Some characters aren't mine, but most are.

x x x

Crossroad Keep - - -

--Neeshka

After a nap and a quick snack from a grumpy Duncan, I was ready to go out looking for something to do. Duncan was still grumpy we didn't visit as often and that he'd lost Sal. His newer people didn't know us as well.

He had my usual room, up by the eaves for a quick entrance or exit, and I gave Duncan a deposit. This room was far more pleasant than the hole in the wall I still had in another part of the docks. I'm not sure why I kept that one, even though I kept some custom equipment hidden there even if I hadn't needed it lately. Maybe I still wasn't convinced I didn't need it anymore.

I left the inn at dusk, to check around for news and action. Duncan was less soused than when I first learned the docks, but it was still more a place to get some decent ale, and passable food. Anyone looking for other amusements was pretty much out of luck.

So I dressed unobtrusively, to check out the other inns and taverns, looking for something more interesting to do. Maybe I'd get lucky and find a better bard or set of them, as I had gotten very tired of Grobnar's "Variations on the Wendersnaven Suite." He had hit the road a some tendays ago, serene in his cheerfulness, and only a few had any skill at music in the keep.

So with a prayer to Tymora, I hit several taverns, the names of which changed often enough for me not to care what the new ones were. One, did have a duo doing a popular song from the Luskan war, and the crowd had gotten silent. Catching the mood, they switched to lighter songs and dance music, and the crowd cheered.

The tips started flowing as well, cheering the bards.

No one approached me, and I found I was missing Arn a little. So I left, looking for some other amusement. At another tavern full of smelly sailors, I heard the Fiend Queen was open again. Well, the tiefling running it had a sense of humor, and named it Citadel of the Fiend Queen, and had all sorts of gambling, games, and shows. It wasn't that far, unless it had moved, after the last time it had been closed by the Greycloaks.

The entrance to the Fiend Queen had moved, but it was a bit cleaner than last time I'd seen it, a year or so ago. Going in, it was nicely crowded, and I saw one guy working the crowd carefully to harvesting purses. More interesting were the card games, some were even new to me. Drifting around the game rooms, with only the cheap ale they gave new arrivals, the central room seemed to have a hidden group of minstrels or bards that carried into the other rooms. One room was closed off and had a show of some kind scheduled for tomorrow. There were even a few in one room indulging in an arm wrestling tournament, for mostly bragging rights and many side bets.

Fees seemed only nominal, so the take must be good on the gambling. Everything seemed straight, so far, so I withdrew enough to play a while.

I won a little, but one woman, dressed like she was slumming, had been drinking too much before she started losing to the house. From her, I got the names of the other places in the city for games of chance.

Some might be more fun than playing the odds here had been. Even watching for house goons and cheats to avoid was more of a challenge than just playing was. New games and entertainments also sounded fun as well.

But with the information from the now drowsy woman being helped out of the hall, I could make some other stops. The ones in Blacklake would require a bit more work, but that would be fun as well.

The first few days, I had found all of the ones outside of Blacklake, and cased them. The Moonstone Mask had one room for discreet gambling, but no one of skill went there. It was for amateurs not any real money, at least not very often. The Fiend was the only one in the Docks district.

The Flying Boar and Luck's Mistress were in the Merchant district. Not surprisingly, the latter wasn't that far from the small temple to Tymora. The temple was having a street carny for one of their holy days coming up, with all kinds of games of chance and small skills, from those to amuse children to the most jaded. Fees were very low, so even children near the temple were looking forward to it, looking forward to winning small fish to show mama. More skillful tournaments were going to have prizes in money or potions, and they were serious about no cheating the luck.

That one would be more fun to watch the kids annoying the dedicated gamblers. I'd managed to kill my fish when I first got here from Helm's Hold. I still didn't know how to take care of them.

Gold's Keep was in Blacklake and open if you looked wealthy enough, so that was easy to get in. Then I met a few to help get me an introduction to the private clubs, the Leather Apron club, which dated back to the founding of the city, and Berth's. They had mostly gambling between known individuals, so I couldn't get any action, except as side bets.

After all that checking, the Fiend, Luck's Mistress, and Gold's Keep had the most action, with the Fiend being the most reliably crowded. I'd visit the others, but hit at least one of those three every day.

The Tymoran fair had been a lot of fun, even if I hadn't made any money. I noticed just about every child had gotten a pet animal fish or stuffed or both, trying not to drop them as they triumphantly carried them off. Some of the strength contests were so full of teen boys trying to look adult, so hard for the teen girls, I had trouble not laughing at them.

Even better, Arn had left a message he'd be around that evening, that I got when I got back to the Flagon. We did have dinner at the Mask, but he was leaving for Waterdeep much too early for more than an abbreviated night.

Then I had learned the newer games, and was having a good evening at the Fiend when a brawl broke out, with daggers, in one of the other areas. One of the players decided to change his bet after he had his card at my table, while the table-nuncle was distracted.

"Perhaps you shouldn't change your bet this late," I said loudly, as his loss would probably be my win.

Let's see if the nuncle was worth his pay. The man froze an instant, and even that change in motion caught the nuncle's eye.

"Table!" the nuncle spoke loudly, as several other tables had similar calls.

New music began playing, first a lute, and then other instruments joined in and the noise level calmed again. A big bruiser appeared by our table, even when the cheat started shaking his head. Some protests and the nuncle didn't buy it.

The cheat's original bet was returned to the table by the bruiser, and he was escorted out. Some of the others weren't, though. And those cheats accused looked far too smug.

So, some gamers were more equal than others here. That was good to know.

I did win the round, finally. But that gave me more to think about, and a new edge to the games. How to stretch my luck without paying the bribes. And to begin to know who were the cheats. They were fair game for any mischief I wanted to do.

Looking over to the table where the fight started, three people seemed to have injuries, one of those seriously. I wondered if it was coordinated or accidental. Not that it mattered in the long run, either would enliven the games.

Watching closer, I began to get a better feel for which houses ran clean games, or mostly clean. I had to dress better, but Gold's Keep was even more crooked than the Fiend. Funny how many there, never noticed that the games in Blacklake were the most crooked in the city. The profits were much higher, and they were inflating losses on the soused nobles nicely. I didn't play there much, but it was very profitable when I did. They also had much nicer drinks and music.

What I liked was that the Mistress was a clean operation, their muscle was often Tymoran acolytes or lay workers. They also had the most interesting side games, with little cockroaches with new numbers painted on them for racing. I didn't make as much there, but it was cleaner, safer, and a lot more fun. The Boar wasn't that fun, but they didn't even try for the style that the Fiend Queen did. No music or pretty male or female helpers, so I stayed away. Berth's was crooked too, but cost me more to get in. But if I lost to a cheat, I could take care of paybacks myself and the players had plenty to lose.

I was making a nice profit, and having fun visiting the more interesting four as the mood struck, when I was closing out the night at the Fiend Queen. I was hiding away my coins, and moving filler to my purse off in the shadows when I heard a door kicked open and a groan.

Looking over, a couple thugs were dragging someone in, heading to the back of the house. The rooms looked empty of customers, only a couple other people cleaning. The music had just ended a minute before, and I hadn't noticed I was alone.

Not quite alone, the only other non-staff member was the Greycloak they just dragged in. One looking like all those kids at the Keep, except for the blood.