Mathias Osmond's Story

Saher as the central hub for interdimensional travel was a very grand place to say the least. Every city, town and village was well built, maintained and policed, making the dimension as close to a utopia as was thought to be possible. There was however one downside. The criminals that spawned from such a place and the criminal underworld that would then take root inside the dimension would be among the worst known to man. Any place synonymous with travel would be a prime place for smugglers and smugglers bring with them all sorts of characters. Saher’s drug problem was astronomically bad. Drugs were smuggled in large quantities with seemingly no end in sight. The drugs themselves, gave money to the dealers and mob bosses who bought off politicians, allowing seeds of corruption to spread through the utopian government. Drugs brought addicts who often turn into murders, the murders leave survivors who turn into vengeful bounty hunters and criminals themselves. The spiral of evil was pretty much out of control below the ground, yet the public remained unaware of this, only being told certain areas were “off limits”.

Comradery between criminals was low at the best of times. The bars frequented in Saher by the more depraved of society were often trashed in bar brawls, spilled liquor and the occasional blaze set alight by the odd pyromaniac. However many of the gambling dens set up in bars were one of the few places where there was underlying respect between them, leaving aside the cheating. One such place was Smuggler’s Cove, a rather upbeat and rambunctious bar that was well known for its gambling.

On this particular day, as usual, the bar was alive with boasting, drunken songs, brawling and gambling. At the high end table were bets were usually in excess of 100,000 xion (The Interdimensional Currency). The table had what seemed to be a magic aura about it. No fighting would come anywhere near it, a circle of onlookers usually watched the games, often cheering and ogling the money on the tables, many having not seen such amounts in their lives. The game was down to the last two players, the other three having folded already. One was a well dressed man, whose clothes bulged from many years of overeating and lack of exercise. He had a very ostentatious appearance wearing frilled jackets and shirts gold rings, bracelets and a very lucratively bejeweled necklace lay around his neck. He was sweating rather profusely as he tried to down more wine between his fat lips, his monocle shaking a little in his slightly drunken stupor. He placed his wine glass down shakily, groggily waving his two cards in his left hand, a swollen smile planted firmly on his face.

“I must say, you have done well to get this far,” He said drearily, his voice filled with self importance and confidence. “But I think you had better leave and take what little Xion you have left and run along home.” His jibes kick started a raucous amount of laughter from around the table. The man, a high ranking diplomat pushed in a stack of money valuing 500,000 xion. “I raise to 500,000.” The laughter immediately stopped as all eyes became fixated on the money in the pot which was well over 1,000,000 by now. The diplomats eyes were a glimmer with the prospect of victory.

However his opponent did not think so. “All in.” He said as he pushed in his meagre funds into the pot. His voice rang with a Southern twang. The man looked up at his opponent, tipping his hat to him, a black backed card attached to it via a ribbon. The man took a large sip of the whiskey he had next to him.

“All bets are in.” The dealer called out, bringing about a hefty silence around the bar. The five cards on the table were perfect for a straight: A 10, Jack, Queen of clubs. Plus a 2 of diamonds and a 5 of spades. The diplomat put his cards on display. An 8 and 9 of clubs.

“Straight Flush!” He yelled in triumph getting a hearty cheer from the men surrounding the table and respectable applause from the folded players.

“There’s no way that country bumpkin could beat that.” Shouted one man from the crowd.

“Aye! That shithead’s royally screwed.” Joked another.

“Just fold and be done with it!” A woman shouted to many drunken laughs.

The man played around with his cards a little. “Well partner,” He said almost sullenly. “Looks like you got me…” He threw his cards face up on the table, however all eyes went from glee at his supposed loss to looks of abject horror. “A fair chunk of money. I thank you for your generous donation.” A King and Ace of clubs lay face up on the table. “Royal Flush.”

There was a huge uproar from the crowd as the man began stuffing the money into a large bag he had beside him. The diplomat’s face slowly crumpled into pure rage. “CHEATER!” The crowd all stared at him while the man carried on loading his bag with the rest of the money. “Stop that man and turn out his sleeves. There is no way that you could have those cards.” Men from the crowd surged around the disconcerting man who just put the last of the money in his bag. One man grabbed his wrist and rolled up his sleeve showing his bare right arm. While another rolled up his left revealing a deck of cards that had different backs on them to the cards they had been playing with. However that did not stop the mob from accusing him.

