The Thrice-Blessed IC

[Ridai]

Drufi blinks. "Slissht. The stone pierces magic like that. Cimber is shielded like that. That is why we need the stone in the first place," she reiterates. Her brow furrows, like something isn't adding up. "You should know this."

[MikelaC1]

Then there must be a range on it. We arrange for this man to be teleported to some spot far away, iike Waterdeep or some such, and track again. Theres no point in just killing him, especially if we still dont get a reading because we cant undo that death.

[Ridai]

Drufi looks at Shiver for a while in silence, then turns to the giant men. "Take the others, return to the boat, and wait for me there."

The men start to protest, but a look from Drufi shuts them up quick. "No fighting happening, just talks. I am handling this." When that does not seem to be enough, she steps a bit closer, speaking in Giant: "Do you remember each and everyone of you I took with me challenging me? Do you also remember me breaking everyone of you over my knee? I do. You did your part. Now move it." That appears to be enough, and the frost giant men move back out of town, as Drufi repeats her orders for the surrounding giants to hear. Minutes pass as the frost giants withdraw from the town's area, heading towards the distant coast.

In the meantime, Duvessa chimes in. "We do not have mages like that in the Ten-Towns. At most, you may find them in the larger cities."

When the frost giants are no longer visible and have been gone for a while, Drufi looks to Sirac. "Stay here. Huddle in the towers if you must. Do not try to run." Then to Shiver and Sìle. "You are coming with me." Drufi ducks out of the gate, and leads Shiver and Sìle away from the town and the main road, in the opposite direction the other giants went. Once the town is out of view due to the heavy falling snow, Drufi turns around, axe slung on her back. She holds her palm towards Shiver.

"Punch. Hard as you can."

[MikelaC1]

Much of my power, as well as my memories have been stolen from me. By a mage, I am attempting to find out who. I need the support of the little people to do that.
Nevertheless, Shiver favors Drufi with her hardest possible punch, which is considerably less than what she is used to.

[Ridai]

Drufi barely reacts to the punch. She takes in what is said and done, before sitting on a nearby rock outcropping, thinking. After a short while, she looks at Shiver.

"I take it you don't want Storvald to get the Ring of Winter?"

[MikelaC1]

I would have never done anything to discredit you. My plan was that when we searching for the ring, you and I would be in separate groups. Hopefully, I would find the ring and then I would kill the giant with me, smash the ring and put the pieces in his hand. When you showed up, I would tell you that he tried to seize the ring for himself but could not control the magic and he and it blew apart. If you had found it, I would have to improvise, but the same basic idea.

[Ridai]

"It is good things happened the way they did then, because there would not have been split search parties, and the Ring of Winter is an indestructible artifact. Otherwise Cimber would have destroyed it a century ago." A pause. "Look. You don't want Storvald getting the ring. I don't want that either. You're not getting around them finding that son of Cimber as long as he's alive. If I take him, he's going to die today. Apart from that, you show up out of nowhere, small, weak, can't remember your mission. You told me you got sent to some small folk town called Daggerford to meet someone allied with us who knows about some stone of power Storvald wants. Something's going on, and I don't like it."

Another, longer pause, Drufi looking grim. "The Ordning's gone. Shattered, from one day to the other. No one knows why. Long and short of it, there's no rules anymore. No ladder with storm giants at the top and hill giants at the bottom. All giant leaders jockeying for position. Haven't heard anything from the storm giants. Storvald wants frost giants to rule other all others. I'd be okay with that. Not okay with him ruling over me or our clan." The Ordning being gone is like saying gravity has ceased to exist. It is something that had always been there, utterly irrefutable and unchanging, marking this as a change that is nothing short of divine intervention. There has never been a time without it. Shiver does not need to think especially hard to realize what sort of chaos this means for giants and everyone around them.

