The Rockaverse

Qunith rose. They wore a matching black dress-robe with gold sequins interwoven. They pulled open the curtain and stepping out into the casino floor...

Seru shrugged and walked to the other change room, changing into her hot new threads.

**

The main street of the Holy Land, Diamond Lane, was filled with bars and casinos that lined the dirt road all the way to the entrance that they had come from. People gathered on the street, swarming past golden ants and beetles pulling extravagant carts filled with outerworld nobles and items not from the Rock. Thralls were pulled violently by gem-stoned leashes into places of sexual desire, and strange looking men and women ushered those dressed expensively into their establishments.

Seru stormed through the crowd, seemingly searching for something. Her new charcoal-coloured coat billowed behind her, brushing past the countless homeless that were covered in absolute shit begging for coin. She adjusted her hat and elbowed a shirtless man that had reached out to grab her, trying to sell something. Beside that bar stood another one that looked less perverse than the rest, made out of plain stone and wood, yet it appeared to still be thriving with men in suits not unlike the one Seru herself adorned. They loitered out the front with their hitched ants, and stared at the cowboy as she lowered her gaze and stepped inside.

The interior was much like many on the Rock. There were no bright lights or colourful carpets, no women in sequin silks or men in expensive suits. This was a bar for Rockians. True Rockians. They all held their drinks or gambled in simple games, like cards. Seru walked toward the bar and sat on one of the brown stools, ordering herself a drink from the coin she kept in the pockets of her new coat. The rest of the gold she kept hidden in her boots, weary of pickpockets and thieves.

"Any news from the North-East?" Seru asked the bartender, gazing around the bar. Even for Rock standards this place was particularly expensive.

"Not that bad, I'd say," The bespectacled man interjected, arriving on the roof soon after Otis. "Their...'masters' aren't gonna be too fond of it, though. And I'm fine with that," The man laughed. "What's your name, by the way? My brothers and sisters call me Mild Man. It's...stupid, I know. But I can't say I haven't grown attached to it."

"North-east? I may have heard some things," The bartender laughed as he cleaned a glass. "Information don't come cheap here though. You think I wanna end up like those boys on the street?"

As the cruel man humiliated Seru a small tap was felt on her shoulder. "Pardon me ma'am, but... I've come from the North-East," The man said. He was middle-aged, spectacled, and had a large sun-hat over his white-sideburned head. His blue eyes darted nervously. "I don't know what's happening in the Horenor, politics as usual, we lost the Cenogan family to them... Big Noose is furthering his attacks, there was that northern army marching through last week." The man paused. "Sorry, name's Gutner." He spit on his hand and extended it.

Seru also spit her phlegm in her hand and grasped Gutner's with enthusiasm, "Nice to meet ya Gutner, name's Seru. I came from Schittle a few weeks ago, ya heard about the BFG that landed there, yeah? Was wonderin' what happened to it, 'specially if Big Noose is on the loose."

Ash cocked an eyebrow at what Rob was saying, once the waitress brought his drink, he took a slow sip, not taking his eyes off Rob. "Ulfire eh? Sworn enemies then." Ash chuckled slightly. "I served Sorillia, though I suppose I use that word rather loosely." He set his glass down and pulled out his pipe, Rob leaned over to help Ash light it.

"Much obliged. Suppose you're right about that too. The eyes I mean. Sounds cliched I know, but there is quite a bit you can see in them. Scars included." The Captain let out a puff of smoke. "So what brings an old Ulfirian soldier to this part of the galaxy? I thought your side mostly won?"

"A BFG? Like the type the Sorillians had?" Gutner frowned scratching his sideburns. "I saw the northern army march with it. Heard they had... off-worlders with 'em, too."

Gutner raised a hand to the bartender, indicating for a drink. "What brings you to the Golden City, Seru?" Gutner asked as a cold drink was placed in his hand. "You here to... spend money or beg for it?"

