Aschente!

The cliffs and plateaus of Dun Loireag are often a hustling and bustling place. It is, after all, the capital city of the Ninetails Dominion, the crown jewel of Yamato's most prolific center of commerce. Whenever there is business to be done, at least some of it passes through this town. Today, though, it's home to a slightly... different sort of hustle.

The kind that can make a prince out of a pauper, or vice-versa, in the course of a single dice roll.

One of the Root Town's squares has been converted into a makeshift outdoor casino. Games of all kinds are arranged in booths like the outer pockets of a giant roulette wheel. The 'center' of the wheel is home to a trio of larger games. One is a meandering maze where the goal is to reach the end within a certain span of time. Another is a draft grunty race, where enterprising gamblers can bet on how fast grunties can haul piles of goods from the north end of the plaza to the south. The third is an old fashioned arena for that evergreen distraction of betting on two people pucnhing each other in the face with sword or spell.

In all cases, there is a simple rule. Once you place a bet, you seal your word with a declaration of 'Aschente.' Win or lose, you accept whatever comes.

...Of course, this is all just a trial run of a much more complicated sort of thing, so the worst you can do is lose your money, and the best you can do is to win prizes put together by local entrepreneurs. Generally, this means foodstuffs or booze.

And of course, none of this would have been possible without... Prophylaxis of the Scale Emblem? What's a doctor doing running a gambling den? And for that matter, 'Aschente' is a rule native to Lumina Cloth, so what's it doing being used here...?

Mysterious. Truly mysterious.

Schneider seems possibly to have already lost his shirt, or it is at least open at the neck, as is his coat, though he used to wear it buttoned to the neck. He is drinking heavily and betting on some game or other in a booth around the outside, where we are betting on the probability of a ball landing in an odd or an even numbered slot. Schneider forks over /more/ coin, but cannot seem to work this game out. Perhaps there -is- nothing to work out, random is random. But Schneider is attempting to divine what may happen next. Sadly, he does not have that skill, either.

"Almost feels like home," Daiyu muses to herself. The plateaus are not as vibrant and shiny as the highrises of Lumina Cloth but they give a similar towering presence. All the games for people to win fame or lose fortunes is very much like the Kallimore capital. Which is why she was here, watching the crowds form as she shifts her parasol to the opposite shoulder to not obstruct he view. She's not a gambler but she knows a few she expects to eventually make an appearance.

She is all for sharing cultures rather than trying to force them upon others through conquest, but she's curious as to why it was 'Aschente' and the concepts it followed the good Doctor chose to embody in this gaming collective.

    Fuka is, perhaps surprisingly to some, not exactly a heavy gambler. She's a bit of a devotee of The Blind One however, acknowledging and relying on luck as much as she enjoys scheming and preparation. And she doesn't mind losing money, because money doesn't mean much to her other than as a way to have fun. And festivals, unsurprisingly, are fun!

    She's currently over by the grunties, attempting to channel her in-depth affinity for animals to give her some kind of advantage in the grunty hauling contest. It might be easier for Fuka to pick up a grunty and haul it herself, but that's not exactly the sort of fun she's looking for. Now if there was greased grunty wrestling... but no, that's a different sort of event!

"Finally!", exclaims Shenmi, who's parading around the place, looking around at each booth or game with the excitement of a dog that's been taken to a pet store. "Something approaching a -proper- gambling venue." Having, by now, arrived next to Daiyu, he continues, "Indeed. Feels almost like home. I'm glad we're bringing Civilization to this continent." He rubs his hands, while enjoying the sight of cards being tossed around, and enjoying the sweet, sweet rattling of dice on cloth-covered wood. "I might actually move here if they keep this up..."

Llyn needed to cut back and party. Hell that's half of why she played before the apoch she could be as wild as she wanted here without much if any blowback. So no shit here she was at this big old party. Her pockets loaded with cash from the Palace Lands she was ready to cut lose and have some fun. Also there was booze so much booze.