"Our clan needs you to take over. But the old you, not the weak you right now. Can't see anyone else bringing Storvald down and getting accepted as the new jarl without tons of useless deaths gutting the clan. But if you go at him right now, you're gonna get slaughtered. Storvald gets the ring, you don't stand a chance even at full power. Gonna need to make you strong again, buy time, find out what happened to you, what Storvald is up to, and kill him. We're never getting a chance like this again. Are you with me or not?"

[MikelaC1]

Im glad to see you dont want Storvald taking over either. I have no cause or desire to fight you, we have enough with jerks like Thomasson trying to usurp our commands random name for the giant who challenged her As for getting my power and memories back, they are coming. But slowly. Sile is helping in that regard....and someone even more powerful than Storvald remembers me, and sent that cloud castle for us to travel in. So I'm with you. What do you propose and how to we deal with those knuckledraggers back on the boat, expecting you to bring back Son of Cimber?

[Ridai]

"Cloud castle?" Drufi asks. Sìle, having remained quiet, briefly steps in. "More a tower than a castle. A letter also made it sound like this mysterious benefactor has a cloud giant under her sway, but is not a giant herself. We know little more at the time."

Drufi "hm"s at the information, thinking for a moment, then continues. "As for the others, they don't expect the human on the boat. Mission is to bring back the ring. With the son throwing off tracking, all they expect to happen is for him to be killed. Bringing someone back was never the plan. I will go to them, tell them the human is dead and that I will be going with you to find the stone you were looking for, and give them the box. Once they are gone, we take the human, put him on a ship, and have him travel down the Sword Coast. By the time our people are back and can tell Storvald what happened, it will look like Cimber is somewhere else and fleeing, and they'll need to spend a long time trying to chase after him. Storvald will probably think something's off about what I am doing and hearing you were up here, but it doesn't matter. We'll have bought ourselves time and distance to get you strong again and find the wretch who did this to you. Sound good to you?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry it is taking so long recently. Have been pretty scatterbrained and sleeping is a bit of an issue.

[MikelaC1]

That sounds good to me, does it sound like a plan to you (last part at Sile) Shiver knows that Sile will probably agree to virtually anything she says, but she is not going to treat her like a slave, because she isnt, and maybe showing such behavior to Drufi will rub off.

[Ridai]

"I expected heroics when I swore myself to you, and you just managed to eclipse all the ones I was involved in before. As such, I rate this plan as suitably daring, and I can... probably provide us with a faster means of travel than walking," Sìle comments. She looks to Drufi. "One problem, though. What are we doing about your size? It would be better if we stick together, and having a giantess, pretty as she may be, loiter outside of any given town or enter it might cause problems. It might also make us easier to find."

Drufi rises from her seated position. She seems to once again examine Sìle and Shiver, especially what their relationship seems to be like. Shiver's seems to trust the human, so Sìle receives a degree of courtesy from Drufi. "...I might have something for that." Drufi walks over to Shiver, retrieving what looks to be a necklace for a giantess from a pouch. Shiver finds the design striking, especially since it is unusually... pretty for what most frost giants opt for. A silvery metallic thin (for a giantess) chain, from which a finely crafted pendant hangs, in the design of flowers seamlessly transitioning into a flaming spear tip. There is a very faint greenish shimmer to the metal for a moment from a particular angle.

"Hold onto this for me. I'll be back in the early morning. Meet me in front of the town then. You'll know when." Drufi places the necklace in Shiver's hand, and despite being meant for a full-sized giant, it still feels incredibly light in her hand. Drufi closes Shiver's hand around it, giving it a light squeeze. Looks like the necklace will let Shiver know, even though she can't really wear it. "You go and get the son ready to leave by then."

Unless Shiver has more to discuss, Drufi nods to her, and takes her leave. "I will see you take your throne." It is not much, but Shiver knows Drufi. None among the frost giants respects and trusts Shiver like Drufi. More remarkably, however, Shiver's current weakened state has not changed this. Most frost giants would take advantage of this, establishing dominance in the new pecking order. Not Drufi, if perhaps only towards Shiver, marking the giantess as an unusual member of her kind.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver wraps the necklace around her wrist so that she can feel its warning warming. She turns to Sile Lets go see Cimber's son and see if we can save his life.

