Cocks and Crowns
Owned by an unknown entity and operated by Minara Raen, a woman of renown beauty and charm matched only by her intellect.
The building is a converted warehouse. The windows have been boarded up. The door is a weathered heavy double door that can be barred from the inside. Only one side opens these days. Inside is a large hall with tables for card games. To the far right are racks of ale and mead kegs. If one gambles, the drinks are on the house. If one is drinking without gambling, a half-orc nicknamed "Bruiser" will eject one from the building. The same half-orc deals with impropriety with the serving girls. One can bet at the card tables from five to twenty nobles. Pay-outs depend on the game being played.
In the middle of the warehouse is an arena of sand surrounded by a low wooden wall. The arena is surrounded by a set of risers, three tiers high. Bets are handled by a one-eyed gnome named Gibbon. The nickname comes from his severe clefted chin. Bets on the cock fights are ten nobles to ten orbs and pay-outs depend on the odds.
Along the back wall are stairs to an upper level where reserved high stakes card games are played. Access to this level is limited and by invitation only by Minara Raen herself.
Anaras reaches into his pocket and fidgets with the coins he has there. I'm feeling lucky, he muses. After talking with some locals, he is directed to an establishment known for it's gambling; a place called Cocks n Crowns a few blocks over out of the main thoroghfare. The building is found on a thin lane behind and between other businesses. The building itself is windowless, or rather, the windows are boarded up. The sign hanging above a weather beaten door depicts cocks (as in roosters) and crowns (as in cards). Anaras cocks his head to the side in curiosity, then enters. His senses reel as the din of the place hits him. Loud drunken patrons, gamblers, all conversing at the same time over one another. But the most noise comes from the back. Yelling and shouting from gamblers and onlookers watching to fighting cocks. The low arena is barely visible through the throng of onlookers.
Anaras winds his way past a dozen tables where cards are being played to get to the arena. He climbs atop the first tier of three wooden risers so that he can see. A white rooster with black spots is fighting with an ordinary red rooster with a bluish craw. It is viscious and bloody. In about a minute, the white defeats the other and bets are paid or collected. It is interesting, more so on the enterprise of it than the actual sport, if you call it that. It's not for me, he tells himself, remembering a time in Urnst contry when he come across a similar thing with dogs.
Betting for the next round of cock fighting was starting when Anaras exits the establishment having discovered what he needed. There were no pips being played at all. That was his thing; dice.
Narwell
Last edited by CaptainHellrazor, July 30 2025 15:28:36. Open game article. You can edit it once you log in.