Zhouth turned to look at the table toward which Varca was walking. "Oh, you're talking about that ball-and-stick game that some of the Navy types like." He reasonably (if understatedly) mimed someone striking with a cue. "I never really played it myself. Did you know that the Zhodani have something similar?"

Zhouth held both hands up and wiggled his fingers. "They do it with telekinetic jabs instead of poking at the balls with wooden sticks, of course, and I don't think that they use all of the same numbers and colors and so on."

One hand went down while the other swerved palm-up, presentation style, toward the table. "If you think that this suit won't get in the way too much, and you don't mind explaining all the rule as we go, then I suppose that I could give it a try?"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 7):

     "Actually, I'm more familiar with billiards, than with pool." Varca says, sitting at the table in a chair that puts his back to the wall--then opens his faceplate,

     "The Palacers are all crazy for the game.  They say it's more aggressive, more of a one-against-one competition.  So I learned to play while in the Star Guard."

     "I was actually hoping that one of you knew how to play pool." Varca adds, nodding to both Ingrid and Zhouth, "Krrsh says one of his contacts is a pool player.  I could probably fake it, but how one plays the balls on the table is slightly different."

"Well, shouldn't you be playing a game of it when he walks in, then, so he knows that you're a player too?" The slow opening cadence gave way to a smiling tone, as both hands lazily waved sidelong toward the table. "That seemed to be how the Navy types did it!"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:23, Fri 24 Sept 2021.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 9):

     "I.  Wasn't.  Navy." Varca responds with a slight grin,

     "Though, if required, I will attempt a game with Krrsh's friend Trevon," Varca casts a quick glare at Krrsh, "When and if we ever meet up with him."

     "However, Zhouth, you do bring up a good point about the restricted flexibility you may experience, wearing that boarding suit.  Remember--I did caution you about choosing to wear it.  Those suits are designed for engaging in close combat inside the narrow companionways of a ship--oh, and for pushing through dangerous wreckage during rescue operations, too, of course."

     Varca smiles as he raises his left arm out, over the table, and slowly balls his gloved hand into a fist--making the material of his Hazard Suit produce a squeaking sound.  Then he rapidly opens his fist and wiggles the fingers of his hand.

     "Boarding Suits aren't known for their manual dexterity..."

     Varca turns his smile towards Ingrid,

     "How about you, Ingrid?  Do Sword Worlders play any games where you hit small balls across a table top--or do your people only hit each other with sticks?"

Zhouth held out both arms and looked himself over, then lowered his arms as he looked back at Varca and asked uncertainly, "Do you really think that it would have been better for me to wear my normal clothes for this?"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 11):

     "Well, there's a Yes and a No answer to that question, Zhouth." Varca says, as he starts looking around the table for the computer display to order drinks from,

     "Dressed in street clothes, you'd look a little bit less threatening--you're still a Vargr, which many Humans automatically assume makes you 'a little dangerous', you know."

     "So, in street clothes, you'd likely seem to any Bad Guys as being less likely to cause them trouble--in their eyes, you wouldn't be 'dressed for trouble'--so they might just ignore you."

     "However, the downside to looking like you're not 'dressed for trouble' is that, to somebody who is looking to make trouble, you will be seen as an easy target.  And so, when trouble does come calling, you are less ready to stand up to it."

     "I got us all Boarding Suits purely for survivability in heavy combat.  But here--in this retched hive of scum and villainy--this isn't an open battlefield.  This is social combat--where appearances and presentation are effective weapons."

     "So, you wearing the suit gives you the appearance of being really dangerous...whether you actually are, or not----so the advantage of wearing your Boarding Suit is that most of the pissant Bad Guys will leave you alone--and you'll only need to worry about not crossing the really Bad Guys..."

     "So, it all boils down to whether you want to look dangerous, and whether you can back it up--either with violence or bluff--when danger comes looking for you!"

The uncertainty remained firmly in place. "Well, I suppose that's true, but it's mostly the minor ones that we don't want to have bothering us, right? And I don't think that I look like the most dangerous one here!" He hooked a thumb in BB's direction, and then his tone shifted to apologetic. "Actually, I think that you still look more dangerous than I do too, what with that death stare that you give people all the time. I'm not very good at that part, you know?"