[Ridai]

Heading back to Bryn Shander, the gate is opened for Shiver and Sìle. Duvessa returns from the town center shortly after Shiver's arrival, looking like an isle of stoic calm amidst the worried guards and people, having done her part to keep matters under control. Sirac also comes out of one of the guard towers, looking understandably gloomy, but not looking like he is looking for an opportunity to run away either. Beldora is loitering nearby, little attention coming her way given the circumstances, but she is sure not to miss any developments and how her friend is dealing with the situation.

"You're back," Duvessa says simply. Shiver sees her noting the absence of Drufi, and the presence of the necklace. "I take it you have come to an agreement, judging by the lack of blood?"

Sirac quietly chimes in. "I was not born and raised here, but Bryn Shander is still my home. I-if giving my life means the town is safe, I will give it." Unlike many making boisterous claims of not being afraid of death, few are actually able to face it with their full composure. Sirac's voice trembles, but the will behind it is true.

[MikelaC1]

You are not going to die today or tomorrow, at least not at the hand of a frost giant. However, we do need to get you on a boat and send you down the Sword Coast, for a time. The giants will be reporting back to their jarl that the human is dead but the box will show the ring fleeing to some other location and they wont know how to deal with that, especially since Drufi wont be with them....and news of the smaller version of me will have them in a tizzy to figure that one out.
In the meantime, Drufi and I are going to find where the ring really is and deal with it, and if things go as planned, relations between humans and frost giants are going to change, I will see to it.

[Ridai]

Duvessa nods, and looks to Sirac. He says "If this is what is needed to keep the town safe, I'll gladly do it. I'm no stranger to traveling." Duvessa looks to him with the unspoken question whether he is sure, to which Sirac responds with a nod. She places a hand on his shoulder. "You are a good man, Sirac. And I hope you will come back to us once this is over."

Shiver remembers most of the coastal cities. The best bet to get Sirac onto a fast ship is Luskan, the so-called City of Sails, frequently romanticized, but what Shiver has seen in the past before going on her mission, the reputation really paints the wrong picture for that hive of scoundrels and sailors with questionable ethics. Still, it is the northernmost major port of the Sword Coast, and they are bound to find a decent ship there, if they have enough money. People might not even ask questions with the right amount. Plus, it is on the way to Daggerford.

"I will let the people know that the threat is over, at least for the time being. Whatever you end up doing, I hope your victory will come swiftly. You saved a lot of lives today. You have my thanks and that of Bryn Shander once again," Duvessa says, with a nod, then has to excuse herself, needing to go and calm down the highly anxious population of the town.

Sìle lets Sirac know they will leave in the morning and that he should get ready for then, to which he simply nods.

News of Shiver's heroics today spread quickly and the giantess now has some free time on her hands until the morning. Beldora also looks like she wants to grab Shiver's attention, loitering in a nearby alley.

[MikelaC1]

Why are you still here, theres not going to be any dead bodies to pick coins from, get along with you now. Again, Shiver moves toward Beldora like she is going to run off the beggar. She also turns to Sile, telling her to spread the word that Shiver plans to take on any and all comers at Kelvin's Comfort in an hour

[Ridai]

"Jus' curious 'bout what's goin' on, ain't harming no one," in-character-Beldora mumbles as she backs off into the alley. Away from the public eye (which increasingly believes Shiver to have a personal vendetta against bums), Beldora greets her with a grin.

"Singlehandedly saved a bunch of lives and a town to boot, all without a single sword slash. All in a day's work, eh?" Beldora's clearly a fan, even moreso than before. "Too bad you need to go so soon, would have loved to do some catching up with my big girl, step out of bum Beldora for a bit in a cozy corner, and give some proper personal thanks for saving my hide. I'll get you a new map to Daggerford first thing in the morning, and a little extra. The rest of the Harpers will hear about what you did here, maybe they can help out."

