神级狩魔人

Chapter 5: Inn and Gwent

That play turned his opponent’s face as white as the card One-Eyed Jack placed.

“Take this, Otter! Biting Frost! All your Close Combat cards’ strength is now 1! Thirty-five to twenty! Game, set, and match!” 

Jack pooled the crowns to himself, the coins clattering against the table as they moved. 

Otter the farmer’s face fell. “Dammit. My luck’s worse than the fish in Kovir. That’s it. I’m out for the night.” He darted out of the inn. 

Then Roy quickly took his place and stared at One-Eyed Jack. As the night turned dark, the villagers started blowing their candlelights out. The men went to sleep with their wives beside them, while the children stared into the night sky and counted the sheep. Thompson, the night patrol, went around the village with nothing but a torch and his rusty sword. His job was to chase away any beasts or bandits, and to signal everyone if danger was coming. 

The only places that were still bright were the chief’s home and the ramshackle inn in the village center — Ol’ Captain’s Inn. 

Occasionally, single young men with time to spare would frequent the inn to spend the night away from home. Once they had a few drinks, they’d get high and call the inn’s boss —  One-Eyed Jack —  for a game of Gwent. One-Eyed Jack was a bearded man who loved to brag about his younger days that were spent on the seas of Skellige Isles. 

Ol’ Captain’s Inn was illuminated warmly by the crackling fireplace and the luminescent candles that hung along the walls. It was a quiet place, one where a few customers were enjoying their drinks after a day of hard work. 

Roy was standing before the Gwent game board, and his eyes gleamed as he looked at the delicate, beautiful cards. Gods, these are actual Gwent cards! 

Gwent was first created by a dwarf as a way to stave off boredom, but it quickly grew in popularity thanks to its simple rules and interesting and ever-changing gameplay. Nobles and civilians alike loved to play a few matches in their spare time. 

The characters in the cards were based on the legendary characters in the world, such as King Emhyr of Nilfgaard, King Foltest of Temeria, King Demavend of Aedirn —  who was wearing a crown —  and the beautiful Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia. 

Every Gwent card was a dwarf’s labor of love. Their flawless craftsmanship, gorgeous artwork, and perfect design were divine and impossible to forge. Some of the unique cards were created by a dwarf grandmaster, making them masterpieces. 

A normal card would usually go for a couple of crowns at most, and most shops would sell a few of them. Some of the rarer ones could cost as much as a house in Vengerberg, the capital of Aedirn, but the collectors who would sell those were scarce. 

After watching a few matches, Roy saw Nilfgaardian decks, Northern Kingdom decks, and even Skellige Isles decks, but there were no monster cards or Scoia’tael decks. Monster cards were rare, while Scoia’tael decks, well… 

Scoia’tael was an alliance who helped Nilfgaard ambush the humans in the Northern Kingdoms in the war. The Northern War hadn’t begun yet in the year 1260, which meant nobody knew of Scoia’tael, and that meant no decks. Scoia’tael decks would only emerge after the Northern War, where a dwarf grandmaster would create the expansion pack.