Daiyu knew Llyn they knew what would happen in a place like this she was going to go very wild. She also sensed something with the Lumia cloth sealing of the gabling deals. What was Proph up to? Well one way to find out as she goes up to a old shell game and will try to guess where the coin is.

There's a lot going on, but word had reached Syx that there was a competition for grunties at this carnival that the Doc had set up. Why Doc was setting up some kind of weird outdoor casino carnival was not really Syx's concern. He assumed it was probably some smart guy thing. Syx was far more focused on the grunty race.

Draft grunties weren't necessarily going to be the best tasting ones, however his experiments had shown that there was a good chance that the size could be used to help narrow down the breeding stock. Syx did not seem interested in betting, yet. Not until he had inspected each and every grunty in every way he had learned how over the last few weeks of work.

Daiyu narrows her eyes slightly at the 'civilization' remark but doesn't comment. Of course she's spent a lot of time in Eas, which is much less... rustic than other parts of Yamato thanks to the effort of Wake and her alliances. So Instead just a simple nod and a "I knew it would attract your attention." is provided to Shenmi in greeting. "Try not to ruin the fun for everyone else."

"Ruining the fun? Moi?", Shenmi exclaims, in mock outrage, as he touches the tips of his fingertips to his chest. "My dear Daiyu, you should, by now, be abundantly aware that I am the one who -brings- the fun! Until they ban me from the card stands." Likely for cheating. "But by then, so much fun has been had. So much undeniable fun-"

After a moment of silent reflection, he reprises, "You know, when I look around this place, the first thing that comes to mind is- what is wrong with Gwen Pendragon? Why hasn't she come up with casino bunny outfits yet?" He crosses his arms, pulls back, and narrows one eye slightly, as if for critically appraising the scene. "-Definitely- not enough casino bunnies around." Top-hat flicked slightly forward, he starts towards a very specific direction. "I need to go talk to the Doctor about this- but first!"

"Are those grunties? Are they racing? Is that guy going overboard in trying to determine the winner?" He squints at Fuka. "Are they letting minors play?"

Without waiting for an answer, he heads over there, and places his own bet on an animal. "Aschente!"

Unfortunately for Schneider, roulette isn't a game of skill so much as it is a game of trying to not get suckered into going all in and losing everything up to and including your dignity. It is, ultimately, a random wheel of a game-- as far as Schneider is able to tell, anyway. But why is it that he can't seem to win...?

There is, in fact, another rule to the Aschente system. That is, if you're caught cheating, you automatically lose.

...If you're caught.

Llyn is having similarly bad luck. The cat-eared cait sith running the shell game has blisteringly swift hands, leaving the choice of cup ultimately up to the whims of fortune. And this time, it seems she's struck out. "Ooh, better luck next time," the hustler says. "Wanna go again?"

Meanwhile at the Grunty Pitch, two people are busy trying to inspect the animals-- for various reasons. Fuka is /pretty sure/ this iron grunty (an invention by the Scale, in fact) is the stronest of its fellows, considering how big and bulky all of that armor is. Does she take into account the fact that it'll be hauling all of that metal with it during the race...? Syx, meanwhile, is getting a bit more... in-depth in his inspections. One of the grunties, a big, shaggy-legged bull with long, pronged horns is certainly sizable enough to be of interest. Lot of meat on that one, its handler says proudly. Muscle stacked to the sky. Perhaps this is some kind of Longhorn Grunty? Or maybe a Clydesdale Grunty? Either way, if it's size (and pulling capacity) he's looking for, it's a good choice.

...But maybe not the best for the tenderness of the meat.

Shenmi, meanwhile, is able to pick out something... odd-looking. It's like someone fused a grunty with a snake. Its body is almost all muscle, but it's smaller than all the others too. Still... a low center of gravity can prove useful.

