The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

[privatedomicile]

[Huh, a library? Jesse is going to search the scrolls (his snooping is at about the level of a 13) and strike up conversation with Atem.]

So, uh...heard there was some River God guy givin' you guys a hard time? Need somebody to teach him a lesson?

[metagame]

[It's blink and miss, but Atem's eye twitches at the mention of the River God.]

No, no... I don't need any help. Thanks for the offer.

[apologize for the wikipedia link but i am not writing up this entire story. Jesse finds the scroll of the Dispute between a Man and his Ba! A truly riveting tale about how it's so much better to die to live in paradise then toil away in the living world, except keep trying as it's the right thing to do. Because why not.]

[privatedomicile]

Well, I got a magic dog to sic on him if you change your mind.

[Jesse notes that eye twitch. Another piece of the puzzle...

Interesting story, though.]

Ba's speaking facts. Live your life while you got it, y'know?

[metagame]

I suppose...

[His yellow eyes dart away. Doesn't seem he's interested in talking more about the story.]

Hey, Jesse. How about we play a game? Doesn't that sound way more fun?

[privatedomicile]

Huh. What kinda game we talkin'? I'm down.

[Surely he won't get Saw trap'd twice in a row. Surely.]

[metagame]

How about... Four Aces! I just so happen to have some playing cards with me. The rules are simple, if you draw two aces of the same color you win!

[He lays the four cards out on a nearby table.]

But Jesse... if you lose, you'll have to face a penalty.

[privatedomicile]

Pretty damn basic for a card game.

[Oh, he does not like the way Atem is emphasizing the word penalty. However, Jesse's no pussy, so he draws two cards anyway.

...well, that's the Ace of Clubs and Ace of Hearts. In other words, he's lost.]

Crap. This really is kinda a luck-based thing, y'know? Don't you got darts or something--

[Famous last words.]

[metagame]

[He shrugs his shoulders.]

Don't be such a sore loser.

[privatedomicile]

Not complainin', yo, just stating the facts. It's like a fifty-fifty chance type of thing. Point is I lost. So what do I gotta do, dust the bookshelf?

[metagame]

No, nothing like that. Show some patience.

[He emphasizes what he says with another knife-like smile.]

You'll find out what the penalty is soon enough.

Anyway... I'm going to go see what the others are doing now. Feel free to look some more.

[byeee]

[privatedomicile]

Ooooookayyyy…be a cryptic weirdo about it, sounds cool.

[He’s got a bad feeling about this. Maybe there’s some book that’ll explain what to do if you accidentally sell your soul in a card game.]

Shoulda asked for the fine print. Shit.