"That's why they go down the spiral staircase.. Not through the waterfall?" Falkas raises an eyebrow and glances around for the others to see where they are heading. If he see's Elovar he keeps an eye on the conversation and whether or not they are picking his pocket. Otherwise if he doesn't see them or nothing bad happening he heads to the bar to sit down to rest for a short bit.

Perception: 15

Quote from Ben_Evolent>>

After the entrance to the spa, Elovar sees that there's a stretch of wall where there are no security mirrors nearby.  He checks that there are no tiefling workers or other patrons too near.  Then he finally interrupts their smalltalk by asking Chrys, being careful not to be too obvious in case they are overheard: "The poor drow elf from the boat that I arrived on seems intent on getting a job here at the Afterlife Casino.  What is your 'story'?  Why are you here?  Are we here 'together'?  Do you plan to enter the tournament?  Or just do some gambling at the public tables and then watch the tournament?"

 Chrys smirks up at Elovar.  "How about I'm your bodyguard?"  She laughs.  "We're just drinking buddies or something.  I'm just here checking out the casino 'cause it's something different, and I'm looking forward to watching you lose all your money."

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

"Oh, I've been traveling, seeing more of the world, learning new tales, and -- as always -- having some adventures of my own!", Elovar says, laughing.  Elovar's mind is racing, but it's coming up blank.  Who are these elves? 

Outwardly, he tries to cover his confusion and simply look happy and pleased to see these old acquaintances.  Deception 16

Elovar presents Chrys: "Please, let me introduce my friend, Chrysanthemum."  He waits until she steps forward to shake their hands (or to curtsy or whatever is appropriate in this region / common among fairies).  "She's a skilled archer, and...oh...uh.  Excuse me a just a moment..."  He steps a little away from the group, stepping back behind Chrys but trying to stay close enough to hear the conversation between Chrys and the elves.  He's hoping that if he leaves the conversation just long enough, the elves will introduce themselves to Chrys, and he'll at least get their names. 

As Elovar steps back, he turns to look behind Chrys to see whether there's a tiefling (non-guard employee) close by.  If there is, he tries to signal them to come closer so that he can ask a question while remaining within earshot of the elves.

 

 Chrys flies up to be at eye-level with the Elf couple, puts on her most winning smile, and half-curtseys. "Chrysanthemum of the Feywild, lady of the Faerie Primrose Court, at your service.  Elovar didn't tell me he had friends here... How lovely to meet you!"

Falkas cannot see pickpocketing going on.

The Elves are believe El and are impressed by the introduction from Chrysanthemum. They both give a courtly bow and the female Elf replies "A pleasure to meet you Lady Chrysanthemum, I am Countess Trilinda of Sea Cross and this is my husband Douala. A representative of the Primrose Court, how exciting, we have always longed to visit the Feywild, haven’t we Douala. What brings you here? Is it the tournament?"

"Likewise, enchanted to meet you both.  My sibling and I wanted to get out and see the world a bit, court is lovely and all that but can be a bit... restrictive sometimes, you know?  At any rate, we have been ... uh... touring the continent, so to speak, and this seemed like a can't-miss-event.  Have you been to one of these before?  What will happen next?"

"Well we have been to a few, that is how I met Douala. You might say that I was the biggest prize he ever won. Isn’t that right dear." Douala nods and agrees "Certainly my love. Luckiest day of my life. While I won't be playing myself, it's good to see what is considered top tier talent these days."

Quote from KudosWyvernspur >>

Falkas cannot see pickpocketing going on.

The Elves believe El and are impressed by the introduction from Chrysanthemum. They both give a courtly bow and the female Elf replies "A pleasure to meet you Lady Chrysanthemum, I am Countess Trilinda of Sea Cross and this is my husband Douala. A representative of the Primrose Court

History 13

Hearing the names....

Quote from KudosWyvernspur >>

The guard keeps his eyes on the patrons, careful not to be too distracted. He responds to Sinak "Well, hiring janitors isn't really my job. Although I would say the water from the river gets everywhere. I know it looks nice, but it's a real safety hazard. I spend more time picking people up than catching pickpockets. You do know we have a whole Tiefling theme thing going on, don't you?"

Sinak nods and smiles, saying to the guard, “Well, as you probably have noticed, you gather clientele from many sources, many races and backgrounds.  I’m sure that you want to be seen as an “all inclusive” Casino.  You probably haven’t heard the latest from Tiefling Resources, have you?  Diversity, it is the newest buzzword!  Well, here I am!  A hard worker, ready to help you (and earn some nice tips! *wink*), ready to begin work, when you say go!  Just point me in the right direction.  Just as you have all sorts in this place, you need all sorts working here, ready to be ambassadors to those that come, ready to make people of all kinds feel welcome, isn’t that right?  It’s the future, I tell ya!”  Sinak takes a mock bow, and then gives them a renewed grin, hoping to win them over.  