Soon enough, the race begins. Draft Grunty Racing is a messy thing. Each grunty is lashed to a sled piled high with crates and barrels While Fuka's Iron Grunty is certainly the most stable of the lot, owing to the fact that its metal-clad body gives plenty of opportunity to secure its cargo to, it just doesn't quite have the speed. Shenmi's pick of a Snakey Grunty (notably a Dun Loireag staple!) crushes at getting momentum going. It's small, but all power-- and all of that power drives its sled forward like nothing else. But as it crests one of the many bumps in the rough track, its slight size causes its sled to lose stability. A crate comes flying off, resulting in a crushing time penalty.

Right behind it comes charging the staggering hulk that Syx had picked out. It had a steady start, but its momentum just kept on building as the race went on. Eventually the Longhorn Grunty crosses the line just after the Snakey Grunty, with all of its cargo intact.

His winnings...

Consists of a package of premium Grunty Steak, and a slab of Grunty Brisket. Useful for someone working on the Ultimate Grunty Meat, if he can figure out who's responsible for these cuts. The others win smaller portions-- in the form of meal tickets for grunty sausages, grunty burnt ends, pulled grunty sandwiches.

It's a little twisted, racing grunties to win the opportunity to eat grunties. But that is the sad fate of the grunty. Both a beast of burden and a delicious meal animal, it is.

...Meanwhile again, nearer to Daiyu, a certain Doctor finally makes his appearance. He looks... haggard, like he's been running all over trying to get a festival together or something. "Ah, good to see you," he says over a cup of steaming tea. "I was hoping you and the others from your neck of the woods would make it. Well, what do you think so far? Not bad?"

Llyn does not have thing going well for her with the three card Mote, she loses but she accepts it. She didn't bring anything was wasn't okay to lose with after all. She looks to the Cait Sith and grins.

"Why yes i'll go again, high this time!" She grins more and slaps the coinage she's betting down on the table. Daiyu you know what Llyn's like...this could be bad.

A vulpine ear flicks at the good doctor's approach. "You've done well in recreating the games and the atmosphere," she replies with a nod. Her gaze casually shifts across the crowd.. and she keeps a soft sight to herself. There's at least two people she's going to need to keep from utterly ruining themselves... but for now, let them have their fun. She will be 'sensible adult' when it becomes necessary. "Though I cannot deny my curiousity as to why you chose to follow Aschente here."

A pause. "And I hope you reminded the game operators that -they- are suppose to follow it as well."

Schneider will throw good money after bad for a while, winning and losing in roughly equal parts because it -is- basically a 50-50 bet. But when Proph shows, he'll collect himself up, no winnings, sadly, and head on over. Because talking to Proph is free. He hopes it's free, he doesn't have -that- much cash.

"Hey, Proph," he calls, approaching, and he boggles at the Doc's appearance. "Oh, man. You look like you've been through the mangler. You OK?"

    Fuka's pointy ears perk at hearing things. First the comment about casino bunnies. The little sylph is intrigued, and can definitely think of a few bunny girls she'd like to see! Or bunny guys, for that matter. She's not exactly picky. She's about to approve and engage positively when she hears a comment about minors. Turning around in mock irritation, she glares at Shenmi, missing the actual race itself. "Hey! Oh it's YOU!" she glowers. "After you begged me for drinks that one time too!" Fuka claims. That, of course, never happened. It was food, not drinks, and there was no reason age would have come up during that.

    She huffs, shaking her head. "Whatever. I'm not going to take this sitting down. ONWARD!" she cries enthusiastically. She heads over to the maze. Okay, let it be known, Fuka has bad luck with mazes. Notoriously so. But will that stop her? Hell no! "Aschente!" she calls, despite having no clue what the contest is or what her odds of winning are. Boldness will win... or not!

Indeed it would seem that Syx's inspection has paid off in more ways than one! He graciously accepts his prize, taking time to inspect the meat, "I'll need to know who bred the grunty that produced this." He says, after giving it another good look. If he can purchase some of those grunties, they could be of excellent use in his experiments.

