away! He is toying with you."

Sartoma was shocked. She said, "I have these dice under control. I can better him."

"That is what he wants you to think," said Fred. "I do not know magic, but I can read body language. He is not worried, and you are."

1. Sartoma agrees, and stands down.
2. Sartoma insists on continuing.

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