Dylan
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Crap. None of those match my hand.
I was looking at a 3, a 5, and a King, and the cards I held were a couple of 2s, and an Ace. In the next rounds to follow, not a single 2 or Ace! And I already doubled the wager. I fold now, and I'm still gonna lose big time. Let's hope I can raise just a bit more and hope they can't call my bluff.
None of them folded. And the pot went to someone else. Big guy with a handlebar mustache and many wrinkles. He looked comfy, but I wasn't in the mood to talk now I nearly lost all my gold. I sighed and grabbed some alcohol and went back up to my room. The inn was noisy behind me but the sound muffled as I ascended two floors above.
The room had books and a dresser, but I didn't own it, just came with the room. I flopped onto the bed layered with furs and straw, drank a bit, and fell asleep.
Then I woke up, and I went back to sleep.
"Hey! Get up! That was your last night, and I need this room ready for the next patron."
Ah, right. I would just - oh. I didn't have enough for the room anymore. I would have if I...didn't buy the drink. Honestly, more worth it. I got out of bed, downed the rest of the bottle, and walked out. I earned a scoff on my way out. Damn, good riddance.
"Oh gods." The sun was bright. Was I in that place for two days? Yeah, I hadn't even come out. Just kept playing at different tables and...distracting myself, I guess. From...?
"Oh, right." My breakup, kind of. He was never dating me, but he sure made it feel like something was going on between us. He even flirted with me! And now, he is probably halfway across the ocean! Seen everything, my ass. This country is twice the size of my own, and I never even saw half of my homeland! Good I left, though. The remnants of the church were getting pretty violent.
Here, I guess there are still some remnants too, but they generally seem more chill? Not in the same position of power at least, and with different teachings entirely from across the pond. The gods they worship are still the same, but here they have a focus on those gods of wealth and commerce, as well as labor and harvesting. The war side is...just put to the side a bit, almost like they don't wanna admit how that side of the church was still causing some damage in other parts of the world.
Man, why couldn't I just go with him? Why did I stay here? I barely survived the trip here, so maybe it was stubbornness? Wait, that's it. The capital city! Which I was standing in. The place was a flowing network of streets, and roofs, and doors. So many doors! Doors through walls, through ceilings, through floors, through sewers! Okay, maybe I can avoid the sewers. But gods, the people here had no idea how fun it was to find all the places that connect to each other, and none of them even know such connections exist!
A bakery somehow led into someone's house, and the owners of either didn't know a door connected them both. The owner of the house got pretty startled when I pushed open their bookcase, and the Baker got pissed I was behind his pantry, raiding it at the same time. His bread was good, and the secret door neighbors ended up getting pretty close after too. Wild how you can just not know who's next to you until someone opens that door.
Speaking of all that, I found my favourite one. It was in the cemetery, and was down a large well, but it went to the heart of the city. The home beneath the cobbled streets, to folks like me. An undercity made in natural caves and mining tunnels. I couldn't contain my excitement when I went down and through the passage. And then I calmed down.
I was walking by the undercity life, folks who glared with inspecting eyes and flashed steel when you'd pass. I would glare back and shiver after thinking back to how cool our exchange was. Ah man, I blended in so well! I could just wave my dark hair over my eyes, or pull my leather hood on and let my armor do the talking. Today was a good hair day though, so I kept it off.
And I needed money, so I sold everything I stole topside to a fence, still not sure why I couldn't just sell it to a merchant above, but the fence said he was just a casual merchant buying and selling normal things, and it was fun to play along. Made back everything I lost the night before too, and spent half of it on some lockpicking books and a few substances for later use. Could always stand to learn more, practice didn't always work alone. And the substances....
Well, they helped calm me down, honestly. I was already smoking it through my pipe and I felt my head buzzing less, the sound around me becoming clear. And I was crying. Crap, now my thoughts are clearly on him again.
The weed wasn't helping! I'm just getting more sad. Wait, I can't be seen crying down here. I ran up through a secret route right into the noble's quarters. I'll pay a visit to some peoples' cellars. I'm gonna find more things to sell.
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Dylan
