The Gamble

What a wild walk it has been so far for the party of twelve.  At their last update they had just came across a bewitched old halfling, whom some of the party believe that Yosh may...or may not have had something to do with it but that is neither here nor there.  After seventy-seven miles of walking thus far, the party has ran into a flustered knight, outwitted a band of bandits, calmed a bewitched halfling and also avoided the temptations of the Old Forest.  They had successfully crossed the Brandywine river and now had arrived in Bree, where there was lodging and food and drink to be had.

"Lets go to the Prancing Pony!" cheered Yosh, gleefully.  The party discussed it briefly and all agreed.  Sleeping indoors for a couple days as well as warmer food and some relaxation were well in order.   As they arrived, Jess was seen walking as she was now mostly recovered from her iocane powder incident.  Ragnar and Sve7en immediately began looking for a place they could exercise and were seen exchanging conversation about creatine and whey choices.  Wulf simply wanted to head off to bed as did Evok.  The others headed to the inn.  

That evening and throughout the entirety of the next day and again into the night, the party of GM's conversed with the citizens of Bree and learned more about their local history as well as listened to the tales of survivors passed down regarding the visiting of the Nine and their pursuit of Strider and the hobbits.  At some point of the second evening, their destination was let slip to one of the visitors of the pub.

"What on earth do you want to go there for?" questioned one patron.
"That sounds like a downright dumb idea..." spoke another.

The reaction was a bit mixed overall, and the GM's were very good at deflecting and otherwise ignoring the statements of disapproval...that was until one figure in the back spoke up.

"If you're planning on walking, you're nuts.  You really need horses.  I just happen to have some for sale..."

Evok looked at Jess who looked at Kale who then looked at Geek and Ragnar and the others.

"Horses could definitely make some of the travel faster and easer" said Nhamlet as Thunder nodded approvingly.

"How much for your horses?" Geekusoid inquired.

The man stepped over to the bar with a smile on his face.  "How about this...mystical puck that you all are carrying about?"

"Sorry, friend, we'd rather walk." Geekusoid replied

"How about a challenge!?" piped up Kalesalad.

"A challenge eh?" the man perked up.  "For what?"

"The horses you have against....Kalesalad and I becoming your indentured servants" Ragnar spoke up.

The man thought for a minute.  He had a farm, hence the horses, and having a couple of indentured servants would mean he could relax more...but also knowing that if he lost the horses, it would mean a very...very slow harvest this year.  After some thought, he agreed.

"Done!" the man shouted excitedly.  "Since you brought up the idea of a challenge, I get to pick the scenario."  

The man thought, and thought about what could be done...non-violently to secure him a victory.

"I see you two have a cart outside in the stable yes?" the man queried.

"Yes we do." Geekusoid replied.

"No animal for the cart?" the man continued.

"No.  We've been taking turns pushing it." Wulf said.

"It would be nice to have one wouldn't it." the man cackled as he revealed a set of dice.  "We'll make this very simple and up to chance.  Best of three.  If you roll higher than I do, on a turn, you win.  But if I win on a turn, the number I roll is the number of horses you lose."

The rules were slightly confusing, but blinded by the idea that they may not have to walk the entire way was at that moment the only thing at the front of their mind.  Ragnar and Kale stepped forward.  "We'll roll" Kale said.

And so the die was cast.  In the first game the man rolled a 5 on these six sided dice.  "Roll" he said looking at Ragnar.  Rangar cast his die.  Six!  The party cheered excitedly.   They were up 1-0 on the gamble.  The man scoffed and rolled again.  Three.  "Too easy to beat" mocked Kale as they cast their die.  Their face sank with embarrassment.  A natural one.   The old man snickered "That's two gone from your potential winnings!" he cackled as he cast the die one last time for the tie breaker.  Another five.  It was back to Ragnar.  A deep breath was taken as the GM's looked on intently.  His hand released and the die bounced.  Six.

The GM's erupted with excitement as now they had some horses to help carry the load and potentially speed up their process.  The man wasn't terribly upset and beckoned the group members to follow him.  They headed just north of town to his farm and he presented horses to the members of the party, save for two.  Fluw and Jess hopped into the cart, which now had its own horse.  "No problemo.  We'll keep an eye on the...on the provisions!  Yeah, thats it" said Wulf with a smile.  They thanked the man for their winnings and then set off again on the adventure.  Next landmark, Weathertop.