“There see, a second deck of cards. That fucker must have been changing cards.”

“Who woulda thought it, huh?”

“I was right! I knew some peasant could not have beaten me.” The diplomat laughed.

The two men were almost pinioning the cowboy between the two of them, preventing him from moving away as the diplomat stepped forward, a smug grin on his face. “I do not like cheats and neither I’m sure do any of the people here.” A chorus of ayes met his words. “So I think you know what happens next, right? Bumpkin?”

The man remained relaxed despite the situation he was in. It was pretty off putting to those around him to a great extent. “Well I’d say I’m in a real predicament right now, huh?” He looked down at his right hand which unknown to the people in the room had three cards between his fingers. “That was if I was some hopeless babe.” He said with a smirk as he whipped his wrist backwards at one of the men holding him. “Three of a kind.”

The cards flew backwards piercing the man’s torso, ripping him open and allowing blood to spill from his gut. He let go of the cowboy to clutch his wounds, allowing the cowboy to whip another card from his sleeve and slam it into the other man’s chest. “High Card!” He shouted as the card exploded into the man’s body, killing him instantly as his chest was blown open. His eyes then turned to the diplomat, an evil smile playing on his lips. “You’ve made a horrible mistake, callin’ me a cheat, partner,” He whipped the remainder of his deck from his sleeve to his hand and placed the deck down on the ground, placing one finger on top of it. “48 card ocean.” The cards all flew in multiple directions, littering the entire floor with cards. “Ocean of fire.” He said as he picked up his bag. The cards all released a torrent of flame each, engulfing the entirety of the bar. The screams of the people getting hit by the fire alerted the presence of anyone in the vicinity. The town guards were amoung these people who ran towards the burning bar. They were about to call for help dealing with the fire but before they could, a man emerged from the flames unscathed. His tattered brown trench coat fluttered in the wind that seemed to spontaneously and quite appropriately appear out of no where. This man’s sudden appearance caused the guards to immediately point their weapons at him, a mixture of spears and swords.

“Drop the bag and come quietly!” One, the leader, shouted with an air of authority. His troops began inching their way towards him.

This action however only garnered a tut and tip of the hat from the man. “I’m sorry sheriff.” He said with his face hidden by his hat. “I’m afraid that won’t be happenin’ anytime soon. I have things to do, places to be, people to meet, so I’m gonna mozie on outta here.” He took a deck of cards from his pocket and placed both hands on it. “Card rain” The cards erupted from his deck, raining down on top of the soldiers, obscuring his view from them. Using this to his advantage, he fled the scene, but some of the guards chased him managing to escape the card rain. The group ran pell mell through the streets, running past all manner of people and buildings, heading in the direction of the Expedition Hall.

The man looked upon the hall and without a second thought, plowed through the double doors, in view of many of the adventurers.

Marina Poside watched as a familiar figure rammed his way through the doors. “That idiot..” She sighed under her breath as she tried to avoid being heard by the others around her.

The man ran, keeping his eyes trained on the guards behind him and threw a handful of cards in their direction, the cards struck each one of them, piercing through them, leaving the men either severely injured or dead. However not looking where he was going, the man plowed straight into Nathaniel and Seong as the two were investigating what was going on. Nathaniel sprang to his feet, whipping one of his pistols out and placing it in the face of the downed man, allowing Seong to bounce to her feet.

“If I was you friend, I would surrender. I don’t want to kill you,” Nathaniel threatened in a gentle tone.

“Nate, he’s just killed five men, I somewhat doubt he’s going to surrender willingly.” Seong said in a tone of annoyance.

“The lady’s right, boy,” The man said with a smile. “Some yellow belly like yerself wouldn’t be able to scare me. You need to have the balls to carry out your threats. Something I can do and you can’t. Now take that gun away from my face before I kill you.”

“Make me,” Nate said defiantly.