For the time being he packs away the meat in his inventory, he'll need to get it to Asuna or Vertina soon for them to cook it up. For now, though, there's a lot more games of chance to be had, and Syx goes wandering out into the area proper. Maybe he'll try his hand at the combat arena too..

"Wait, you aren't sitting down?", Shenmi asks Fuka.

Shenmi scratches the side of his cheek while trying to remember. He's begged so many people about so many drinks in so many circumstances and in so many states lying somewhere on the continuum between sober and drunk that he has trouble pinpointing the exact scenario Fukaziroh seems to be referring to. In the end, he decides it's probably not important, and moves on without saying a word about this particular part.

"Well, look at this. Meat," he comments as he collects his prize. Into the inventory goes the ticket. The devouring shall take place later.

Devouring of the cooked meat, that is. Not the ticket itself.

Heading over to rejoin with Daiyu, he remarks, "I am glad you decided to spread some nice Kallamore flavor to Yamato, Doctor. The games, the atmosphere, everything is as reminescent of home as we Adventurers can hope to." Shenmi has learned that, alas, recreating something akin to Lumina Cloth is beyond current Adventurer capabilities. "I've also heard rumors that someone is building an arena somewhere off to sea... an atoll or something..."

"Oh, well," Prophylaxis laughs despite how absolutely wrecked he looks. "You see, it's all to do with the fellow we encountered in Lumina Cloth. I realized that a lot of what we do over here is very... honor system? It's hard to make a lot of businesses work if there's no easy way to enforce contracts. And then the strange mood happened." Prophylaxis shrugs as if that explains everything completely. "I have explained the rules to everyone. Whether they decide to follow is their choice. Though this is still a trial run to prove the concept, so it's not like the Guardians will show up yet."

Though there's probably still a way they're enforcing the rules... Probably.

"Strange mood," he says again to Schneider. "I've been keeping myself medicated, don't worry. Ahaha."

He sure looks bushed though.

"I figured that Dun Loireag was a good a place as any to test things out, considering how much money moves through here," he answers Shenmi with a nod. "And it seemed poetic for a place run by Cait Sith to be the first to trial the system."

Meanwhile, at the maze...!

"Aschente!" The Maze Master answers with a nod. "The rules are simple. Make your way through, no going over or under the walls, no peeking. Make your way to the other side in ten minutes or less, and win a prize!" Fuka manages to get a good deal of the way through after doing some mental mappematics, but unfortunately gets stumped at some kind of awful seven-way intersection right near the end of the labyrinth. Soon, a buzzer goes off and a ninja-looking snakeman pops out of a hidden passageway. "Time's up! Looks like you couldn't make it. Want to try again? I'll carry you back to the start lickety split."

Over at the shell game, Llyn is again unlucky. "Too bad. I think next time is going to go your way though!" This time, she was able to track the movement of the cups a little more easily. She might be getting used to the way this dealer is shuffling the coin around...

Not far away, Syx is busy making connections with the local farmers. It seems some of them may be interested in cooperating to aid in the development of Ultimate Meat... as long as he's willing to share breeding stock down the road, of course.

Actually 'strange mood' explains a lot. Mostly the Doc's ragged looks. "I see... and yes, I noticed that as well. Considering our nations come from such different cultures. However it seems to be adapting well." She pauses to nudge her spectacles into place. "Just be prepared to enforce the occasional... effort to circumnavigate the rule. There were always be some that try."

Her tails flick a few times, and she steps away from those gathering near the Doctor. "I think I shall take a stroll for myself." Adjusting her parasol as she wanders into the crowd.

    Fuka's cross look at Shenmi is probably spoiled by the grin that spreads irrepressibly across her impish face. Either because she enjoys the banter or she's anticipating the food she receives as a consolation prize for losing a good chunk of money betting on the grunty race. One or the other, surely. "You are SO lucky Bao is cute." she says threateningly. "Just keep in mind he's the cute one and you get by on sufferance!" she explains before heading off for her next adventure.