The guard looks very nervous at the mention of Tiefling Resources and does what any sensible employee would do at this point “Well I don’t really know about TR stuff, probably best to talk to the manager really.” The guard leads Sinak up an Employees Only Door near the circus, takes out his pass card and opens the door.  He gestures for Sinak to go through the door, if Sinak goes through then the Guard will follow behind (locking the door) and escort Sinak to the manager's office.

El does recognise the names now, but the details are a bit fuzzy. He remembers a long time ago that Douala was a casual acquaintance, maybe a professional gambler or another sort of slightly shady person who had managed to catch the eye of a member of the Aristoricary. Being the only cultured person that Douala knew, Douala enlisted your help to learn about ancient elven poetry and love sonnets to help him woo the countess. Your aid apparently worked and Douala seems very different from how you remember him, the life of an aristocrat apparently suits him.

Falkas watches Sinak enter the backroom and grabs a seat at the bar so that he can keep an eye on both employee only doors. He tries to get the attention of the bartender and when he's able, "I'll take an ale. It's been a long night."

Falkas is served by a Tiefling in an elaborate devils costume. He puts the ale down and says “That will be 4 copper for you, hot stuff”

"Speaking of prizes," Chrys replies, "What do the winners of the tournament receive?"

The countess replies “Oh it's just a dusty old statue, to be honest it really lacks the grace of fine Elven, or Fey, work. I probably wouldn’t even display it in our house. No straight down to the local museum with that one. It’s just in the tournament room if you want to take a look, but I would hardly recommend it. Now we have a lovely statue of Angharradh at home, absolutely beautiful and been in my family for over 1000 years, that is a work of art.”

"A statue?" Chrys feigns surprise. "What's so important about that?  If it's so valuable, aren't they worried about just leaving it out in the open?  What if local brigands stormed in and just carried it off?  Seems rash to leave it in the middle of all these people..."

"Oh I have no idea to be sure. It probably has cultural significance to someone, but what doesn't these days. I guess it is less crass then just giving away gold or jewellery, so at least they are trying. I wouldn’t go worrying about Brigands dear, places like this normally have lots of security and I'm sure that we are perfectly safe. Their approach is a bit more overt, guards and whatnot, I prefer using magic myself. But whatever goes with the theme and this is meant to be hell after all."

Falkas sets down a gold piece and pushes it across the bar with a finger, "What can you tell me about the people who run this place? What's with this elaborate motif?" His finger is still holding the coin down, "You can keep the change." He grins and lets go of the coin, snatching the ale to start drinking it.

The bartender responds to Falkas “Well what do you want to know? Quentin is the owner, but that is common knowledge. He likes to hire Teiflings, as you can see. Maybe it’s because we are cheap or maybe it's just to go with the vibe. It's a casino, so we are hardly a charity. People come here for the thrill of being naughty. Maybe they will make money, but most know that they will lose it. Doesn’t matter really, they get a bit of excitement and then go back to their boring lives. The whole hell theme just adds to that really. I doubt most of the visitors here have ever seen an actual demon in their lives.”

Sorith shakes her head in order to keep from zoning out again before she takes a seat at the bar next to Falkas. After the half-elf says his piece, the barbarian pulls out a gold piece and sets it down in front of her. "I'll have the same as him, keep the change. Also, who's bright idea was it to put an eatery behind a waterfall, anyway?"

A drink is passed to the Dragonborn "It wasn't the cleaning staff I can tell you, all that water is a hazard. However it is different and that is what attracts people, you have got to give them something new. At least they didn't go for Lava because of the whole Hell theme, can you imagine that"

Quote from KudosWyvernspur >>

El does recognise the names now, but the details are a bit fuzzy. He remembers a long time ago that Douala was a casual acquaintance, maybe a professional gambler or another sort of slightly shady person who had managed to catch the eye of a member of the Aristoricary. Being the only cultured person that Douala knew, Douala enlisted your help to learn about ancient elven poetry and love sonnets to help him woo the countess. Your aid apparently worked and Douala seems very different from how you remember him, the life of an aristocrat apparently suits him.

Thankful that he apparently covered his confusion earlier, Elovar is impressed with how well Chrys handled the situation.  He looks around behind them and either doesn't see a tiefling nearby or finishes asking them something inconsequential, such as how to get to the restaurant and what hours it's open and serving food.  Then he turns back to the conversation between Chrys, Countess Trilinda, and Douala.

"Ah, Angharradh, Queen of Arvandor!  The One and the Three and chief among the Seldarine after Corellon.  The elves have so many lovely and sometimes sad tales about the Triune Godess.

"My apologies for the interruption just now.  We have only recently arrived, and we're still finding our bearings before I show Chrysanthemum how quickly I can lose all of my money!

"It is lovely to see you again, Countess, and Douala.  The years sit lightly upon you, as is the way with the elves.  I don't think that you had married the last time I saw you, but it is good to see you together.  Be careful at the gaming tables, Douala: after winning a prize as rare and priceless as the Countess's hand in marriage, I fear that you may have already used up all of the luck allocated to you in this life!"