The House Always Wins [P, IO]

Unfortunately, the claims could not go through.

From Character Rules

The characters played by the same player may interact with each other but only for purely social and story reasons.
Characters controlled by the same player may not benefit from training discounts, bloodline transfers, monetary gains, or other in-game increments.
Same-player character interactions will be monitored for abuse by staff.

The trade attempt would give monetary gains to a character played by the same player [Baliquis to Yukihime] - candies that can be exchanged for casino chips and a lesser mythical in the form of a toddler's rock.

Furthermore

From Thread Rules

Players are allotted one mid-claim per topic, no more than that.

A mid-thread claim has already been made in this topic by the characters.

Yukihime wrote:[Mid-Thread Claims][TWC: 2302]

Mission Claims:

• + 227 AP
  
• + 55 Chocolates 
  
• + 4,500 Casino Chips
  
• + 55,500 Ryo
  

Baliquis wrote:[Mid-Thread Claims][TWC: 3509 ]

Mission Claims:

• + 227 AP (converting to Ryo at 1 AP = 50 Ryo, so + 11,350 Ryo)
  
• + 55 Chocolates
  
• + 4,500 Casino Chips
  
• + 55,500 Ryo
  

Thanks

Ayato Hyuuga wrote:Unfortunately, the claims could not go through.

From Character Rules

The characters played by the same player may interact with each other but only for purely social and story reasons.
Characters controlled by the same player may not benefit from training discounts, bloodline transfers, monetary gains, or other in-game increments.
Same-player character interactions will be monitored for abuse by staff.

The trade attempt would give monetary gains to a character played by the same player [Baliquis to Yukihime] - candies that can be exchanged for casino chips and a lesser mythical in the form of a toddler's rock.

Furthermore

From Thread Rules

Players are allotted one mid-claim per topic, no more than that.

A mid-thread claim has already been made in this topic by the characters.

Yukihime wrote:[Mid-Thread Claims][TWC: 2302]

Mission Claims:

• + 227 AP
  
• + 55 Chocolates 
  
• + 4,500 Casino Chips
  
• + 55,500 Ryo
  

Baliquis wrote:[Mid-Thread Claims][TWC: 3509 ]

Mission Claims:

• + 227 AP (converting to Ryo at 1 AP = 50 Ryo, so + 11,350 Ryo)
  
• + 55 Chocolates
  
• + 4,500 Casino Chips
  
• + 55,500 Ryo
  

Thanks

Denied claims have been removed, feel free to remove this denial post at your earliest convenience to reduce thread flow interruption.

Rin nodded along as the woman gave her tacit approval of balquises wager, it was... quite a think to see someone so trusting in their sister, in their family, that they would be willing to wager something so deeply intimate. Not everyone would see it as an intimate action of course, some may see it as a business transaction to some degree, but to give someone the ability to call upon your presence at any moment, to give one the ability to simply snap their fingers and have you appear before them with very little warning or chance to refuse, that was something that Rin would never have expected to see gambled away, even more so from someone she had only just met. Still she was not one to turn her nose up at the gifts of fate, if the world, the universe, had decided that this was a chance she deserved to be given then she would take it, who knows, it may not lead her anywhere, it may not be worth anything to her at the end of the day, but something so significant could perhaps one day save her life, or offer her a path forward where none before existed...

of course just as Rin was about to reply she felt an itching at the back of her mind, a scrap of emotion from Vis of all things, the construct that as always was never far from her had been keeping watch mingling amongst the crowd and avoiding attention along with it's sister construct... That was until it had sensed something Rin sensed only a moment later. An deep rich chakra with an overbearing weight of nobility upon it... it was not as deeply oppressing and overpowering as it had once been for them of course, both herself and her aspects had grown stronger in leaps and bounds since first meeting that woman, Rin had managed to cleanse the corruption within herself, drawing upon that scrap of power bequeathed... or rather stolen from this woman, to catalyze the creation of the soulfire shard that now rested within her empty eye socket, still covered by her overhanging hair... Yes whilst Vis was the first to sense it, the predator's natural instincts instantly suppressed under the weight of the woman's power and the memory of what she had done simply by unveiling it in full; but Rin was not much further behind, only a moment after Vis's warning she had sensed that same feeling, that same noble aura within the air.

