(((Riza https://convergencerp.rpg-board.net/t1465-riza )))

Riza stared down the passageway and frowned darkness was something that could be dealt with easy enough she supposed but that was only part of the problem.  The problem lay in the unknown and that was always a problem especially when you were in a potentially lethal underground cave.  She was tempted to rethink her life choices that had led her up to this point but no risk no reward or so the saying went.  The potential reward that was to be found here was well worth the risk involved.

The possible reward was innertwined with the life and possible death of a notorios gambler on this planet.  It was rumored that this particular gambler, one Chevoncy "Card Shark" Kalam, had never lost a game of chance in his life.  To many this screamed cheater, to Riza it said magic in a big way.  Now the odds were minute that Chevoncy had some magical device that allowed him to manipulate chance in some way.  The odds were even more slim that he had the device on his body when he died.  Astronomically small were the odds that this very cave system was where Chevoncy had died while carrying that magical device.  Still the reward was such that Riza couldn't possibly pass it up no matter what she had heard of him, and of this place.

The darkness posed no difficulty to the awoken it was solved with a quick summoning of fire.  With a torch lit the darkness was penetrated by light.  The glow from the torch revealed nothing more than Riza was already familiar with, cave walls leading deeper.  Rumors she had heard of this place gave her reason to believe it was beyond booby trapped though something it was better to assume that to assume it was safe.  As an awoken she was able to summon small amounts of earth or stone at will and she did just that summoning a handfull of bebble sized ferous stone.  She began by throwing first one pebble down the passageway and gradually increased the number of pebbles until she threw half of her handfull down the corridor.  She was immedietly gratefull that she had done so as the sound of objects whistling throught the air became abundantly clear.  There was no telling how many objects but it had most assuradly been many.  Riza had no doubt they were arrows or darts and quite possibly poisoned.  It gave credence to the rumors that there was something down here, right?

Satisfied that she had triggered traps that were set off by motion she began to cautiously move forward her eyes alert to her surroundings.  Barely a hundred yards into the passageway and she fought back a wave of fear and nausea already there were bodies long dead chocking parts of the floor.  To a quasi-trained eye it was obvious as to some of what had happened.  Intredpid explorers had come and died and then years later their decomposing bodies had been used as shields for others coming to explore the cave.  Riza stared at the remains and shuddered some were riddled with darts, some had been sliced in half at the knees, and some had been decapitated.  Whatever was in this cave system had better be damn well worth dying for she decided.

Picking up a corpse and utilizing it as a shield was only going to slow her down so Riza continued her slow walk through the passage.  The nuber of bodies present slowly dwindled before ending with what looked like a carbon statue of a warrior in leather armor.  Riza's arm accidentally brushed it as she passed causing the "statue" to crumble into the ash that it was.  What had been hot enough to incinerate the warrior into such a state? Not a trap or was it? She had yet to see any sign of magical traps but this one warrior might prove that conclusion false. 

A few more hours into the exploration found Riza staring at an underground pool of water.  She was unsure if it was natural or if it was something that had been created but she was able to make a few very clear observations.  First there were fish in the pool she could see their forms swimming through the crystal clear liquid.  Second somebody else had either made it this far or something lived down here in the depths.  Fish heads, fish tails, and a fish bones littered the area surrounding the pool.  Some newish others rather old meaning it was probably something living down here.  She raised a hand to just above the height of the small waterfall feeding into the pool and was unsuprised to feel a small amount of air.  It made sense as she hadn't had any difficulty breathing insdie the cave.

Not that she was a hunter or trapper but Riza began trying to study the ground around the pool looking for any sign of what had killed and eaten the fish.  The packed dirt and stone of the cave floor revealed nothing but a glimmer of green from the bottom of the pool could have warned her of what she would find in the depths if she had looked.

Not being an expert in the field of caves or of digging Riza was blissfully unaware that what she believed to be a cave system was in fact a tunnel system dug by a fearsome creature from myth and legend.  A creature she had heard of but had never had the misfortune of meeting face to face.  This was about to change in a very real way.

The passageway had always been fairly wide but it began to widen further as a gradual descent began to change to a sharp one.  The light from the torch reflected from a shiny surface ahead causing Riza to pause.  With her footsteps halted she could barely hear the faintest sound from ahead with a great deal of trepidation she crept forward to see if she could hear more.  The sound she had thought she heard was in fact what she had heard, snoring.  Soft, rythmic, and deep snoring from ahead far ahead.  The reflective surface was still unknown but Riza was both excited and and a bit afraid of what she would find ahead.

