seer-dayo
Many aboard The Salty Bastard claimed that Dayo was unnaturally good at cards. They said that a deity must have blessed him from birth, or otherwise one of the various lucky charms he carried actually worked. Dayo wasn’t sure about the charms, but he had little reason to believe a deity would bless him over cards.A silly thing to bless someone with. No,Dayo put his skill in cards down to being good at reading people, his quick fingers and a good constitution towards alcohol. A perfect storm for reading opponents, out-cheating cheaters and drinking people under the table. Even if he had strange dreams or if certain people gave him weird vibes, that was hardly enough to help him win a quick game of Piquet. Additionally most of The Salty Bastard were sore losers, who couldn’t accept that they weren’t as good at cards as they thought they were.
Tonight Dayo found himself with the night off, and on their own accord his feet wandered in the direction of The Statue Inn. Sometimes it gave him goosebumps, but the gambling was good there, as was the food and drink. He didn’t like to bet too high, even though he had enough money saved up to live a little.The employees of the inn had beedy eyes, and he wasn’t sure how long The Salty Bastard was going to be docked here in neutral (unprofitable) ground. The going game tonight seemed to be poker, an easy to follow game with quick rules that had grown popular on Atlantis. Three was a good number to have around a table, and Dayo joined in on a game just as someone left the table. For a few hours he played with middling luck, making his money back and a little to spare. And then, tragically, both of his partners left after short succession. The other tables playing now were crowded, idiots with a few too many in them gambling too richly for his tastes. Dayo sucked on his teeth and looked around the room.
He locked eyes with a curious observer, and shot them a most winning grin. “You want to play? I’ll buy us a round.”
The devout were few and far between on Atlantis and certainly in The Statue Inn, holiness was scant. Elijah felt something of a sore thumb in the inn but that was to be expected, men surrounded him at all sides drinking in merriment whilst he remained sober as a rock. Steady on his feet as he played cards in the far corner, out of sight and hopefully unnoticed. Leniency, or perhaps blissful ignorance, had been gifted to him with being shipped to Atlantis. Playing cards was a small sin to indulge but Elijah would’ve been too embarrassed to be caught in such an establishment. His name smeared and any hope of staying true to the path that God had laid for him would be cracked. Far out of sight of his bishop, Elijah was safe.
It wasn’t about the thrill of it, or even to make an extra few pieces of coin for his pocket. The church kept him well-fed and looked after. Elijah liked the intimacy of it. Men, women, spilling their secrets over a game of cards and convening under the stars to worship their gods, even if they were wrong. He beat a drunk waste of a man at whist—hardly a challenge. Allegedly, the young man had convinced himself to come to church on sunday. Elijah would believe it when he saw it. For now, they parted ways as the gentlemen swayed towards the bar with vehemence and a thirst for liquor. Some tables over a game of poker had dried up, the one round of cards that even Elijah could not bring himself to play, he would not gamble a speck of sand much less solid coin. The lone man eager to continue on seemed to be interested in Elijah as a partner and who was he to refuse such a temptation.
“Whist or piquet I fear I don’t gamble so poker possesses little charm to me.” He took the seat opposite the young man, an unfamiliar face on an island that was already bursting at the seams. If it was the treaty that had washed him up on these shores then his humanity was at question, Elijah put the thought aside with a purse of his lips. “I shall buy us some bread and soup if that suits you? First, I find it difficult to face an unfamiliar opponent. I’m Father Elijah Smith, though you can just call me Elijah.” He was off duty and was appropriately dressed down the occasion, he felt a little naked without the sanctity of his habit, none of which deterred him.