And then it turned to contemplative as one hand idly traced an abstract swirl in the air before him, then turned palm up. "But maybe there's another good point in all of that. This suit might not be, well, suitable, so I should think about what I'm going to wear when we have our formal meeting with the big guy, whichever one of them that turns out to be!"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 13):

     "Heh.  Nice pun.  Not suitable..." Varca chuckles, "But I didn't say that you wearing that suit was...heh-heh...un-suitable.  I just brought up that everyone should think about the choice to wear hard armour."

     "Yeah, for BB, wearing armour makes perfect sense, because the majority of her personal and professional skillset focuses on wearing that armour.  She can just strike a pose in that suit, and all thought of messing with her will fade from a smart person's mind."

     "And I'm not saying that wearing a hard-suit is a bad choice for you, Zhouth.  In fact, it's probably a good choice.  You've never made claim to any great expertise with weapons or hand-to-hand combat--not a criticism, because the skillset you do have is incredibly more useful than any combat skills--so the limitations that a hard-suit puts on your flexibility and mobility are marginal."

     "And the flip-side of that is, since your combat reflexes aren't that well developed, you'll benefit more from the heavy armour protection, than you would from being able to duck and dodge, in a lighter suit."

     "But like I was saying, a significant element to being a Tuff Guy..." Varca hooks a thumb at himself,

     "...or a Hard-Ass..." Varca gestures towards BB,

     "...is Presentation!  If you look like a Bad-Ass...if you present yourself as a Bad-Ass...then people will believe you are a Bad-Ass!  Even if you never lay a hand on anybody, ever!"

     "When I first Joined the Drinaxi Star Guard Army--before I transferred to the Scouts--I had to read this book written by a legendary Sindalian Warmaster, named Sun Tzu--and he wrote something that's stuck with me my whole life, something that fits right in with Vespexer social philosophy."

     "He wrote 'Conserve your Strength; Do not engage in Battle, if there is Another Way to achieve Victory'.  Those words changed my life.  I came to understand that there are more ways to get what I wanted, than just killing someone and taking it from them."

     "And that's what I'm talking about, when I say Presentation is a big part of being perceived as somebody who's dangerous.  Take what I said a moment ago, about you being Vargr...."

     "I said that to Humans, all Vargr are always perceived to be, at least a little bit, threatening.  That's in the eyes of Humans, Zhouth.  Not in the eyes of other Vargr, not in the eyes of a Bwap, not in the eyes of a Pussy.  I'm talking about Humans!  And why?"

     Varca stops talking, suddenly, and smiles broadly...then he raises a hand and points at his smile.

     "Your Teeth." Varca says after a moment, "Humans have a mouth full of Monkey-Teeth--general purpose, omnivorous, masticators.  But you Vargr...!  When you reveal your teeth to a Human--even if you're actually just smiling--on an instinctive level, we Humans see a mouth full of pointy carnivore's teeth!  And that gives Humans pause."

     Varca shrugs his shoulders,

     "Sure, most of the time we get over that pretty quickly.  But that's because most of the time, when Humans are meeting Vargr, it's in peaceful settings--neither side is looking for trouble.  But, if you play that up just a little bit, you can begin to intimidate the shit out of a Human.  And, with practice and effort, you can escalate the intimidation factor to where, eventually, you can get a Pissed-Off Pussy to back down!"

     "Follow me...imagine yourself, dressed in your best business suit.  You meet a Human, and you smile, revealing those teeth of yours.  For just an instant, the Human has an atavistic fear of those teeth, but he gets over it quickly, because you--dressed in your best suit--are presenting as non-threatening.  Right?"

     "Now, take that same situation--but instead of smiling, you put a snarl on your face.  No growling, just showing your teeth in a snarl.  Again, the Human takes pause, but this time he takes a moment to think about why he's feeling fear, before he moves past it."

