Afosiosi

I grew up in a clan of businessdragons. Grandfather started the whole thing, he made up this idea to gather up precious ores or chests he found underground and reselling them. He used to go out to Dragonhome with friends, but then he moved to the Shifting Expanse's canyon and start anew. Still a good source of chests, making a good source of money. My parents and my siblings took on that business from him and I'm expected to join them too. It's an honest, respectable business with a reputation of delivering what it promises. My family grew rich. We were refined, high class. My father always counted coins and cared for his money, like it was his second son. My mother just wanted to make customers happy.
So, I did fall into the business. Dig up chests, open them up, sell the insides. Easy enough with all the magic we use to sense and dig them out. It was also great that the treasure I make on things dug out by my own magic went to me. The money I had I spent on pleasure items, food that I enjoyed, art services, other things such as that. My mother always encouraged me to share some with my siblings like they do with each other, but hey, my money's mine.
Soon enough I realized I could get some more money. Some buyer came up to me one day offering to buy, but he said he's buy for a lot higher price for my items than listed by my parents. My father always told me that whenever this happened, I'd have to tell them that they could pay less for it. But, I instead chose not to. You know, all that profit makes me happier, and it's mainly his fault for not reading. I made the sale and I got a lot more money.
So yeah, I always took on buyers who looked unfocused, out of it, tired, disoriented. They're the easiest to convince. My siblings always asked how I managed to get more profits off of my work, but I'd never reveal my secrets.
At some point my mother caught on. I thought she'd be supporting of her kids, but I suppose she'd be against my whole operation. So instead, I tried a different approach.
A small coatl lady came up to me one day. "Excuse me, do you have any guilded chests? I'd really like some."
I replied, 'Sure thing, ma'am. Prices are up there on the sign, just for a singular chest. If you want to buy in bulk just multiply or you can ask me to multiply it out for you." The sign was the one made by my parents, as they tried to get me as honest as possible with another larger sign with prices.
"I'll just buy ten guilded chests. My son will be happy with them. I've done the math myself."
"Thank you so much for your business." We exchanged the money and she started to walk along her merry way. Lightning arced from my fingers, reaching into her money pouch. Five gems returned to my open palm, which I quickly hid before anyone noticed. She did not see my lightning.
So that's what I did for the next couple cycles, I went mainly undetected, some buyers noticing to which I played off as a magical accident with uncontrollable powers. This wasn't my fault they don't protect their money, someone's bound to steal it anyway and I just made my own move. I made plenty of money off this, but soon I grew interested in more ambitious things. I realized that if I left the clan I could easily do both sell for more money and snag some gems. I could even figure out more ways to make a profit.
"Afsi, why are you leaving?" My father confronted me before I left.
"Father, I'm going to pursue a dream, my ambition. To do that, I have to leave."
"But you need to stay, carry on the family legacy."
"Legacy? This is just digging out chests and reselling them. Anyone can do it. But what I'm going to do is something that will be unique to me." And I left without a word more, just the treasure accumulated through the cycles and my wits about me.
And that's how I made my way out to the world. I was a nomad for a while, journeying around. I'd buy things from the Auction House then resell them for much higher through my own work of sweettalking my way to their hearts or claiming their nonexistent high quality. Sometimes while traveling I'd come across a rich dragon, probably stuck up by his wealth.Surely they don't mind me snagging their money bags. But that was only the start.
I came across a dragon once who tried to talk me into a scam. "You wouldn't mind it if I could take an eliminate off your hands for say... 500 gems? The technique you hold is brilliant, but I think I could use it more." I understood the value of an eliminate, and it was not 500. No, it was definitely 700.
"Oh no sir, I could absolutely settle for 900, as this is a high quality eliminate. If that's your buy, surely we can come to a conclusion?"
"900 gems, eh? You trying to rip me off, kid? 600 is an expensive amount, but I'd be willing to pay up." If he was a scammer like I took him to be, surely he wouldn't mind me snatching 20 gems from his pouch.
"I don't think you understand sir, I'm just trying to do business. 800 is a reasonable amount."
