Doriandrin An'daran

Edition : @amaranth-devi1

"Most people do. How else would it stay in business?" He asked with genuine curiosity. "The cartels deal with them, the factions buy and sell to them, the various pirate crews of Azeroth all get supplied by them, one way or another. The fact that they're able to repel attacks from not one, but two global superpowers, and still manage to finance operations as far as Outland?" He raised his mug of coffee towards them. "Yeah, they're doing great, in spite of constant 'downsizing'. The pays so good nearly half the Azerite specialists I met during the Blood War ended up going over full time." He admitted. "Sure, most of them are dead now, but that didn't change the fact the Venture Company offered them pay worth dying for. They shouldn't be dismissed as some lackadaisical outfit." "And poker, no, not for me. It's hearthstone." He said between sips. "Poker doesn't come with enchanted boards that prevent cheating." He said with a scoff. "Suggesting poker is like offering a game of three card ante. You're either a pirate or trying to pull a fast one."

@doriandrin

"Oh, good grief. That is precisely why poker is the superior game. It isn't just about the cards. It's a game of trust and deception. It's psychological. Flirtacious. Intimidating. Charm and finesse are required to win and walk away from the table with your winnings, especially when dealing with goblins. Skill and bravery. The fact that you prefer a game that prevents cheating tells me a lot about you, actually. Your ... distrust of others, perhaps even a fear of losing." She shrugged and smirked. "Just don't lose." She stated it as if it were a simple matter of not burning toast or not falling off your mount.

"As for the Venture Company, I wouldn't exactly call their 'constant downsizing' or 'pay worth dying for' pleasant dealings, exactly. No sense quibbling over semantics though. So there's only one expert on kobold metallurgy, he only works for the Venture Company, and for some reason, you think I might be able to help with that unfortunate stipulation? I assume you have some sort of suggestion or deal in mind?"

(@nixalegos)

"Playing psychoanalyst with me? This early in the morning?" He replied curtly. "Over my choice of tavern game no less. Poker, dragon ante, whatever you choose, is ultimately, a game of lower stakes. Weapons like flirtation, charm, intimidation." His cowled visage turned to focus on her entirely. "They have no place in real contests of power. Relying on something so flimsy as them is like being girded in tissue paper in the arena. Matter of tempo, of exploitation, and ultimately, domination. The quintessence of life itself is better reflected in hearthstone then poker. Losing has nothing to do with it." He explained. "Some of us endure the burden of losing every single hour of every single day. Losing is a minor distraction." "So I hope you've half a mind to adjust your views on the game. I believe you can ensnare our Venture capitalist in a meeting at the hearthstone board, while they're not flocked by their bodyguards. Who knows, maybe charm and flirting might get them to misplay." He suggested with a grin before he lifted his mug of coffee.

@doriandrin

Doriandrin groaned and rolled her eyes so dramatically that her entire body moved with them. "Really."

She laced her fingers together and smiled at him in a friendly and knowing manner, as if she were about to impart some deep secret or wisdom of the cosmos.

"I don't wish to argue with you, Lord Felscythe, but let me explain something personal. When a person stands in an arena girded in nothing but tissue paper, facing certain injury or annihilation, when they've barely been trained for battle, let alone the magic arts, survival depends not on spells or weapons, physical fitness, or strategic battle prowess. A person in that situation, at that extreme disadvantage, must be very creative, think very quickly, and be confident and established in their position in the grand scheme of things in order to survive. Now tell me, have you ever seen me in any armor thicker than battle robes? I wasn't always skilled with my powers, but I've found that there are some obstacles that can't be met with weapons or spells, and other obstacles that don't need to be."

She shrugged and sighed. "I would contend that certain immaterial skills are the ultimate contest of power. However, I will concede that there is no sense debating in a world with defined, black-and-white, solid lines. I will also agree that, as you suggest, sometimes losing a battle or making a sacrifice is a means to a successful ending in the overall conflict."

Her smile remained amicable. "If I wanted to, I could 'ensnare' both the metallurgist and their bodyguards without any cards at all. The problem, ultimately, is what happens after that? When the Venture Company shows up in search of their 'friend?' Why would I risk being placed on any lists, or worse, for you? And don't tell me to name my price. I'm not a contractor."

She muttered to herself, loud enough for him to hear, as she checked her manicure. "It's becoming obvious that if I am convinced to help you in this endeavor, I'm going to have to be the one to do all the strategizing. But that's not a novelty in my experience."

(@nixalegos)

"Sort of defeats the merit you're making about disarming with immaterial skills like a smile when you've never gone without." He said as he had more of his coffee. "Perhaps, and this is, much like your personal point, a matter of personal experience. I deal with people who unnaturally enhance their looks with blood sacrifice and siphoned youth and alchemical tinctures all the time. Sayaads barely held back with nothing but force of will and words. Living in Silvermoon, boasting the most attractive mortals on the planet. Some flirtatious smile and demure attire isn't going to stop my staff from taking all their teeth out when they're in my way." He stated flatly. "It's why I preferred hearthstone when I played tavern games. All the taunts, all the gambits, meaningless if I won faster then my opponent. Notions like flirting and mind games dismissible, because they lacked the ability to stop me. I say this, because if they also prefer hearthstone to say, poker, perhaps they are more like ME then like you." To which his grin widened. "Besides, I doubt you'll be able to flirt with a kobold with a straight face. I did mention that the Venture Company's expert on kobold techniques is in fact, a kobold right?" He said with a chuckle, knowing full well he had FAILED to include that part. "I just wanted to know if you're able to work with them, the strategy was you'd go play a hand or two, lose to bolster their ego, and work out a timetable to meet to discuss hiring their expertise, and then I copy their work after their done." He said with amused. "Maybe I should let you play psychoanalyst more often, I learned so much about you." He added smugly.