    Said adventure being an excursion into a maze, where her prize seems to depend on just how long it takes her to make it through the maze. She considers cheating, but only briefly. Sure her new relic could possibly help her solve the maze quickly, but it's cheating. And while she has no particular objections to being sneaky and devious in general, she's more interested in good competition and fun than she is at winning. Besides, if she cheated and got caught at it, well, that would just be embarassing.

    With great enthusiasm and energy and not much actual skill, Fuka attempts the maze only to get caught up in a tangle that seems purpose-made to defeat maze solvers. Probably the entire maze is simplified just to make this particular intersection incredibly time consuming unless you happen to pick the right exit early. She's disappointed but not really upset. "I'll solve it!" she insists to the lizardly one. Meanwhile considering if she knows enough about the maze to make for a faster try the second time around. Assuming, of course, the maze doesn't have partitioned walls that can be changed between attempts. If SHE was setting this up, she knows she'd do exactly that.

After Syx overhears Doc mention he's having a Strange Mood, Syx finishes his dealing with the farmers and grunty breeders and then wanders over to Proph, "Hey Doc. So I'll admit I have no idea what you're trying to accomplish with your strange mood, but I'll tell ya, I got hit by my first one and this is crazy as hell."

He gives Proph a big slap on the back, "Anyway all I'm saying is tell me how I can best help you out." He does pause and look at the fight ring, "And I hope it involves that."

Schneider hrms as Proph explains. Sort of. He's not a gamer.. so a lot of the base knowledge and assumptions aren't there, or at least he tends to feel like there's something more he should get that he doesn't. "Er, that's good," he replies as Proph insists he's self-medicating, but says, "Can I help at all? A trial run to prove /what/ concept?" he wonders. Even more confused, he will lose a few more coins on some nearby game of chance, then sigh and shrug. "Today's not my day."

"Dun Loireag is what comes closest to Lumina Cloth over here, indeed," Shenmi confirms with a nod. As someone who could not return to Lumina Cloth, but a the same time, could not live without the dazzling nightlife of the Root City of Kallamore, he has done some research on the topic. And he has spent more than a little time in Ninetails. "Closest, but not an exact replacement," he further clarifies. "-This-," he says, as he gestures all around, "this is a definite improvement!"

Returning to look to Doctor Prophylaxis, he knits his brow, and asks, "I am sorry... 'Strange Mood'?" He seems to be unfamiliar with the term.

"Now, that was low," Shenmi comments to Fuka with narrower eyes. "But I wasn't expecting anything else from the likes of you."

Llyn is very stubborn at this she should walk away but she does not, at lest not yet, she's going to give this one last go at this. She'll move on to the maze after this time, though she might be tempted to put some gear down, no that be a bad idea. Proph would have her head for losing gear needed for raiding. Oh screw it she'll put her vest down with the money this time.

Strange Moods are a heck of a drug, aren't they? It's only by the power of A Lot Of Drugs that Prophylaxis is able to maintain a modicum of mental wherewithal. And that comes at a tremendous physical cost, it seems. "Ahaha, of course. Though remember, as long as nobody catches someone cheating, there's not much we can do. Aschente is very specific about what it enforces, after all."

Daiyu soon disappears into the crowd-- perhaps off to a game of her own. Or maybe just a quiet nook where she can get away from all these people?

"It's appreciated," Prophylaxis answers Syx with a nod. "Indeed, it's not a pleasant experience. But that's what support from one's alliances are for. For now though, all I ask is that you all just enjoy yourselves. Still, if you want to get in on the fighting ring, please feel free. I'm pretty sure there aren't any rules about betting on yourself."

