Kaylib woke groggy as the half light of the eclipsed sun broke through the window into his room. Squeezing his eyes tight he tried to keep out as much light as possible. His head hummed in pain and the stench of sex and perfumes filled his nostrils. Peeking out with one eye the naked form of the women he had bedded the night before lay next to him. He hadn’t so much paid for her in the traditional sense, but the drinks it had cost him had been no meager amount and he might as well have bought himself pleasure elsewhere. He admired her figure momentarily thinking about ravaging her body yet again for another hour, but decided against it. Bauna wasn’t a patient Goddess and he needed to be on his way.

As he dressed he contemplated his predicament. Plenty of men had claimed to worship the Goddess as Kaylib did, but few actually knew her like he did. Not a particularly religious man his entire life it came as a shock to those that knew him when he told them he was now a priest of Bauna. It hadn’t been a path he had chosen to walk, but one forced upon him. The gods of this world had vanished in The Leaving and society had collapsed in on itself. Now six hundred years later, a man with no religious ties had been compelled to spread the word of Bauna and for little more than to keep himself from being smote where he stood.

And he looked like a crazy man when doing it.

Today Bauna expected his end of the bargain to be completed, or at least set in motion. She had saved his life and granted him power he hadn’t fully grasped even after six years. In thst time he had been running. For six years he had been able to avoid the gaze of the Goddess with his newly granted magic. Weakened after The Leaving, Bauna hadn’t much power to give and what little she had instilled in him had drained her even more. Eight months ago she had found him in his sleep, and now there was no running. Now it was time for him to impose her will upon Oliveh, for good or for ill.

Kaylib gritted his teeth and trudged his way out the door down to the common area of the tavern. No one sat in the empty room not even the bar keep, probably sleeping his own hangover off as he hadn’t seemed the type of man able to resist a drink. He snatched a particularly expensive bottle of rum from behind the bar and made his way out, guzzling a third of the bottle to wash the morning taste from his mouth.

The cold midday air nipped at Kaylib as he stepped out onto the muddied streets of Karvid. A town always known for its criminal activity and a shit stain on the otherwise unblemished reputation on Oliveh, had thrived since The Leaving and not once looked back. Looking about the dim light of midday he could make out quite a few people face down to the side of the somewhat busy street, either drunk or dead. He spit on a corpse as he walked by, “Better them, than me.”

The sun above eclipsed by the entity that had been dragged into being during the Leaving, provided him with little warmth or sunlight, and hadn’t provided the people of Oliveh with either for centuries. Whatever or whoever had blocked the sun had done it indefinitely. All of Levion was encased in ice and the miracle that was the continent of Oliveh was the last safe haven in the world.

A body flew from a second story window of a gambling house landing face down and motionless in the street, reminding Kaylib that safe was a relative term. He spit on the body as he passed not bothering to check it’s pockets as the men who had tossed the body were already barging their way out of the gambling house. The pair were an unnatural sight as a short heavily bearded man with corded muscles and a giant two legged bull stepped into the streets to check the body.

As the rest of the crowds pressed into him Kaylib managed to squeeze through the mass of people giving the pair a wide berth. As he stepped into their ring of influence, the bull-a minotaur from the northern tribes-snorted, snot spewing out onto its black fur. It nudged the man, saying something in a guttural language Kaylib couldn’t comprehend. The man looked up suddenly, reaching for his longsword. Kaylib realized then that the man wasn’t just short he was a dwarf. Not uncommon on the surface, but definately a rarity since The Leaving as the dwarves had become xenophobic and afraid of the eclipsed sun as a sign of the apocalypse. It hadn’t come, and now they looked stupid to the rest of humanity, but given what had happened to the elves recently Kaylib couldn’t blame them for keeping themselves underground.

