Public Arda: Storm of the Century

[Kostodu Xyston]

Kostodu glanced outside and immediately agreed with Lily. Nobody would be flying, driving, or even walking out in this storm. Just then, a warm feeling flooded the Jedi's mind. But this was not his emotion. The Twi turned to look at Whuv, who seemed to be beaming with joy as his new friends praised his idea.

And now they all wanted to play a game of sabaac. The Padawan waved a hand in dismissal. "I could be the dealer, I guess, as long as the dealer doesn't play. I don't really know how to play, so dealing the cards would be all I could handle," Kostodu said. Really, he hadn't had time to learn such games. Maybe when he made it to the rank of Knight, since then he'd be done with most of his training. For now though, he might as well stay clear of that game.

But that didn't mean he couldn't try to predict the victor. This could be a test of his Jedi skills, even away on meditation vacation. He swept a gaze around the group surreptitiously, trying to get a feel of who would be the best at this game. Whuv Asyr seemed a bit too friendly and joyful to be able to come through with the win. He didn't look like he'd be able to put on a good sabaac face.

Lily Rhodes was...hmm. Kostodu hadn't talked to her much yet, and as such didn't know her personality as he did the other two. Speaking of which, Luca looked like the winningest out of all three contestants. He was the shadier one, that probably had dozens of tricks up his sleeve. Maybe he'd have the nerve to cheat too, though probably not in such a small game as this.

So Kostodu would bet ten credits with himself that Luca would be the victor in this game. But probably not all of them. Especially if he started to get sleepy, and began making rookie mistakes.

Tass Arceneau

 

[Lily Rhodes]

The joy that radiated from Whuv made lily chuckle. He was cute, in a puppy dog kinda way.

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the idea of sabacc, could she really risk throwing the last few of her coins in such a a gamble. A shrug, if Whuv came through on his promising plan, then it wouldn't matter. And if he didn't? Well, once a cutpurse, always a cutpurse.

"Alright." She followed Tass's lead reorienting herself to allow space and shelter of card. She gave him a small smile. Lily knew as well as he did that the real competition here would be each other. "I'm happy with you dealing, Kostodu, If you're not comfortable playing. Besides its always better to have an independant dealer."

Kostodu Xyston Tass Arceneau Whuv Asyr

 

[Whuv Asyr]

Whuv was excited that they all were keen on his suggestion. He sent his mother a comm text message asking to be picked up as soon as the storm abated and that he’d be bringing some friends along.

Friends. The word made him so giddy.

“Oh g-good,” he began, digging into his woven satchel for the cards.

“I-I also have some c-chips too!” He exclaimed with glee - though what person would have an entire chip set on their person at any time would be weird. Then again, as the Ithorian brought out a small wooden case, it was evident that these were handmade wood carving chips. They had been intricately whittled out of what appeared fine grain Ithorian wood. They weren’t perfect to say the least, with some imperfections, but the desire to make a beautiful gaming chip for different denominations was clear to see.

Whuv set about to arrange himself just like Tass Arceneau and allow room for the game in the center. He set down a well used deck of sabacc cards and encouraged someone to shuffle and deal.

He was perfectly happy to play for fun and not credits if everyone would rather do that. He carved the chips to allow more chances to play with people. It meant more chances to learn about others and make friends.

Kostodu Xyston Lily Rhodes

 

[Tass Arceneau]

As the game got underway and the stormy night deepened, Tass found himself making an unpleasant realization. Whether by bad luck, Jedi tricks, poor-kid drifter skills, or just Ithorian, uh, guile...Tass was losing. Consistently.

At the moment they were just playing for the hand-carved poker chips. Good thing he wasn't losing anything real.

There was nothing like an escalation to turn bad luck around. Next time it was his turn to raise, he fished out his pocketknife, a well-used and expensive one, and shoved it in with his chips.