     "Keep up the escalation--instead of a business suit, you're wearing a clearly military uniform along with the snarl.  Then, after all that, let's imagine you--all you're doing is showing your teeth in a snarl--but you're wearing that spacesuit, which is obviously designed for combat, then you slowly raise an arm up and have one of the blades that're hidden in the suit's forearm suddenly snap out, and, as you look past the gleaming blade, you growl...just a little bit."

     Varca sits back and spreads his hands wide,

     "The average Human-on-the-Walkway would piss themselves, as they ran away.  And all you'd really have done is show your teeth and clear your throat.  That's Presentation!  That's winning a fight without having to fight!"

     "Of course, the folks around here aren't 'average Humans-on-the-Walkway'.  For these folks, it's all about the escalation."

     Again, Varca gives Zhouth a big smile,

     "But you'll learn."

"It looks like Trevor was in the back room," Krssh points out as someone steps out of the door near the back.

"You don't need to actually be playing pool... just hanging out by the pool tables was enough to get his attention."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Sun 26 Sept 2021.

"Any of you gentlemen interested in a game of pool?" the man Krssh identified as Trevor says as he walks up to the table.

"I suppose you could say I'm the resident in-house champion. Not that I can't be beat, but it'd cost you 10 credits to see if you can. And, no, I don't play for free. I always play for money. If you put up the 10 credits and you beat me, then I pay you 10 credits."

"Well, I don't play pool, but Varca was just talking about how he used to play billiards all the time, and they're not that different, right? So he should be pretty good at pool too!" One could easily sense the smile on his face as he gestured toward Varca and the pool table with each hand one after the other, and it didn't take long for him to produce a ten-credit chip and plop it onto the table. "Here! I'll pay for him to play a game with you, just to see what happens!"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 17):

     With a forced smile pasted on his face, Varca slowly stands up--but, before he walks away from the table, he leans down, closer to Zhouth, and whispers,

     "I am so gonna drag you out to the middle of the Plasma-Glow Desert and leave you there--buried up to your neck!--when we get back to Base..."

     Turning back to Trevor, Varca pleasantly asks,

     "So, Pool is your game, is it, Trevor?  Yotsudama Billiards is more my game--but I'll give your Pool a chance.  Any House Rules or Handicaps I should know about?"

Though the suit made it impossible to tell how Zhouth reacted to the threat - and his lack of overt motion didn't telegraph anything, either - one was somehow left with the sense that he was still smiling...

"That's what this is... billiards," Trevor replies, looking a bit confused. "You got 15 colored balls on the table, put into a triangular formation in a set order sometimes, but 1 ball is always in the front and the 8 ball is always in the middle. Then you use your cue to strike the cue ball... the white one here... to smash into the rack of balls. If you get the 8 ball into one of the pockets on the break, you win. After that, if you sink the 8 ball before it's the last ball you lose."

"If any other balls go into the pockets, then you can try to sink another ball. You keep going until you miss. You can run the table that way. If you sink the cue ball, you lose your turn. I get to reset the cue ball anywhere at this end of the table behind the line between these two side dots on the rails."

"Cheapshot pool lets you try to sink any ball you want. With true pool, what I usually play, you have to sink the balls in order of their numbers. But there's one exception to that. When you shoot, you have to strike the next numbered ball with the cue ball or it's called a scratch. Even if the ball doesn't go in but another one does, it's still your turn."

"One rack is generally one game. Whoever sinks the 8 ball at the end wins. In tournament play, you play a number of racks until someone scores 125 points, one for each ball sunk."

"There are some variations, mostly 8-ball and 9-ball, but we'll keep it simple. And you don't even have to call the shot, like 3-ball in the side pocket. First game, we usually allow slop shots."

"Guests always get first break... unless you defer."

"Got it? Any questions?"

In reply to Trevor (msg # 20):

     "That's not the Billiards I'm familiar with, Trevor, but the rest sounds simple enough." Varca replies, "The game is true Pool, played through one rack.  Far be it from me to go against local custom, so I break.  That about right?"

In reply to Varca Lexand (msg # 21):

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Although pool isn't the version of billiards that Varca is used to playing, he quickly discovers that there are just as many nuances to it as billiards, which has both defensive and offensive strategies to it. Pool doesn't require as much concentration as billiards, but the number of balls in play makes it a bit hard to figure out strategy.