The dragon before me chuckled. "You're dang good, kid. But we're both con artists and we both know an eliminate's 700. Tell you what, you've held your cover as the nice guy, so I'll show you a trick to get some more money off people, an easy way without the hassle of business. You know how to play the cards?"
Cards? My siblings would play all the time. "Yes sir, I do."
"Ah good. You see, there's potential in you to have a gamble of sorts on your hand. Especially a rigged one. Y'know how I know that?" He toyed with 20 gems. I noticed that the 20 I pinched from him that I hit in the palm of my hand were gone. "You're a natural with the sleight of hand. A skill valuable to a cheating gambler." A cheating gambler? Oh, I wouldn't say that. It's too... charged with negative energy. It seems to be words describing a dragon exploiting others just for their own good, and that's not what I'm going for here. I'm like a Robin Hood, and the money I get goes somewhere anyway, those services.
I responded to his offer. "I'll take you on that, but do know that I don't truly work for myself, sir."
He chuckled to himself about me being something like him. Eh. I learned how to play the cards to my favor, including techniques like second dealing or the classic card up the sleeve. There were also some things he taught me about reading cards' meaning, such as with the diamond's representation of material worths. He said I could use that knowledge to get some money as a "mind-reader".
So from him, I made much more profits out of the artistry of cards. My father who always loved his money would be proud of my several million treasure coins. As a nomad, I never stayed in one place long enough to have my presence recognized in one region. But I still made far more than enough money off my schemes. Those I gambled with were always either stuck up rich or loners evidently trying to lose their money. Regardless of who it was, they were always swayed by my talking to play my rigged hand.
After a while, I grew more interested in settling somewhere that I could keep my trade and have a real support in what I try to do. However, all of the clans I ever tried to join in the past kicked me out either for my money making tendencies or because I tried, often successfully, to lure clanmates to fork over some cash. But, to be fair, I still felt a satisfaction of being able to somehow be able to make so much money and have no one really able to stop me.
Well I mean, until Dippy. Dippy, he's a damn genius at this, I'll give him that. Out of the so many dragons who have tried to stop me, Dippy is one of the only ones ever able to uncover my schemes. Honestly, we're frenemies in this whole thing, it's always fun making up some scheme and watching him bust it open.
So we met this one time I went out to visit a clan I had my eyes on joining for a while. I got in through some talking I usually do, and entered the den I was given as living space. Inside on a chair sat an imperial seemingly shrank by magic as indicated by lightning sparks around him. The lights hadn't been turned on yet, so all i really saw was the shadowy sparking figure leaning slightly on a desk. "Afosiosi, or do you go by any other name?"
"Afsi, if you're a true friend. And, really, if you're here then surely that's why? To be a friend."
"Hmph. Maybe that's why, or maybe I'll find some other reason why. I am Diprosopia, but you can call me Dippy. With a Y, not an I. Real reason why I came here in the first place was due to a little something I heard about a white/pink skydancer and issues with money. Am I telling that wrong?"
An arc of my lightning hit the wires of the light switch, fully illuminating the imperial. There was nothing much more to see, as he was obsidian black. He lit up with a chuckle. "I only had very sneaking suspicions, there was a high chance you weren't the one. But now you've used Lightning magic, something I recall as a very important detail. And now we're gonna have a bit of a challenge. Walk outside with me?" I left with an eye on the imperial the whole time as we left, who tried nothing suspicious.
He spoke as we went along. "I'll tell you some bits. See, I've been hearing small rumors, not enough from one reigon, but only some from scattered locations all over Sornieth. Finding information was very difficult, I can give you that. But every report said something about a white pink skydancer businessdragon, and some reported your lightning magic. I needed a little bit of a break from travels, so I turned to a clan I knew as a welcoming place for travelers: this one. Clan leader mentioned something about you and I had to investigate. So here we are now."
My maw moved. "So you came here to stop me? Because if you're a dragon whose personality is how I take it, I won't let you."
