A Legend of Tail and Talon: Chapter I

[WiZ]

CHAPTER I

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"Grandpa!" Four little mice came running into their grandfather's chamber, unannounced as always.
"Grandpa, it's stormin' outside!" one said.
"What are we gonna do?" asked another, "How are we gonna play?"
"Will you rascals be quiet!" their grandfather announced. Once his grandchildren where quiet, he listened closely to the crashing sound of lightning and rain coming from outside. "Aah, this reminds me of the night of one of my adventures."
"Ooh, tell us about it!"
"Yeah, gramps, tell us the story!"
"Ok, ok. Settle down kids and I'll tell you the story. It all started many, many years ago in a city called-"
"Boring!" one of the little mice joked, making everyone else burst out into laughter.
"Now, this is no ordinary story of brave knights and wicked dragons. This is a story of sacrifice and subterfuge, a tale of treasure and trickery, a legend... of tail and talon."

It all started one evening, in the streets of High Castle...
The sun was setting and the streets where busy with merchants and traders trying to make a few last minute Rations. Charles Xavier Littlepaw Junior was but a small mouse with a big dream in this city of fortune. He was making his way down to the Tipsy Tavern. The Tavern was where all the adventurers of the land conjoined to tell each other of their fantastic excursions throughout the Lands.

Ah, the Tipsy Tavern, home to the Lands finest heroes. I wonder who I'll find inside! Charles said to himself. He wasn't a very experienced thrill seeker. In fact, Charles had never been on a quest of any kind. He just left his parents' estate a few weeks ago to start his career as an adventurer, but boy was he excited.

Charles entered the Tavern through the "Mouse Entrance", with an appropriately sized door. What he could see was probably the usual, a few drunkards sitting by the bar, a group of opium addicts sitting in the corner, watching the various gambling and drinking games before them.

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"Four sixes, my friend, try and beat that!" Charles heard someone shout, followed by applause and cheering. Charles wanted to get closer to see what all the fuss was about. So, he climbed the leg of the table and swung himself up to the top. Towering over him where two beasts, one of which was the Captain of the City Guard, Skaar Nightwatch. The other was a bulky bear, probably one of Skaar's good friends. The two where playing Liar's Dice, a gambling classic. It's a simple game really, players bet 5 Rations each, winner takes all. Each player is given five dice and a cup, they turn their cup and look at the dice without revealing them to their opponent. Each player makes a bet on their dice. The other may raise the value of the bet or call the players bluff. If they have a higher value on the dice then their opponent, or their opponent was bluffing, they win.

"Liar." Skaar lifts his cup to reveal his dice. "Triple fives."
The bear across from him reveals his hand: a five, two fours, a two and a one. Skaar laughs and takes his prize, 10 Rations, which he can exchange for a nice leather hat in the marketplace. "Is there anyone else who would like to lose tonight?"

Charles was feeling quite intimidated by the Captain of the City Guard, so he chose not to speak up. He looked around, yet there was nobody who looked like they had the required Wisdom or Courage to take on Captain Skaar; save for a mysterious scarlet fox and a tall, black rabbit.

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@Crelarid
@Drakey

 

[Crelaria]

The fox walked up to the Captain and starts talking, "Look the names Lisico and I'm going to win this here Bear's rations back and get some of my own, how about it? Double or nothing?"
The Captain somewhat hesitantly agrees to this strangers proposition. Rolling the dice the fox confidently boasts, "I've got five sixes. How bout you?"
"You're Bluffing! No one can roll that high!" The Captain confidently proclaims. Leaving Lisico t0 lift his cup, revealing, five sixes.
"Pay up Captain. I believe that I've won 10 rations if you don't mind."

 

[Drakey]

Thorkelin turned around in his seat as he heard the wolf's challenge. Watching as the sly fox sauntered over, he returned to his pint of mead. A white mask, black markings surrounding the left eye, adorned his face. With a hand, gloved in black fabric, he lifted up the mask just enough to take a sip from his cup. Letting the warm, fiery liquid slide down his somewhat parched throat, Thorkelin beckoned the newly arrived mouse over to him.

"Hello master mouse, what brings you to this pit of alcoholics?" His smile was hidden behind his mask as Thorkelin made the rather bad joke.

 

[Pankong]

Gurki had dreamed a lot about the Kingdom of Ironblade; he imagined a fair king, at the head of a flourishing empire devoted both to agriculture and imperialism. He found, indeed, a country technologically advanced in all aspects, especially in war machines and weapons, but he didn’t quite feel to be among rich people: it rather seemed like everyone was worried about keeping their properties and prevent them to be stolen by some jackal-like profiteer of the dark age. From place to place anyone you encountered around the streets was a suspicious character or a well-armed one, indeed someone who was hunting something. There had to be much competition. Gurki headed directly to High Castle, the main city, wondering which tasks were there fit to his abilities, which jobs the nobles and philanthropists and mafias of the great capital wanted to pay for. He had heard of the Tipsy Tavern, a pub-like hangout for high and drunk adventurers who wanted nothing but to talk about their past and future feats to some foreigner interested. Streets were becoming dark, the sun was setting, when he entered the city; the last people were running home, the only shelter against the illegal game that was beginning, in that very moment, everywhere in the large capital.
Once Gurki entered the Tipsy Tavern, a flow of stimuli reached his senses. The inn was full of the light of the torches and the candle holders, the air pervaded by sounds and noise, permeated of alcohol, smoke, alkaloids and testosterone. Apart from the smell of the opium (of very poor quality, he thought, compared to that found in the east) and the chatting coming from the bar, he suddenly saw some beasts playing dice; a fox had just exchanged his dice with some loaded ones, and was challenging a big wolf who seemed sure he could always win. He decided to get nearer, and when the fox won the game without the wolf noticing the fraud, he murmured a spell and let the loaded dice float in the air in front of the loser’s eyes.