A tower of crowns shatter to the ground in a mass ringing so loud it’s heard outside the bustling Ironport Tavern. A cloaked man walking by the window swings his head to view the busy, warmly lit interior. A boy reluctantly picks up from the puddle of coins on the ground while the woman next to him absently twiddles with a coin in her hand. For but a brief moment, the cloaked man’s eyes flare alight.
The cloaked man looks down at his attire before finally deciding. He takes time to tear off the splotches of blood on his cloak using a few small blasts of yellow crystal. He manages to finish in a minute’s time, precisely before the boy inside exits the doorway, gesturing to his turned-out pockets for the residents of the tavern before strolling away. The ripped cloak waits no longer to enter after the boy.
“Hey, lad! Care for a game of Jingle Tower?” The patrons at the tables enthusiastically murmur as the woman calls out to the man.
The cloaked man feigns a curious look at the woman and her table. “Only if the winner gets a drink.”
“You’re on, lad!” The woman flashes a not-so-toothy grin as she waves at the pile of coins on the table. She slaps her coin in the single, clear spot in the middle of the wood.
The cloaked man eyes the selection of coins on the table and puts one on top of hers. Now the game begins. “Where’d you get your hands on so many?”
“I know right? Seems like ages ago since they started makin’ crowns paper. But I have my ways. I wanna’ cram as many games I can get fore’ my next voyage.” The two swiftly place coin after coin on the table. “I’m Mandie Salore, by the way.”
“Louis…” The two exchange a few more coin placements.
“Say, you are pretty experienced at this. I didn’t even have ta’ explain the game for you.” Clink.
“Huh… Well, you’re good too.” The cloaked man firmly places his coin to stop the slight wobble of the tower. It nearly reaches a foot in height now, yet the two keep going just as quickly.
“Shoot.” Mandie starts to hesitate looking at its height. “Well go on! I concentrate better when conversatin’. You’ve played before?”
“Used to.” Louis places his coin. “Not anymore, though.”
“Well we’re playin’ right now and it’s getting to the hard part.” Mandie smirks as she eyes the gilded tower. Louis now hesitates for a second before placing his coin. “So tell me… you’re story!”
“… It’s pathetic,” Louis picks up a coin as Mandie clinks hers down, “I was about to leave town after having a drink.”
“C’mon, I’m all ears.” The two exchange coin placements. “Don’t tell me you’re tryna throw me off, now!”
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t cheat.” Louis places another clink and Mandie goes up. The tower’s quickly nearing two feet now. “Actually… it’s how I ended up here.”
“Jingle Tower’s how?” Clink.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter telling you here.” Clink. “Fell in with a bad crowd. We got by with our magic, but I was no good… And well,” Louis sighs as he puts his words together, “it was just rough. I swear, the only thing I could look forward to was a game of Jingle Tower whenever I got home or whatever tavern or ruin or random street I would find myself the next day.”
Mandie places her coin down and gives Louis a knowing nod before carefully picking her next one. “What made ya’ stop?”
“One day, there was this guy — and I warned you my story’s pathetic — but he had… this smirk. I don’t know how to describe it but something about it… just pissed me off. And so I already wasn’t enjoying myself, and to add on, he started screaming when it was my turn. And it was even stranger then than it is explaining right now. Just trying so hard to mess me up by being so weird.”
Mandie’s eyes unfocus when she finally places her coin down listening to Louis’ story. The coins have reached two feet in height.
“That guy was older but he was acting like a child. Then I started feeling like a child. Then knowing that made things worse… And then he ended up just blatantly pushing over the tower when it got too hard for him anyway. We were literally like children. Pathetic on all sides.” Clink.
“What happened then?” Mandie speaks as she aims back up the tower.
The corner of his mouth pulls into a smirk. “I turned his face to crystal. The only way my magic could really hurt.”
Mandie lets out a laugh as she clinks hers down. “That’s not pathetic! I’d tie them to the masts — and ‘ave my crew play pin-the-donkey!”
“Well, whatever you say…” Louis reaches up with a slightly lighter step. Although with ever-increasing vigilance, the two place coin upon coin on the Jingle Tower.
The tower of crowns has risen higher than both of their eye levels at this point and Mandie needs to rise on her tippy toes. The patrons heartily discuss their own business over shared drinks. From the corner of his eye, Louis spots a single, green hood outside the window watching about the coastal port road. The smile fades from his lips as he puts his coin on the tower.
Louis backs away from the table. “I need the bathroom.”
“Shoot.” Mandie holds up her coin, beam-focused at the top of the Jingle Tower. “Well hurry up back here, lad, 'cause these coins are gettin’ tall. And I can’t focus properly.”
“Uh-huh.” The cloaked man turns to walk past the bar. As he puts his hood back on, he sees the green hood enter the tavern. The cloaked man hurries to the restroom.
|—|
Inside, two wooden stalls and a potted plant stand guard for the window at the end. The cloaked man jogs up to it and swipes up. It doesn’t budge. The ripped cloak looks down to see it’s locked via a lever mechanism. With a tug, the lever switches free.
“Can you just listen, miss?” a gruff voice bleeds through the walls into the restroom.