The passage opened into an immense expanse some two hundred yards in diameter.  As Riza came upon it she was floored by just what inside of it.  A dragon slumbered in the middle of the floor sleeping on top of a large mound of gold, jewels, weapons, armor, and bones lots of bones.  Oh shit oh shit oh shit.  Gold spilled from the large pile the dragon slept on covering almost the entire length of the room.  As Riza began walking accross it towards the dragon she could hear coins hitting against each other with a distinct clinking sound.

The sound mixed with the sound of the dragon's snoring untl the snoring stopped and one gigantic eye opened....

What are you? Not elf, goblin or dwarf but yet you look life all three.  I wonder do you taste like them? What possessed you to think you would be unilike all of the others? Come to seek fame and fortune and here you are about to die.  Where will you run where will you hide? I created this place.  I have lived here for centuries and will live here for centuries more.  You on the ther hand have mere moments how will you spend them?

The words were not heard per se but ran through Riza's mind almost as if she had thought them herself.  She knew she hadn't but it was weird having sombody elses thought, or voice, in your head. 

"I came seeking neither fame nor your fortune.  I seek the body of somebody who did and no more.  In return for it and for my life I can give you information on what I am.  Does that trade suit you"

Who or what do you think I am to make deals with a mere morsol such as yourself? You are about to be food in my belly what do I care what you are? If you wish to barter with something you need a far stronger position that that.

A short but intense blast of fire blasted the ground in front of Riza who jumped back quickly to avoid it.  With her life on the line she decided anything she did was a gamble and then had to laugh.  She was a gambler and a damned good one.  Maybe this dragon would decide a game of chance was worth her life.

"I have nothing to offer you of value.  I do however have a means to save my life or perhaps to humor you for a while longer.  What do you say to a game of chance? In all of your years have you tried your hand, or claw, at the game of poker?"

The dragon opened its other eye and looked over the impudent awoken.  Cards and games were nothing new to him.  The short green being willing to bet her life on a game of chance however was something that was new to him.  If nothing else it would provide a distraction for a moment.

Before we began we must dictate the terms of our game.  One game and when I win you become a snack.  Should you somehow win....

"We play several hands based on how many coins we hold.  Each starting with say ten.  When I win not only do I keep my lfe but I leave with the object I came here for.  If I lose I won't fight you.  I'll surrender to my fate."

Your terms are...adequate. 

Riza watched in amazement as the towering figure of the dragon began shrinking and the green scales covering his body began to dissapear.  Large powerfull front legs changed turning into humanoid biceps, triceps, forearms and hands.  The draconian head shrunk becoming that of an attractive male elf with dark piercing green eyes with just a hint of fiery redness at the center.  In the end the dragon transformed completely into an elven form before searching for a flat playing surface for their game.  A large ornate shield looked like it would do he kicked two bodies aside and then placed the shield atop of them both creating a small table of sorts.

"Now then the deal is off if we can't find a deck of cards.  I'd hate to have to eat you over such a small formality."

Riza game a small chuckle when she heard the dragon's words, real words.  She reached into an inside pocket of her cloak and pulled out a small well worn box.  Time had ravaged the box leaving any words that might have been on it nothing more than dull colored stains.  A small flap in the box was opened and a handfull of cards dropped into Riza's open hand.

"Cards I have though I caution you they are not ordinary cards.  It takes skill and precision to actually play with these ones.  Shall I shuffle the deck or would you like the honor?"

"It is your life on the line but I believe I shall have to shuffle just to keep us both honest.  Not that I dont trust you, I don't trust anybody that invades my lair.  You understand I'm sure."

Riza was sure that she did equally sure that she was doing her damndest to find some way to cheat anything to help her survive another day.  Another few minutes wouldn't be a bad thing either.

"We haven't decided on what style of poker we're to play.  There are may Mr. Dragon."

"Rufus, and five card stud.  Two rounds of betting and then call, good?"

Riza watched the dragon, Rufus, handle her bladed cards with ease almost as if his scales had remained intact, just underneath the elvin skin. "Yes, let me cut the cards and then go ahead and deal."

Rufus dealt five cards to each player before perusing the five he had given himself.  Not a whole lot of anything he decided a pair of fives was better than nothing but not much better.  He eyed the stack of gold coins on the "table" noting the ante for both players was already in the center.  Trying to keep a straight face he looked over at the awoken girl and raised an eyebrow, "Well?"

