Helix: The Foul Pheasant

[GreyWolfVT]

Dalin curiosity getting the better of him catches up to Perni again when she is not busy and says "I'll do you that favor, I owe you after all since the last favor I didn't succeed in."

[Spearmint]

sure, so once you head to Bogtown, I will post details about her favour.

[scottjen]

Fydmar

He will have a drink & will look to see if any dwarves are inside, specifically looking for an ancient miner (Bogart). If he sees no such person, he will ask the staff is he still staying at the inn.

-5gp for tips/drinks/goodwill.

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

An evening soirée in the Pheasant could be a much more bawdy affair than the Brazen Strumpet. The upstairs gallery has a number of rooms serving brothel purposes. Punters pick a wench, agree a price and entertain themselves. (strictly off screen and not narrated).

There are also very popular 'green door' rooms that host public or private gambling; dice, cards. In the courtyard outside, a spit and sawdust arena is laid out for cockfighting. All three are in full swing tonight with an influx of patrons.

Fydmar, a lady of the house in tow serving him whatever drinks and smokes he prefers. You chat, greet one or two locals, the dwarves especially seem to be proficient gamblers.

Among them a harrowed figure, wrinkled in face and hands, a beard grey beyond its years. Only Bogart's eyes are still bright. He leans upon a staff to aid his limping walk. Currently he is playing dice, a variant of Liar's Dice using 7 polyhedrons rather than a quintet of six sided dice. (a d4, d6, d8, two d10's, d12 & 20).

They are wagering trinkets and silver coins. A seat opens up if you want to join in or you can approach him to converse another way.

[scottjen]

Fydmar
Will join the game of dice. Let me know what I need to deduct to get started. Once an opportunity presents itself, we will say to Bogart, After we are done here, perhaps I can buy you a few drinks and you can share your tale?

[Spearmint]

Bogart to Fydmar

"Teller's tell tales but the dice don't lie. And neither do I. If you want my story though, you have to best at dice." he says.

Dice Game: Aces and Eights'.

the game at the Table is named 'Aces & Eights'. Each player rolls a tub of dice, the d4 - d20 with 1's counting as Aces and 8's counting as Eights. The 0 on the d10 can count as either a 1 or an 8. Players roll and suggest the total amount of Ace's and Eights' spread across the combined player dice rolls. There are variants to the game but in the mist simplest form, you just guess the exact number of Aces and Eights'. Guess too many of both and you bust out. Guess too little then you lose, guess correct and win the pot.

Each player takes a turn, the first player guesses 'blind', he does so without checking his dice, but adds as silver piece to the pot for every Ace or Eight he suggests The next player bids a higher number of Aces or Eights, adding more silver pieces into the pot for every additional suggested Ace or Eight, or just confirming the previous bid by adding to the pot the same amount. When every player has bid, checking or raising, dice are revealed and tallied up. Players can fold at any time, rather than add more coins to the pot, but in folding they reveal their dice.

Players guess how many dice are Aces, how many Eights.

Sounds complicated, it is, but can be fun to play, especially when the wagers become forfeits or dares ...

action Fydmar roll me a macro containing a 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 2 x 1d10, 1d12, 1d20.

There are four of your at the table playing and within a couple of bidding rounds a stack of shiny silver pieces is mounting up in the middle of the table.

Azxopardi, a regular in the Pheasant folds his hand and reveals dice as follows:

Ace's and Eights': [1d4]=3[1d6]=1[1d8]=6[1d10]=8[1d10]=9[1d12]=7[1d20]=12

So you know that in addition to your own dice there is one ace and one eight, no wild number zero.

Crispin adds his bid, "Three Aces, one Eight." he says, adding more silver to the pot.

Ace's and Eights': [1d4]=3[1d6]=3[1d8]=6[1d10]=3[1d10]=1[1d12]=11[1d20]=20

Bogart shakes his head. With four players it is less than one ace and one eight each. Surely someone has a better dividend. "Three Aces, two Eights.".

Ace's and Eights': [1d4]=2[1d6]=5[1d8]=3[1d10]=3[1d10]=9[1d12]=4[1d20]=19

It comes to Fydmar's turn. you get to bid an increase from 3 to 4 aces or increase from 2 to 3 eights or increase both to any higher amount.

Looking at your dice, you get a canny feeling, having some aces and Eights' in your hand.
Ace's and Eights': [1d4]=3[1d6]=1[1d8]=1[1d10]=5[1d10]=8[1d12]=6[1d20]=4

You go to "Four Aces and two Eights.".

Crispin folds and Bogart calls your bid, he wagers more. The dice are checked and while he busts out, you get it spot on. The coins, a mini pyramid of 68 silvers, loose change to you flush with expedition money. The games carry in then you can take the aged-before-his-time dwarf aside.

"What do you want to know?" he asks, the question inferring not just wanting his testimony of how he got aged but more specific but any secret miners hoard, any mother-lode of silver or gold, caverns of crystals and 'draugr', undead crypt things buried deep in the earth.