“If it isn’t young Rin, and Lady Baliquis.” the voice said echoing from just behind Rin with that innocent angelic voice that she spoke with, that chiming almost hypnotic sound that seemed to cause her voice to echo with a deep purity... Rin mentally shook herself, cycling her chakra and drawing upon a strand of her soulfire, the light within her eye socket flickering to life for but a moment as she cycled the energy through her meridians, cleansing them of whatever strange influence the woman's voice was exerting upon her. The subtle burn within her veins not unlike that of a shot of pure alcohol as it rushed through her spiritual body, cleansing and purifying it, removing any foreign influences from her body and keeping her sharp and focused.

Taking a deep breath she allowed the woman to move into view, watching calmly as she spoke with the other women, instead taking the time to center herself as she waited for the woman to finish their brief exchange of words. Once they were done she spoke "Remika, what a pleasant surprise to see you again." She said doing her best to maintain an acceptable balance of politeness, and independence, they had not left on bad terms in their first and second meetings; the time they had spent in the winterlands together had given Rin quite more of an insight into the woman's power than even she likely realized. Rin's own long hones senses warned her of this woman, that there was something she was hiding, something not to be fully trusted about her... of course whether there was truth in that line of thought or whether it was simply Rin's own traumatic experiences influencing her actions yet again remained to be seen. All the same she continued to speak, she may not fully trust the woman, nor did she believe she could handle herself in a fight against the woman, perhaps if both of her fragments were to join her in addition to the pair sitting across the table from her, then they might find themselves capable of fighting the woman to an impass... Such an incident would likely level this floor of the casino and quite possibly draw the ire of the event's sponsor, and hypothetical situation or not, none of them wanted to draw the attention of the Saint in such a way. "We are just finishing up this round of cards Remika, would you care to sit and observe? I do believe the staff are more than happy to bring refreshments to observers" She said even as she lightly flicked the cards she held against the table, creating a steady, flick, flick, flick, sound as they spoke, a possible tell, something that might indicated anxiety, perhaps excitement, or fear. It was none of those of course, her heartbeat and her breathing were calm and collected, the flicking simply an ingrained habit from playing this game around tavern tables during her bandit days, she had won many a hands faking a tell like this, and this was one many jumped at.

Assuming the woman's assent then Rin would turn to the girls again, "then i shall accept your wager against my own" she said before gesturing towards the table, now shall we begin?" of course if instead Remika indicated an intention to join them Rin would not refuse, it was worse odds to play against more than the one opponent, but she played this game for the skill and enjoyment the exercising of that skill offered, she played the game to hone her ability to read people, her ability to predict the actions of others, and her ability to in turn bluff them. At her core she was a master of illusion and redirection, she was one who's strength lay not in the direct and straightforward, but rather in the precise and dedicated manipulation of others to meet her goals. For her, reading people, learning what made them tick, what they feared, what they did in response to that fear, broadening and deepening her understanding of the human psyche was her bread and butter, it was what allowed her to grow stronger at the fastest rate and it was what she sought above... well not above all, but certainly above such petty things as material wealth. Money was of little consequence to her after all, her own vast wealth dwarfed that of many villages, and since her agreement with emi, since her ascension to tanbogakure's rulership, she had access not just to her own wealth, but to the wealth of the village as a whole as well.

Regardless of the players involved the game would continue, another card being revealed, another seven, she didn't smile, didn't allow herself to change her breathing, didn't provide any external indication of her reaction, even her aura remained the same, she did not still it, did not draw it in or keep it calm and inert, she allowed it to continue to seep out of her in a steady but somewhat eratic flow, allowed it to act as it would normally, as if the card that had come up neither helped nor hindered her. Internally however she smiled slightly, her hand had been one of the worst hands possible, and yet fate had smiled upon her, a pair of sevens on the table left her with at worst a triple seven, not the strongest hand possible, but with the cards revealed so far one of the strongest combinations possible for the currently revealed hands. There were other possibilites of course, she was well aware of how much luck played a part in this game, of how even when played perfectly, even when accounting for all the odds and confident your opponent's hand was terrible you could be defeated at the last moment by an unlucky card. It was much like life in that way, she had seen men rise and fall at the drop of a hat, something as innocuous as deciding to turn left rather than right enough to render a man's lifes work destroyed and oft his life along with it. Still she was not playing with lives here, but merely among friends, and so she smiled, more than happy to take the lead. "A pair of sevens, Not a terrible result, it means at worst someone will have a double at the end of the game, I think I'll raise, keep things a little more interesting" She said pushing a pile of chips into the board rivaling that of what she initially bid. "You can wager that stone of yours if you still maintain its value is equal to this, or you can wager something else you value just as much, as long as you act in good faith of course" She said, allowing a faint hint of a predatory gleam to dance across the edge of her lips for but a moment, enough that it might be glimpsed by the woman across from her but not enough she could be sure she hadn't imagined it.

