Random 36

"Hm, there's one not quite that happy...Around the end of the war of Lanarn againt Uyarn he promised ten people to try to find out what happened to their partners, who had volunteered, but were missing. He got messages about four who had been picked up by allied ships very soon, three he located as prisoners a bit later. Two, he was able to bring the bodies home for burning, and that took some doing."

Sylvie shrugged with one shoulder and brightened again. "There are a lot of by comparison unspectacular stories about giving advice, or helping with small favours, passed down through families. An acquaintance of mine claims Eandai pulled some strings so his great-grandfather could borrow two horses for a really showy wedding procession according to his great-grandmother's family's customs from before they came to the islands."

Sebastian nodded and smiled, listening with his usual curiosity and attentiveness. "Sometimes I almost think those unspectacular ones are far more interesting. Different perceptions and ways of seeing things..." the half-elf paused, pulling his braid over his shoulder to inspect it.

"Yes. Another family might have a story about two horses being stolen, and mysteriously turning up again a day later.

So, is there any particular one deed that made Smiling Jack famous?"

"Oh," Sebastian said, "he supposedly won divinity in a card game."

He grinned before he continued. "It is something of a joke in our church -- and a bit of a sore spot to boot. There are several tellings of this story, in all of which Smiling Jack is a handsome, middle-aged thief well past his good days: he had turned to gambling because of a lame leg. The most important point in which most stories differ is the opponent of his famous game. Some say it was the previous god of thieves, some say it was just an immortal being and then there are those who think it was another god.

"Fortuna's church believes that he played against Fortuna," he chuckled, "and that he did win, as he did in every variant of the story. Fortuna's lot say he won divinity -- just not freedom from death, so they do not give him more heed than they would give to a demigod. Still, I do not think he played against Fortuna..."

Sebastian smiled. "Regardless, his opponent had absolutely nothing. Not even a single ace. Smiling Jack won with a pair of twos. This, too, is a constant in every story, I am told."

"So assuming he didn't cheat, it's something that happened to him rather than something he did?" Gods made less sense the more she heard about them.

"That is the great mystery," Sebastian said and looked pensive for a moment. It didn't last for long: he looked up and smiled again. "Oh, his followers -- the people in this establishment -- cannot agree on which it is. I am sure this is to Smiling Jack's liking. If you asked Sister Auker, she would give you the expected answer. No, no, I believe he cheated, for why else would his church run five gambling houses throughout the city, all of them producing a tidy profit with rigged machines and cheating dealers?

"I simply wish I knew the truth behind the man," the half-elf finished.

After a thoughtful pause, Sylvie asked, "Was Lady Luck human once?"

This gave the self-confessed swashbuckler a pause. "Human is terribly ethnocentric, but... some say that she was mortal once; only a mortal being can have such a sense of humour, cruel and kind. Some say that she has never been mortal; a mortal being could simply not have an unpredictable alien mind such as the Lady's." He shrugged, apparently not the least worried or troubled. "For my part, I do not know. I do not think her terribly alien, though."

Sylvie could easily imagine a mortal going mad over time if they became immortal, but kept quiet.

"Still --" Sebastian began, but then pursed his lips and looked to the side.

Two men and a woman were approaching them from the direction the waiter had disappeared into. The woman and the other of the men looked the type that liked to enforce peace, so to speak. The other man was smiling and was, for the lack of a better word, quite attractive. He was, also, looking at the trio a bit confusedly.

"Hello sir," Sebastian said before any of them could do anything. He was beaming.

"Ah, yes," said the foremost, attractive blond man. "Hello madam, sir. I trust you are enjoying yourselves."

Sebastian's response was instantaneous, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. "But of course! It is warm, dry and the entertainment is first class as one would expect of an establishment aligned with Smiling Jack himself. I see nothing to complain about. We are looking forward to the food and wine; I was told they are of the utmost quality."

The man suddenly looked quite puzzled. "Ah, yes, well..."

"Is something the matter?" Sebastian pressed on, adopting a sympathetically worried expression on the fly.

"Oh, no! No! We were simply... told that we have a dragon and..." Some fae-kin.

Sebastian beamed. "That is true. Not to worry: he is dangerous only to food, and there were early pears included in our order."

"Ahh, yes, the order. We were perhaps wondering if you would be willing to pay for it in advance."

Gasp. Sebastian blinked. "Why, sir. Are you accusing us of something? Surely not the intention of, how do they say, eat and run?"

The trio suddenly looked very startled. The man doing the speaking chuckled. "No, no, nothing of--"

"Well, that is quite the relief," Sebastian said, clicking his tongue and reaching inside his jacket. He pulled out a fat purse. "Now then, how much is it?"