[scottjen]

Fydmar
Rolls the dice
Dice game [1d4]=4, [1d6]=4, [1d8]=7, [2d10]=16, [1d12]=3, [1d20]=5
if the d10 are separate: [1d10]=5, [1d10]=4

Rumor is a phantom took your youth just as you found a hidden silver lode, and other treasure. I'm curious as to the truth of it, and how it actually went down. Was it a crypt and its resident set this curse on you? Perhaps there is a way to reverse it? Did you actually see the treasure? What was it? Was there more than one ghost? Do you see revenge?

[Spearmint]

the game seems easier to play in real life than describe over pbp!

The Foul Pheasant

Fydmar bests the dice and in doing so gets Bogart to share his testimony.

"We were a dozen. Dwarves, gnomes. Strongarmed men who could wield a pick and break backs every day hauling the finest chalk blocks around the quarry. The mine was long abandoned but we snuck back in, always believing we were on the cusp of something big.

We worked hard, long hards, seemingly little reward but eventually we bust into an open cavern. Old rock, hard like granite not soft. There the waters flowed, crystal clear and babbling. We followed the sound it made, delving into the dark.

I swore it sang to us and many sang back. But we were not alone. Salamanders as tall as a man slithered. Blind they were but mean and territorial, cave crickets that hunted by scent and touch. Each were crushed by picks and axes though we lost Meriadoc along the way.

Then we found a vein, glinting, a slither of fortune and we dug, evening out nuggets of ore. But the cave whispered, haunting sounds and led us astray, deeper into the crevices and maws of darkness. Deep gnomes, grey of skin and black of heart assailed us. Trespasses we were, intruding upon their shrines but full of lust for the silver we harried them and slew many, burying them and our shame under the rocks that we hacked to get the silver.

At first one thought it was Meriadoc, impossibly alive. Calling, he knew our names. Peragrim, Thalor, Golly Halfhand. Those who went to search came back as spirits, leaving their bodies to rot in the mines only to haunt their living kin.

I saw him, I saw them. And was afraid. I trembled and fell under his cold touch, falling from a ledge to land into an icy pool and was washed away. Unconscious I floated, drifting along, ragged and drawing my last breathes. When I came to, I was withered in body and lost in mind. I count it not to my fortune that I crawled out alive."

He tells a said tale of mining in deep passages under the chalk cliffs of the Northern Ridges.

[scottjen]

Fydmar
Quite a tale! I thank you for it. (he will pay for whatever "good stuff" Bogart wants to drink)
let me know how much $ I need to deduct for his time at the Foul Pheasant

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

Fydmar drinks his fill and covers the evening for the stricken Bogart, aged by his encounters with undead spirits in an old mine.

The strange tales are worth a coin (-1gp) and gives Fydmar much to think about.

Bogart, is physically and mentally scarred by the experiences. Asked about seeking revenge, he shakes his head. More he seeks redemption, to be healed and reinvigorated and potentially to learn to face his fears. He will not go back in to tunnels again, very un-dwarf like. He does offer though, suspecting if your interest that if 'you ever went that way', you could take BabeRuth, his old pack mule.

"She's too ignorant, cantankerous to know any better. She'll follow any carrot dangled in front of her nose. Like us, tempted to our doom."

he will sell you his mule for -20gp if you would like it.

[scottjen]

Fydmar
Aye I'll take Baberuth. I have a barn where he can rest when I am in Helix.
21gp deducted.

[Quonundrum]

Moriartus

Moriartus enters the Foul Pheasant as a man entirely unaccustomed to establishments of questionable repute. He stands just inside the threshold, one hand clutching the loanshark ledger forcibly confiscated from its previous owner, Silky. Unsure which of the colorful ladies and gentlemen is the proprietor, he casually scans the room and waits for one to approach.

He suspects most of the former bandit's clientele are loose with their coin and would frequently visit such a place. He had no intention to collect on the debts, but perhaps a favor or two could be elicited ...

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

The landlady is rather easy to spot, a buxom, extrovert and loud halfling named Pernicious . She is 'a lady in the know', certainly in regards to various clientele; from regular villagers and merchants 'playing away from home', to spendthrift adventurers cashing in plunder from the tombs to addicts getting their fix of opioid, tobacco, gambling. Or just gentlemen adventurers seeking some peaceable (and off screen) entertainment.

Moriartus engages her politely, taking an escort (not a Strumpet wench, no these are high class conversationalist bimbo's and eye candy) on one arm and a complimentary bottle of wine in the other.

"Silky, not a smooth criminal. More like a shark playing big fish in a little pool. So he got swallowed up did he?"

the loan ledger has a number of names. Merda, a Brazen Strumpet wench, Falstaff the Farrier, Clive the butcher. Mr & Mrs Bublé who paid for investigations to find a missing son, a few cottage merchants, some down on their luck adventurers borrowing to make ends meet.

"What sort of favour were you looking for?'

[Quonundrum]

Moriartus

"Indeed!"