It turns out that Trevor is pretty good at the game. When  he doesn't have a shot, he's often able to leave Varca behind the eight ball... which Varca now learns where the expression came from.

It's a short game but gets a bit hard as ball count diminishes, but in the end, Trevor wins.

"Not bad for a beginner," Trevor says to Varca after the game.

"You've obviously used the cue before. I'm vaguely starting to remember other types of pool people have mentioned from time to time... billiards and snooker."

"You wouldn't think there could be that many variations on hitting a ball with a stick, would you? We also play nine-ball here on occasion. It's a shorter game for when there are a lot of customers and they all want to play pool. I usually lose the first game intentionally just to let the others play, and then win the last game when the pot is worth playing for."

He semi-pauses at that point to see if Varca wants another game, or if anyone else does.

Zhouth held up and placed another credit chip on the table as he looked over at Krrsh to deliver a sunny, "Your turn!"

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 25):

     At the end of his game with Trevor, Varca lays down his cue and raises his gloved hands in surrender,

     "Well played, Trevor.  But a few too many balls on the table, for me." Varca says, "I'm going to need a little time to re-think my play strategy."

     When Zhouth puts up another credit chit and tells Krrsh he's next, Varca frowns at him,

     "Feeling your math skills aren't up to snuff, Zee?" Varca asks, "Or d'you just get-off howling in laughter at our failures?"

"Why would I be laughing?" Zhouth sounded quite surprised, and perhaps a bit baffled, by the accusation, although if he'd been given reason to hesitate then it didn't show in his movements. "I'm the one losing money here, you know? You just seem to be the ones who know how to play these sorts of games!"

"What is it with you? Do you think all Vargr play pool?" Krssh says as he moves up the table and eyes it warily.

"Does that mean you're going to play next, Zhouth?"


21:54, Today: Krrsh rolled 0 using 2d6-3 ((2,1)).
Gambling skill roll which he doesn't even have!

He just barely managed to keep from scraping the felt and sent the cue ball off the table several times. Additionally, he never even managed to sink one ball!

"I bet I could do better if I was allowed to use a gun!"

"Is there a version of pool that uses guns?" Zhouth inquired cautiously, as both of his hands meandered in small, vague, not-quite circles. "Besides when people get into a big disagreement about it, that is!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:43, Sat 09 Oct 2021.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 29):

     Making sure that he's close enough for Trevor to overhear, Varca gives an answer to Zhouth's question,

     "Yeah, there is..." Varca says, bringing up his gloved left hand in imitation of a pistol--and pointing it at Zhouth,

     "The cesspool I grew up in called it Tag..." Varca jerks his hand as if a pistol had fired, "First shooter to drop their opponent into a pocket, wins.  Bang!  You're it!"

     "Last time I played that game was with this killer dame name of, uh, Miry?--no, her name was Miria!  She got me dead to rights--nailed me right here..."

     Varca taps his left thumb in the center of his suit's chest,

     "Armor stopped the shot, but the impact blew me backwards and down a flight of stairs.  But as I was falling, I had a clear shot at her.  I swear I hit her, but by the time I'd recovered from the hit and the tumble down the stairs, she was gone.  No evidence I'd hit her...but, then, she hadn't stuck around to finish me off, either."

     Varca grins around at the folks standing around the pool table, where Trevor has been so easily taking their money,

     "I've been calling that game of Tag a draw, ever since.  I tell you, I ever meet that Miria gal again, I'm going to buy her a drink.  Then, maybe, ask her if she wants to play Tag again."

     "Last I heard, she was running with some crew from here--outta Theev.  Hey, Krrsh!  You've been around here for a while, yeah?  You ever heard of a killer chick named Miria?  I think her second name was Skimmer, or Shimmer, or Silver...something like that..."

Zhouth's suit once again hid whatever expression he was putting on, and this time his posture didn't give much away beyond the halting of his hand-whirls whilst Varca described the long-ago incident. That, and a mutter of, "We didn't have any games like that where I grew up."