Written by: Nataliya "Shader" Kostenko
This past Saturday I had a ton of fun attending the third annual Clontarf Shuffle (with Stacked Deck Final Table). I’m not normally one for gambling with gold–only with my life and well-being–but I was immediately drawn to the new Rhiassan-and-Saurabian collab game, Dino Racing! To participate, one places bets on the very real dinos that Lord Aeston keeps locked up in highly humane kennels (where they are sustained on a diet of only the freshest spider milk). You can even hedge your bets by placing additional gold down on the dinosaurs after they’ve already left the starting gate. Here’s a tip for anyone interested in making some big time dino dollars: first, you can always bet on the black and yellow ‘saurs. Those are safe (but also cool, stylish) colors. Second, if Sir Orion is at the table, the safer strategy actually becomes to bet on whichever dinosaurs he does not choose. You’re welcome in advance for these wealth-generating suggestions.
I–along with several other adventurers–was torn away from the racing by a fellow with a really cool hat (but sadly no whip, that I could see) who goes by Blackwood Joe. ‘Ole BJ is an archaeologist who managed to get himself into some trouble with a sapphire collarbone. In that his collarbone was actually turning to sapphire. He also said something about a dragon, or rumors of one, but I didn’t fully hear him over the sound of all the dino chips I was raking in. Anyway, a small but effective party set forth to help Blackwood Joe out with this. While Omri, Anton, Eldritch, Irri, Aelias, and a few others kept some mole crabs (that made very interesting noises) at bay, Liselle, Baron Diamonde, and I tried to get a strange-looking door open. Our great enemy, a gentle breeze, kept blowing away all our progress on door-assembly, but eventually we got there. After that, I’m not really sure what happened because I died in front of a completely normal and in no way suspicious-looking door. Irri and Anton raised my armor-less ass probably twenty-seven more times while the rest of the party fought valiantly to drain the batteries out of some golems. In the end, we were triumphant! We escaped a mighty avalanche and got a huge (draconic?) wishbone for our efforts. Luckily for ‘ole Blackwood Joe, it broke in his favor and he was able to wish himself back to normal.
Meanwhile, inside, the nail-biting Stacked Deck finale concluded with a victory by Zatara! I don’t know much about poker, but with a large crowd gathered around observing it looked like a close and well-played game. Jacques came in second, followed up by Bright and then Runaris. The runners up got hefty pouches of gold to gamble further with and the first place prize was some kind of (very nifty I’m sure) artifact. Also inside, Dame Kyomi’s cooking filled the whole hall with a delicious aroma–the lamb and potatoes were particular favorites for me, but she had tons of excellent snacks on offer. Despite being weighed down with lamb, we also managed to get through some (Advanced) Huntress practice. Then, the day’s festivities wrapped up with the ticket raffle. Many interesting prizes. I’d remember what some of them were if Sir Tao hadn’t nailed me in the head with the coins that he was also throwing out as part of the day’s winnings. To elevate a great day even further, we ended up raising quite a bit of money for a great cause. I will certainly be looking forward to future Shuffles!