For a price...

"Look, I need this job. As much of a bastard as the boss is, he pays my expenses. And if he catches me stealing from him, I'm out of work." L'abbee sighed, beginning to think of a way to sneak off with the coins on his own before the Zed continued. "However, I might have a way that you can get those coins you need.

"What did you have in mind?" L'abbee asked.

Zed grinned. "I take it you're either not a gambling man, or you're remarkably bad at it given what you're wearing." L'abbee pulled the top of his robe closed to cover his chest. "So I doubt you've got anything to wager if we were to make any bets. Instead, we're going to do things the old-fashioned way. You're going to do the job you were 'hired' to do, and by the end, you should make enough to cover what you need."

"And you won't say anything?"

"My lips are sealed. That is, they are if you follow just one other instruction." The drow looked back expectantly. "I'm not exactly an apprentice to our boss over there. The old fuckbucket has me in his debt after he swindled my town out of everything we had. Before he left my village, he told me that if he would let me work off my debt to him by tagging along on his next project. I'm basically his ****."

L'abbee nodded. "I understand, but what exactly are you asking me to do? I don't have the means to end your debt, in case you hadn't noticed.

"Oh, I think you do. You've got some pretty slippery fingers by the looks of it, and that's exactly what I need for my plane to work. We're going to take back everything the old fart stole from my friends and family, and we're going to do it by beating him at his own game."

Zed pointed to the chips in L'abbee's hands. "The boss marks those chips with some kind of magical seal. It's so people can't recreate them and embezzle money from his casino, he says, but I know there's more to it than that. Whatever charm he's got placed on them draws them back to the house after their given. That's how he always wins."

"How do we beat something like that."

"Simple: We figure out what spell he used and use it ourselves. We'll take him for everything he's got then run him out of town with his tail between his legs. Sound like a plan?"

L'abbee frowned. It seemed like a pretty vague plan, to begin with, but he didn't know the first thing about surface world magic. All he knew were some basic charms and spells that the matriarchs of the Underdark allowed the males of the society to know to make them work faster. Something like this was beyond him. "How are we supposed to do that."

"All we need are a couple of those chips. I know a guy who can take a closer look at them and figure out what spell the boss is using. All you need to do is grab a few when he's not looking and I'll do the rest."

L'abbee hesitated. The last thing he needed right now was to get on the bad side of someone like that, especially when he and his wife were destitute and almost naked. Still, he didn't see a better option for getting inside the town gates and, if he were honest, there was something enticing about taking down someone like that. His pirate ways were starting to come back to him.

"I see. Doesn't seem too hard. What do you need me to do?"

"I'll distract him for a minute while you pocket the chips. He drinks like a son of a bitch this late at night, so even if the chips are marked so that he can sense where they are, he'll be too drunk to notice. Once he's out, you bring me the chips and I'll take them to my guy tomorrow morning."

"Sounds like a plan." L'abbee nodded, looking back at the chips.

"I'll give you a signal when it's time to make our move. Don't take anything until I say so, and make sure you only take the chips. The old man is meticulous about his gold, so if he finds any of it missing, we'll find ourselves on the bad end of a curse."

L'abbee couldn't imagine much that could feel more cursed than this, but he agreed. Zed, smiling ear to ear, turned and headed off towards the cart to meet back up with their boss.