Dark Crow Rising

Nodding to myself as Vapooliar continues to tend to the aelenvari. I leave her be so she can focus on it. Deciding to head back towards the bathhouse so I can see how Vadei is getting along. Walking by everything I came by not that long ago.

"Log-Puller!" Rohlant calls out to me as I pass by his group again.

For the sake of petty vengeance, I make an attempt at ignoring them.

"Log-Puller!" he calls out again before something knocks me on the back of the head. I sneer briefly but turn to face him with an emotionally bland face.

Let's just get this over with...

"Play a game?" Aarut asks as he treats his hat like a frying pan to build up momentum for a set of strangely marked dice. Somewhat intrigued by the request, I walk up to them and look down at the board they have. I arrive just as he seemingly takes his turn and he places down a palm-sized, wooden tile onto it. I quickly look under at the sawn-up log they're using as a table for the sake of it.

They offer me a place to sit and stabilise the board as I pass by through a narrow gap. The board is fairly big compared to what I am used to with it having enough room for what looks to be twenty-four by twenty-four tiles. I grab a nearby crate and toss it down. Plopping myself down onto it and inspecting the game board more thoroughly, I come to an important conclusion.

I can't read a single thing here.

"I don't know how to play." I state as I look up at Aarut.

"Don't worry, I'll teach..." he tells me with the wave of his hand. Though, I do not trust the fact he is willing to look away as he says so.

"You? Teach?" Envo laughs as he swings some small barrel on a relatively thick string round and round. He smugly smiles at Aarut and the annoyed man's hand touches the hilt of his knife.

"I'll slice your other thumb meself!" the man jokes as he chuckles his hand towards the dice-holding hat.

"Feel free, Aarut. This barrelswing's going to be done soon, I can feel it. I can just drink that little bit of pain away. Oh, wait, I forgot, barrelswing is the worst so I'll just pour it to the floor!" Envo tells him and I blink in understanding at the fact it's some kind of booze in that barrel. Aarut grumbles at the barrel-swinging man as he finishes placing down some tiles.

Some of them are flat with only an inscribing on them for detail. Others have little dips carved into their flat faces and others are the inverse with smooth bumps. Writing of some kind is prevalent on all of them. But, I can't even fathom as to what any of it says.

I know my native cuneiform alone and I don't want to test the idea that Vadei's spit can help me read if it gets in my eyes...

"Thought it was danglebarrel?" Rohlant questions as he reaches for his belt.

"Stupid downslope lovers... And it's barrelsling...!" Aarut complains as he abruptly starts to dismantle the in-progress game. Rohlant chuckles to himself and sips from a leather sack and Aarut reassembles some of the board. He creates a little space on both ends two tiles deep and eight wide. The rest of the board gets carefully covered in the other tiles.

Envo starts to wobble a new kind of tile near Aarut, but he slaps it away to the ground. I get handed five tiles eventually and with none of the needed context. I look closely at the two types I have and focus on their pictures. One is clearly marked with a foot or a boot while the other is marked with a saddle and silhouette of something...

I assume I need to copy Aarut, so I start to place mine down but a hand stops me.

"Are you going to explain anything?" I ask.

Rohlant shakes his head at me as he starts to guide my hand himself, "Don't need to copy him. Just array the three Foot tiles in a way where you can quickly intercept theirs, keep yer Cavalry safe behind them."

"Hey, don't start telling him how to play!" Aarut complains and I blink at the man across from me. The actual conniving bastard...

"We're teaching him how to play you dumb-as-rocks osibindah!" Rohlant barks loud and sternly as he finishes placing my tiles down for me. I stare at the formation I was given and the creator of it shuffles closer.

"You set?" Aarut asks as he focuses on Rohlant.

"I-"

"Yes." Rohlant answers and I sigh through my nose as Envo rattles a dice about his palm.

"Rolling the pointless weather dice, then." he goes and he snatches it up in the air without even letting it roll to a conclusion. I blink as what seems to be an important part of the game is completely ignored.

"Clear skies." Rohlant declares as he flips one of the tiles over at random. Aarut huffs at the action as my hand just sort of starts to mess with the board. I tap one of the tiles and shift it about as if it is a loose stone slab on a pathway.

"Now what?" I ask, just going with the flow that I am not going to learn anything playing with these three. I continue to wobble the tile as Aarut ponders something.

"Play a normal match of first to three." Envo speaks as Aaruts pondering continues to drag on.

Aarut's mind wakes up as if he just completely missed that, "Now, we play. Seen as you are new, we will just do it as the first to three points."

"And how do -I- do that?" I ask, emphasising the fact they've failed to explain anything so far. He picks one of his tiles up, one of the ones we only have two of each. Cavalry if Rohlant's earlier words mean anything.

"Take one of these and try to get it behind one of these, removing it from the field." he explains, but, I feel like there's a bit more to it. I make a note of where I am taking my piece from and inspect it closer. I need to move this silhouette of the four-legged thing with a saddle behind the boot.

