Secret Pazaak Game (D8EN)

[Hatoful GM]

Playing Pazaak on the base was forbidden. And yet, somehow, an invitation had been passed along to the Jedi kids, along with a stern warning to keep it secret.

In a large storage room, a number of soldiers had gathered. A few drank, and listened to the Bith music playing. Or ate some of the snacks. One soldier stood guard.

But at the center of the room was a big table. That was where the most attention was. Several soldiers were already there, playing.

[Zanja]

Zanja came to check it all out. Obviously.

The young Zabrak slouched into the room, taking in the crowd with a nonchalant glower. She was dressed in rather nondescript street clothing, though her age and the bare fact that she wasn't a familiar face at the base camp probably made it obvious she must have come with the Jedi party.

[Byron Mik]

Byron was in... a funk after the whole affair, literal and figurative, on the last world and was finding it hard to find balance with his emotions. So he figured the best thing to do was to do something reckless.

[Hatoful GM]

The door guard let them in quickly, with grins and smirks.

"Hey, we got some of the Jedi!" He called. The players all cheered softly, raising glasses, or, in one case, a bag of soychips.

"Hey, Jedi kids." One of the pazaak players gave them a wave. In truth, he looked only a few years older than them. "Come on in. Have a seat if you like. Grab a drink. We've got alcoholic and non-alcoholic, whatever you want." He waved a hand; there were a few selections for each category in a cooler set up at the end of the table.

[Byron Mik]

Byron replied, "Thanks for the warm welcome."

He went for some food and the alcoholic beverage... because why not.

[Zanja]

"Hey. Thanks for reading us in." Zanja's grin was sharply cheerful. She roamed over to the cooler and picked out something fruity and sugary. "You lot do this often?"

[Hatoful GM]

"Hey, my man Jedi, alright." One of the nearby soldier's clinked bottles with Byron, apparently approving of his choice.

The previous speaker nodded. "Yeah, it used to be an open thing, and then the tree up the commander's butt grew another branch." A few snickers around the room at that.

He held out his hand. "I'm Ross. That's Bess, Kedge, Deveraux, Salen, and Kris." Each gave a friendly wave or a nod as their names were given. It was a fairly even mix, with Bess, Deveraux, and Kris being women. Deveraux was a twi'lek, Salen a togruta.

"So." Salen said. "You kids want in? Or you just here for the free booze? Either way's fine. It's nice to look at different people for a change."

[Byron Mik]

"I might sit the first one out just to make sure I understand the game and then... sure," he responded.

[Esla Tor]

Esla was present to the soiree. She figured that the gang was invited for a reason, despite how dubious it sounded. There was probably something to witness or experience that was tied to their training, surely. She appeared in a grey-blue turtleneck and leggings as she entered the room, giving a small nod in greeting to everyone who was gathered. After helping herself to a can of fizzy stuff, making sure it wasn't booze this time, she found herself a seat in the outskirts.

[Hatoful GM]

The door opened for the new arrival.

"Hey there." Ross greeted her. "We were just starting. Want us to deal you in?"

"You gonna introduce yourselves?" The twi'lek said.

[Byron Mik]

“Byron, that is Esla, and all horns and sass is Zanja,” Byron said to the soldiers.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Another latecomer arrived. "Sorry I'm late to the super secret meeting that isn't happening." Zizzy smiled as she entered, throwing back her hood to let her tendrils free.

[Zanja]

"Sure, deal me in." Zanja located an empty chair and dragged it up to the table. "I remember the rules. As far as that goes." Though it had been a while since she'd actually played--and unless the local crew were playing for pretty low stakes, it wouldn't take long for rusty skills or a run of bad luck to clean her out.

"I'm Zanja," she added with her best friendly smile, which was... okay. "That's Esla, and the big one is Byron."

"Oh, and that's Zizzy," she added as one more appeared...

((cross-posting, whee))

[Esla Tor]

Esla nodded to the gathered soldiers at the introduction of her name.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy waved to the soldiers and her fellow students. "Hi everyone. I've never played before so I guess I'll watch this round. Unless you want to show me how to play? I'm happy either way."

[Hatoful GM]

Another cheerful greeting accompanied the newcomer.

"It's great that all of you are showing up." Ross said, nodding enthusiastically. "That's awesome. Here, we'll show you how to play."

The game seemed very simple, with one dealer, and everyone else trying to get to 20 without going over. Cards could be played from hand to modify the total, though.

They demonstrated a round slowly for the Jedi, with careful explanations.

.................................................

(mostly this will just be chat and roleplay, but everyone who wants to play can roll Cool or Deception against average difficulty to get a feel for you you did for the night. Possibly a pittance of credits can be exchanged, but the soldiers are doing it mostly as a group hang)

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy watched carefully, and then drew the worst possible starting hand. After being annihilated despite their going easy on her she said: "I don't think i'm going to be very good at this game. The odds of drawing that hand were like, 3719 to 1."

Looking around at the soldiers she decided to make small talk instead. "So, how long have you guys been based here?"

D8 EN. Can Zizzy play Pazzak? Average Deception: 3eA+2eD 0 successes, 1 threat

[Hatoful GM]

That question drew a chorus of groans, albeit good-natured ones.

"Too long. And blech." One of the players said, tossing down her hand.

"Been about two years for most of us." Ross said. "Kedge has been here the longest. He's a techie. Deveraux the shortest, at six months. Twi'leks sub in and out a lot, what with being from a desert planet and all. Seems like they should assign more Pantorans, but I'm not in charge." He took a big drink from his bottle.

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Two years? Surely you'll get your pick of assignments next though. Right? And there must be some interesting mysterious stuff going on around here?" She looked around hoping for a good story or two.

[Zanja]

"Not a lot of visitors besides Jedi, huh?" Zanja put in, a note of gravelly sympathy in her voice as she laid down her cards. It turned out she wasn't that rusty.

--

D8 EN--Pazaak, Deception average: 1eP+3eA+2eD 2 successes, 2 advantage