"You could say he rather overestimated the size of his mouth ... met another fish he couldn't easily swallow. As to the favour, I have no particular need of one at the moment. Consider it a gesture of good will ... from one fish to another. The kind of gesture that inspires reciprocity in the future. One can never have too many friends."

"I would prefer discretion informing Silky's customers, though. Perhaps I could engage your help in this regard, for reasonable fee, of course? I will, however, contact Mr. and Mrs. Buble' myself. Their concern is of special interest to me."

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

Pernicious looks at the ledger, marking a 'v' for villager and 'a' for adventurer against the names she knows.

"I can send out a runner to these addresses and let them know that 'an associate of Rooster Rogan' has taken over the debt management and closed any outstanding arrears. Silky will vex them no more.

Adventurers, come and go and few have any loyalty or investment in this Helix community. I suggest doubling down on their losses and scooping a bit of profit.

There was one young man who came in here a few days ago. A squaddie from the militia draft who served under 'Rooster'. The Silver Standard engaged him to settle a few debts by all accounts. Sorted out a couple of Silky's lackeys. 'Redshirt' was the name suggested to the local gendarmes who stitched them back up. If you need an enforcer beyond your normal acquaintances, I will point him over to you when he is back in town."

Gunter Redshirt: debt collection noted here #105-131. Currently on expedition to Bogtown.

Mr & Mrs Bublu are halfling small holders farming vegetables, nurturing and apple orchard and raising goats. They live on the edge of the village and have widely advertised regarding a missing son, Fapp who wild of heart and awestruck with wanderlust, disappeared into the forests without trace but with a half feral warg at his side. They fear the warg has eaten him.

[Quonundrum]

Moriartus

"I have no interest in shaking down adventurers for profit. Besides, there may be a diamond in the rough who may remember my generosity in the future. Please inform those whom you may know. You may keep the ledger, too. I assume you have enforcers at your disposal. Considering that not a few adventurers are simply scoundrels, I leave it to your discretion to collect from them and profit as you see fit."

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

The ledger book of Silky is taken and over the coming days, various accounts are closed. Some more happily and amicably than others but the debts are all cleared.

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

June 30th.

Looking for something different for evening entertainment apaet grom the Brazen Strumpet's resident bard Bublé or the pesterings of verandah beggar Alaster, I will go to the other tavern.

"Mr Rogan good evening. Checking the goods in. Frisk me if you will, no cudgels, no assassin's blade, just this tarnished relic of a blunted longsword."

I will check the tavern bouncer over and judge from the other handed-in stuff the quality of the other patrons. Not that I expect a bejeweled array of weapons with any thoughts to steal but to gain any insights such as patrons are knights, peasants, farmhands.

Ideally I want to sneak in a silvered blade (just on the off chance 'safe haven of Helix' is also that sanctuary for certain types).

Vann Hector tries to pick pocket vs 35% [1d100]=15

[Spearmint]

The Foul Pheasant

Vann Hector gets frisked down by 'Rooster' Rogan, expertly. "How is the wrestling going? I was village topdog until that monk Sunshine turned up. Beat everyone hands down. How are you faring?" he says referring back a couple of months to the Herne Festival wrestling competition. He shows you his latest 'grab and roll' technique and you can quickstep like a matador, successfully secreting your silver dagger up a sleeve.

He books in your sword and bandolier.

"Easy to understand eh? You fill this sack with your tools and weapons for safe keeping here and you empty your other tools and sack in there.

Enjoy." , giving you a numbered chit for the sack. Others are sack up and items shelved, so you cannot see if anything is bejewelled or not.

You enter the upstairs saloon. It is as described, putting on a veneer of poshness and etiquette but underneath is not that upmarket. Smoke from traditional tobacco pipes and tables of fragrant hookah fill the room. Few locals are present. Most of the crowd made up of gambeson wearing adventurers of all races. The atmosphere is relaxed. People come here to let off steam, have a good time, spend some coins and from the creaking above, get some cleavage. A group of men drape on chaisse lounge by a table filled with empty bottles. Another pair of half-elven are locked in quite conversation over a hookah. Some men sit at the bar, chatting amicably with flirty escorts.

You can access the bar, the drinks have a wider variety of spirits, wine and gins with just one local ale or mead in tap. Escorts, wenches of all races in heels and fluffed out silks accompany guests as requested. Of interest beyond curvy damsels are the two gaming rooms that deal in card or dice games. Seats get vacated quickly as Fate dictates, so room.for you to splash the little cash you have.

actions

[Stirling]

Vann Hector

Checks himself over after the few wrestling moves, just in case Rooster Rogan is trying a bit of sleight of hands too!

"I hear you bait the fighting cocks. Any spurs and feathers up for show tonight?" I will ask him before going upstairs.

In the bar I will grab a bottle, red wine, medium dry with a hint of fruit and passion, taking it and a glass into the gaming room. I will try my luck at the poker and see if I still have that 'reading faces' skill. I buy in if neccessary swapping 20gp into chips or lesser coins.