If this dwarf was on the surface his people had a reason to send him up here. Given the look of his grizzled bristly beard, with small tusks protruding from out under his mustache, and his wild yellow eyes Kaylib was almost certain the man was a lycanthrope. Not uncommon since The Leaving plenty of people had fallen prey to lycanthropy. The fact that this man seemed to be able to control it told Kaylib he had the willpower to match his muscular frame. Even better most lycanthropes weren’t afraid to bloody their hands. A skill he was certain he’d need in the coming months.

The dwarf eyed him suspiciously longsword held to his side, “Ye come to meet the same fate as yer friend here?”

Kaylib spat on the corpse and muttered a small pray to Bauna. It irritated him that he had even thought to utter a pray, but it somehow felt right, “I have more important business with the two of you actually.”

“Heh, then I guess ye did come to meet this man’s fate,” replied the dwarf. Looking at the minotaur over his shoulder he nodded and the beast stepped forward drawing a pair of greatswords from his belt.

Kaylib didn’t budge, but instead transitioned to speaking dwarvish as the giant bull approached, “Vershesh orgrim gatur.”

The dwarf held up a hand and without seeing it the minotaur stopped in his tracks glaring angrily at Kaylib. The dwarf replied in the common tongue saying, “If it’s glory ye seek, name yer price.”

“Let’s take this inside away from prying eyes,” responded Kaylib gesturing to the crowd that had stopped to watch the ordeal. It wasn’t everyday they got to watch a minotaur tear some idiot limb from limb.

The dwarf looked about the crowd and nodded. Sheathing his sword he spit on the dead man at his feet and moved inside, the minotaur on his heels. Kaylib could feel his hands shaking, he could hold his own in a fight, but against something of that size he might as well be a sheep. Trudging through the open doorway of the gambling house Kaylib’s senses were assaulted by yet another mixture of pungent smells, this time opium and perfumes. Gambling tables were spread out across the large open floor with a bar located in the back left corner. There were tables with chips and coins stacked in neat piles. Some tables were laughing and having a good time, others were sullen with cards held to their chests.

The dwarf and the minoutaur were already halfway up the stairwell leading to the second floor, seemingly not caring if Kaylib followed or not. He looked about the room and noted a particularly attractive woman serving drinks. He grabbed her by the arm as she passed startling her. He pointed at the dwarf and bull, “Bring me three of whatever they’re drinking.”

“They ain’t drinkin’ anythin’,” she replied with a toothy grin.

Kaylib grimaced, running his tongue over his teeth before nodding, “Bring me a glass then.”

She snorted, “We ain’t got any glass round here. Only bottles.”

“Then fuck off,” he pushed her along her way swatting her ass as she went, causing her to cry out in surprise. She turned to him smiling lustily, but he just winked her way and tossed her a copper. He slowly made his way up the stairs to the second floor. The walkway up here looked like it had once been a tavern or a brothel with rooms lining the walls the entire way around the balcony. As he passed by rooms he noted that they each were private gambling rooms. Most of the doors were closed, but those that weren’t were either unoccupied or just didn’t care if people looked in. He rounded the corner of the square and spotted the dwarf and minotaur sitting at a table surrounded by five other men ranging in build, but all of them giving off the appearance of the rough and tumble type. Then again most people of Karvid gave that impression.

“Ye know how to play five kings?” the dwarf asked.

Kaylib didn’t bother answering just sat down, tossing in two gold coins to get his chips and took a deep drink of the rum he’d stolen earlier.

The man to his left grunted, “It’s a minimum of ten coins to play.”

Kaylib leaned back in his chair stretching his tattooed arm on the table. He took another swig of his rum staring straight ahead the the dwarf, who smirked back at him tusks protruding awkwardly from his lips.

This time the man spoke with venom, “It’s ten coins to play. Pay up or I’ll take that bottle there and shove it up yer arse.”

Kaylib waited yet again for the man to act. This time he grabbed Kaylib’s forearm that rested on the table, “I’m gonna break every fuckin’ bone in yer body boy.”

Kaylib gave the rest of the table an unimpressed look, “Criminals here are too predictable.”

