by Tim "Jerrickiv Jerrikson" Suitor
Oh gosh, what a lovely spring day it was this past weekend. A bit of rain, a bit chilly at times, but a nice day! As Lord Sir Elwin rode south to Blackwood he actually found me at the Stonewood border. The guards were checking some of the deviled eggs I was bringing for contraband or something, but Lord Sir Elwin spoke to them, and let me tag along and travel with him (What an honor).
When we got to the castle we saw so many friendly faces outside, gosh it was nice to see everyone again after a long winter. I set up my donation bin and the eggs in the dining hall with a small letter explaining that I was trying to raise money for the new farmers moving North back home, and I entered the main hall.
At the entrance I was given a bag of green coins and was explained to that the green coins could be spent for tickets for raffle prizes, but it was also nice to have something to play the games with that wasn't just gold. Turns out gold is expensive.
Well I found my good friend Mister Vesper, who I spent most of the day with, and we sat down for some blackjack. I bought in with twenty five, and like a good gambler I managed to lose pretty slowly over the next while. And I don't know if you know this, but the Jinx bet is kind of a trap. Well, until you get heckled by a farmer to go big, put a green chip ten piece on it, and come out one hundred and ten ahead! I got me my buddy's ten piece he put up on that, ya know, for a consultant's fee. After a while, Lord Sir Elwin joined the table, and gosh! Twenty-one after twenty one! And several of them were Blackjacks! After five twenty ones in a row, Lord Sir Elwin excused himself. That was right fascinating. Shortly after, my other good friend, Miss Kara took over dealing, and gold disappeared quicker.
I took a break to go into the dining hall, where Miss Kyomi had been working hard and making an amazing assortment of food. I heard that it was one of her first times doing so, but what an amazing spread!
Then it was time for roulette! Roulette is one of my favorite games, and we started off with a decent crowd, and my strategy was working very well for a good right while. I mostly bet on two places, red, and the middle column. Red is a 50/50 chance, and the middle column is supposedly a one in three, so I would put the same amount on both, ten, and when the 50/50 pays out it covers losing on the middle column and when the middle column pays out it puts me ahead.
Now here's the secret though, the columns are supposed to be a one in three chance but the middle column is actually more than that, but doesn't pay out any less. Because it's the column in the middle, so it's more likely to be landed on. Ya know, Sir Trent is a wise man, but I guess that was to much for him to wrap his mind around. He came, hung out for a while and put money down once, won pretty big and pulled out. He doesn't much have a good mind for strategy like me, or Mister Vesper's castle plan (OH GOSH, OH GOSH, I AM SO SORRY SIR, MISTER VESPER SAID IT WAS OKAY TO TEASE YOU, I'M SORRY)
Well after going in with thirty-five at this table, I made back about 40 of what I lost overall. Roulette shut down, and Luck of the Lion started up. It was a fun game, but at that point I was committed to only losing the green chips, and I broke even for a little bit there before moving on to craps. I spent some time at the craps table next to Madame Zarine (gosh, she was so pretty) but the dice took the last of my green chips and I didn't want to dip more into gold. It's no roulette after all, craps is a game of chance!
From there I had a seat and talked with another friend, Mister Magus Prime Rosetta, and… ya know, I don't really know what we talked about. Everything's a little bit fuzzy and we must have gone outside for some fresh air because I really don't remember too much of our chat, I just know I had a bit of a headache after, so he was probably explaining something really neat and magicy. I may have a bunch of elemental magic spirit friends, but at the end of the day I am just a good old simple farm boy.
By then the day was coming to a close. In the Stacked Deck Tournament, 1st place went to Avendar, 2nd place Sagart, 3rd place Baledor, and 4th place to Fansy. Zatara won the no-points poker tournament. Everyone gathered around for the raffle, and final announcements, then we all worked together to pack up the chairs and tables and made our way out.
It was such a wonderful day, and I had such a nice time. I saw friends, I raised some money for my neighbors, the Realms came together and donated to a very good cause [Fuck Putin], and before I knew it, no seriously, before I even realized, Lord Sir Elwin and I were in Stonewood Proper.