Whispering Crow's Trials
The Station of Fear:
Whispering Crow was always fascinated by something as simple as the flip of a coin. When broken down into a science, he was actually quite disappointed to finally come to the conclusion that a coin toss wasn't really a fair game of chance. One side of the coin weighed slightly more than the other, which caused it to favor landing on one side over the other. The chance that this weight would actually impact any given toss was in reality very minute, but it was large enough to bother Crow. When he got a little older, Whispering Crow tried dice, but they had the same problem. Larger numbers had more parts of the die carved out of them, leading the dice to favor the smaller numbers over the larger ones. Crow learned how to play cards, but once again, the weight of the cards was disproportionate, and unfair. The face cards had a noticeable amount of extra ink on them. Unseen to most people, Crow was able to tell when he had come face to face with a dealer who was trained well enough to distinguish these cards from the others in the deck. All of this was a crying shame to Crow, who loved to gamble, and wished for nothing more than a fair chance, even if the odds weren't in his favor.
When Crow finally came of age and entered The Diving Sea Snake for the first time, it was though he had been breathing in smoke his entire life. Unlike any other place he had been to, there, all the games of chance all passed Crow's ruthless examinations and absurd expectations. The manager of the casino, Plentimon, explained to him the great lengths that went into making such perfect instruments of gambling, and Crow was pleased. Finally given a chance at a fair game of cards, Whispering Crow was finally able to let his talent shine, knowing how to bluff, and when to call them. Crow made his fortune on the card games at the casino, but after so many visits, the same card game time and time again began to grow a little too boring to Crow, a little too easy, and the lure of the vast diversity of games at The Diving Sea Snake was quite alluring. Given enough time, Crow would eventually try his hand at pure luck, and quickly, he would come to the quick conclusion that his luck would only hold out for so long. After a very long losing streak, Crow regrettably sought credit from Plentimon to continue his gambling spree. Plentimon knew Crow was a loyal customer, and one of his highest rollers, and so Plentimon granted Crow the loan without too much of a hassle on anyone's part. Crow then returned to the card games, where he knew he could be successful to earn his money back, but his losses had stressed him, and made his game sloppy. Coupled with just plain bad luck with the draw, Crow eventually found himself hanging on one last bet, and that's when Plentimon walked up behind him and spoke.
“I've been watching you, Crow, and that's the last of your money you're betting.”
Crow replied, “I am never going to pay you back if I try to win it all one dinar at a time.”
“Oh, please don't misunderstand me. I think what you're doing right now is excellent.” Plentimon smiled an invisible smile, lost to the infinitely dark black depths of his body. “I just wanted to point out, that if you lose this bet, it will be very unlikely that you will be able to pay me back.”
Crow nodded, “I'm not going to lose.”
Plentimon tilted his head to one side and remarked, “Are you sure?” Whispering Crow, by now, had heard Plentimon ask that question at least a hundred times to different people, including him. No matter how sure one was before hearing that question, hearing it, in Plentimon's voice, always brought doubt into a mind.
Crow paused a little before replying. “No. No, I'm not sure.”
“That is most excellent to hear, Crow. Now, “ Plentimon looked over at the table. “lets see who has the best hand, shall we?” The players overturned their cards, and Crow immediately went sick to his stomach. He stared incredulously at the truth, unable to comprehend how such a good hand could still lose. The dealer took bets for the next hand, for which Crow had nothing to contribute to, and the dealer continued the game, skipping over Crow as he dealt the cards, and Plentimon spoke again from behind him. “Well, Crow, I hate to remind you of bad news at a time like this, but you still have to pay me back. You've been here long enough to know what comes next.”
Crow turned around and shook his head. “No, I think I've had enough gambling for a very long time. I'll pay you back some other way. Just give me a week to come up with the money.”
“What are you going to do now, Crow?” Plentimon replied.
“I... I don't know.” said Crow.
