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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 19, 2023 8:49:30 GMT
The Western Wheel is not a particularly well known casino. Just off of a road mostly only of use for basking reptiles, there it is, a rustic saloon-style building behind a fence made out of wagon wheels. As unassuming as it is on the surface, the location is tied to both a well of Natural Energy and a small Hidden World Nature Preserve. Normals don’t notice. The Hidden Worlders are the ones spinning the wheel and keeping the cash flowing.
But now the wheels are stopped. Something is wrong in the air. And so chips must be cashed and favors must be called. Ancient favors from when Nevada was part of Mexico and the Ashen Corps’ predecessors managed the land. Because when you’re a casino and the dice are always rolling exactly the same, and no matter how much you shuffle the decks, the aces are always on top, there is no step too drastic. Two women now arrive at the gate to investigate a cursed casino where the house never wins.
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Post by othus on Nov 21, 2023 21:10:17 GMT
Mexico, Mexico City
A rather boring office building stands unremarkably amid a cluster of similar structures, its architecture lacking any distinctive features. Its exterior is a monotony of neutral colors—beige, gray, and off-white—creating an uninspiring facade that blends into the urban landscape without drawing attention.
The cubicles and offices within follow a standard layout, lacking personal touches or creative design elements. Beige walls and industrial-grade carpeting further contribute to the dull and lifeless atmosphere. it was within one of these smaller offices that two agents of the Ashen Corps were discussing the next mission.
"So let me get this straight: you want me to go to a casino in Nevada, travel expenses covered AND you upgraded the standard business class ticket...that's a trap."- Nova told Daniel as she played with an empty coffe mug.
"Come on, I've given you everything you ever wanted for like, the last couple months, I got you that raise and upgraded your equipment, that stuff costs quite a penny i'm sure you know that"- Daniel replied as he scratched his head. Nova was good, great even, but she was starting to become rather expensive.
"I want those paid vacations i told you about approved, do you even know how long it has been since i took a day off?"-Nova said back and Daniel sighed
"Fine. you'll get them when you come back, deal?"- Daniel told the colombian girl as he quickly extended his hand to seal the deal.
"Deal"
McCarran International Airport, Nevada
Nova exited the building and began to look for her ride. She was wearing a rather inconspicuous attire: a well-fitted denim jacket and underneath, a comfortable and tasteful top, paired with slim-fit jeans that enhanced her petite frame.
The sun nearly blinded her upon exiting the door, so she put on a pair of aviator sunglasses. Immediately, she was hit by the heat of the desert.
"...this weather blows"- was all she said as she finally found her ride: A black Mercedes that had pulled over maybe a couple minutes ago. Nova got in and was greeted, or rather ignored, by a man wearing a black suit.
"They make you wear a suit? in this heat?"-Nova told her driver, who promptly ignored her. The rest of the trip would turn out to be much of the same. a few hours later, Nova had arrived at the gate, she got out and waved at the guy who had brought her here. He took off yet again without saying a thing.
"...Is my English that bad or?"
Nova thought to herself as she looked around.
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 25, 2023 0:19:57 GMT
When Nova arrived at her destination, there was another woman already there. Unlike Nova, the heat didn’t seem to be bothering her at all. With a black leather jacket and jeans, she should have been boiling, but there wasn’t a drop of sweat on her bronzed skin.
“Fancy car. Take it you aren’t here to gamble.” A flash of golden eyes when she scanned Nova, but soon they were back on the building.
“Hey, we get customers in nice cars! Come on, you’re making us look bad!” The sleeziest man in the world called from the saloon doors. His neck-length black hair had an odd shine to it, the one gold canine in his smile just adding to his gaudy glow.
“Trust me, they don’t.” Laura said to Nova. “I can’t believe Samantha is letting you wear that.” She pointed to the man’s snakeskin jacket.
“Hah! She gave it to me!” The man laughed as he unlocked the gate and waved them in. “So you must be our girl from Ashen Corps? I’m Nathan Ortega. I’m the manager here.”
“Ashen Corps? This far north? I’m Laura Crown, by the way. Occasional patron, unfortunately.” Laura smiled at Nathan’s frown and offered her hand to shake.
