Tales of a Foreign World

Imber: A Successful Venture

Imber steps onto the passenger ship, ready for some relaxation after a successful mission. He may be out of his element, but he always gets the job done. This past job involved working his way out to the illustrious island of Chult in search of a noblewoman's daughter with a party of other skilled members. The reward: an enchanted weapon of their choice allowing greater accuracy and damage. Imber had only recently acquired his pristine new enchanted longbow, but is immediately forced to part with it.

"Hold it there," one of the ship-hands holds out an arm at Imber just as he steps onboard. "For the safety of everyone onboard, please let us store your weapons and any other dangerous gear you may have with you." Imber shoots the ship-hand talking to him an inquisitive look, then pulls out and off his necessary gear: his old longbow, his new enchanted longbow, a scimitar, a whip, and the quiver of arrows. The ship-hands, however, are not as passionate about their job as Imber is to his, and with some skillful sleight of hand, his two handaxes disappear from sight under his clothing. Imber gives a nod and a smile, and walks through further onto the deck.

He turns around waiting for his compatriots to work their way through. Lyrae, a skilled human ranger. Light skin and long dark hair, with a hardened face from the elements of her natural living space. Her skills with a bow are just as good as Imber's, but her specialty lies outside of the cities. Gar, winged elf of roguish skirmisher by trade. Incredible eagle wings flank him. He has short brown hair and similarly naturally camouflaged clothing. Brilliant at dashing about and staying out of harms way, while still dishing out plenty of damage with his glass dagger. And who could forget Felix and Farrah, the dynamic duo. No one, that's who. Felix, a purple skinned tiefling monk and private eye extraordinaire, bundled in a suave package of slicked back black hair and pencil mustache, a dashing suit, long tail, black ram horns encircling his ears, and golden eyes, the last of which is a trait shared with his twin sister, a pink skinned tiefling bard and eccentric entertainer, with horns reaching up and around in a heart shape above her head, long braided magenta hair, and a cutesy, flamboyant dress to match, with another tail flicking out of the bottom of the skirt, of course. 

Almost too strange to all be in the same place, and somehow laughably bad at present, as Imber gets a load of the rest of his party attempting to hide weapons just like he had and continuing to fail. 

"Please," says another ship-hand, trying desperately to get the others to cooperate. "We need all of your weapons. There are drinks and merrymaking aboard this ship and our guests can get a bit rowdy, it is for everyone's safety. You may walk with us to the weapon storage room if you like, and understand there will always be a guard ready at the door, so you have nothing to worry about."

Imber shakes his head and lets out a sigh. Imber himself is a dark blue skinned tiefling with wavy hair even darker in shade. His horns also bend back, but not nearly as severely as the horns on Felix. The silver horns curve back and trace along each side of his head, solid silver eyes to match. Lastly, like Gar, wings sprout from his shoulder blades. Unlike Gar, they are bat wings, and far smaller. 

Imber has no relation to the other two tieflings, and even though some may say this chance meeting of this many infernal kin in one place is a bad omen, it's clear these are normal people - normal-ish people - with lives of their own and sibling rivalries to match any other race here. And Imber himself, well, he may consider himself a free spirit, but at heart he would do anything for anyone. That is, unless he's paid to hunt them down.

Imber has connections in very high, and very low places, and the one thing they have in common is both will pay good money to hunt down and bring back or eliminate persons-of-interest. Imber has become quite skilled in these tasks, and has developed certain techniques to assist him, learning to wield the arcane weave through the string of his bow.

Farrah is the last through. "You know, my job requires me to have this lance, and there are calls to duty at a moment's notice. You should probably just let me keep this."

The ship-hand returns, "I understand this but this is a recreational and relaxation vessel, so even if there is a time for you to normally use this, you are off duty and you can enjoy yourself while we take care of it for now."

Farrah grimaces but hands over her lance, ready to walk off, but the ship-hand stops her before she does so and checks her person for anything else, eventually drawing a dagger out of her boot.

"And when were you planning on telling me about this?" pries the now fully irked ship-hand.

"Aha, right. Y'know, It's been so long since I've even taken off my boots, seen as I was just trudging through the wilderness for a week."

Imber calls out to Farrah, "That's not very nice of you to try and hide your weapons like that from this honest working gentlemen." Farrah shoots Imber the dirtiest of glares and Imber just returns a lighthearted smile. Felix takes notice of this male tiefling that is not himself smiling at his sister and forces her along quicker, getting in their view of each other.

"Would you like my vocal chords as well?" she asks in a biting tone while getting shunted off by Felix.

Now all officially on board, it was time for Imber to actually relax, leaving his party members be. A fifteen day cruise from Chult directly to Hollen's Rest, and back to his turf inside buildings and alleyways. Admittedly, Imber doesn't think he can ever fully take a load off and relax, given evidence of his hidden axes, so he takes strolls around and through the ship, keeping an eye on the people and looking out for suspicious activity.

In time, though, Imber truly does drop his guard enough, and a few days into the cruise, he and some of the other members head to the games room to a cards table.

"Welcome you all," says the dealer, a half elf male with dapper attire. "This is a betting game with simple rules." He then goes on to explain how the game is played. "Everyone?" he motions for them all, and Imber, along with Farrah, Gar, and another passenger take their seat and set down a gold each.

They each are dealt their hand. Imber's eyes light up, or at least they would if they weren't solid silver. A 1, 9, 6, 4, and 5 sit between his palms. Nothing too useful, but very close.

The dealer replaces three of his cards, then gestures to the others. "Raise or fold." Imber puts down another of his gold, as does everyone else. He discards the 1 and 9, then draws two more. Imber almost gasps, but holds himself, as he draws a 3 and 7. A straight, what luck! The dealer discards a few cards for the second and final time, and once again, everyone puts in another gold, including Imber.

Imber sets his cards face down and sits back in his chair. It doesn't matter how he acts now, everyone is locked in. Farrah sneers at him, taking notice, but discards two cards and draws two more, slamming the table with a fist as she sees them. She is quite pretty, with her soft and charming features, but Imber only takes amusement at her anger rearing its head for the second time on this trip.

The dealer sets down his cards face up, a triple 7 showing. The faces of the others give off a sudden worry, but Imber doesn't budge. The passenger flips over triple 4s, then sighs. Gar shows off his double 9s and shifts in his chair. Farrah slams down her cards, a double 5 and a double 1. Imber lets his hand drift in front of him, savoring the moment, before the dealer allocates the pot right in front of Imber. Farrah keeps her eyes on her gold as they find their way to Imber's spot. She looks at Imber with a frown and with a slam of a gold piece, says, "Again."

They play for a few more rounds, though none are as successful for Imber as the first. He is still proud of his perfect hand from the first round, so subsequent losses are pretty easy for him. After witnessing Imber lose his bet in the next round, Farrah lightens up and enjoys herself with the rest of them.

Imber takes his earnings and works his way back to the guest rooms, large spaces with subdividers among the different guests. He lies down, arms behind his head and smiles.

An occupational victory, a game victory, and a few social victories to boot. Seems this venture has been quite the success.

~~~

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