The cloaked man swipes up once again. It still doesn’t budge. The man curses and checks for more lever mechanisms. Yet there are no more. He decides to pull up the frame again, as if it will yield with evermore force. And it does. The window gives a sliver of space, but merely enough to place a slip of paper under. It seems the cloaked man would have to try harder.
“I have reason to believe a murderer was here!” the gruff voice raises higher.
The cloaked man huffs a panicked breath, aiming two small magic circles at the bottom frame. With two cracks, the wood splits apart and two yellow crystals socket themselves in the frame. The man uses them as handles to pull up, and the window finally comes free as a burst of salty sea air rushes into the room.
“You think you’re above the law!? Don’t make me shoot all those coins away!”
The cloaked man stops as he raises his leg over the ledge.
|—|
“Would you please, sir, I’m trying to focus.” Mandie eyes have grown wide as she looks at the top of the tower with a challenged smile.
“Your games are worth nothing!” The greenhood yanks Mandie’s coin hand back.
“Who’s that you’re lookin’ for?” Louis’ voice attracts the attention of the greenhood. The scowl under it narrows further.
“Louis Calding, you’re under arrest for murder and criminal activity.” The greenhood unhands Mandie and steps toward Louis. The scene has gained the silent attention of all the patrons and the barkeep. “I’m Magic Council Deputy Gabriel Lamina. Surrender now.”
“Um…” Louis observes the deputy, his eyes then shift around the tavern. There’s a group of patrons in the other back corner of the room, next to the stairs leading up the room & board above. A single, empty table is placed moreso in the middle of the room. The tavern seems to be full of eyes today.
“You hear me? Surrender.” The deputy commands.
“Yeah, I don’t think I will.” Louis readjusts the cloak on his shoulders as he looks back at the greenhood.
The deputy immediately swipes from his shoulder, sending a stone blast of earth magic. Louis barely sidesteps the blast, sending a crystal shot of his own. But the deputy had swiped another earthen blast, deflecting Louis’ crystal and catching him in the side. Cursing, Louis leaps to his flank, pushing over the empty table to take cover. Two earth bullets pierce the table into splinters and Louis dives into another. It’s more like he crashes into the table, barely behind it as his leg bleeds from the double attack.
He sits back up to see another magic circle aimed at his face. Ducking back down, Louis is hit in the shoulder through the table as ale glasses shatter over the floor. As the deputy steps forward to aim above the ruined table, Louis kicks back up. The deputy summons another circle, but before the deputy can fire, however, the group of patrons get in the way en route to the exit.
When the group finally gets past, Louis Calding and Gabriel Lamina have both magic circles trained on each other. The sign arrangements surrounding Louis’s yellow crystal are clearly of a smaller radius than Gabriel’s earth magic circle.
“Murdering someone and running back for another disrespecting the law… with such weak magic power too. You’re a miserable fool.”
“If you’re like this, then maybe I shouldn’t give much of a shit about the law.”
“Shut up! You murdered someone and you think you have the right to play the same game you killed them over!? You deserve much more than doing time!”
“Try me.” Barely standing up and bleeding everywhere, Louis gives Gabriel the special smirk. The deputy’s face scrunches up even more than before, closing his left eye to aim.
They both fire. Louis is struck straight in the chest, bashing him back and flying straight into the ground. The deputy lets his arm back to his side, eye still trained on Louis.
“Don’t resist further.”
Louis breathes in, before releasing a long sigh of exhaustion. “I don’t need to, sir.” Louis leans up to look Gabriel in the eye. “You lost.”
Gabriel stands there in silence. He then brings his hand up to his other, left eye, but only feels the bloodied surface of a magic crystal socketed instead.
“Jingle Tower requires complete focus, and absolute precision with your hand. I’d say it was a worthwhile investment over magic training.”
The deputy’s knees pound to the floor, before collapsing completely. Louis sighs away his exhaustion again.
“Umm… Hey. I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but your first shot…” Mandie leans into Louis’ view. Louis looks down to see a collapsed puddle of coins at their table.
“Crap!” Louis tries sitting back up but fails. He resorts to looking at Mandie from the bottom of his vision. “Ow… What did you bet for your win?”
“Another game.” Mandie smiles.
Louis hacks out a breath of air. “I’d like to, but I might actually die right now.”
“My ship’s infirmary could solve that!” She hurries to pick him up. “Cmon’ it’s not far.”
“What about the coins?” He gets up with Mandie’s help.
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of coins! Of all kinds a’ varieties too.” Mandie whispers, “Ya’ get a lot of shiny things when you’re a pirate.”
Louis clicks his tongue. “I should’ve guessed that.”
The two share a laugh as they shuffle out of the tavern, watching not to step on the ale, glass, old crowns, or slumped over Deputy Gabriel Lamina.
After Notes
Hello! (Hello again if you somehow recognize me)
I made a short story like months ago (The Intruder) but I just completely dipped from the forums
until now. I actually had this one drafted months ago but only recently decided to clean it up and post it cause AO’s close to releasing and this is set in Magius. Anyway, I hope my prose and storytelling have leveled up from then.
Feedback would be great!
That’s it. Bye bye.