Kostodu Xyston Lily Rhodes Whuv Asyr

 

[Kostodu Xyston]

Kostodu scooted over a bit to reach for the sabaac cards, then shuffling them on his lap. He then dealt the cards around as best as he could, just waiting like a guilty growzer for someone to tell him he was doing it all wrong. But that moment never came. After dealing the cards and feeling good about himself, he saw Whuv's beautifully made wooden chips. Perhaps Kostodu could play...if not with real credits, then with this awesome set of chips that the Ithorian probably handmade. It was more beginner-friendly than Kostodu could ever imagine.

Something else Kostodu couldn't imagine was Luca losing. The shady figure, while seemingly he'd be good at games like this, was actually getting beaten! Maybe the Padawan needed more work on his people-reading skills. Or maybe he had just overestimated the man.

And then Luca did something wild. He put an expensive pocketknife in with his chips. A bet. Well well well, maybe Luca was just tossing the first few games to put up a facade for the others to read and misinterpret as an actual lack of skill. Now, once he got the others to start betting, he'd reveal his true skill and sweep all their valuables.

Just then, Kostodu realized he'd been staring at the back of Luca's head with a sour expression on his face. Hopefully the others didn't mistake that for Luca having a bad hand, because Kostodu couldn't tell the difference between a trash hand and a winning hand. Instead, he wiped the grimace off his face and replaced it with an all-too-friendly grin.

Tass Arceneau Lily Rhodes Whuv Asyr

 

[Lily Rhodes]

Lily had not expected this, her predictions and expectations shifting at sight of the well used deck and beautifully carved chips Whuv Asyr produced. Well played didn't necessarily mean the same as playing well.

A few hands later, she was trading wins with the ithorian, though Whuv had a small lead on her, Tass being left behind much to her surprise. She eye the pocket knife he produced. A useful tool to have, but did she didn't have have any trinkets herself to match it. Her eyes moved from the pot, to her hand, fingers drumming gently on her knee in thought. With the -21 in her hand she could win in it...

"Stand." she said as it came to her turn, pushing the entirety of her wooden chip stack to the centre. "All in."

Tass Arceneau Kostodu Xyston

 

[Whuv Asyr]

Whuv was giddy with cheer. Both mouths were curved up in broad smiles. While he wasn't in it to win anything, more for the company, he did have a keen grasp of numbers and probability. If he lost, it wouldn't bother him anything. At the very least, it appeared that everyone was enjoying themselves.

Tass Arceneau 's move to add the pocket knife caught Whuv's attention, eye stalks rotating over to him. As a whittler, it was a very nice pocket knife. Kostodu Xyston appeared to stand, and then Lily Rhodes went all in.

As Tass had decided to add in an item, and not wanting for him to feel as if he was alone - he had been losing quite a bit of chips - and also because Lily went all in, Whuv decided to join.

"I s-shall match!" He cried, only to add, "And add this!" one lone pink finger shot up, wagging enthusiastically. Drawing the trio's attention, Whuv scooted the basket-type satchel over and flipped the lid. With ever so careful fingers, he brought out a small, square, clear container. It appeared to be a terrarium with a lid and a few breathing holes. It had a few small flowering plants, but the lovely little dandelion flower fluff in the middle was ever so pretty. It would float around as if caught in the middle of a gust. Only upon closer inspection would one see a feathery tendril sprouting from the fluff, and little black eyes attached to a fuzzy white head.

​

It was a Fen'jin. A small Dandelion flower, which, upon the inspection of the three sets of eyes on it, gave a little fluff dance and then shot out a bit of electricity. Thankfully, the container it was in managed to absorb the shock.

 

[Tass Arceneau]

So Whuv had valuables as hoped. Tass blunted his avarice by remembering that Whuv was his ticket off Arda and into (admittedly grunt) work with an Ithorian merchant fleet.

Time to be a good loser. A negative eighteen probably wasn't gonna win anything.

He decided that, in retrospect, he'd been subconsciously planning to lose the knife to ingratiate himself. All part of the subconscious plan.

He laid out his negative eighteen and tried not to cringe.

Whuv Asyr Lily Rhodes Kostodu Xyston