A short pause, returning to her impish grin. "Well, shouldn't keep the woman of the hour. I hear you are off to drinking half the town under the table and drowning in strapping young lads and buxom lasses. A heroine's work's never done, ain't it?"

[MikelaC1]

Im sure your good work here is being noted and a promotion will be coming sooner rather than later. And dont worry, after this is all taken care of, I will be back. But heres a little tidbit you can report back to your superiors. The Ordning is gone, shattered. No one has heard from the storm giants about it, and all the others are jockeying for position, hills versus stones, frost versus fire and clouds thinking this is their chance to be #1. My jarl, Storvald, has even bigger designs than moving past fires and thats why he wants that ring.

Shiver stretches and gets ready to head back out of the alley this might be more of a challenge than usual...but even in this state, I have a better consumption than any human

[Ridai]

"Will do. They ain't promoting me anywhere, though. Someone's gotta keep an eye on the Dale, and there's no way I'm accepting a job attending balls. You do keep that promise, though. Ain't accepting singlehandedly saving the North as an excuse." As for Shiver musing about her chances, Beldora just grins and says "Just don't drink all of the guard under the table and leave some reserves for the rest of town."

Heading back out of the alley, people are quickly flocking to Shiver, a mixture of thanks, wonder, asking how things went down, if she really is a giantess. People already held Shiver in high regard, but her saving the whole town without a single casualty or damaged building does wonders even for her already great reputation. Some are still unsure about the whole hidden giantess thing and what that means, some go "Well always knew there was more to her!" which is met with snickering and "Yeah sure"s. It actually takes a fair while to even reach the town center, and once there, Sìle performs her most impressive feat yet: slipping through the large crowd of admirers not minding the bitter cold.

"You will have no shortage of challengers. And if you have to pay even a single copper today, the Hells are likely to freeze over tomorrow."

[MikelaC1]

Shiver bursts into the tavern back in human form and waits if there is applause and banging of mugs. She then takes the most central table there is, and booms out....okay the rules are simple. Everyone who wants to take a try needs to sit down now, no waiting until we've all done 5 rounds and trying to sneak in. Its shot for shot, fire brandy and no cooling drinks in between either. She plops a huge bag of 500 gold on the table. and just to make things interesting, I'll put this up if anyone beats me. That, and all the side betting going on should make for a rocking time in the tavern tonight.

(Note, no one has to put up anything to get into the game, Shiver is just sweetening the pot to get even more in)

[Ridai]

Shiver is greeted by a cacophony of cheers, applause, and stomps. Her announcement is greeted by a great many challengers (some even adding to the pot in the middle!), and once the thunk of the heavy bag of gold is added, oh boy, there's even more. The place is packed. What challengers can't squeeze themselves in at the table get to one nearby, people dragging some tables and chairs and benches closer. On top of that is a large audience. Ogden, the dwarven proprietor of the tavern, has gotten plenty of the firebrandy ready, especially since he knows just how much Shiver can put away and the hour warning he got delivered by Sìle. The alcohol reserves of Kelvin's Comfort are quaking in fear as we speak.

And after the reveal of Shiver, the secret frost giantess, as well as the saving of Bryn Shander, the Great Firebrandy Flood of Kelvin's Comfort, 1491 DR, begins.

Now, this isn't a kiddie pool event with ale. The Firebrandy is hardly the best tasting thing Shiver's had in her life (curious, really, given the dwarven owner and him specifically advertising it), but what it excels at is getting you hammered right quick. And this isn't with teensy shot glasses or nonsense like that either. We're talking more like wooden cups (which may or may not have something do to with Ogden doing damage control of his property). So much so that a few are weeded out right by the first drink. Not that they keeled over, mind you, they are not that lightweight. More coughing and hacking as the drink goes down like fire, realizing what they got themselves into, and gracefully tapping out to join the audience and hoping mead will make the burning sensation go away. Well, that's not entirely true. One elven girl, bless her heart, decided to enter, downed the whole thing, suddenly sat entirely upright, before just falling over backwards, much to the bemusement of the tavern.