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Post by othus on Nov 25, 2023 18:00:06 GMT
was everyone fireproof in Nevada? leather jackets seemed to be the last thing Nova wanted to be in with this heat and yet they were everywhere. She introduced herself to them as soon as she could.
"I am indeed. Detective Nova, pleased to meet both. Also, don't be so surprised, I've seen a good share of other suits in places you wouldn't imagine, from DMO to MI13...I might have even seen a couple JHWABs in Argentina before as well"
Nova took out her badge from one of her pockets and walked inside as she showed proof of who she was.
"So, If you aren't here on official business, I take it you are just lending a hand to a friend in need...is that it? or perhaps you are from the BHA?"-She asked Laura, still uncertain of the reason she was involved in all this.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 2, 2023 23:09:44 GMT
“Flipside, actually. We’re one of the main claimants on the natural energy that flows here. The labcoats use it for something or other.” Laura shrugged. “If the cash stops flowing and this place goes down, they’ll have to pay for upkeep themselves. Cheaper to send somebody and fix it. That somebody being me this time. Got a history here. Although it’s been a while. I got banned what, 3 years ago?”
“I only banned you from the poker table! You’re free to play the slots! Well, you were. Nobody on the slots today. Come on, I’ll show you the problem.” Nathan sighed and led the women inside.
It wasn’t much cooler indoors. The air conditioning was a sputtering, wheezing thing supplemented by a few rusty fans. It matched a rustic interior, old west style, lots of wood and taxidermied heads. There was a staircase to the basement in the corner, but Nathan directed them to the slot machines at the back, winding between roulette tables styled as wagon wheels.
“Alright, Detective. Pull the lever. Or hell, spin a table. Freebee from me. And I’ll tell you what you’re going to get. If you pull that lever, you’ll get a cherry, two 7s, and a diamond. If you spin the wheel, it’s going to be red 32. And it doesn’t matter how many times you do it, it’ll be the same every time.” Nathan spread his arms to gesture at all the machines. “Welcome to the land where luck has died, ladies.”
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Post by othus on Dec 4, 2023 3:33:38 GMT
"What people call luck is simply ignorance of statistical probability"-Nova scoffed as she pulled the lever. Indeed, it landed exactly on cherry, two 7's and a diamond. She turned around rather expresionless towards the man
"When was the last time you actually serviced your machines or the wheel?"
It was infinitely more likely that someone was messing with the machines in a rather simple way as opposed to this being the result of supernatural activity.
"Regardless...is there anyone who might wanna mess with you? competition perhaps?"-Nova asked as she scratched her chin. This could either be incredibly boring or interesting.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 7, 2023 2:44:19 GMT
“Checking the machines was the first thing I did. Nothing. Not just them, either.” Nathan tossed Laura a sealed pack of cards. “Cut the deck.”
“You’re letting me touch the cards in here? I thought I was forbidden.” Laura winked and began shuffling.
While she worked, he spun the nearest roulette table. Round and round the little ball went, circling until at long last it came to a stop. Red 32.
“We don’t have any competition way out here, but the local spirits sometimes act up. Samantha is out doing rituals, but I doubt it’s any of them. They can’t do what Laura’s about the find with the cards. Finished shuffling?” Nathan directed Laura to lay the deck on the bar and she did so. “These cards are always packed the same way. Ace to king of hearts, then clubs, diamonds, spades in that order. The first card you flip will be the Ace of hearts.”
Laura flipped a card, and of course, it was the Ace Nathan had prophesied. The next was 2. Then 3. Straight through, the way it came in the pack.
“Honestly, that’s the worst one. I don’t even know how that could happen.” Nathan shook his head.
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Post by othus on Dec 14, 2023 22:51:36 GMT
"The local spirits?"-Nova raised a brow at the casual remark.
"So...what, new spirit in town? I mean, it sure enough looks like a prankful one, no one has gotten hurt thus far"
Truth be told, Nova was wondering what could even be done about it, when it came to spirits and magic, it was always a mess, sometimes it was nice enough to stick to physics, but more often than not it was just a bunch of randomness piled together. Nova looked at Laura and shrugged.
"If the worst comes to it, he can turn the casino into a haunted house, I'm sure that will be quite popular as well"
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 24, 2023 4:23:33 GMT
“Hah! You should do that, I’d come see the haunted Wheel.” Laura backed Nova’s idea.