The man jerked Kaylib’s arm up and sneered, “I’m gonna have yer teeth.”

Kaylib smiled at him revealing his perfect pristine teeth and with a thought the tattoos all along his arm began to glow white hot, his skin starting to swelter. The man cried out in pain but couldn’t let go. His hand fused to Kaylib’s arm he roared in fury and swung a tattooed fist at Kaylib. Sweeping aside the punch he stood yanking his arm downward and unbalancing the man. Kaylib jammed his free hand into the man’s throat and released the spell emitting from his arm.

Drawing out his kukri he slid the heavy knifeblade across the man’s throat. As the blood pooled around the man dripping between the boards of the floor, he rummaged through the man’s pockets for anything valuable and realized anything worth taking was on the table. Reaching out he took back his too gold coins and slid the dead thugs chips before him. Running a chip over his knuckles Kaylib motioned to the minotaur to throw him out. The beast stared at him in furious hate, until the dwarf shot him a look to do so.

The minotaur stood forcefully and snatched the man up throwing him one handed out the already broken window. This time the man didn’t land face down, but tumbled wildly as he crashed amid the people on the street. With a snort the bull sat down and continued to glare Kaylib’s way. He tipped his bottle at the beast and took another swig.

“Ye been here long?” asked the dwarf dealing out cards.

Kaylib shrugged, “Four days.”

“Ye fit in well,” he chuckled.

“Not the first time I’ve been to Karvid,” Kaylib answered. He watched the dwarf closely as he dealt cards, a quick flick of his pinky finger sent a card flying to Kaylib from the bottom of the deck seemingly without anyone noticing. The next card that came to him came off the top. He left his untouched until it was his turn to bet watching the rest of the table. The dwarf put in a pile of coins followed up by a dirty looking man tossing his cards into the muck pile. The minotaur mulled his cards over before tossing them in as well, followed by the man to his left doing the same.

Kaylib eyed the dwarf intensely, trying to find a crack in his stoic face. A twitch at the corner of the dwarf’s left eye as he tried not to smile, told Kaylib everything thing he needed to know. These cards were a test, a test Kaylib was going to fail either way. Play the hand correctly and be considered a threat, or play the hand incorrectly and put a target on his back. Kaylib took a peek at his hand taking great pains to hide the cards from the men sitting near him. A pair of kings peered back at him. Five kings in the deck and he’d been dealt two of them. He contained a smile as he pushed in the minimum bet of thirty five gold. The betting continued as before with everyone mucking their cards almost instantly as they rushed to be rid of their cards. The man to the left of the dwarf, a balding but otherwise relatively handsome looking man, spat on the floor eyeing him closely seemingly unaware of the ceremony going on about him.

After a long pause with the man staring at him for an uncomfortably long period of time, he spat on the floor again, shoving half of his coin into the middle of the table, “Seven-hunnered an’ fifty coin.”

Kaylib never took his eyes of the dwarf, his eyes narrowed slightly at the man’s proclamation. Whatever the dwarf had been planning had just been ruined by this. Kaylib nodded and matched the bet, “I’ve got nothing to lose. None of this is mine anyhow.”

The dwarf grimaced and glared daggers at the man, who just stared at him oblivious to the entire ordeal. Kaylib was certain that their would be another man finding himself flying from the window soon, but instead the dwarf mucked his cards and dealt the next set of three cards in the middle of the table face down. He looked at Kaylib, “Ye wanna buy a new card?”

Kaylib shook his head leaving his cards where they were. The other man tossed in an extra coin handing one of his cards to the dwarf. The dwarf sighed, perturbed from what Kaylib only assumed to be the fact that the man had bet on something so high that hadn’t even been a winning hand to begin with. Now Kaylib watched the other man as he pulled the card to his chest, Kaylib noted a slight tinge of his nose. The dwarf flipped over the first card, another King.

A glimmer of hope flashed across the man’s eyes, he checked and re-checked his cards before betting another fifty. Kaylib knew where the other two kings were now and he doubted that his cards could be beaten. Especially now that he had the extra community card.