"Aschente," he answers Schneider. "It's a means of declaring a verbal contract that is legally enforceable. Breaking the terms of an agreement signed under Aschente puts someone at risk of being sanctioned by the Guardians of the Root Towns. It's a rule that's used in Lumina Cloth, but for various reasons, I think it would have benefits if brought over here. Though for that, I need to convince the Kunie and political players of its merits."

Hence the festival.

"A strange mood is... A fit of madness brought upon by the World. Players are compelled to pursue a single goal above all else. Upon completion of their work, they gain renown in that area of expertise-- as well as an increase in personal capability. Useful, but a headache." There's a beat and a shrug, "I was thinking of bringing this to Carmina Gadelica first, but I figured that Dun Loireag was a better fit. And I'm a member of the kingdom, which makes getting certain things done a bit easier."

MEANWHILE AT THE MAZE.

Fuka's guess is right on the money. The walls of this maze are modular things, capable of being moved around between attempts. But the overal dimensions of the maze haven't changed-- and she can spot some well-hidden but telltale marks where some of the walls have moved. Altogether, her navigation is much more rapid this attempt, and by the time she gets to that damn intersection, she has enough time to try several of the paths, until eventually...

She gets to the end right before the timer hits zero...!

"Congratulations on making it through in time!" The same SnakeNinja as before reappears with a bundle of tickets for food and drink-- and a big, soft, stuffed snake pillow. It has a little flicking tongue. "Our mascot, the Search Snake, is yours to keep! As well as some food and drinks on the house. Please come again to our next labyrinth. We hope you had an a-maze-ing time!"

MEANWHILE AGAIN, at the monty booth. Llyn finally gets lucky and picks the right cup. In the middle, a shiny gold coin glints up at her. The Cait Sith running the booth flashes her a smile and slides the coin over, as well as tickets for food and drink. The coin doesn't have much value on its own, but upon inspection it seems to be a mis-mint-- in that it has two heads. "You finally got me. Hope you enjoyed the game. Come back and try your luck again later!" But there are plenty of other games to try, too.

Schneider considers Proph's explaination. He guesses it makes sense. "It's like a PVP thing, but without fighting?" Because that's a tning he knows will call out the Guardians. "I guess I understand what you're doing?" But it looks like all he can really do to help are play the games and try to lose money as slowly as possible. To this end, he will head back to the roulette table, where at least his odds are almost 50-50, and he will put some money down. "Aschente," he says, resisting the urge to add 'gazundheit' afterwards.

"Fascinating," Shenmi comments, and after some more aimable chit-chat, he politely slinks off for more games of chance. For instance: Cards! This is about testing the whole Aschente concept, right? So, for a -proper- test, someone -has- to be the cheater. To show how things work if someone is caught cheating. It's for a good cause!

Of course, he will not -try- to get caught. And if they don't catch him, hey, it's a -realistic- simulation. He -has- to keep silent. There is no choice.

This is the Way.

    Fuka's tickled pink at her victory, coming as it does from successful analysis of the problem and cleverness rather than lowdown dirty cheating. And of course the prizes. Food and drinks are great, and the oversized Search Snake is a delight. Fuka's enough of a girl at heart to love animals, including of course stuffed animals, and carries it around as a living testament to the event itself... no doubt drawing people in to challenge the maze themselves for a shot at the prize. All according to plan!

    She wanders away from the maze after thanking the Search Snake - both the plushie and the live one - in search of other amusements. Only to spot Proph and Shenmi talking before Shenmi drifts off to play at cheating cards. So she ambles in to watch. "Prof. Baoman." she greets, waving the Search Snake in greeting and probably distraction.

Daiyu doesn't get far before she comes across Llyn. Who is getting tickets. "You have better luck than the explosion wizard it seems." Also a different game, but that's besides the point. Her gaze shifts to look over the game stall in itself, and gives a nod of approval. Whatever their intentions are with the Aschente affect, they've at least put the effort into making their game nooks proper to attract attention.