Three drinks in, most of the casuals are weeded out, removing more than half the challengers, some needing to be lifted from their seat, though most just tapping out. Each round is started with a cheer to Shiver, and when someone more notable gets eliminated, there is a mixture of cheers and the distinct sound of lost bets in the air. The barmaids are very busy supplying not just Shiver and the challengers with their drinks, but also the audience. Sìle decided against competing, instead moving through the crowd, talking, sometimes dispensing a bit of magic to refresh the barmaids or ensure people stumbling out the door will make it home.

Six drinks in, the field has thinned out indeed. Shiver has just about had enough to reach the limit of how much drink she can take without any problems whatsoever (at human size, since any form of giant size would have made this a laughable farce of a contest). A male dwarven mercenary is still faring relatively well, though not as well as a female dwarven caravan leader. Apart from them, three humans are still in the running. The guard from the the southwestern gate who is struggling mightily at this point, but is clearly not willing to give up (Shiver has also noticed plenty of glances cast at her). A wiry man in his late 20s in simple traveling clothes with notably fluid motions, fond of lifting his cup with just his finger tips and just quietly enjoying the booze. And a bardess who seems very excited, has been overtly casting looks to Shiver (and trying to chat with her), and is showing no signs of being affected by the alcohol whatsoever despite being neither tall nor heavy-set.

As the seventh round arrives, the bardess picks up her cup before Sìle taps her on the shoulder, her smiling face appearing next to that of the bardess.
"Hey, are you interested in a magic trick?"
"Sure!" the bardess answers, with a big grin.
"Dispel Magic."
The bardess looks confused, but Shiver can practically watch her nose turning red, eyes beginning to drop, smile turning rather goofy. "Thash a good un-" And the next thing is a bonk as her forehead hits the table, immediately followed by snoring, along with audience noises like "Are you serious?!" "Ha, I knew it!"

Sìle professionally hooks her arms around the now very unconscious bardess, dragging her away to where she can sleep off the half dozen Firebrandies. "I'll be right back, no one else delay poison while I'm away!" she cheerfully says, the bardess adding her unintelligible sleep babbling. "Yes, yes, very good, lass."

People seem to take the incident with humor, given how it ended. The dwarves give a snort and a "typical bard", the wiry man is having a good-natured cackle (triggered by the bonk-snore combo) as he swirls his cup, the guard is too busy focusing on keeping it together.

The seventh round begins!

Spoiler: OOC

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I figured Shiver could down drinks equal to her Con modifier without issue, +1 from being a (small) giantess. Not even the dwarves got that many for free. Now, we get to the area where Con checks become necessary. Shiver receives a +2 bonus on that check, simply because of being a giantess and an experienced drinker.

Beside the drinking, Shiver can also do other stuff in addition, be it commanding/signaling Sìle, entertaining the crowd etc.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver downs her 7th shot without even breaking a sweat, wiping her mouth and looking around after. Hottest fire brandy Ive tasted in a long time, thats for sure. Lets see how many more honest men and dwarves can take. She favors the guardsman with a saucy grin as well.

[Ridai]

The seventh round is done! The female dwarf seems to be holding on relatively well, while the male dwarf decides to call it quits, causing a flurry of bets being resolved. The wiry human happily downs his drink, making it unsure whether he is fine or drunk judging by his motions. The guardsman has been struggling, but between Shiver's effortless display and her attention, the need to hold on and maybe even impress her is powerful indeed, allowing him to go on another round.

By now, Sìle returns, mingling with the audience once more, though she also picks up on what Shiver is doing in regards to the guardsman. Wordlessly, she asks whether she should also add "encouragement".

(Round 8! The Con DC is now 18!)

