FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sound of chips hitting the circular table echoed in the white pillared room, if one could call it a room. A tall, vaulted ceiling made of the whitest marble arched it's way over the scene, held up by eight white pillars designed in a Renaissance fashion. Outside of the pillars, however, was a symphony of whites and greys, which had a slightly more cloudy nature to them. One could call them clouds, and one would not be wrong.

So it would be not entirely correct to call it a room, more sort of a marble pagoda, like if you took the main part of the cathedral roof, but removed the walls. It LOOKED magnificent, but was completely exposed to the elements. One stiff breeze and some rain, and it would be Weather 1, Occupants 0.

What WAS certain, however, was the nature of the table. It was circular, and made of the finest woods known to humanity. A rich oak colour, varnished to within an inch of it's life. Executives of particularly large organizations would probably try to kill for this table, because it just screamed opulence. It was the table of kings, the epitome of furniture, what every good tree aspired to be.

It was such a pity that such an impressive table was at current being used in such a fashion. For here was not the dealings of matters of state, the passing of files, a world changing diplomatic mission. Instead, it was subject to a very unusual card game. Around it six figures were sitting or in one case reclining, five of them watching the sixth shuffle a plain deck of cards. His furred paws shuffled with a speed and accuracy unheard of even in the most professional of casinos.

Each of the creatures seated at the table were not quite like anything humanity had seen, and yet would be instantly familiar with had they seen them. Not that humanity COULD see them, for they transcended the normal laws of existence, belonging in their own separate column on a completely different page of the book of the universe.

To the immediate right of the dealer was a creature as white as the room. It was a muscular beast, scale skinned like one of the mythological dragons of old, but he only stood at about eight feet in height. His silver horns gleamed, and his four glowing gold eyes narrowed at the dealer as he watched, an expression of suspicion clear across those draconic features. His six wings flickered as he shuffled on his seat, his tail idly whipping back and forth as his claws tapped rhythmically on the table, a steady 4/4 beat. A humongous sword, a double handed claymore of at least six feet in length, was strapped to his back between the multiple sets of wings, and he growled a little as he focused on the dealer's paws, convinced there was some trick being played.

Continuing anti-clockwise around the table was a giggling creature. Standing only six feet in height, he was dwarfed by the dragon, but he was not one to be fazed by size. He looked like a fox, but his fur was a sooty black primarily, with a selection of firey orange stripes across his back, tail, arms and legs. His orange eyes darted around the table as he sat crosslegged on a stool, his tail flicking back and forth excitedly. He giggled again, a soft crackle underlying the noise, a strong smell of gasoline emanating from his sooty, scorched looking fur.

The next creature, one of the strangest looking in the room, wrung his four hands together uncertainly. He looked draconic, with a draconic head and body, but with a distinctly insectoid flair. His black, rubbery body glistened sickly as he looked down, trying not to meet the eyes of anyone else in the room. Between his horns were two much longer horns that protruded back about a foot and a half, joined at the base but extending in a narrow V. Along his ridged back were two more pairs of these V shaped antennae, which crackled quietly to themselves, giving away a faint electrical charge. His long, long black tail ended up in a mace like tail tip, a plasma ball like orb inside the rubbery tip, crackling with more electricity. His electric blue eyes briefly looked up at the dealer before dropping down to look at his four hands squeezing one another once more. He was known as an Ixavolt, a lightning lizard.

Two to the dealer's left was the one reclining figure. She, for it was the only female in the room, was as scaled as the white dragon, but she was a sparkling myriad of sea colours, glittering greens and blues. Her wings were considerably more streamlined and diminuitive than the white dragons, and her hands and feet were webbed. Her back and tail had a series of narrow spines for water direction, and her body in general was very lithe looking, graceful, elegant. She would scythe through the water she commanded, but here she looked very out of place, and while she smiled gently while reclining on an elevated chaise-lounge affair, she seemed uncomfortable.

The last player defied an easy description. He, or it, sat bolt upright on the chair, head down, not breathing, not moving. To the astute observer, the body seemed like that of a gryphon, that famed eagle/lion hybrid, but there was very little of the body left visible. Tufts of short, unkempt gold fur, hidden under the devices and machinations that were attached and merged into his body. For while it had once been a gryphon, it had been cybernetically enhanced. Instead of paws, it had clawed gauntlets for hands. It's legs were covered in greaves of steel, it's foot paws welded metal claws attached to what looked like metal ski boots. Around it's chest was a metal waist coat, strapped to the creature by leather straps. On the back of the waist coat were gleaming metal wings. A head mask covered the gryphon's head and neck, hiding any potentially animal features behind cold steel. All of the metal was coloured in silvers and bronzes, and in a decidedly steampunk design. The eye holes were masked with smoked glass, denying a viewer even a look at the dead eyes that looked back out.

His tail, strapped on with more leather bindings, was a hand from a clock tower, painted in appropriate colour to blend with the rest, and on his right arm was a closed war fan, it's bronzed edges hiding the canvas lke fabric inside. The entire thing looked inexplicable, a creature of illogical nature, and as the dealer finished shuffling the cards, it's head turned imperceptibly, the dark black glass surveying the well shuffled deck with neither sound nor emotion.