"For every Foot of his you take, you get one point. Two for every Cavalry piece. Get all three of his Foot, one Foot and a Cavalry piece, or, if you're feeling lucky... Two Cavalry pieces so you can win on a hefty four points." Rohlant explains to me as his leg starts to bounce a little. Aarut starts to move his pieces into a clearly pre-planned move. The map he set up benefits him obnoxiously if am guessing right.

I watch with a raised brow as he smiles to himself as one of his foot pieces comfortably rests between two grooved tiles. I try to move one of my pieces but the response is almost animalistic and I stop with the shake of my head. Letting him carry on with this pathetic victory as the other two quietly laugh to themselves.

"Can I move my pieces now?" I ask, clearly fed up already.

"Now you can move." nodding at this and copying the same style he did just because I do not really have a plan. I look at my end of the board and try to figure out what I have to play with. The area in front of me is very hilly with all these bumped tiles. I try to copy the number of spaces I watched Aarut move his pieces with, but Rohlant stops me.

He shakes his head at me and moves them himself. I pinch the top of my nose with my left hand as I make a point of sliding my crate back a bit. What even is the point? I mean, really...

"When you get off the hills, your pieces can keep on going for a few extra spaces. But, they cannot turn as a result." Rohlant explains to me as I look at my end of the board. It's pretty obvious that these hill tiles will either be to my benefit or my detriment. Given how clever Aarut thinks he's being, I want to bet that detriment is the current season. One of my cavalry pieces is right in line with one of his foot pieces.

The side with four little grooves on its edge...

"Pass, your turn." Aarut says as he impatiently taps one of his pieces. I glance down at the grooved tiles some of my pieces are going to end up on. I move them in accordance with the little information I have been given.

"They're now all on marsh tiles, you won't be able to move them to their best effect next turn. Cavalry can only move one tile and Foot cannot defend themselves during that turn." Rohlant explains as Aarut clearly gets ready to move his pieces. I move the one piece I can move about to no real effect. I just don't even bother trying. Aarut starts to take his turn.

Two of my pieces get blocked by his. A Foot blocks one of my Cavalry pieces at the front. His Cavalry then slams into its side and he flicks it off the table. I watch as the piece flies rotary-style before it thunks onto the grass.

Two to him...

He moves some other pieces into play but nothing seems to come of it. He swears under his breath and I huff at what was clearly a miscalculation on his part. Envo laughs openly at him and I pay attention to the exposed rear of one of his cavalry pieces. I move mine against it then just throw his lost piece at him.

"You know why." I remark as the man groans at me in response. The other two find it right hilarious, though. I then wave my hand at the rest of my turn, it's not like I can do anything anyway. Aarut takes his final turn and ends the game with a grumble as he listens in carefully to Envo's excited barrel swinging.

"Another game?" I am asked and I practically roar a single, forced laugh.

"I'll take you up on that." a familiar voice calls out from behind as she swaggers into view. Only because I am on the level of it, I watch as her lower end swings right up near me. Her outer thigh touches my cheek and the other three suddenly get a serious expression. Not the hard-working kind, a far, different, subtly jealous kind.

I try to keep Rose-sweerui's tail away from my head.

"Careful, the game's really hard to grasp and master." I mumble sarcastically as the scantily-clad woman happily places herself down onto my lap. She eagerly rubs into this favourite seat of hers and she decides for me to have my hands around her. I go along with it if only it will let me see Aarut get what's coming to him. Even though I have a faceful of rose-coloured hair to the point I can barely see...

I can still make out a very confident smirk on the lips of this woman.

"How about we make the tension more noticeable?" Rose-sweerui asks the other three as she slowly drags her rear across my lap. I try to focus on nasty things as a tone of soft delight sings out for those listening.

"Hm, what'cha offerin'?" Rohlant asks as he starts to play with something. I think it might be a hat but I can definitely hear jingling.

"Whatever you want from our flower without anything in exchange. And, if I win, I take your little barrel there and the slope-maker I have seen you working on." Rose-sweerui proposes and the three men stand up with curled fists and stern gazes. One of them clicks their tongue and they seem to look off into the distance somewhere. Their pride at risk, the three men nod in mutual understanding. Though, I find it funny that they didn't just refuse, they lose nothing if they do.

But I suppose I won't ever get it as I am not making a crude brewing device, however, someone's pride interacts with that.

Rose-sweerui giggles delightfully as she turns her head my way. My nose ends up against her cheek right after her ear flicks away from an eye. I lean back a bit and watch her smirk as a hand gently touches mine. Her bulbs light up brightly and her mouth opens slightly.

"By the time I am done squeezing these three dry of anything of value... All you will have is the bliss of my touch and the warmth of calming drink." she gently giggles as she carefully works her body around my lap and gut. She resists my attempts to slip my grip between her back and my front.

I glance up at the darkening sky as Rose-sweerui's excitement becomes increasingly clear. If Aahtha has her way, then this woman on top of me will mean I'll have to be very thorough in cleaning myself. I guess that's another good reason to check in on Vadei once I am done here. I can clean up the mess of this damn rose-topped annoyance and maybe not get moaned at for apparently not sticking to my word...

"Well, shall we?" Rose-sweerui asks the three men as they drop into their seats. Each expression of theirs holds the weight of the world behind it.