The dwarf flipped the second card, a two of skulls. This time the man didn’t react and instead bet the minimum of thirty five. Kaylib didn’t bother looking at his cards he tossed in fifty and noted the man’s reaction. His eyes gleamed, whatever had been his plan this seemed to be falling in line with it. The third card flipped, a five of spears. The man didn’t seem to react to that either, but waited for the man to bet. This time he tossed seventy five worth of chips. Kaylib picked up the chips, hesitated a second then sat the chips back down. He peeked at his cards again making a show of double checking them against the cards in the middle of the table, all the while watching the man out of the corner of his eye. His eyes glimmered hungrily, he believed he had won already. The poor sap wouldn’t even be hesitant to match his bet.

Kaylib set his cards down and pushed in more chips, “Three hundred.”

The man assessed his stack before pushing in the rest of it, “Make it three hunnered and one.”

Kaylib tossed in the extra chip, waiting for the man to show his cards. A two and a king. He beamed with pride and the once relatively handsome features were marred by blackened and missing teeth. Kaylib shook his head sadly, “I’d wipe that grin off your face, it’s unbecoming of a loser.”

He flipped his cards revealing the pair of kings, watching as the man’s hideous smile became a look of absolute horror. He snatched at the cards, “No. No! Bullshit! Yer a gods damned cheater! Yer a fuckin’ cheatin’ sack of shit!”

Kaylib pulled in the chips and began stacking them, “I’m not the one that wears his emotions on his face friend. Come back whenever you’ve got less of a twinkle in your eye.”

The man’s anger subsided rapidly, becoming desperation, “Listen. I need that coin. I need that coin and I’ll pay ya back I swears it. I swears it on my life.”

Kaylib snorted, “Shouldn’t gamble with what you can’t afford to lose. Piss off.”

“If I ain’t got that coin on me by tomorrow the Dark Man will have me executed in the streets.”

Kaylib shot the man a smile and continued to stack his winnings, “I’d recommend staying off the streets then.”

The man drew a knife, the desperation rising in his voice, “Give me the fuckin’ money! I’m good for it. I’ll have yer money by the end of the week. Just give me the coin, I won’t stab you dead here and I’ll pay ya back.”

Kaylib eyed the dark stain by his chair, “You remember what happened to the last guy that threatened me, yeah?”

The man’s voice wavered nearing on tears, “I got a family. I swears I’ll pay you back.”

Kaylib stacked the last of his chips before answering, “Then I suggest you go home and tell them how very much you love them.”

The man looked around the table for help, but found no allies. Sheathing his dagger he rushed out of the room with one last glance at Kaylib, “You’re a heartless bastard.”

Kaylib watched as he left then turned back to the dwarf tossing him his cards, “I never got your name.”

The dwarf let out a loud guttral laugh, “I like ye! I didn’t think ye’d be a worthy card player, but turns out ye is! Another hand?”

“By all means,” replied Kaylib waving a hand for him to continue on. This time he paid little attention to the dwarf’s hands as he guzzled down a portion of the rum in his bottle.

“A little early to be drinkin’ dontcha think?” asked the man to his left.

“You from Karvid?” asked Kaylib taking a peek at his cards, a two and a four both suited.

“Nope, from Bruwin. Just wonderin’ if ya wanted to maybe have a little decency is all.”

Kaylib shot him a glare, “Bruwin? Maybe you’d like to show me how decent a racist can be then.”

The man glared his direction, putting a hand on the hilt of his knife, “I weren’t apart of the Massacre.”

Before Kaylib had a chance to respond the dwarf interjected, “Enough the both of ye. Play cards or get out. We ain’t killin’ anyone else. As to yenewcomer, Jeziz is right. It’s a bit early fer drinkin’.”

Kaylib glared at the dwarf and took the last few gulps of rum from his bottle before tossing it out the open window, “Then it’s a good thing I’m all out.”