Re: Clouds Over Scotland
ON THE FLYING SCOTSMAN
Kentigern retired after his nightcap, leaving two crewmen on duty.
Nikola Tesla also retired early, leaving Samuel Clemens, Anastasia, Grimsby and Matthew to wind down over a game of whist.
The partners were Anastasia and Grimsby agains Samuel and Matthew, with Samuel dealing. The first hand was actually close as the real trick of the game was counting cards. Of course, others played just for the fun, and not everyone could count the cards that well. So it was a game of intellect, and there were four keen intellects there.
The deal passed to Anastasia for the second hand, which was even closer as the cards seemed to favor Samuel and Matthew more, and Matthew loosened up and the game came back to him. Still, Anastasia and Grimsby won the hand, but still didn't have enought points to win the game yet.
Thus it went to a third hand, deal passing to Matthew. The cards had definitely turned to Samuel's favor, and the team of Samuel and Matthew won the hand easily, evening the overall score. Both teams were now only one point away from winning.
With Grimsby dealing, the cards definitely turned against him and Anastasia... and Samuel. Matthew had such a great hand that it didn't require counting cards, and it was almost impossible to screw up even if he'd been trying.
So the winners were Samuel and Matthew.
The game only took a half hour, and the concensus was that another game would be welcome. The teams this time were Samuel and Grimsby against Anastasia and Matthew.
The first hand was won by Samuel and Grimsby, the second one was very close, but still went to Samuel and Grimsby. Anastasia ran the table in the third hand, though, to win the game.
That left enough time for a third game with the remaining team of Anastasia and Samuel against Grimsby and Matthew. Anastasia and Samuel won the first hand, even though Matthew had good cards, but Grimsby and Matthew bounced back to take the second hand. The third hand was the closest one yet, and Grimsby and Matthew came out the winner.
So the big winner of the evening turned out to be Matthew, who was on all three of the winning teams.
The combination of the drinks, the mental exercise of the game, and the fact that they were expected to be in Scotland in eight hours finally sent everyone off to bed.
ON THE FALCON
One of Lord Kentigern's crew had been sent over to The Falcon to assist because only Remi was qualified, though Mercy was probably capable enough. After finally accepting the crewman to take the helm for the long night trip to Scotland, Remi retired. There were hammocks or bedrolls to suit one's sleeping needs.
Mercy insisted on going below decks to 'tamper with the engines'. It was her way of relaxing.
That left Viktor and Stella on deck for a moment.
The albatross still perched on the ship's railing, moving this way and that on a seeming whim. Remi was aware that such a bird following a ship was considered good luck, and that killing it was very bad mojo. It was a creature of nature anyway, so he didn't mind its presence.
Being from Ruritania, Viktor hadn't seen too many albatrosses before now. In fact, it was probably safe to say that he'd never seen one. It was an ocean-going bird, and not even a hurricane would have carried one into the mountain country of Ruritania.
As Stella enjoyed the night air, though, she kept glancing at the bird... there was something odd about it. She was used to see birds, of course, but after a few minutes, she finally realized that the bird didn't seem to move... correctly... for a bird. The movements looked more... mechanical, somewhat like the tiny little bird in a cuckoo clock. Only this was considerably bigger.!
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Sun 09 Feb 2014.