![]() When dawn came, the lad sheepishly crept back to find his people breaking down the camp. Fearing for his life, Tobias turned and fled into the darkness. They came bearing cudgels and, emboldened by cheap rotgut, went from tent to tent in their search for him, beating down any of the river folk who got in their way. ![]() He was often accused of cheating, but it was difficult for anyone to explain exactly how.įinally, one night, a group of men who'd lost their fortunes to young Tobias returned in the dead of night to settle the score. He could almost feel each card's place in the deck, and follow their movements through each successive hand. Between the two, Tobias took to the high-stakes game of Krakenhand like an old master. Many years earlier, his superstitious grandfather had shown him how to read omens in the shuffle and cut, while his aunt had later taught him how to read all an opponent's tells. He found his true calling in the gambling tents, between games of chance and skill like Mortwheel and Stabberscotch, when he first picked up a deck of playing cards. His elders would shrug, and say this was just the way of the world, but the obvious prejudice always stuck in Tobias' craw. Tolerated for the exotic goods they peddled, but shunned for their strange traditions, his people found only short welcomes wherever they berthed their colorful river barques. ![]() Born to the nomadic river folk of the Serpentine Delta, Tobias Felix quickly learned what it was to be an outsider.
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