New Years at Capitol Casino

[Thirteen]

If it wasn't for her losses being covered, Thirteen's bad luck would be annoying her. She was making all the right moves but still coming up short. As it was, the lack of stakes was starting to make this kind of dull.

"Martial arts?" She looked at Galina with a confused expression. Where had this topic come from? "Erm, no. I got nothin' against it, but I can't say I'm a fan. Why do you ask?"

As a new hand was dealt, her eyes turned towards Chambers. "I don't gamble much at all, really. This is just a special night." Not with her own money, anyway. Professionally, she used the money of the casino she worked at. In her mind, that wasn't really gambling. The house always wins.

The Acanthus sorted through her new hand, but her attention lay on her opponents.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-10 07:56:07	Thirteen rolls 3 to Reading: Int 2 + Emp 1 (10 Again)	5, 7, 1	failure

Not that she could read them at all. She didn't try very hard.

[Galina]

Looking a bit saddened that her clear showing of a contact information was not taken a photo or similar of but not exactly feeling a necessity to push it, shaking her head and turning her attention back towards the game.
"I am afraid I fail to grasp the meaning of your question." Taking a big drink from her bottle with a little twirl of it, seeing it needing to be replaced soon. "Each performance has its own set dance, its own motions, its own coordinated parts set just how any dance or theater play would. Of course you cannot push yourself to display the full range of what you are capable of or something free when you are doing a set performance." That was just a clear basic of any performance be it theater, dance, opera or anything else she could think of.

Biting her lip with eyes turned down at the question of the woman, gulping as she delays the answer just a moment longer than perhaps socials norms.
"Just a topic I love, and what my work details down to. Been struggling to find others with any real interest in it." Sigh calm down already, people are not that scary. Think of what dad always said.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, calming herself down once more with a look to her cards and over towards her opponents trying to gauge their reactions and potential tells.

Read opponents, 3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-12 06:10:33	Galina rolls 4 to Read opponents (int+emp) (10 Again)	10, 4, 5, 8, 9	3 successes

[Chambers]

A soft chuckle follows violets statement, mages on the path of the thistle rarely engaged in what sleepers would call gambling, when winning something was a certainty why would you. "It's an expensive habit to get into no doubt, but yes likewise I only partake one night a year myself, it started a few years back and has become something o fa staple for me." And a personal homage to a friend no longer present.

Galina needed a little clarification, not a problem. Briefly perusing his next hand cards. "You said something about seeing what the body can do without following all the set rules." Or close to that anyway. "If you are not following a rule then you are breaking it, but if the human body is capable then it is not doing something the body is incapable of so it is not break any of the rules you would apply surely." Trying to dig into what she thought was considered a rule for the body and what she would would consider a body to be when not following those same rules.

With the pace of the game slowing he takes his time study his two competitors more deeply, paying attention to some of the smaller details.

Read opponents 4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-12 07:40:57	Chambers rolls 5 to read opponenets int+empth (10 Again)	9, 1, 1, 10, 10, 8, 5	4 successes

In the next post contest your opponents tactics

[Thirteen]

"So, you're a fan of kung fu movies, then?" she asked of Galina as she studied her cards. Not a bad hand by any means, but it'd take work to top whatever the other two may have. "I'd imagine a martial arts school would be the place to look for people with a similar interest."

"Exactly," she nodded to Chambers, "Why blow the money?" She could imagine Moros having little interest in gambling, too. She'd heard tales of Matter magic finding and producing fortunes from the earth, in the forms of gems and rare minerals. Why risk a casino when you can just conveniently dig up some gold?

As an Acanthus, her Fate magic provided. Whether it was a night of poker like this, an occasional lottery ticket, a bank error in her favor, or just finding some cash on the street. Never a huge amount. No millions. At best a couple hundred dollars here and there. The Enchanters knew better than to push their luck too hard.

She wondered how Thyrsus made money with magic. Were there money spirits?

Enough daydreaming, back to the game at hand. What were her opponents up to? She'd had a hard time reading them, probably best to shield her own intentions.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-12 08:54:54	Thirteen rolls 3 to Man 2 + Subterfuge 1 (contest readings) (10 Again)	2, 6, 1	failure

Not that she even knew her own intentions this hand.

[Chambers]

A wry smile meets Thirteens remark. "There are people that know the game well enough to make a living from it." A rare few but they did take home immense amounts of money. "I can't help but wonder if they would consider it gambling at all, skilled as they are?" Be it playing the odds, calculations or reading the table poker at serious levels took more skill then luck.

Contest thirteen 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-12 07:39:30	Chambers rolls 4 to contest thirteens read manip+sub (10 Again)	4, 4, 10, 6, 6	1 success

A serious player he might not be but he reckoned he had a read on Violet this go around, and begins to bet accordingly. But as for Galina the girls sudden quietness had made her rather harder to work out.

Contest Galinas read failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-12 07:40:07	Chambers rolls 4 to contest Galinas read manip+sub (10 Again)	5, 6, 1, 3	failure