@doriandrin

Doriandrin would have been offended by his entire speech if she had not already begun to lose interest in it. Then he informed her of the metallurgist's race. She groaned whole-heartedly. "A kobold?" Now she was fully disapproving of the entire situation. "Ugh."

She sighed at Nixalegos with her entire being. "Listen. I did not say anything about flirting. Not once did I say flirt. Or seduce, or looks, or body, or anything along those lines. Did I? No. No, I didn't," she frowned. "I said playing poker was flirtatious but that quality was in a list of many, many others. I'm unsure what kind of lady you take me as. Are you comparing me with a sayaad, suggesting that I wear 'demure attire?' Do you think the only mind games one can play have to do with seduction?"

It was very clear she was annoyed and her disappointed gaze stuck to him. "And I'm not sure what you mean by suggesting that I've never gone without? Never gone without what? I'm not sure there is any answer you can give that won't offend me."

She crossed her arms and stared at him, waiting.

(@nixalegos)

Helaena C Moon

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I love this Black Swan Eyeshadow Palette

"Most people do. How else would it stay in business?" He asked with genuine curiosity. "The cartels deal with them, the factions buy and sell to them, the various pirate crews of Azeroth all get supplied by them, one way or another. The fact that they're able to repel attacks from not one, but two global superpowers, and still manage to finance operations as far as Outland?" He raised his mug of coffee towards them. "Yeah, they're doing great, in spite of constant 'downsizing'. The pays so good nearly half the Azerite specialists I met during the Blood War ended up going over full time." He admitted. "Sure, most of them are dead now, but that didn't change the fact the Venture Company offered them pay worth dying for. They shouldn't be dismissed as some lackadaisical outfit." "And poker, no, not for me. It's hearthstone." He said between sips. "Poker doesn't come with enchanted boards that prevent cheating." He said with a scoff. "Suggesting poker is like offering a game of three card ante. You're either a pirate or trying to pull a fast one."

@doriandrin

"Oh, good grief. That is precisely why poker is the superior game. It isn't just about the cards. It's a game of trust and deception. It's psychological. Flirtacious. Intimidating. Charm and finesse are required to win and walk away from the table with your winnings, especially when dealing with goblins. Skill and bravery. The fact that you prefer a game that prevents cheating tells me a lot about you, actually. Your ... distrust of others, perhaps even a fear of losing." She shrugged and smirked. "Just don't lose." She stated it as if it were a simple matter of not burning toast or not falling off your mount.

"As for the Venture Company, I wouldn't exactly call their 'constant downsizing' or 'pay worth dying for' pleasant dealings, exactly. No sense quibbling over semantics though. So there's only one expert on kobold metallurgy, he only works for the Venture Company, and for some reason, you think I might be able to help with that unfortunate stipulation? I assume you have some sort of suggestion or deal in mind?"

(@nixalegos)

"Playing psychoanalyst with me? This early in the morning?" He replied curtly. "Over my choice of tavern game no less. Poker, dragon ante, whatever you choose, is ultimately, a game of lower stakes. Weapons like flirtation, charm, intimidation." His cowled visage turned to focus on her entirely. "They have no place in real contests of power. Relying on something so flimsy as them is like being girded in tissue paper in the arena. Matter of tempo, of exploitation, and ultimately, domination. The quintessence of life itself is better reflected in hearthstone then poker. Losing has nothing to do with it." He explained. "Some of us endure the burden of losing every single hour of every single day. Losing is a minor distraction." "So I hope you've half a mind to adjust your views on the game. I believe you can ensnare our Venture capitalist in a meeting at the hearthstone board, while they're not flocked by their bodyguards. Who knows, maybe charm and flirting might get them to misplay." He suggested with a grin before he lifted his mug of coffee.

@doriandrin

Doriandrin groaned and rolled her eyes so dramatically that her entire body moved with them. "Really."

She laced her fingers together and smiled at him in a friendly and knowing manner, as if she were about to impart some deep secret or wisdom of the cosmos.

"I don't wish to argue with you, Lord Felscythe, but let me explain something personal. When a person stands in an arena girded in nothing but tissue paper, facing certain injury or annihilation, when they've barely been trained for battle, let alone the magic arts, survival depends not on spells or weapons, physical fitness, or strategic battle prowess. A person in that situation, at that extreme disadvantage, must be very creative, think very quickly, and be confident and established in their position in the grand scheme of things in order to survive. Now tell me, have you ever seen me in any armor thicker than battle robes? I wasn't always skilled with my powers, but I've found that there are some obstacles that can't be met with weapons or spells, and other obstacles that don't need to be."

She shrugged and sighed. "I would contend that certain immaterial skills are the ultimate contest of power. However, I will concede that there is no sense debating in a world with defined, black-and-white, solid lines. I will also agree that, as you suggest, sometimes losing a battle or making a sacrifice is a means to a successful ending in the overall conflict."

Her smile remained amicable. "If I wanted to, I could 'ensnare' both the metallurgist and their bodyguards without any cards at all. The problem, ultimately, is what happens after that? When the Venture Company shows up in search of their 'friend?' Why would I risk being placed on any lists, or worse, for you? And don't tell me to name my price. I'm not a contractor."

She muttered to herself, loud enough for him to hear, as she checked her manicure. "It's becoming obvious that if I am convinced to help you in this endeavor, I'm going to have to be the one to do all the strategizing. But that's not a novelty in my experience."

(@nixalegos)