The Card Game
(Submitted by SirExegete)

As he recalled, it was when the two of Knives turned up in his hand for the
sixth time in a row that Sir Exegete of the Forge, Knight of the Round Table
began to suspect that something was not as it should be with the dealer.  Exe
looked up through narrowed eyes at the dealer.  He looked innocent enough,
but the Dagron always looked innocent, even with his sword in the guts of a
vanquished enemy, so who could tell?  Exe immediately discarded cheating as a
possibility.  Dagron would never stoop to something so low and dishonorable,
and besides, Exe wasn't about to be the one to bring that subject up with
such a one a Dagron the object of the inquiry.  No, it was definitely wise to
stay on Dag's good side.  this had been reinforced quite recently in a small
skirmish with several ITB's, handled comfortably by several Knights, Dagron
included in the West Woods, was it just a day ago?    But that is another
tale.

Rapping knuckles and the sweet, if impatient voice of the Lady Allsfaire
brought Exe's attention back to the table and the task at hand.  Exe looked
around the table at the varying piles of cash.  While his own pile was
disappointingly small, Dag's was even smaller, larger than only one other
player, and he was Dag's squire so he didn't really count.  No, Dag couldn't
be cheating because he was losing, but then, knowing Dag. . .no, he couldn't
be cheating!

He cast his glance around the table and met each of the other players.
Tuvor, recently back from fulfilling his Ambassadorial duties with COR and
still muttering something about Allanon and gating.  Lady Blackcoral,
beautiful and inscrutable, with the largest mound of cash in front of her.
Exe briefly pondered the oddly shaped item next to her winnings (mostly from
Dagron) and wondered about it once again.  He'd never seen anything like it
before.  Coral had taken it from Dagron in pledge when his cash had run out
earlier in the game.  it was still Dagron's, but would remain in Coral's
possession until Dagron retrieved funds from his vault after the game.  

"Exe, if you please?".  this from Augustus, Knight Commander and Guild
Arch-Mage.

"Oh. . .certainly" Exe replied and selected the 9 of Swords and played it.
Augustus followed quickly with the 10 of Helms and one the trick.  Exe tossed
the 10 Gold ante into the pot and looked to Augustus for the lead card for
the next round.  Augie lead the King of Shields with a quick snap of the
wrist and a sharp slapping sound of card on table.  

Shogar, Lord consulate to the AGM, played next, and so on through the hand.
Exe broke about even, but Dagron, increasingly frustrated, lost once again
and was beginning to show it.

"Dag, please, that's the fifth set of cards you've torn up since you took
over the deal" Tuvor said with an easy smile on his face.  A grunt his only
reply, Dagron took a fresh deck and began to shuffle them.  Tuvor looked
around and caught the eye of the serving wench and motioned her to his side.

"Yes Milord," she said with a shy smile "how may I serve you?", the tremble
evident in her voice.

Tuvor turned his full attention an the round lass.  "I think another round,
and you'd better bring some more decks of cards my love, I fear Sir Dagron is
not yet finished his reign of terror yet." he said with a wink and a pat on
her arm.

The others around the table laughed as the young girl blushed at Tuvor's
touch and backed away, nearly falling over a chair in the process.

"You know Tuvor,"  Allsfaire began, a reproving tone in her voice, "If you
weren't so. . . friendly with the servers in these places, we would get the
complaints from the Innkeepers about disrupting their businesses.  the last
time we were here Strider complained that his girls were lovesick for three
days after you left."

"I don't know why there aren't more male servers in these Inns" Blakcoral
complained.  But the light tone of voice undermined the seriousness of her
complaint.

"The owners know they'd lose them all right quickly to you and Allsfaire
Milady" Augustus quipped, with a smile on his face.

"Here here" Exe added in agreement, finishing off his mug in anticipation of
the round Tuvor had ordered.  "Tuv, what happened to that blond wench, the
one that was here last time we played?"

A red tinge began to creep over Tuvor's face.  "What blond" he asked,
feigning innocence.

"The one with the great. . ." Exe looked around, red encroaching one his own
face as he caught looks from both Allsfaire and Blackcoral.  "attitude." he
finished lamely, an embarrassed look on his face.

Allsfaire turned her gaze back to Tuvor.  "Yeah, Tuv, what did happen to her?
She hasn't been around much lately." she said in a tone that clearly said
that she already knew the answer.

Red, now fully evident on Tuvor's face, deepened in shade.  He cleared his
throat and scratched his chin, shuffling his cards repeatedly.

"I'll tell you what happened to her." came the familiar voice of Duke Orion
as moved toward the table removing his cloak.  Tuvor looked at him with
pleading in his eyes.  The Duke met his gaze and smiled an almost devilish
smile.  Do the words "Paladine" and "Nunnery" bring anything to mind Sir
Tuvor?" he inquired with a grin.