[MikelaC1]

nope, no cheating on your part at least, if i cant beat them fair and square, so be it. but make sure there are no more shenanigans going on with te remaining ones

Another round then and with that, Shiver downs her 8th round, only the tiniest bit of sweat on her brow

[Ridai]

Everyone slams down their drinks. Shiver, as expected, just nails it, people cheering and chanting, given she keeps elevating her status as the local heroine. Wherever she looks, people marvel at and admire her (and there is no shortage of money riding on her winning, too).

The dwarf woman who has been doing fine thus far and even attracted herself a boy toy a young human admirer massaging her shoulders puts her drink away, looks like she is fine. Until she suddenly begins to sway and fall backwards against her admirer's chest. A few slurred words, and she is escorted out the tavern to her room, while people are going crazy, bets thrown into chaos since she seemed fine just a moment ago. Sìle confirms there was no cheating involved, just tough luck.

The wiry human seems to be in an increasingly good mood, clearly more than a tipsy, but that doesn't seem to stop him. Whether he ends up winning or not, he is becoming a bit of a crowd favorite (far behind Shiver, of course).

The guardsman, bless his soul, is still hanging on by a thread. He has no business hanging with the competition here, even the now absent dwarves had much better chances, the wiry human just drinking like a demon, and Shiver being Shiver. And yet, he seems to simply refuse being eliminated from the competition, third place while punching far above his weight evidently not enough, not with Shiver watching. Taking a deep breath, he downs his drink, sways... and slams his cup down, still in the game. No one knows what is currently even going on, all sorts of bets just thrown off.

Spoiler: OOC

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Round 9! The new DC is 20 with all the alcohol now in Shiver's system. The DC is the same for everyone else as well.

If she succeeds, she is still pretty much fine.
With the current DC, if she rolls 15 to 19, she gains one level of drunkenness (tipsy).
10 to 14 is two levels (drunk).
Less than 10 is three levels (completely hammered).
If she rolls a natural 1, she's straight up taken out.

Shiver is also taken out if she accumulates four levels of drunkenness throughout the contest, so since she is at 0 right now, the only way she can lose is with a natural 1. If she succeeds by more than 5 or even rolls a natural 20, some other things might also happen. In round 7, her good check gave the guardsman a bonus so he had a slightly better chance of sticking around when he has no business even getting that far (but his bonus is still nowhere near Shiver's massive +7, to say nothing of her being fine) to add some amusement to the contest.

So, I roll for the other contestants behind the scenes as well. The dwarf woman has so far been doing fine, but she rolled a natural 1. Meanwhile, the guardsman is basically perpetually in sudden death mode where he needs to succeed on every check to not be taken out, but he keeps lucking out. The wiry human is clearly drunk, but it is uncertain how close or far he is to being taken out.

[MikelaC1]

HA, who said dwarves could hold their liquor Its said with partially a joking tone, but as well, Shiver is a giant and you know how it is between giants and dwarves. And with that, she bangs down a 9th shot, playing to the crowd by not even showing the merest hesitation.

See if that wiry guy is using magic, he should be having a harder time than that, given his body size.

[Ridai]

Shiver is just completely no-selling the enormous amount of spirits she has put away, and people love it. Meanwhile, there is a slight hold-up for the wiry guy's drink, and when the barmaid makes her way there, he is already leaning absolutely dangerously far back on his chair. Top of his toes hooked under the table to keep him from falling, while simultaneous reaching far behind himself, plucking the cup from the barmaid's tablet with a chaotic, yet sure motion. "Thanks!" And as he rights himself back to a normal sitting position, he chugs the whole drink on the way, now in an even better mood, barely able to stay on his seat as the happiest drunk alive.

As unlikely as it sounds, there is no magic foulplay or sleight of hand involved as far as I can tell. I am as surprised as you are, Sìle whispers in Shiver's ear. The wiry guy appears to be a traveller passing through, from what she learned.

