The room below initially appeared more spartan than upstairs, the walls seemingly to have been hewn from rough stone but the wooden accents and beams matched those upstairs. The ceiling was low except for the centre, the room circular with a sunken stage in the middle, surrounded by a raised rim. A circular wooden table rested in on the stage, enough chairs ringed around it, the centre of the circular was missing, providing an open space in the middle of everything for everyone to see into. The ring of table was broken into quarters, allowing a small path to walk into the centre.
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rough idea
All of the chairs at the centre table were the same except for one. High backed, heavy and solid with a plush vinyl cushion, it was only up close that detailed engravings in the chairs and tables, showing twisting leaves and branches of a tree or small animals. The last chair was different, set back from the circle slightly, darker and larger, it marked the top of the circle. This chair too, was engraved, but with designs much darker, of snarling wolves and other beasts that lurked in the dark woods of ones mind. On the back rest of this chair, centred at the top was a disc of some sought, appearing to spin freely it showed the carved heads of many fantastical and horrible beasts.
A dark robe or cloak hung from his chair and Chester without pause pulled it on as he turned to face the crowd. The room was lit only by a candle chandelier that hung above the open space in the middle, and a wooden banister ran around the raised ring of the stage. Behind the banister rested several other chairs, similar in design to Chester's, but smaller.
"Welcome to our first game," Chester smiled, motioning to the chairs around the table as before pulling the deep hood of his cloak over his head. "Take a seat those who dare, this is a game of Fate. Those who wish to sit out may do so in the second ring, but know that Fate is master here and if the game calls.... you will come"
He sat in the Game Master's seat and produced the deck of cards, making it look he pulled them from underneath the table when in fact they congealed from the very shadows around them.
"The game is simple, you will draw a number of cards, and you must do what they say," He smiled, charmingly like a dealer at Vegas as he shuffled the deck one handed, "The game last for nine rounds, every three rounds we take a short break for different game. Are there any questions?"
* * *
Viola quickly took a seat off the side of the table, away from Chester's immediate sight line.