"Let's play cards, let's play cards" Tuvor said, a bit loudly, his desire to
change the subject evident.  He cast a few coins into the pot and tried to
look nonchalant.

The others look expectantly toward the Duke.

Orion moved around the table slowly.  He paused and looked at the odd item
next to Coral's pile of winnings.  A small smile escaped his lips.  "Coral,
where did you get this?" he asked.

"From Dagron" she responded.  "He ran out of money a while back."

Duke picked up the object and looked at it closely.  It was a molded shape of
a creature of some sort.  Obviously very old, the handling it had received
over the years had worn its edges and caused it to be less easily recognized.
"It looks something like donkey's back end"  Exe thought absently and he
watched the Duke..  Orion reached into a pocket of his cloak and pulled out a
pinch of matter and sprinkled it over the object murmuring an incantation.
The objet began to glow slightly and Orion burst out into a hearty laugh.

"This belongs to Dagron"? he asked?

"Indeed" Coral replied, I'm only holding it for him 'til he can get to his
vault.

All at the table were interested now.  Orion put the object down carefully
and slung his cloak over an empty chair.  "Can I get into the game?" he
asked.  "Dagron is dealing I take it?"  He continued - "Deal me in!".

"What is it Duke" Coral asked.  "It's not worthless is it?" she queried,
casting a suspicious eye toward Dagron.

"No, by no means" Duke replied, giving another hearty chuckle.  "It is very
valuable in some circles " he added.

Dagron, apparently further irritated by all of this, rasped "Let's play" and
proceeded to deal out another round of cards.  Exe looked at his hand and
sure enough, there was the two of knives again.  He bit his lip thoughtfully.
Looking over at Duke Orion, he wondered what Orion knew that he didn't.
Orion wasn't one normally to play cards, in fact Exe had never known him to
enter a game at all.  The Duke was one that liked sure things and made
certain of the odds before he entered into a venture or an adventure.  "A
sure thing" echoed in Exe's mind.  He pondered that idea over the next few
hands that saw Orion gather a considerable pot of winnings.  Most on the
table lost some, but Dagron was losing most of all.  Every time a hand was
completed and the Duke gathered more winnings, He laughed until finally he
was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes.  

"Dag, aren't you just the slightest bit suspicious about all of this" he
asked, wiping tears from his eyes.

The others around the table looked at each other and then back at Dag and
Orion.

"Suspicious about what" Dag replied, suspiciously. He looked at Tuvor who
shrugged his shoulders.  Tuv was just glad that attention had shifted form
his interest in serving wenches.

"Losing is an art form Dag, an art form that some have undertaken to ensure."
the Duke began.  "Where'd you get that piece you gave to Coral?" he asked.

"Dunno" Dag replied.  "Won it off some Mage up in Vilnask I think"

"Heheh" Orion replied.  "Would I be correct in that the Mage bowed out of the
game right after 'losing it" and that you lost a bundle to those left?"

Dagron thought for a moment.  "Yeah", he said  "Come to think of it, I did
lose quite a bit up there!" he said thoughtfully.  "What's that got to do
with now?" he asked.

The Duke packed up his winnings and stood to his feet.   Reality began to
dawn on the other at the table, and they did likewise, hurriedly scooping
their cash in to sacks and getting ready to leave.

"Where's everyone going?" Dagron said sourly - I got a lot of money to win
back.  He looked a Coral who had taken all of her winnings except the icon.
"Here Dag" she said - "forget about the rest - my treat" she added with a
weak smile.

"What's going on here" Dagron roared, beginning to suspect something himself.

"Dag"  that statue is an Icon of losing - somebody passed it on you and then
took advantage of its magic to fleece you.  It's called the Sucker's
Medallion".  Exe suddenly realized that it was indeed the image of
hindquarters, though not of a donkey, but of a horse!

"Gotta go" Exe said hastily, putting two and two together and realizing his
winnings were in jeopardy.

"See y'all" both Coral and Allsfaire said almost at the same time, obviously
coming to the same conclusion and heading for the door.

"Next time" Augustus V" said as he headed for the stairs.  "Got some Guild
business to attend to" he added as he went upstairs tree at a time.

"If anyone wants me, I'm out of town" Tuvor said as he headed for the back
entrance, giving the serving wench a wink on the way out.

"Wait just a minute" Dagron roared.  He looked at the Duke.  "You mean this,
this . . . . . . . . .  thing MADE me lose?" he sputtered.

"'Fraid so Dag" the Duke grinned "Ought to be more careful about this kind of
thing" he added with a laugh.

Allsfaire and Coral were obviously out of the question as far as refunds go.
Exe was already out the door and Augustus was upstairs.  Orion was unlikely
to part with any either, so that left Tuvor, quickly disappearing out the
back way.  "TUVOR" Dagron hollered as he hastily began a pursuit.  I want a
word with you. . . . . ."