Meanwhile, while the majority of cheers are directed to Shiver, and laughs at the happy drunk's antics, there is a small but growing contingent is chanting "Connor! Connor!" as the guardsman downs his drink, and somehow manages to neither fall over, pass out, or puke. To be clear here, no one really expects him to win, he is up against Shiver, for gods' sakes! But he has come almost unreasonably far and they went to see if he can last through the 10th round.

Spoiler: OOC

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The absolute stinking luck of Connor, the regular guardsman, right now. Wow. This was meant as a little callback and fun addition, but I guess Connor really wants to prove himself to Shiver. Who is also still being completely fine.

Here we go, round 10, DC 23. Fail by 5 or less = 1 level of drunkenness. 6-10 = 2 levels. 11-15 = 3 levels. 16+ or natural 1 = out!

At this point, if this lone guardsman still makes it through, this guy is a secret luck dragon with a liver of adamantine.

[MikelaC1]

The alcohol is finally beginning to catch up to Shiver, but only a tiny bit (failed by one) and she slams the shot glass back on the table. Thats carrying a mighty fine punch, I must say

[Ridai]

The crowd watches Shiver make it a full ten cups, by now an absolutely absurd number, and still is hardly showing any difficulties! She has proven her prowess in the past, but people still have a hard time comprehending what they are seeing.

The wiry guy slams back his drink. There is a pause, he goes "Hic!"... and suddenly jumps out of his chair. "Wooo! Fin'ly juished up good! Tha' hidsh th' spot, hahaha!" He appears to be standing and swaying very precariously, yet somehow managing not to even remotely fall over despite it all. "Wash fun, mebbe we'll drrrrink again shometime! Have fun now!" With many, many, many hand flourishes, he bows deeper and deeper until his face basically touches his shins, then just... snakes his way through the crowd and out the tavern with no real difficulty, sometimes kind of winding around people, once even just ducking/sliding between someone's legs, all without breaking strike. Coins are snipped into the air, most of them landing in a cup next to Ogden, one in a barmaid's cleavage. The barmaids just look to each other and Sìle, just shrugging and raising her hands in confusion. A gesture Sìle pretty much mirrors. The crowd is similarly half confused and half trying to make sense of the betting chaos resulting from this.

And so we arrive at Connor, the Regular Guardsman. Suddenly finding himself as the last remaining opponent of Shiver herself, and through him generally trying to keep it together, it is plain to see he is just baffled by this development. He takes the tenth (tenth!) cup, people cheering him on. He downs it, needing a moment to empty it. The empty cup is put on the table, haphazardly, leaning on an elbow, holding his head. It's been emptied, but Connor takes a labored breath. He his trying to clear his head, shaking it... and slips, falling forward onto the table. The outcome is clear. But, to Connor's credit, he is still able to raise a hand to signal "Can't no more, am done".

Loud cheers erupt in the tavern, celebrating Shiver's victory. Bryn Shander isn't a rich town, but the 500 gold Shiver put into the middle of the table got joined by a collection of coins increasing the reward by another 200 gold. People are flocking to Shiver, raising mugs. Connor does his best to pick himself up off the table's surface to clap for the victor (a difficult process in his current state), and fumbles for his coins to try (emphasis on try) to pay for his drinks while he can still remember how many he's had.

Spoiler: OOC

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And that's it. The wiry guy was basically a timer, leaving after round 10. He was a Drunken Master, basically looking for a place to load up on booze for adventuring, and drinking with others is more fun. He could have tried to drink more, but that would have meant not doing what he set out to do afterwards, because there still is a state of being too drunk to adventure.

Connor's luck, meanwhile, ran out. He gave his best, but he did not get the needed natural 19 or 20 he needed in this situation.

Shiver is now a net 200 gold richer, and has added even more fame to her name.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver wasnt in it for the money and by dint of tips to barmaids, tips to her supporters and even a bit for the bar who hosted the event (even paying for Connor's drinks), the 200 extra gold goes back into the pockets of people in the bar, just not the same people that put it up.