The dealer grinned slyly as he looked around. Of all of them, he clashed the most noticeably. His primary fur colour was a jet black, but his eyes and stripes were a bright blood red. He looked draconic, and had a single pair of bat-like wings, but his body was covered in fur, and he seemed to cross dragon with wolf and end up somewhere in the middle. On the left side of his face, crossing his eye vertically, was a white scar that cut to the skin, and his thick furry draconic tail twitched as he clicked his neck once or twice. A black and red katana hung off his hips, but it was attached to no belt. It hovered to his hips, as if magnetised. He gave a pleasant little growl, and began to speak in a strong Russian/Slavic accent.

"Well then, blinds out." Each member of the table took one of the chips from their own indvidual piles, and placed it in the middle. The fox flicked it along with the wolf/dragon, the sea dragon and Ixavolt slid the chips across the surface, while the mecha gryphon gave his chip an under hand toss. It landed perfectly in the middle of the other four and stopped dead, as if struck by a gust of wind. The white dragon reached out, picked up all the chips dextrously and dropped them back down neatly in two perfectly formed piles of three.

The wolf/dragon began to deal, and he dealt in a traditional fashion, one card to each person at the table, including himself, twice, until everyone had two cards. This in itself was not unusual, but what was unusual was what happened to the cards. A standard, red backed playing card went to the white dragon, but the fox recieved a Monopoly property, mortage side up, helpfully blanked out so as not to disadvantage the fox. An Uno card went to the Ixavolt, while the sea dragoness recieved a card from the game Cluedo, question mark faced up.

The mecha recieved another standard 52 card, while the dealer himself recieved another Uno card. Then, to the intense scowl of the white dragon, it went around again, Uno card to the white dragon, ANOTHER property to the fox, standard card to the Ixavolt, Illuminati card to the sea dragoness, standard card to the mecha gryphon, and one last standard card to the dealer. This all from what seemed to be a standard 52 card deck. At no point until the wolf/dragon dealt the cards did anything seem out of place from a normal Texas Hold'em hand.

Also, at no point did anyone say this was out of the ordinary. As each individual picked up the cards dealt to them, there was a selection of decidedly not blank expressions. The fox smiled widely, and his tail wagged excitedly, looking at his pair of railway stations, Kings Cross and Fenchurch Street. The Ixavolt looked at a blue Uno 2 and a diamond 2 quietly. The sea dragoness looked at a crowbar from the Clue game, and the Eco-Guerillas from the Illuminati deck (Resistance 6, cost 1). The gryphon, while expression was impossible behind the mask, surveyed a pair of black Jacks. The wolf/dragon grinned slyly as he had a standard diamond 6 and an Uno green 9. The white dragon scowled at the Queen of Hearts, and a blue "Pick up two" from Uno.

There was a few moments of silence while each of the combatants considered their hands, before the wolf/dragon turned to the white seraph-dragon next to him. "Ashkente, I believe the lead is yours." Ashkente, for that was his name, scowled further, his four eyes narrowing at the wolf/dragon, and he growled in a Scottish brogue. "Check."

The wolf/dragon nodded, turning to the fox. "Helios?" Helios grinned, perking up as he was now the focus of attention. "ALL IN." he declared excitedly. A growl of annoyance from Ashkente and a sigh from the sea dragoness stopped him mid perk, and he sought help from the wolf/dragon. "I can do that, right, Casimir?" "Normally one wouldn't do so so soon into the game, but yes, there's nothing stopping you." Casimir replied, a sly grin across his complexion.

"Well, some of us prefer to be a little more cautious with our chips." the Ixavolt said quietly, poking his pile as if half expecting it to explode. At this point, Helios, psyched up with the excitement, caught fire. Flame roared up his legs and across his arms, engulfing him rapidly as he jumped up onto the stool, crouching on it as his tail bounced up and down. "I'm all in! I'm all in!" Completely consumed with fire, his eyes gleamed in the midst of the inferno.

The reaction to this was not what one might expect in normal situations. If someone spontaneously combusted in a human casino, everyone would panic, but the sea dragoness merely rolled her eyes, and Casimir leaned on the table with one elbow, waited exactly 4.2 seconds, and then said, "You know those cards aren't fireproof, right?" with a grin full of teeth that could have come straight out of a shark. Sharp, pointed teeth, each and every one.

The fire consuming Helios vanished, but the damage was already done. He was unscathed by the conflagration, he was the fire elemental after all, but the cards were now nothing but smoke wafting on the breeze. The fire fox paused, slightly non-plussed. "uhhh..." he said, somewhat derailed. "Would you like another two cards, Helios?" Casimir said, still grinning. "Yes please!" Helios regained his confidence immediately. "I promise not to set them on fire this time!!"

