This story is centered on a game using an Enchanted Duelist’s deck, a magic item I’ve used in a few other stories. The game is rigged so that the owner will always win and most of the cards he plays will force his opponent into doing perverse things or having her body or even mind drastically modified.
My plan is to be throwing up a poll for just about every round of play. That means most sections won’t be very long. I’d like to keep this moving so I’ll probably be posting a new section every few days.
The Rigged Wager
“Would say I’m a good client, Madam Lillenna?”
The scantily clad yet dignified High Elf sitting across from the red haired man smiled at him then placed a card down on the table. “A good client? No, Mason Pennywise, I would not say you are a good patron of my brothel.” She paused, waiting for the look of shock and offense she knew would appear on his face. As soon as it was there she continued. “No, Mason, you are not a good client. You are my best client. There is no man who visits this establishment as often as you do and no man who spends as much coin gambling in these halls or fucking my whores.”
His lips curled up into a shameless smile of pride. “Well, there is no other brothel in all of Alaria that has such fun gambling tables and such enjoyable whores. You’ve comely Humans, fat titted Dwarves, kinky little Halflings, even sultry Night Elves.” He tossed a card forward with almost no interest in the game. “But no High Elves other than you.”
The elegant High Elf tossed another card down. “I’m afraid I win,” she said with a sympathetic smile.
Mason sighed and pushed the small pile of coins that had been next to him across the table. “You always win,” he replied. “But no opponent is as enjoyable to lose to as you.” He moved his eyes down her body, drinking in the sight of her.
She was dressed in lacy, transparent black underwear that left nothing to the imagination. Her body was like most High Elves: narrow and tall yet with thick pleasing curves. Her breasts were large and so perfectly firm and round that to his Human eyes they looked fake although he knew they weren’t. Her skin was beautifully pale and the black see through top she had on allowed him a view of her little pink nipples.
“From the way your eyes linger on my nipples I surmise you’re done with games of chance for the time. Which of my girls would you like to take upstairs, ser? You have your pick at the moment, no other clients are in at this time of day.”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, ignoring her question. “Why is it that a man can’t pay to be with you? I’ve been in countless other brothels in at least twenty kingdoms. Madams in every land sell their bodies. Oh, sure, they do so at prices far higher than their employees but still, they make themselves available to those with enough coin. Is it just that I’ve never offered you enough money?”
She laughed prettily. “Oh, I’ve no doubt you’d find the coin should I name a price, no matter how high. But no amount of money could be put before me that would make me willing to spread my legs, not for you or any of the lesser races.”
“There’s no amount that would make you even ponder the request?” he asked.
Mason Pennywise stared at her with frightening intensity. He had rugged good looks and the expression on his face would have spread the legs of almost anyone and without the exchange of any coin.
He wore hardy clothing with a thick double breasted leather vest that was as elegant as it was functional. His hair was red and cut short and wild, thick red muttonchops on his cheeks. He’d look like a noble if it wasn’t for the singes all over his clothing, but he was a fire mage so the singes were always present. The magic of the element he was devoted to always coursed through his body barely held in check. And now as he stared at the elegant High Elf before him some of that fire burned in his eyes, changing their color to orange then red.
“I can see the fire burning in you,” she said, nodding at him. “Why not go choose a partner? Work the fire out till you’ve exhausted it. I know you’re good for the cost, no matter how long you keep one of my girls busy, so I won’t even ask you to pay upfront.”
The fire in his eyes grew more intense, burning so brightly is eyes began to steam. “But it’s not one of your girls I want,” he replied calmly, still staring at her.
“Well my girls will have to do, I’m not for sale. Now come, choose a woman or ante up for another game.”
He sat up, reaching out to hold her hand in place as she moved to start shuffling the deck of cards. “I want you,” he insisted.
She pulled her arm back, glaring at him. “I’m not for sale,” she said firmly. Her own eyes began to glow with blue magical energy. “And should you touch me again without permission you’ll be very sorry. You are a skilled fire mage, everyone knows this. But your magic would be nothing should I choose to unleash my own.”
He threw his hands up and pulled away. “My apologies. Still, there must be a way to convince you.”
“There isn’t,” she said simply, her annoyance at his insistence showing.
“No amount of money?” he asked, reaching for his coin purse.
“No amount,” she said firmly, watching him pull the coin pouch up to the table. She recognized at once it wasn’t the pouch he’d been using previously. “Is that a purse of holding?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “Able to hold far more than it seems physically possible. My last quest paid handsomely, although not in coin.” He tipped the pouch over. Sapphire gems that glowed with blue magical energy began pouring out till there was a small mountain of them on the table.
“Those are blue mage stones! I’ve… never seen so many in one place.” She stared at them, awe on her face.
Mason picked one up and held it before her. It was translucent and as he held it in his fingers the blue glow coming from within it intensified. “Very valuable,” he said. “So small yet each can be turned into enough raw mana to top off even the most powerful mage. Of course,” he said, dropping the gem back onto the pile, “I can’t use the things. The mana stored in them won’t fuel my elemental magic. But your magic, they’d fuel that. And then there is their worth. A small handful would be enough to buy your establishment twice over, wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” she agreed.
He pushed the mountain of blue mage stones towards her. “Is this enough to tempt you?”
Madam Lillenna bit her lip and furrowed her brow. “Enough to tempt me, yes, but not enough to actually buy me.” She shook as she said this, barely able to resist such an offer.