Llyn takes he wing at this point she's going to try other games she'll also take her vest and put it back on, bnefore she's going to head to the maze. She will get a rum or the cloest thing to it on the way what could go wrong with the Maze now? She knows what she's doing there. She'll waves to the three card monty guy before heading off...

    Merek is about to see what games are available. For the most part, he's exploring and seeing who is about that he knows as well. He waves to the folk that he does, and takes his time to walk up to a few places.

"Sort of? But it's more like... You know how 'verbal agreements' are a thing? If you make a verbal agreement and then swear Aschente over it, it becomes legally binding and subject to the laws of the Root Town. It's more of a way to speed up doing business while reducing the risk of anyone getting cheated. Does that make sense?" Or at least, it makes people have to cheat in much more /creative/ ways. Schneider goes right back to the roulette table and goes 50-50 for a long while, until... he starts to notice a pattern. Almost like the odds aren't /quite/ perfectly 50-50, depending on when he places his bet. Soon he starts getting closer to 60-40, or even 70-30. The crouper seems to be getting a bit worried.

Shenmi, in the meantime, sneaks away to a game of cards. It's blackjack, and there are many ways one can cheat at blackjack. Unfortunately, he goes for the most blunt force one possible-- right where Fuka might be able to catch him doing it. "Fuka. I see you're enjoying yourself," Prophylaxis says warmly. It seems he's too knackered to catch Shenmi in the act, himself.

Syx has wandered off to go punch some people in the face for fun and profit. It's probably for the best that he doesn't keep feeling up more of the grunties. One might think he was obsessed.

Daiyu decides to follow Llyn to the maze. She gives it a once over from the outside, but there isn't much to see. Her tails swish a few times, and she bows to the operator. "I would like to take a turn as well. Aschente." A maze will hopefully be more challenging to her type of skills.

Schneider seems to have sussed out a bias in the game, and he recoups a bit of his initial investment. But when he starts getting looks from the stall person, he will amble along. He'll try out some of the other games, squandering his meager winnings in the name of whatever it is Doc is doing. Proving gambling works, or something, was as far as he understood. But if there's snacks here, it will be OK.

Shenmi's been going for some basic, blunt cheating. This is for testing purposes, so it has to be explained afterwards as part of the demonstrations. He's certainly NOT going to give away his good tricks!

Once again, a demonstration in case he's caught. Not that he plans to while extracting one card from his sleev-

"AUGH! WHAT IS THAT THING!?", exclaims Shenmi, toppling backwards, arms crossed in front of his face to protect himself from the terrifying-

-...Plushie Search Snake?

Lying on his back on the ground, painting heavily, and, apparently, having sent 'sleeve cards' flying everywhere as he was scrambling to protect his face and keep his balance, he looks up at the little pillow creature.

He does not look amused.

More attempts at the Search Snake's Amazeing Esssscape are made! Daiyu's talents would indeed be quite useful in a setting like this...! Unfortunately, this maze is a little more complex than she might be used to-- or at least, more complex than she's used to, when working under a time limit. She doesn't quite get to the sevenway intersection before there's a buzz and the eponymous Search Snake emerges to tell her the bad news. "Sorry! Time's up. I'm going to have to bring you back to the entrance. But feel free to try again!"

Llyn has a much better time of it. Figuring out the layout of the maze and mapping what she sees against the overall dimensions helps to eliminate many of the false paths and switchbacks. She even manages to negotiate the seven-way intersection with little trouble! At the very end of the maze, the Search Snake appears and claps his hands slowly. "Well done, and on your first try too! Your prizes!" In addition to a Search Snake plushy and some food and drink coupons, it seems that winning on her first try has won Llyn a commemorative Search Snake hoodie! Its hood looks like a snake's head. It's... adorable? If you like snakes.

Meanwhile, Shenmi is caught red handed in the most embarassing way possible. He didn't even really get a chance to TRY cheating. The dealer makes a face and whistles loudly. Soon a couple of burly guards-- in Guardian Cosplay, it seems, pick Shenmi up by the arms and cart him off...

