12/27/2023 0 Comments Warlords call to arms cheat![]() Perhaps one of the gods happened to favor him, or it might be that he had been born under a fortunate star - though except for his luck with dice, he wasn't particularly blessed. It might be, he decided, but it might also be that he was just lucky. Might it be that he controlled the dice without knowing it, using an uncontrolled trace of warlockry, simply by wishing? It wouldn't take much warlockry to affect something as small as dice, and it was said only warlockry could detect warlockry, so the wizards and sorcerers Sterren had encountered would never have known it was there. Warlockry was the art of moving things by magically-enhanced willpower, moving them without touching them, and it was quite obvious that a warlock would have no trouble at all cheating at dice. His master had tried to give him the ability to tap into the source of warlockry's power, and it hadn't seemed to work - but maybe it had, just a little bit, without either his master or himself realizing it. He knew he certainly was not guilty of anything so common as using weighted dice or muttering spells under his breath, but there were magicks that needed no incantations, and he had been apprenticed to a warlock once - even if it had only been for three days before the warlock threw him out, calling him a hopeless incompetent. A dozen besides poor Abran had contributed to Sterren's winnings.įor perhaps the thousandth time in his career as a tavern gambler, Sterren wondered whether he had been cheating. The poor old fool had stuck it out longer than any opponent in years.Īnd of course, where two could be seen having a game, others would sit in for a round or two. It had been an exceptionally successful evening. When the farmer was out of sight he allowed himself to smile broadly. Sterren watched him go without comment and dropped the coins of the final wager into the purse on his own belt, which had acquired much of the bulge now missing from Abran's. I'm leaving, and I hope I never see you again."Īn hour earlier the purse on his belt had been bulging with the proceeds of a good harvest now it clinked dismally, only a few coins remaining, as he walked stiffly away. ![]() "Sterren, if that's really your name," he said, in a more natural tone, "I don't know what you're doing - maybe you're just honestly lucky, or maybe you're a magician, but however you do it, you've won enough of my money. "Seventeen again?" he growled, turning back. He shrugged, picked up the bits of bone again and rolled them, watching with satisfaction as the first stopped with six black specks showing, the second seemed to balance on one corner before dropping to show another six, and the last bounced, rebounded from the wall, spun in mid-air, and came down with five spots on the top face.Ībran stared, then turned his head and spat on the grimy floor in disgust. ![]() If Abran did decide to bet, though, it would be at two-to-one instead of even money. The youth hesitated, but the rules did allow a losing bettor to see the next roll before wagering again. "Make your throw, and I'll decide my wager." He pushed the coins to one side, then smiled and said, "Still my throw?"Ībran nodded. "Me?" he said, "Me, cheating? Abran, old friend, how can you suggest such a thing?" His dark brown eyes were wide with innocent dismay. The thin young man, who wore a patched but clean tunic of worn blue velvet, looked up from raking in the stakes with a carefully-contrived expression of hurt on his face. He demanded, "Are you sure you're not cheating?" His breath carried the warm, thick aroma of stale wine. The paunchy farmer in the greasy gray tunic stared at the dice for a moment, then snapped his head up and glared suspiciously at his opponent. One showed five pips, and the other two each showed six, clearly visible even in the flickering light of the tavern alcove. He dice rolled, smacked against the baseboard, then bounced back and skittered to a stop. The Unwilling Warlord A Legend of Ethshar He has a simple choice - win the war, or die.Īnd the only way he can see to win the war is to use magic to cheat. It's the story of a young man who finds that he's the hereditary warlord of a small kingdom that's on the verge of war against two larger neighbors. The Unwilling Warlord was the third novel in the Ethshar series - though it's not third in internal chronology.
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