13 - Advantage me

After clattering around the counter-top for a while, the obsidian die came to a rest by the cash register. The blue haired clerk and I both leaned in to try and see the winning number, when suddenly, the number 13 started to glow top face of the die in a bright white light.

"Huh." The clerk sighed. "I didn't know it did that. Guess you won. Damn. Well, when do you want to do this?" Her shoulders drooped in resignation. Seeing my confused look, she rolled her eyes. "You won the wager. I have to tell you everything I know about the Eye of Ceridwen. Can we wait until after I close up the shop? Gramps is already going to be furious with me for making a play for the die.

"Sure I guess. My name is Luke, by the way."

"Siobhan. I know. It's a weird name. It's pronounced 'Shi-vawn.'"

"Oh, I know. When your last name is Guinness, you've probably seen the name Siobhan before." Aha! a smile! "Well, if you want to talk about that thing tonight," I say, pointing at the die, the number 13 still blazing brightly, "I live nearby. If it works for you, I can go grab something to eat from that sandwich shop across the street while you close up. Would you like something?"

"Thanks, that should work. I'll be about thirty minutes, if you could grab me a chicken Caesar sandwich that'd be great. Just know, if I had won the toss, you wouldn't have gotten off with a sandwich for the dinner you would have owed me. I'll probably be done here before you get the food, so I'll meet you over there."

"See you then." With that, I paid for my DM guidebook and made for the door. Surprisingly, the restaurant had me in and out in record time. Looking the through window of the gaming store, which I could now see was titled "Roll For Initiative," I could see Siobhan was still closing out the register while her grandfather was sweeping the aisles. Figuring I had some time, I made a beeline to the nearby liquor store. Normally I'm a craft beer guy, but I figure a woman like that, with clearly Celtic ancestry, whiskey was the way to go. Bottle of Éire's finest in hand I took a seat on a mostly dry bench and began killing my time launching little birds at little pigs.

A little while later, I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Ooh...Jameson, good call. I don't suppose you have any ginger ale at your place? It might be sacrilege to some, but I do love a good whisky ginger. Let's go before the sky cracks open on us again."

I tried to engage Siobhan in conversation as we walked the two blocks to my apartment, but she seemed to be lost in thought. Right as we stepped into my building, there was a loud crack of thunder, which seemingly jarred her back into reality. "Told you it was coming. Now, let's get down to business."

"You mean the D20?"

"No. I mean the dressing on my sandwich is getting dangerously close to getting the bread soggy."

Inside my apartment, once the food was plated and the drinks were poured, Siobhan seemed ready to talk about the elephant in the room.

"So, that die, as you may have guessed, is no ordinary twenty sided toy."

Pausing to finish chewing, I replied. "I gathered as much. That, or you and your grandpa are pulling a bizarre prank on me. You called it the 'Eye of Karydin'?"

"Ceridwen. She's a fairly big name in Celtic mythology, sometimes tied to being the goddess of chance, among other powers. In researching that thing I've seen it tied to Rhiannon, Tyche, Fortuna, Hermes, Loki, Chicomecóatl. All of those deities were tied to chance, luck, gambling, et cetera. But, I always like the name Ceridwen the best so that's what I stuck with. From what I'm able to piece together, if you roll the die with a goal, or an objective in mind, the result of the toss will dictate how you will fare in that pursuit. A twenty means spectacular success, a one means a spectacular failure."

"How spectacular are we talking about here?"

"Say you went to the horse track, and rolled the die, hoping to drive your luck. A twenty could not only mean that every bet you place comes up a winner, but that also a winning lottery ticket may blow into your pocket. A one could result in your horses coming in dead last, and then on the last race, one of them will throw a shoe, and it will hit you in the head. While you lay on the floor ****, someone would probably rob you."

A note to the wise, of all the liquids to get sent down the wrong pipe, whisky is amongst the worst. "You may be underselling the word 'spectacular' here. Not to diminish all of that, if it is true, but does it do anything else?"

"The fact that I'm here proves it does."

"How so?"

"I only saw this mentioned in a couple places, but legend has it that when used in wagers, it binds the parties irrevocably to the stated terms. Look, you seem like a nice guy, but I've got a rule not socializing with the customers."

"In my defense, I was fleeing hail the size of golf balls."

"You're not much of a golfer, are you? Those were pea sized, at best. Either way, like I said, you seemed like a nice guy, and I've heard my grandpa talk about that...thing enough that I figured it was worth a shot to get my hands on. But, because we use that die to resolve our bet, I had to make good on it. Likewise, had I won, you wouldn't have been able to refuse giving it to me. Be careful what you wager with that thing, you won't be able to get out of it."

Siobhan gets up to get another drink while I stare quietly at the die for a minute. "So, you're telling me," I start "that if I were to roll this die while thinking about trying to impress you, maybe into thinking that I'm not just another customer, that if it comes up with a high enough number, it would change your mind?"

"As far as I understand it yes. Think of it like a persuasion check. Roll high enough and you convince your target. But please don't. I know you don't fully believe it's as powerful as I say it is, but I do. I would rather not have my whole world view changed by something that small." With that Siobhan broke out laughing. "That's what she said!"

I couldn't help myself, and I started laughing right alongside her. Until the die fell out of my hand and hit the kitchen floor with with a loud rattle.