“Oh, hush.” Nathan grumbled. “Samantha should be back in a minute, and maybe she’ll have some answers about what’s going on.”
“I am back, but I can’t promise answers.” Came a voice from the stairs. No, a ramp, for reasons that quickly became clear. Samantha slithered from the door, 20 feet of drab brown scales with black diamonds down to her rattled tail. Her humanoid half was still covered in scales, a wrinkled face under a broad cowboy hat and slender arms peeking from her buckskin vest. Her only source of color was the turquoise that decorated her neck and hat.
“Well, I suppose I do have something. There is a spirit, or something similar. Which one of you is Nova? It wanted to talk to you.” The lamia held out a singular die, the same brilliant blue as Nova’s eyes.
“Oh hell no. Not this guy.” Nathan buried his face in both hands. “Never thought there would be a gambling addict I didn’t want to see in here. But nobody wants the god of gamblers in their casino.”
The die gleamed in Samantha’s hand, twitching like it wanted to tumble towards Nova.
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Post by othus on Dec 29, 2023 6:18:01 GMT
"Cool, you don't see Lamias so often...I'm Nova, how can i help?"-She said as she saw Samantha pull out the die.
Nova lifted a brow out of curiosity as she saw the die. she inspected it without actually touching it, but it really had some alluring shine to it
"So uh...God of gamblers? You mean like a nickname or..??"
Nova said as she kept looking at the die.
"Wait, is this thing trying to reach me?"
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 7, 2024 21:43:43 GMT
“Yeah, looks like he wants to talk to you. I’ll back you up, but he’s probably going to disregard anybody he doesn’t care about.” Laura grabbed a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and slid it to Nova. “You’ll want this.
“Less a nickname, more a title.” Nathan grumbled. “Not his most popular one, though. Most people call him the Master of Games.”
“So he has placed my casino under his influence. Why though?” Samantha looked at Nova. “You haven’t met this creature before, have you?”
“I have, and honestly, he mostly just does whatever amuses him. He probably thinks Nova will be interesting to play with, for whatever reason. Sorry Nova, it’s up to you. Take the dice and let’s see what he wants.” Laura kept her golden eyes on the shining dice.
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Post by othus on Jan 18, 2024 23:32:59 GMT
"Never heard of him until now, however...he might have caught wind of me cause i'm kind of banned from most casinos around here, did a five million dollar run a few years back sooooo...yeap"-Nova said as she pretended to inspect the bottle. Nova shrugged as she pondered her choices.
"I didn't cheat tho, very different from the magic tricks this guy is pulling here. I guess maybe we can have a bit of fun?"
Nova went ahead and reached for the dice. she looked back at Nathan and smiled
"Dont blame me if i can't get your casino back, I am not much of a risk taker"
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Post by HungryHunter on Feb 6, 2024 1:00:45 GMT
“Something like that would definitely catch his attention. He probably wants to play a game with us… unfortunately.” Laura kept an eye on the die, but as soon as Nova touched it, she was staring past her. “Shit.”
When Nova turned, she would see a strange man sitting at the bar. He was short and slender, dressed in a tight-fitting double-breasted suit in a canary yellow nobody had worn since the 70s. It was like he had been here the whole time and only now been noticed.
“Nova! So happy to see you! Yes, I was quite proud of the stunt you pulled. Your powers are so me, I wondered if I had actually granted them to you and forgot about it, but none of me can remember that, so I guess not!” He offered a hand to shake, pale and bony. “Though of course, with two people like us, cards just don’t cut it. Want to play some real games?”
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Post by othus on Feb 10, 2024 22:38:49 GMT
Trying to even analyze how he got there was a mess. There really was no way to calculate anything that doesn't remotely care about the laws of physics after all. But that wasn't the only weird thing about him, in fact, everything about him was.
"I wouldn't go as far as calling it a power"-Nova said as she very lightly shook the man's hand. After all, being a fast thinker could never be compared to people who fly or who have super strength, let alone someone who can magically create stuff out of nowhere.
"What do you have in mind?"-Nova narrowed her eyes. this dude was fishy, most certainly not to be trusted.
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