Kali

The Inn, much like most of the buildings in the center of the town, seemed to be a newly built structure. From the street, Kali counted six floors worth of windows which made the Inn much larger than the one they’d had near the docks in Ostlind. She supposed it made sense to have more temporary rooming in a soon-to-be-booming dungeon town.

‘Lupane’s Den’, read the sign that hung outside the establishment. Kali pushed the doors open and was greeted by wafting smoke that smelled like burning green wood and freshly trimmed grass. All in all, it wasn’t an unpleasant scent when it mingled with the smell of the nightly stew that followed close behind the smoke. Blinking a few times, the young girl braved the cloud of smoke and waltzed into the bar.

A few of the patrons looked up at the new entry for a few moments before looking away, none-to-impressed with the image of a teenage human girl. Kali had to admit that she probably wasn’t looking her best after the days of travel. When combined with the fact that she hadn’t brushed her long, black hair in almost a week and hadn’t slept a full night since her father went missing, she probably looked like a beggar.

After being judged and found wanting by the people already in the tavern, Kali felt it was her duty to return the scrutinization. The tap room was about three quarters full, a mixture of dwarves and humans mostly as well as a few darker-skinned humanoid races she didn’t recognize. The source of the earthy smoke was a collection of dwarves in the corner who were rolling a multicolored leaf into cigarettes and burning it. Kali thought to intrude simply due to the blissful looks on their faces but, after seeing the absentee look in their eyes, changed her mind quickly.

“Welcome, you must be one of the new residents. My name is Laura. The night’s stew is hedgehog and forest roots, spiced with wild basil, rosemary, and thyme, all locally sourced. We’ve got a local brew on tap; stew and a mug will run you four copper deci.” Kali was jutted out of her observations by a bubbly barmaid introducing herself. The girl was about as tall as Kali was but, as opposed to Kali’s thin frame, was filled out very well.

“Ahh, no not quite yet I don’t think. I’m meeting someone here, so I’ll order when they show up.” Kali returned a pained smile and lied through her teeth. She wasn’t meeting anybody there but didn’t want to order food just yet. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hungry, she was famished, it was just that when she put her hand against her pocket, she only felt five coins. Laura gave her a knowing look before dismissing herself to go refill a couple mugs at a table elsewhere.

With the interruption gone, Kali was able to locate the collection of people she’d been looking for. Closer to the fire was a large table occupied with a familiar group. Kali had never met a single person there before, but that didn’t stop her from having an intimate familiarity with the group none-the-less. She set off for the group and plopped herself into an open chair at the table, raising a few eyebrows.

“Deal me in.” Kali sat herself next to the dealer in the group of Ne'er-do-well, a staple of any bar, and put her five deci on the table next to her. The gamblers didn’t give her any grief and began dishing out cards for the next round, Kali was dealt a hand of griffon and horse. Luckily for her, she knew the game the group was playing and folded almost right away.

The night passed pretty slowly like this as she bided her time until, finally, it was her turn to deal. With the deck of cards in her hands, she displayed her dexterity while shuffling with various flairs of the wrists and several cuts. After about ten seconds of shuffling, Kali dealt out the cards. At this point, she was down to four deci, having won a few hands and lost a few more throughout the time she’d waited.

Her first round dealing, she ended up losing two more deci in a close hand. This was her plan, however, as it wouldn’t do well to win the hands she dealt. The next hand, she more than doubled her money, jumping up to seven deci at once. She won the next two hands as well, quickly building up enough money to buy herself dinner, but she postponed that and simply ordered an ale.

The rest of the table started grumbling about Kali’s newfound luck as they found themselves poorer and poorer. Each time it was Kali’s turn to deal, she would slip a few cards in and out of the deck for future hands as well as cut it to her advantage. Due to her young age, none of the gamblers could have realized how much of a seasoned gambler she was. A seasoned cheater as well. Within no time at all, there was almost nobody willing to play with her.

Just as she was ready to collect her ill-gotten gains, the tavern door opened and a party of five entered. Kali knew at once that they were adventurers simply judging by their various races and attire. Even as she caught herself staring, one of them made eye contact before walking over with a huge smile on his face. He plopped himself down in one of the newly vacated seats.

“Ah ha! New blood! Deal me in.” The man was tall, almost having to stoop to enter the doorway, and wore a full set of polished armor. His square jaw and close-cropped blonde hair gave him a classic prince charming look and his smile temporarily dazed Kali.”

“Don’t bother, Jameson. We’re pretty sure she’s cheating, not that we know how.” A disgruntled halfling tried to warn his friend before he found himself without coin or armor.

“Shush now, friend. I’m sure that our young friend here is just blessed with good luck. Luckily for me, so am I.” The paladin flashed Kali his smile again and she found herself sucked into the table once more, forgetting her intention to cash out and dealing herself in with him, if only to spend more time at his table.

The first hand ended with her loss as the blonde man ended up winning by the skin of his teeth. Kali could only blink a few times before scowling as she hadn’t intended to lose that round. She admonished herself for getting distracted by his goofy grin, convinced she’d blundered at some point along the way. Jameson chuckled and raked in his winnings, almost half of what she’d earned over the last few hours.

“Another hand, your deal.” Kali was unwilling to take the loss even though she was still ahead of where she’d been before sitting there. She ended up losing that hand as well, much to her chagrin. ‘Cheating! He must be cheating!’ she told herself. Obviously, she couldn’t accuse him aloud because she was, herself, cheating. At that point, it became a game for her.

Several hands later, Kali found herself nearly penniless and slightly disoriented. She pushed herself up from the table and went to go find a seat elsewhere, determined to find somewhere to shrug off her loss before the tavern was full. Behind her, she heard the handsome man chuckling to his friends.

“Don’t congratulate me, you drunkards. I won because of my faith in Ana’maria, goddess of fortune. Come friends, say a prayer with me and dedicate yourself to the goddess!”

Kali claimed one of the last empty tables and plopped herself down before counting out what she had left. Somehow, she’d ended up with exactly four copper deci left over which, if you added in the single ale she’d purchased, put her at five.

‘Well,’ she thought, ‘at least I still have enough for a meal.’ Kali’s eyes wandered around the tap room looking for the bubbly brunette barmaid, ready to order, but was unable to spot her amongst the crowd that was rapidly filling the place. When she finally spotted the woman, she ended up ordering a large pitcher of beer and a roll instead of the stew, desperate to drink herself into a stupor more than fill her stomach.

“-and stay out of the kitchen! I knew you little men couldn’t cook for shit, but you could at least try to make it edible! Hmph! Four nights in a row, and your cook hasn’t improved in the slightest.” Behind the bar, a dwarf was pushed out of the back room with a large pot of stew in his hands. The stocky little fellow staggered a bit but didn’t spill any of his soup, a neat party trick, and started to walk away slowly.

The tavern had completely filled at this point and, between the adventurers, laborers, and the lousy leaf addicts, the dwarf couldn’t find a single spot to sit. Even the bar stools were filled with noisy patrons, not that he felt like embarrassing himself by trying to scramble onto one of those. Eventually, he spotted a nearly empty table near the back of the bar, away from the fire. There was only one person sitting there, a thin human girl with black hair and black eyes, staring right back at him. Sitting in front of the girl was a large pitcher of beer. With a wide grin, he stole a mug away from the bar, as well as a couple bowls, and staggered his way over.

“Evening, girlie. How’d you like to try the best soup you’ve ever had? I’ll do a swapsies for a mug of that ale you got there.” Like most dwarves, his voice had a deep tone to it and was sort of gravely. “Name’s Isaac Nomin. Nomin like nomming on this delicious stew, what do ya say?”