...To the Grunty Race Stables. The whole place smells of... fresh manure.

He's... handed a shovel. The punishment for cheating here is, apparently, to do some really dirty jobs. "After this," one of the guards says, "You'll be sent to the dunk tanks to clean off. Maybe you'll think twice next time and clean up your act too...!"

    Fuka is indeed enjoying herself, immensely in fact. That's more to the cause of the festive atmosphere and food, of course, as opposed to the actual games... but she's not objecting to the games either.

    "Heya Prof." she greets with a broad grin. A brief flash of something shadows her expression for a moment, then she lightens up again. "I'd like to talk with you sometime about a few things, but it should wait for later. This is a festival after all! We can catch up later." she muses.

    Fuka peers at Shenmi as he startles, spraying cards about. "Baoman." she greets again, extending a hand. To shake, or to help him up perhaps. "Are those cards SUPPOSED to fly everywhere like that?" she asks with a playful grin. "Is this a magic trick? Oh hey are you going to pull the queen of hearts out from behind my ear?" she asks, both drawing attention to his act of blatant cheating and offering an excuse. That he was trying to pull something is obvious and nothing she can do would change that. But ... well, she's not going to be a dick about it! Or pass up an opportunity to mess about either.

The time limit was an expected complication. One Daiyu could potentially plan for. It was the fact that she couldn't get a good gauge of the maze from the outside that foils her, having to double back from dead ends more times than she would of liked before she's collected by the ninja-snake to return to the entrance. Upon which she gives him, perhaps to his surprise, a rather glowing response. "That is a very well crafted maze. I could tell nothing from the outside, your walls are plenty high to prevent people from attempting other methods, and the time limit ensures one does not simply loiter about checking every route."

Daiyu isn't bothered by Llyn beating her, she knows the pirate woman has certain skills that would of added her more.

After that positive reviewing, of course she is going to try again. Now she has to figure out the right way.

Schneider will drift along to another roulette-type game before the croupier realizes he's worked out the table bias on that one table. The next table is a few tables down, and the game is not the same, but it offers roughly even odds, as long as he doesn't make any terrrible decisions. This one's a bit more thoughtful, but it's pretty simple, so he'll play a while to help Proph's Aschente system gain momentum. And in the meantime, collect prizes like food he can take to Vertina's inn to get cooked. Or to Asuna.

"Well thank you!" The Snake-Ninja answers with a bow. "Search Snake Labyrinths is a labor of love by all of us maze enthusiasts. Your patronage is appreciated, and I hope that you come find us the next time we set up shop!" It seems that this is the work of a bunch of like-minded adventurers who just really like mazes. This one is somewhat of an impromptu classic labyrinth, but who's to say the next one won't have more... unique mechanics?

On her second run through the maze, Daiyu has a much better time. She's more used to how a Classic Search Snake Labyrinth is laid out, and even the shifting walls don't throw her off too badly. Soon, she finds her way to the end, where the Search Snake is waiting for her with prizes in hand.

"Well done, honored guest! Please, take your hard-earned rewards and do come visit one of our other ventures the next time we set up shop!" Like Fuka and Llyn, she comes away with a snuggly Search Snake mascot plushy and several food and drink coupons. Not a bad haul for a fun trip through a maze!

Schneider meanwhile ends up at a table for, of all things, a simple high-low card game. Though it's got a bit more skill involved than pure luck.

"Of course," Prophylaxis answers Fuka with a nod, "We'll chat some other time. Please enjoy your time at the festival!" It seems he's too tired to notice the-- whatever that is, that flashes across her expression. But he seems genuine in his wish for her to have fun. What a suspiciously friendly guy!

Daiyu accepts the plush and the prizes, and bows to Search Snake once more. "I look forward to your future events." With a pleased swish the tails the fox lady goes off to see what other challenges have been provided to the carnival.