Nate pulled the hammer down on the gun, his finger jumping to the trigger. The man however threw a card at the face of Nate, which exploded in a bright light, temporarily blinding him. He placed another card underneath Nate which fired a column of fire at him which he narrowly avoided in his blinded delirium.

The man leapt to his feet, throwing more cards at Seong and Nate, who threw themselves out the way. Seong rolled, raising her shield and aiming her magi-tech pistol at the cowboy, firing three shots in rapid succession. However to her dismay, her opponent used one of his cards almost like a small knife, deflecting the bullets as they came within range of him. He then threw the card, which only just missed her head by bare centimeters.

“How did you deflect my bullets with mere cards?” Seong remarked in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen magic like that before.” Nate said out of curiosity. He silently studied the man who stood up straighter, radiating an aura of calm.

“My cards aren’t normal, m’lady,” The man explained. “Every one is enchanted. That all I’ll say on the matter.”

At that moment Nine and Abelle rounded the corner to see what all the noise was for. The man immediately sent a trio of cards flying at him. “Wild card.”

Two of the cards missed but the one in the centre of the bunch, the joker, hit Nine’s arm, opening a horrendous wound up on his left shoulder. This caused Nate to run forward, drawing his second pistol and open fire upon the man.

“I don’t think so kid. Card Wall!” Cards erupted from his sleeves and pockets, surrounding him in a protective barrier, blocking each incoming shot.

“I think it’s about time I take my leave. It was fun playing with you kids. Thorned Rose!” a number of cards from the card wall sprang out in all directions in a fiery inferno, completely coating the entranceway in flame. Nate was saved by Seong who got between him and he flames with her shield, using a null magic spell. Nine however was not so lucky. In his desperation to keep Abelle safe, took the brunt of the fire spell. His skin became scorched, his clothes singed and burned. And with that the man vanished from sight, behind the sea of flame.

__________________________________________________________________

The man in question had managed to get a good mile away in a short amount of time, using his knowledge of the streets in the area. He had found himself a secluded area in amongst the alleyways and began counting his money carefully, having not let the bag out of his sight the entire time he had acquired it.

“Matthias…” A voice sounded from around a corner. Matthias stopped immediately and looked around, catching a glimpse of a cane and a part of a man’s body covered by a coat. A book seemed to be in his revealed hand, open as if the figure was reading it. “It would be nice if you could try not to draw attention to yourself. I know the promise of money is something difficult for you to ignore but we can not have your escapades ruining our...no my plans.”

“Well sir, I’m sure no harm was done to your carefully laid out plans,” Matthias said as he stood up, facing in the man’s direction. “But a man’s gotta support himself somehow. Besides...I’m sure this money will be helpful to your plans.” He picked up the bag which only contained half the poker winnings he had earned and threw it next to the figure.

“I have no need of money, I’m sure you realise.” The man said, shutting the book as he did so. “However I’m sure your colleague over there could do with some spending money. I’m sure she would have some use of it.”

“That I would sir.” Sounded the alluring voice of Marina Poside as she stepped out of the shadows. “That would certainly help my cover story of being the delicate and rather beautiful aristocrat.” She walked up beside the mysterious figure and picked up the bag of money. “Of course I would request that someone does not try and blow my cover next time. If I was not so confident in your abilities I would have had to step in.”

“Well missy, I’m more than capable of handling myself. There aren’t many who can match my power.” Matthias boasted.

“Hmmm...I think of at least seven people.” Marina remarked with a wink, causing Matthias to blush.

“So can I, Miss Poside.” He said with a sigh. “Has Shika reported in yet?”

“Not yet no,” The man responded curtly. “She’s maintaining a low profile at the moment. She will make her move soon. As will Heirtif.”

“That psycho? He gives me the creeps, the emotionless bastard.” Marina complained.

“What about…” Matthias started but was cut off immediately.

“They are standing by. Those two are far too noticeable and dangerous to be allowed to roam where they please.” The man interjected with authority in his tone. “Now I suggest we all depart from here. Matthias you will come with me for the moment, I have need of you.” Matthias nodded. “Marina continue with your orders, try not to blow your cover too soon.”

“As you wish sir!” She responded with a bow.

And with that the three vanished without a trace.