"No, I came for a challenge. See, I haven't found a dragon with such skills like yours, and I need a little practice with my own hand." He sat on the ground and a large flat stone slab sat between the two of us, "Sit, and show me something you can do. Bet me something on some game you play, and I'll match you by seeing through it all. I win if I see your trick."
So at the time this was basically my thought process. What's this dragon thinking? He actually thinks that? Many a dragon have been trying to crack my code no matter how cocky they may be. But this dragon here, he may be the cockiest dragon I have ever met. No one's managed to beat me in a bet, so what does this imperial think he can do? I set up my plan I concocted myself. Of course, using taught methods could definitely make my loss guaranteed. A simple game of not letting a cup overflow with water is a classic, but my way of winning is my own.
A cup is placed on a flat surface and it is filled with water until surface tension is evident. Then, the dragons in the bet take turns dropping coins into the cup, and the number is not limited to one. Players are free to place coins in from whatever side of the cup they wish. The first to break the tension loses.
I set up the challenge and allowed the imperial to investigate the cup so he could see if I had rigged the cup, which I had not. Yet. As he set down the cup on the stone, my magic snuck a small ball of wax under one side of the cup.
So we took our turn, and during my turn I set it so that if two coins were placed in the cup, then the tension would break, but not if only one. Dippy took his turn and added a single coin. A look in his eyes seemed to show his imagining his win as the cup was evidently close to overflowing. A sunray came from behind me, hitting my wings and casting a shadow over the rock. I reminded the imperial of the third rule I stated above, and moved to take my turn. I dropped a single coin in, and the cup did not overflow.
Dippy looked up at me with the same slightly cocky expression as usual. "I see your tricks, Afosiosi. You placed wax under one side of the cup. When you moved, the wax melted and the cup could hold one more coin, but only one more. Therefore, if I play I cannot win, But I placed my bet in the start based on if I could see through your tricks and I did, thus I win this game."
Hm. This imperial saw through that trick. But I can't blame him all that much, as that trick was evident to a keen eye. Fine, then I'll try something else.
I pulled six die from my pouch. I explained that we were going to play a game called 10000. My rules were simple. If on their turn they roll 1, they get 100, 5 is 50. If all six die roll into their own doubles (if there are only 2 doubles it does not count), they get 1500. If there is 3 of a kind, it is 100 times the rolled number, and if it is 1 then they get 1000 points. A four of a kind doubles the amount gotten from the previous rule. Five triples it. All six the same or a straight means that the player automatically wins. On their turn, players start by rolling all 6 die. If they do not get any of the above scoring sets, they lose their turn. They can then roll again, keeping points earned from that round. This process continues with rolling the die they did not choose to keep until either the player keeps the points or rolls no scoring sets. If they do the latter, all points from that turn are lost. First dragon to get to 10000 wins. Of course, there are a few more rules, but we don't have time for that.
So the way I was planning to play was to get my score up high enough with honest rules, to make Dippy think I was pulling my tricks and he just wasn't catching them. Then, I'd land five sixes. Easy enough.
We played through the game as normal, until I was at 8450 and he was at 9200, my turn. Through the whole game, the imperial never changed his expression to one showing frustration, but I could bet then that he was just hiding what he thought under his mask. I held the dice in my hand and shook them as I would usually do before rolling. The lightest charge hid itself in the die. I let them loose as a different charge slunk its way to the surface of the stone, and the roll was as follows: 6, 3, 6, 6, 4, 6. I smiled. "Well, good gam--"
The imperial carefully picked up each dice. A powerful lightning charge sparked in the hand without the die (but it was near both the other hand and the stone). The die shifted because of the sparking magic. The stone seemed to almost levitate. He let out a chuckle. "You charged the die and the stone on that last roll didn't you? And on the die, you focused that negative charge on the one's side of the die, and a positive charge on the face six. On the stone, all you've done is the same but instead the top surface was positive. Essentially, you've made two magnets." The four rigged die flew onto his claw he charged as a magnet. "Impressive."
So clearly lightning magic wasn't going to work on a lightning dragon. I was two for none, something of a rare occurrence. But this time, he suggested something. "Why don't we play a game of poker? I'll deal the cards fairly, and you can pull something from your sleeve." A deck of cards appeared in his hands which he started to shuffle immediately.