WC: 1600

Unbeknownst to everyone else while this entire endeavor, this game of chance was going on, one of the many, many mysterious assassins that had been roaming the casino in stealthy droves had been filtering into the room en mass, each of them clutching a strange note in hand, vis and codex picked up on this almost as soon as the first assassin had entered the room, of course, having had experience with them throughout their various other exploits within the casino, even unbeknownst to rin the pair had spent much of their free time tracking the source of the various notes that had been spreading throughout the casino. Finding the mysterious assassin responsible for them, at first, they had thought it strange that the assassin had consistently managed to continue escaping, even after being turned in with an absurd amount of defensive measures to keep him from escaping. As it turned out, this was not of that individual escaping but rather the strange and desirability of the assassin himself. You see, the assassin had somehow developed the ability to body hop, for lack of a better term. In contrast, the assassin did, indeed, seem capable of jumping from one body to another. The conditions they had found for this body, hopping, seemed dependent on many odd conditions, the first of which required the body, or as it turned out later, bodies to be prepared through a rather odd courtship ritual that must be consummated. The second requirement was the death of the prior body, which in theory, prevented the body-hopping from resulting in this exponential growth in assassins they now saw. Of course, the assassin had somehow managed to find a way to bypass that restriction. It would seem that polygamist romantic relationships had somehow allowed the assassin to, upon the death of their prior body, jump to not just a single one of the prepared bodies but the two of them at once. This had, throughout the event, resulted in a dramatic spreading of this assassin’s personality, almost like some rogue AI had somehow allowed the assassin to, upon the death of their prior body, jump to not just a single one of the prepared bodies, but the two of them at once this had throughout the event resulted in a dramatic spreading of this assassin’s personality, almost like some rogue personality or something of the sort.
As the assassins had continued to fail into the room, Vis and Codex had tactfully positioned themselves to neutralize the first few assassins that had filtered inside, having learned to identify them earlier in their exploits. That they had at first neutralized the first few assassins that had filtered inside, having liked to identify them earlier in their exploits, And then, following that, had tactfully positioned themselves in such a way as to, without trying explicit attention to themselves plant, various traps and explosive devices are upon the bodies of their foes. When the various assassins had all fallen into position, each of them, seemingly positioning themselves in such a way as to have a clear shot, not at their master, nor the women playing cards with her, but rather the new addition to their group, the noblewoman who had left such an impact on the people, there why these assassins were so hellbent upon the death of this woman, was well beyond anyone in that room. Still, the fact remained that that was their intention. As was their job as bodyguards, the power, having already prepared a response for whatever nefarious deeds the assassins were planning, triggered their trap just as the assassins were poised to strike in a blaze of motion, just as all of the assassins pulled blades about to throw them the various seals and poisons that repair had had in advance were all treated at once. In a moment, just as quickly as it had started, the floor was filled with bodies, each a Sassan of great renown.

wc: 698
Mid thread mission claims

Spoiler:

Approved for Rin

Nodding her head at the woman's concession Rin couldn't help but show the woman a faint hint of her wolfish grin once again, the woman may have thought she had played well, and indeed for an amature she had managed to keep her face rather clear and simple, but as the game had dragged on it had become increasingly clear who the winner would be, when the third seven came up it was a nail in the coffin and the women were forced to conceede. Gesturing to codex to step forward the soul construct swept up the rewards into its personal storage for the time being
- 1x Toddler's Favorite Rock to codex
- 1x Summon Contract for [ Nozomi "Baliquis" Hozuki ] to codex
- 1x Summoning Contract for [ Ikazuchi "Yukihime" Hozuki ] to codex