"I knew some honorable men from Sorillia," Rob said, sighing. "Killed my fair share of them, I'm sure. As for the winning... the armies won. Me? Not so much." Rob laughed easily, and waved off the atmosphere. "My luck's finally changed around here though. Won it big, and now I can spend most of my days just taking it easy. Wish it was on another planet, but..." Rob shrugged. "What can you do? Gotta play the cards you're dealt I suppose."

***

"Otis, Otis Lariat," Otis said, shaking his head. "You're pretty incredible. I'm not very good at that stuff. I try to come up with stuff to make up for it, but... sometimes it doesn't go so well." Otis sighed.

"I ain't here for long," Seru shrugged, "Just passin' through. Thought I'd check out the Holy Land on my travels, y'know?"

She tapped the glass of her mug for a moment, "What about you? Don't s'pose you know much about those offworlder's eh?"

"Nahhhh... been to the Horenor a few times, saw a few there, a few here," Gutner squinted at Seru. "I own a homestead... a small place, an old place, but I can't afford to keep the families there no more. Thought I'd come here... play someone for it."

"Do they train you well, in the Guardians?" Mild Man inquired. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but...I think you can do a bit more than you think you're capable of...What I'm doing right now shouldn't be impossible for you, for instance."

"Maybe," Otis said, sighing. "You wouldn't happen to be the one who helped us earlier would you? At the Waste Witch's lair?"

"How'd ya go?" Seru asked.

Gutner smiled widely. Regretfully. "Lost a lot more than I won..."

Gutner took a sip before raising an eyebrow at Seru. "You got any coin on you?"

"Waste Witch?" Mild Man shook his head. "Wait, wait...why were you at the Waste Witch's lair?" he began to question, while mildly suspiscious, he kept an even tone.

"Nahh not much," Seru lied, sipping her drink, "I ain't really one for gambling, but I'm in the Holy Land, eh? S'pose I should test my luck."

"I guess it wasn't you," Otis muttered, then raised his voice. "We were with Arubak recovering some lost... items. And treasure. She was a lot more powerful than we anticipated, and we were trapped in her lair, but... Someone pulled us out. Using wind Phoenix magic. Everyone thought it was me, but..." Otis chewed his lip.

"I've never been able to pull something like that off, really. I'm not really sure what I'm contributing," Otis blurted. "We would have died down there, and people were counting on me, and I, I failed." Otis flopped down heavily. "I'm not the right one for this job."

"Well, missy, I got me some chance cubes here," Gutner said, pulling out some dice that he weirdly referred to wrongly. Gutner finished his mug of beer and flipped it over. "You take five dice, I take five dice, we say how many we think are under each- and then we have to raise the stakes or call out one of us a liar."

Gutner smiled. "Deal?"

"Oh, so you were with RB..." Mild Man nodded with realization. "I knew he had guests coming in, but I didn't really get a chance to verify who they were. As for you and your job qualifications...well, we can put that to the test. If your up for it, that is."

Ash raised his glass for a moment. "Here's to the good men we killed. Sorillian, Ulfirian, Rockian. Hope they've found an afterlife better than this place." He said with a chuckle as he took a sip.

"Glad your luck has begun to change though. I'd say my luck has improved, but like you, I'd rather be almost anywhere than here... With many different people... No offense to you of course Rob." He said with a small chuckle and a smile. "So how long have you been here on The Rock for then?"

A small look of surprise crept onto Ash's face as he had a sudden realization. "Ah, my apologies as well, I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Captain Ash, feel free to call me Ash if you like, fellow soldier." He raised his glass once more towards the Ulfirian before taking another small sip.

"Sure," Seru laughed, "But I ain't gonna be good at this. You might just win some coin today."

Seru shook her dice and took a peak, "Two 2's"

Gutner blinked his blue eyes at Seru before glancing down at his cup. He rose it for a second and then lowered it again.

"Three 2's."

Otis sighed, then nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

Above them, the sparrow floated on the wind, whistling happily at Otis.

"Three 5's," Seru pursed her lips, without hesitating.

Gutner bit his lip. "Three... 6's..."