In need of a drink (open continued from Sensatia)

[jomo1992]

Orlando felt as if he were falling at an incredible speed. Air whipped past him, slapping his cheeks. Without warning, ground appeared from the endless void beneath him, and his feet smashed against it with so much force that his knees almost buckeled. Looking up, he saw blue skies above him. He was standing outside the massive stone gates of Ilyamen. He patiently waited for Mikasi.

[Kender Bard]

Mikasi was actually a much quieter teleporter, as benefited his style. He always put forth a little extra mental energy, and so instead, a few beams of light shot down and landed on the ground, reforming into Mikasi. He grinned sheepishly at his showmanship and gave a helpless little shrug.

Well at least he didn't teleport with a fanfare. He'd actually seen that once.

[jomo1992]

Orlando chuckled at Mikasi's dramatic style of teleportation. "Very nice. I've been working on a flashier style of teleportation myself, but the end part never seems to work right. I think I'm putting slightly too much energy into it." To demonstrate, Orlando held his fingers once again onto the symbol on his forehead, channelling more energy than he would normally use to teleport. Without warning, Orlando exploded in a cloud of bright violet smoke, which vanished instantly. A few of the bystanders jumped. A second small explosion of smoke appeared a few feet away from where Orlando teleported from. Orlando walked out of the smoke. This smoke, however, did not disperse. Orlando eyed the smoke, frustrated. "That smoke will be there for about an hour. I still can't get it to disperse the right way."

[Kender Bard]

Mikasi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ~If you're capable of it, try to work on easing off the mental thrust of energy mid-teleportation. It might help. Now, I do believe you were going to show me your prowess at gambling.~ He smirked and motioned vaguely in the direction of some taverns that were particularly noisy.

[jomo1992]

"Ah, yes. It's about time that I emptied some poor sucker's pockets." Orlando turned to the nearest tavern and started walking. As he walked, he educated Mikasi in some of the fineries of gambling. "A problem that most professionals have is that ameteurs give up before they can make any real money" Orlando explained. "The trick is to let them think that they're only barely losing" Orlando went on. "When you're playing against ameteurs, try to look as honest as possible so that they believe your expressions. If you're playing against pros, seeming honest won't do much, so look as dishonest as you can. It throws them off guard. This is especially true in games of deception." Orlando pushed the tavern door open. It didn't take long to find a good game. He turned to Mikasi. "Do you want to join in?"

[Kender Bard]

~I think I'll just watch~ Mikasi answered with a wry smile. ~To be honest, I'm a little afraid to now if what you said is true. I'd much rather watch a pro at work. And if you don't mind my saying...~ He stepped inside and looked around. ~I certainly wouldn't want you for an enemy. Not when you're able to think like that. Your enemies must never know what's coming.~

[jomo1992]

Orlando grinned. "You know how to flatter." He strode over to the table. By the looks of the players, they were either ameteurs or professionals who were very good at hiding it. "What's the buy-in?" he asked. "Fifteen gold" the burly fire type sitting closest to him grunted. Yep, they were definitely ameteurs. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a small bag of coins, quickly counted out fifteen of them slammed them on the table in front of him, and pulled up a chair next to a young earth woman.

Not including Orlando, there were five people at the table; the massive fire type, who obviously wasn't having a good day, a scrawny water type, who had made some money from the game, but not much, a tall, well-built storm type, who was winning by miles, and the poor earth girl sitting next him who seemed to be losing by quite a lot, but obviously didn't know when to quit. There was also the dealer, an extremely pompous-looking man wearing a deep red coat. "What's the ante?" Orlando asked. It couldn't be much with such a small buy in. "One each" the dealer replied in an almost comically posh voice. Each of the players tossed a coin into the centre. The woman sitting next to him seemed reluctant to make her already dismal pile even smaller.

[Kender Bard]

Mikasi politely stood where he wouldn't be looking over anyone's shoulder, and kept his floating crystal out of anyone's way as he watched the going's on. Looking at the lady with the small pile, he scratched his head slightly. ~I don't get it, Orlando. Do you think she's one of those amateurs you were talking about, who thought she was winning? I mean, why would anyone so willingly throw away their money on a game?~

[jomo1992]

The dealer slid cards expertly across the table. ~Well, this was just the ante. Unless you're packing it in for the dya, you always pay that. That means that even if you fold the second you get your cards, you're losing something. There's always some risk involved. That's why gambling isn't for everyone.~ Everone glaced at their cards. Predicatbly, when the first round of betting came to the earth woman, she folded, picked up the money that she had remaining, and left the table sulkily. Orlando glanced at his cards. His hand wasn't great, but with some good bluffing, he could convince the other people at the table otherwise.

[Kender Bard]

Mikasi shifted his weight from foot to foot and idly gnawed at the corner of his thumbnail as he contemplated the game. ~Don't people ever accuse you of reading their minds?~ That had been the first thing that came to mind when he thought about Minds gambling.

[jomo1992]

Orlando paused at Mikasi's question. ~That... happens quite a lot. But usually people give me the benefit of the doubt, unless I've won six games in a row or something like that.~ The round of betting came to him, forcing his attention back to the game. Putting on the most convincing look of eageress he could, and raised by two.

[Kender Bard]

I wonder if that means he might have to intentionally lose now and then, Mikasi pondered, frowning a little. That would be awful.

The doors to the bar opened and a couple of men walked in, talking heatedly to one another in hushed voices as they sat down at the bar. Since Orlando was being kind enough to keep communication mind-to-mind at the moment, Mikasi sent his crystal closer to the newcomers to find out what they were speaking about. Listening to a conversation while concentrating on the game was difficult, but Mikasi managed. The conversation wasn't anything spectacular either; the virtues of man's own will versus faith. An old, tired conversation really. Mikasi recalled his crystal, and just in time, since one of the men got so riled up, he smashed a bottle down on the bar where his crystal just was. Half the bar jumped at that.

~Things are getting a bit heated over there~ Mikasi warned Orlando.

[jomo1992]

Orlando jumped at the sound of the bottle smashing. He turned back to the table. "I'll be back in a sec." He strode over to the bar. "all right, you two, break it up, break it up." This kind of behaviour would seem odd, but for Orlando, who had worked as a bouncer for several months, it was second-nature. Besides, even if a fight did break out, it wasn't as if he couldn't hold his own.

[Kender Bard]

The two men in contention glared at one another, but neither made a rise.

"Faith is all well and good but it's never there when you need it," one man snarled. "The Forces are fickle and selective; I'd rather put my hope and dreams into something more reliable!"

"The Forces aided the Elements in making you what you are and the world around us," the other man growled. "Without them, you wouldn't even be here to defend your precious 'science'. Were I you, I'd go pray for forgiveness and mercy."

"Is that a threat?" the scientist growled, now starting to rise.

"Maybe," the priest replied with a smirk. "Why don't you ask this fellow here-" he motioned to Orlando "-which of us is right."

[jomo1992]

Orlando fought back the temptation to say "I think you've both had too much to drink." He was lucky that the first punch hadn't been thrown yet, and if he chose his words carefully, he might be able to coax them out of fighting. "I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion." Orlando couldn't see how this alone would get them to settle their differences, but if could calm them down enough, he could get them to make do with slinging insults at each other.