The rules of poker are as follows: each player gets five cards. They can make several sets, their power ranked from lowest to highest here: junk, two of a kind, two sets, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, royal flush. Cards get more powerful depending on either their increasing face number or their suit in the order of Pillar, Spiral, Blood, Soul. From your starting hand, you can choose however many cards you would like to discard and trade in for new cards in an attempt to achieve a scoring set. Higher set wins. It is against the rules to tilt with magic abilities.
The cards were dealt fairly, as I so observed. He played honestly, and we both took our turns. Now it was time for bets. My hand included a full house, three 7s and two 4s. The antennae on my head had been tingling with anticipation of use. They read his mood. A supreme delighted emotion emanated from him. Something like that could easily be read as either a royal flush or a four of a kind, something to beat my full house. "Fold."
As I put down my full house, the imperial set down his hand: junk. "You were using your feelers to cheat, there's no denying that. You're astounded they didn't work and it's written all over your face. To be honest, the only supreme satisfaction I feel now is the joy of playing with a dragon like you. I never thought about the game all that much. Now with that said, no sane dragon playing normally would fold on a full house."
My thought process then was only to feel a sense of anger in my soul, because this dragon knew how to burn my tricks. But then I realized that this dragon didn't want to stop me, but to help himself. Well, if what I do helps the overall of society, then of course it's fine. This dragon takes away the conners who act on their own will, so I will help him. We could be friends.
"You're a dragon who told me when we met your end goal. If you let me go out and do my thing around Sornieth and you just try to stop me, you'd be happy with an improvement in your personal skills, right?"
"Hmph. Maybe so. Fine then, go out and do as you'd wish and I'll stop you. Maybe I'll find some other cons to bug out. But know if you try anything funny like hurt someone for what they're worth, I won't hesitate to fight you."
I left the clan the next day and went out on my expedition of outsmarting my newfound rival. Wherever I went I attempted my reselling/re-marketing, pickpockets, bets, other things. Half the time he would foil my plans, and the other half I would outsmart him. But there were also some times when I would make my profits out of his sight. Along the cycles we traveled together, outside of our usual back and forth scheming, I think we became good friends.
Sometimes when we talked he'd be trying to stay stoic, but a dragon like him really isn't after a few jokes I made up myself, but most jokes he's heard before. Sometimes he'd be trying to make me laugh with jokes instead, but I've heard all those before. It's also amusing to watch him try tricks of his own, but he's a lot better at debunking tricks rather than doing them himself. They're usually things like a pick a card/is this your card classic with the cheat being the cards going upside-down or memorizing the card on the bottom of the deck. He always says he used to be in this trade himself, but I don't really believe that. His excuse is that he fell out of practice because of something he was told as a kid, but I think he just doesn't know what he was doing.
So eventually we decided that traveling around Sornieth as nomads without a place to stay for an extended amount of time wasn't fun. Sure, we had tried to find somewhere so many times before, but this time we were really trying to comitt to the whole thing. See, I was running out of places to put my stuff, Dippy wanted to have a spot to rest with more friends than just me. Ok.
Dippy goes through reports, finds a clan with a problem of a thief in their midst. We go over there and it happens to be the Riverside. Dippy gets to apprehend the thief who just tried to mingle but failed, I got to try to steal from your hoard. Sorry about that, but I already paid it off to a friend of mine here I won't name.
Twilightscale tells us he's looking for more dragons in his clan, and Dippy and I accept because we were on the hunt for a clan anyway. I got worried I'd get kicked out for people not liking my antics, but Obsidianwing seems to fancy me and Dippy likes to keep me in check. Demonwing says this clan was originally founded off escaped convicts and dragons looking for redemption, and I guess the first bit can describe how others might think of me. This clan's real chill with me practicing my art, and I think that's the main reason why I've stayed so long. You guys don't seem to care that I'm using your connections with others in an attempt to get a profit, as long as Dippy watches over me. I like this clan, I think I'm going to stay.