Lady's Gambit

A deceptively simplistic game, Lady's Gambit has evolved since it first became popular among the travelling caravans of the Wilderlands. In it's most popular form, Lady's Gambit involves rolling two dice, and if any players dice add to a total of seven, they win. In the case that no-one has dice adding to this number, no one wins and a new round begins. Often played in rounds and commonly used in conjunction with gambling, the way to win overall can vary; either bets are made and paid to the winner of each round, or bets are paid to the first person to win a certain number of rounds. This is the version you will find played all across Eleron, spread along trading routes the Wilderland Caravaneers travel.
Interestingly enough, people have reported that despite their best efforts cheating at Lady's Gambit was impossible, rigged die would roll normally and illusory magic would simply fail.

Origin and Development

In the early years of 2E Wilderfolk were unfamiliar with dice, the earliest recorded games of Lady's Gambit were played with cards instead, typically a handpainted Fortune Deck. As the worship of Avandra, a god of luck and travel, is deep-rooted in the culture of the Wilderlands the game is played in her honour and it's believed that the winner is whom she has chosen, thus lending to the game's original titles; Lady Luck's Gambit and Avandra's Favour.
In the card version of the game, the total value of the two cards given must equal seven in order to win the round. Those cards are then discarded and new ones are drawn from the deck until seven total rounds have been completed. Lady's Gambit in this form wasn't played with a group larger than 3 as otherwise, players would run out of cards in the deck to draw. As the winner was said to be chosen by Lady Luck herself, to accuse the winner of cheating was considered a slight to the god herself and the sore loser would be sure to suffer bad luck in the following days. This aspect of the game was largely dropped upon reaching a larger audience.
As the game spread to port towns, cards were dropped in favour of using dice which were far more durable and not vulnerable to water damage like the traditional decks.

Mythos and Religion

It's said the game was first created by Avandra herself, to bring an end to a conflict between the gods Ioun and Baravar. Baravar had 'acquired' a book from Ioun's library he claimed now belonged to him as Ioun's name was clearly not marked anywhere on the book itself. Upon hearing of this, Avandra met with Baravar under the guise of wanting to have a friendly drink and gamble with him. Each game, Baravar miraculously won and grew ever more confident and pleased with his victorious streak. After losing several games Avandra offered that they do something entirely new, and so they began their game of Lady's Gambit.
Given his previous wins Baravar had grown cocky, and after some goading agreed to bet the stolen book for the game, Avandra herself betting her magic coat. Needless to say, Baravar lost the round, and swiftly begged Avandra to let the winner be the best of three games, and then the best of five when he continued losing. After losing the seventh round he had desperately bargained for, he gave up and accepted his loss, handing the book over to Avandra who returned it to its proper owner. The validity of this story is heavily debated, especially among the clergy of Baravar, who argue that no god would be idiotic enough to willingly enter a game of chance with Lady Luck herself.

Fortune Deck

The tools traditionally used to play this game, these decks contain 28 cards, 4 suites with 7 cards in each, numbered. These decks are not purchased, either made by an individual for their own use or occasionally passed down by family. The pictures on the cards and the themes of the suites vary from painter to painter, but common suite types include animals like foxes, songbirds and mules, flora and coins.