"uh huh..." the sea dragoness muttered to herself, clearly not believing a word. Casimir dealt two more cards to the fire fox, two more Monopoly properties. Helios looked at the cards in excitement. Kings Cross Station and Fenchurch Street Station. Boy, was he lucky tonight! This hand was even better than the last! He pushed all his chips into the middle and put the two cards back on the table, unsinged, and undamaged.

"Ok, Sergei, your turn." Casimir nodded at the four armed Ixavolt. Sergei seemed to huddle closer to himself, perturbed at being looked at. "Uhhh, I think....fold." he stuttered, pushing the cards forwards, to be collected by Casimir. "Alright then. Lillieth, what about you?" "Casimir, I'm still a little confused on the rules of this game, and Helios has gone all in. Can I fold, but keep the cards so you can tell me what I had after the round?" The wolf/dragon nodded, and the sea dragon moved the cards forwards just far enough to make it clear she wanted no further part in the round.

Casimir turned to the cybernetic steampunk gryphon. "Kevur, you still with us?" Kevur's head lifted soundlessly. The glassy lens surveyed Helios' shoved stack, the arms motionless on the table, silence briefly descending on the table. Helios giggled a little. "I think I broke him." he covered his snout with a paw, trying to suppress a grin. Kevur's helm tilted to look at Casimir, before letting out a whistle, like that of a distant train. One gauntleted hand grabbed his war fan, and he placed it on the table, pushing all the chips forwards with it.

"Interesting." Casimir commented casually," Kevur calls the bet from Helios. Air and Fire in battle on the field." he paused slightly for dramatic effect, "And Chaos shall join them." he in turn pushed his stack forwards. This move caused Ashkente to scowl perhaps even more so than previously. "If you're in, Casimir, I'm out." "Not feeling particularly lucky this round, brother?" Casimir said off handedly, and got the rise he expected. "You would know."

"I thought we agreed no use of powers though. I can't rig the deck in my favour, Sergei can't look at all the cards through the wood, Kevur can't lift the cards with gusts of wind to get a sneak peek. We're all playing fair, like you wanted." Ashkente paused, but shook his head. "My hand is bad regardless. I fold." "Very well. Three players all in. Turn over cards. Lillieth, if you want to do the same, I'll coach throughout."

The fire fox turned over his railways, the mecha gryphon his Jacks. Casimir flipped over his 69 off-gamed, and Lillieth showed her crowbar/eco guerillas. Casimir put one card aside, and then dealt out three cards onto the middle of the table next to the chips, the flop. Seven of hearts, Eight of clubs, and The Angel Islington. "The flop," he announced, and then directed his comment to Lillieth," Both Helios and Kevur failed to hit anything with their pairs. You on the other hand would have three of a kind."

"How does that work out?" Sergei asked, confused. "Crowbar looks like a 7, and the Eco-Guerillas are 6+1, equalling 7. So she has two sevens, plus the one on the field. So three of a kind, and the lead." "You have a straight draw though." Ashkente noted, nodding at Casimir's cards. "True, a five or ten would give me the lead.But there's so many cards in the deck it could easily help someone else instead."

The wolf/dragon stopped any further conversation by putting another card aside, and then turning over one more card, next to the first three. It was a Guard from Love Letters. "The Turn card." Casimir announced," A One. No aces on the field, so not helpful to anyone yet." There was a hush around the table, as Casimir set one more card aside, and then flipped over the river card.

The ten of Clubs. Helios self-ignited again in annoyance, a fireball erupting behind him and ricocheting against one of the pillars. Ashkente rolled his eyes, while Lillieth rubbed her mouth thoughtfully. "River card, Ten of clubs. Completing my straight. Chaos takes the hand." "There's a surprise..." Ashkente growled. Casimir lifted his paws defensively. "I promised not to rig the deck. We're all fair here." "Uh huh. And you say humans play this game for FUN?" Ashkente insisted. Casimir began to scoop the winnings towards himself with his huge arms. "Yep. Honest truth, they play leagues against one another."

"Well," Lillieth said quietly," could we start again, given that two of us have already dropped out? Maybe if Helios could contain himself for ten minutes...." "Hey, I was having fun. I had a pair right off the bat." Helios protested his innocence. "And then I got an even better pair.Or at least, I think I did." "Kevur, shall we reset, do you want back in?"

The mecha gryphon turned his head to the side to look at Casimir. There was a long pause further as the creature digested the question, before he shook his head, accompanied with a mechanical grating noise. "Ok, fair enough." "Don't worry bout me." Helios giggled,"there's a bushfire in Australia going on, I'll just go check on that for a few minutes, let me know when the next round is starting!" He devolved into a streak of fire and disappeared into the clouds. Kevur lowered his head down, seemingly powering off, and the three remaining players watched as Casimir bundled up all the cards, and started re-shuffling the perfectly normal 52 card deck.

"Are you absolutely sure it's supposed to be played like this?" Ashkente insisted one last time. "Shouldn't the cards be standardized?" "Trust me, brother," Casimir grinned wickedly, a red glint in his scarred eye," I've sat at thousands of tables, dictating the course of luck and chaos for every one. This is absolutely how it's supposed to be played....."