"Oh..." the man waved it off. "Not at all much, really --" he paused again when he saw Sebastian produce five coins and hand them over. It did little to thin the purse. "Ah, this is more than your meal will cost."

"Consider it a token of my appreciation then," the swashbuckler beamed and put the purse on the table, opting to then examine his hat.

"Yes. Yes, thank you," the man said, unaware of the hungry looks he was getting from his companions. The blond's look was even hungrier. "I don't suppose you would be interested in gambling? A man of such refinement might be very lucky."

Sebastian smiled and looked flattered. "Yes indeed. A game of cards? I do like a human opponent as opposed to a simple gambling table. It defeats the purpose of refinement," he grinned.

The blond chuckled. "So true, sir. So true... shall I arrange for one of the house's players to come to you after you have eaten?"

"That sounds simply perfect, my good man," the half-elf said, narrowing his eyes as he smiled. It just made the expression look more genuine.

"Excellent. Please, enjoy your meal, madam, sir." The blond and his companions gave the dragon one last look before moving away, smiling.

"What a pleasant man," Sebastian said to Sylvie, deadpan.

Sylvie had spent most of that little interplay leaning back in her chair, legs stretched under the table, ankles crossed, supporting her right elbow with her left hand, and gently stroking Ayu-Asra on her shoulder. She had listened and watched intently, and hardly any of her amused-despite-herself mood had leaked into her smile.

The dragon had occasionally chittered along with the half-elf, but, thankfully, not very loudly.

Now she sat up again and anwered, "Yes." No, there seemed no-one near enough to overhear. "He fell for your bait nicely."

"Bait?" Sebastian said, intonation high and eyebrows raised. He was the very image of innocence. "Come now, I have no idea what you are talking about." Yes, yes he did, if one looked at his smile. He winked.

"I guess it doesn't matter, what with a show to enjoy."

"Exactly!" Sebastian said, returning to a look that was far more like the calm persona he had been exhibiting for nearly a week now. "And it's better to enjoy it with a full stomach," he said and looked toward the direction he expected the food to be coming from.

Ayu-Asra answered that with a surprisingly deep rumble that got a chuckle out of Sylvie.

Moments later the dragonfood showed up. Pears, even peeled, cored and cut into stripes. Sylvie nudged him to sit on her wrist, and the two heads tore into the sweetish stuff with gusto. The pears weren't at their best and juiciest yet, which was just as well, since it meant the few flying scraps didn't leave obvious stains on the tablecloth if picked up right away.

Afterwards the dragon curled up in Sylvie's lap. She moved him to the empty chair to her right, but he crawled back to her right away. With a murmured "pampered beast" she let him. All in all this quiet clinginess was way better than his loud displays.

The food for the one-headed guests turned out to be thin cuts of beef with a cep sauce, and cream potatoes. It really was excellent.

In retrospect, it was perhaps the best meal Sebastian had had since the grouse. The lack of chicken alone made him extremely happy. As could be expected, of course, he made a show of even the meal, though not by being overly chatty. It was just the way he held the instruments and other little details. The wine he didn't drink too much of, as good as it was.

In the meantime the little establishment had gathered more customers, which surprised Sebastian to an extent. But by then he was finished and sipping the wine, leaning back in his seat. "That was exquisite," he declared happily.

"Very." Sylvie had taken her time, enjoying it. Likewise going easy on the wine, she was now absentmindedly watching the crowd, some of whom looked back. She didn't mind.

After a moment she said, "You know... You asked about heroes and villains. I'm sure I could name far more heroes, but I think that's because in stories villains often don't get named. Heroes are Eandai, or Breovis of Gaenarn, or Gawenya Mabé, but villains are the Emperor of Latanra, or the Warlord of the Deeplights, or the Greedy Tax Collector."

She looked questioningly at Sebastian, trying to draw a comment.

The half-elf seemed all the happier. "I do not think that is so peculiar. It eliminates the sentience factor -- after all, if you are just a title with no name and no personal history, you are sure to not be human... or elf or so forth."

"When looking at it from that angle, I'm glad at least the history books use names more often than titles. I thought part of it is about giving examples. If you want your name to be remembered, do good, not bad."

"Yes, or both in some cases. There are stories of questionable individuals, even absolutely mercenary ones. It may depend on the odds, as a matter of fact -- it is difficult to give a title to a lone being as opposed to someone backed by a large retinue or power structure. Perhaps that is why there are so many stories of lone monsters with names." The swashbuckler drummed a fingertip against his lower lip, watching the other party of the conversation contemplatively.