The cards hadn't been kind of Riza a single ace, a ten , a four, a two, and a jack.   Rather than waste gold coins, and her life, on a bad hand she set her cards down.  "I fold."  Rufus gave a small smirk before reaching for the cards and setting them in a seperate pile out of play.  Once more he dealt five cards to them both.  This time he waited patienty for the girl to pick up her cards.  He wanted to gauge her reaction.

Riza's face was emotionless as she threw in her one coin ante, just as emotionless as she picked up the five cars she had been dealt.  It wasn't much but a pair of eights was better than nothing far better than what her last hand had been.  As she studied the cards in her hand she reached under the "table" to one of he corpses and began to slowly search it for any belongings it might have.

The dragon fought back a smile as Riza's thoughts came though his mind quite vividly.  A pair of eights was it? He picked up cards in front of him just far enough off of the shield that he could see what they were. two twos a seven and two queens.  Now to bait her just a bit.

"We haven't got all day I'm feeling famished.  I haven't eaten in days and you're looking mighty tasty.  Take any longer and there won't be any meat on your bones.  I'll have picked it clean off."

Riza declined to comment setting her cards down with one hand and then grabbing a gold coin and throwing it into the center of the table with her same hand.  The other hand had found something in the pocket of the corpse to her right.  Somethings really, they felt like dice.  She couldn't be sure of course but it made sense for a magical object that affected chance to be in the shape of dice.  The thought didn't course through her mind.  Instead mentally she was all business waiting to see what the dragon would do with her raise.

Rufus nodded as Riza raised the pot a single cold coin and then added two of his own.  Wth the dice in her possession, and in her hand Riza wasted no time calling the raise.  Both turned their cards over and Riza was smacked in the face with the realization she had lost another hand.  Not only had she lost two hands but she'd lost half of her coins she was half dead already.  Rufus wordlessly began dealing out another hand.

Unsure of why the dice didn't work Riza absently began twirling the in one hand as she scooped up her new hand.  The cards were finally going her way although she was unsure of if was just the way the cards were falling or the work of the dice.  In her hand she held a four, an eight, a nine, a king and an ace all of clubs.  She set the cards down and threw two gold coins in next to her ante.  She was down to two but felt good about the situation.  After all it was a flush.  Accross from her Rufus studied his three threes.  Playing cards had been fun but it was time to end things.  He raised an additional two gold putting the girl all in.

Riza smiled over at the dragon and threw her last two gold into the pot before revealing the flush in her hand and scooping up her reward.  She was back in the game and back at full strength!  Hand after hand the game continued and Riza began to figure the dice out.  It seemed they did manipulate luck to a degree but only when the dice were being manipulated.  They couldn't just be moving as in they were in her hand which was making circles under the table.  The actual dice had to be physically moved around, manipulated.  The realization had come and gone three hands ago but it had begun to serve her well.  It was Riza who now held the commanding lead in coins.
 
Riza looked at the pair of kings in her hand before setting them down.  She looked at the meager ante two whole gold pieces and then to the dragon's remaining two gold.  This might just be it and if it was what a run of luck she had had.  She wagered two gold just enough to put the dragon all in and was rewarded for her efforts with a string of curses.  The dragon, Rufus, threw his last gold in and then stood up in frustration.
 
"Two jacks but you have better don't you? If nothing else I am an honerable creature I'll let you live.  You may leave with what you came for as well.  Do you know what it is, or where it might be?"
 
Riza turned her cards over showing Rufus that she had inded beat him before responding.  "I found what I was looking for right before I started winning.  Just so you're aware I wasn't cheating.  I had no idea that they would work at all.  I had only heard rumors of their existance."
 
Rufus raised an eyebrow giving him a quizzical appearance before his mind began to grasp hold of what exactly Riza had discovered in his horde of treasure.
 
"Thief! I gave you my word before and I give it to you once more.  If I ever see, hear, or smell you again I will find you and kill you.  Not just you, but I will seek out your kind and will exterminate every thieving one of you.  DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
 
The last words came out of the dragon's mouth with a bit of a roar as he began to change forms into his dragon form.
 
GET OUT AND NEVER COME NEAR THIS PLACE AGAIN!
 
Riza didn't need any other reason to leave.  She hurridly packed her cards into the box they came in and without a backwards glance began the hazardous trek back up to the surface.  She had what she had came for, and her life.  The day had been a good day.

End Thread