“I made a vow,” she began then faltered. She’d never shared this with any of the clients that came to her brothel but Mason was a good man that had always treated her girls right and he’d spent more money in her establishment than any other ten men combined. He deserved the explination.
“When I came to this land I made a vow,” she began again. “My people are proud and they looked down on the lesser races. To go out and be part of their world, it was shameful but it was what I wanted. Still, I made a vow. I’d never be with one of you sexually. I could turn my back on my people and even take up the profession you see me in now. But I’d never sell my body and I’d never be with someone who wasn’t a fellow High Elf.”
“But this mound of blue mage stones is tempting you to break your vow, isn’t it?” he asked her, leaning in and grinning at her.
“Tempting but… not enough.”
“You love gambling, don’t you?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject.
She blinked, looking away from the glowing gems, confused by the change. “Yes, of course. It’s why I offer such games here. I love spending my day gambling with men and winning their money.”
“Then how about we play a game,” Mason declared, pulling back and reaching into a satchel he had slung around the back of his chair. He pulled out a small ornate stone box that was big enough to hold a deck of cards. He put it on the table and tapped the large gem inlaid on its top. It started to glow with intense red light. “This is an enchanted duelist’s deck. A very rare object that contains powerful magic. Do you know about it?”
“I’ve heard of it…” she said slowly, looking at the box with awe. “But only whispers. I never thought I’d see one in person! It contains a card game of chance and skill that requires stakes be set before it can be played. The game is magically binding and cannot be stopped once it is begun and the loser will be magically compelled to give up whatever they bet.”
“All true, although I’d say it’s a game of skill more than chance,” he told her. “And I remind you that I’ve never lost a game to you. So, I challenge you. If I win you become my sexual play thing, if you win you don’t. Either way this mound of blue mage stones are yours.”
Her eyes opened wide. She looked from the gems to him. “You are serious?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “I’m willing to lose all the treasure I own for a chance to have you. And this is a gamble that isn’t at all in my favor. Yes, this is a game of some chance,” he said, patting the stone box, “but it’s more of a game of skill. Haven’t you always bragged you can win any game of skill on your first try?”
She bit her lip again, staring at the gems. It was insane any one man had so many of them and even more insane he was willing to throw them away on a bet he would almost certainly lose.
“Vow be damned,” she mutter, looking up at him. “Okay, I’ll take the bet and play the game with you.”
For a moment she looked grim, instantly regretting her choice. But then something occurred to her: there were no other patrons in her brothel. It was very unlikely that she would lose but even if she did there would be no witnesses. No one else would know she DID have a price. When the game was done she’d remember to make the Human vow not tell anyone of their wager. Since she was positive he’d lose and that the loss would shame him she was confident he’d agree to keep the loss a secret.
Mason was grinning like a mad man. “Alright, let me explain the game to you.” As he opened the stone box two transparent gems floated up out of it, each taking a place in the air next to both players. “When we begin these stones will fill with red energy. When that energy is gone the player they belong to loses.”
He took out the decks of cards. Each card was thick and the artwork on their backs was stunning. It was clear that this game had been created before the great collapse for no one had lived in Alaria for ages with the skill to craft something so beautiful and so full of magical power.
“Each turn you’ll get to play a card,” he told her, flipping one of the cards from the deck over revealing that the face was blank. “The cards remain like this till the game begins. Then you’ll find they will explain everything to you, telling you what they do.” He put the card back and pushed the deck towards the center of the table.
“To begin the game we must each place our hands on the crystals and proclaim our willingness to play the game willingly and to state the stakes.” He turned and reached up to the touch the gem floating beside him. “I, Mason Pennywise, enter into this game of my own free will. Win or lose my opponent will lay claim to all the blue mage stones on the table. Should I win then my opponent shall become my complete and total sexual slave.”
He turned to Lillenna. “And now you just need say you agree.”
She reached up and touched the floating stone. “I, Madam Lillenna, enter into this game willingly and agree to my opponent’s stakes.” She was so eager to begin the game, a game she was confident she would win, that she failed to take note of the specific wording the man across the table had spoken.
As soon as she was done speaking there was a blast of magical energy that made the whores in the room gasp, a few screaming in surprise. Lillenna felt something around her ankle and looked down to see a chain made of glowing red energy connecting her to the table. The sight did not alarm her as she had known the game would be magically binding. A moment later the deck of cards began to glow. The top cards began floating up into their hands till each player held five of them. Lillenna smiled eagerly as the blank fronts of the cards started to fill in with writting.
“You can go first,” Mason told her, nodding kindly.
Another card from deck floated up into her hand joining the other cards there. She began reading them pleased to see that the writing on them was easy to read and very self explanatory.
She chose one and placed it down on the table. It glowed, sucking some of the red energy out of Mason’s crystal. Then the writing on it disappeared and it floated over beside the deck, forming a discard pile.
“Very well played,” he replied, looking at his crystal. “An early blow that I’ll be hard pressed to recover from. But you’ll soon find these cards do more than alter our crystals.”
He put a card on the table. “Draw three cards and play two more this turn,” it read. A moment later the text faded and the card floated to the discard pile as three new cards floated up into his hand.
“I fear I might have drawn a better hand then you,” he said with a smirk, reading his new cards.
What happens next in the game? (Choose up to 5 options)
