A Dangerous Game

"So, there I was, fighting my way out of the Shroud with this small band of mercenaries I joined up with, trying to get away from this band of delusional Moogles . With The Wanderers' Luck itself on my side I manage to snag along an axe so I could take SOMETHING back to my contract..." The Lalafellin woman peered at her cards, waiting for the four others at her table to make their move before she continued.
"And when I finally give him this Moogle-made axe, he looks at it and and has the guts to tell me he rather hoped for one of those fancy Allagan beanbags... I fold..." She huffed and put her cards away.
"That's a godsdamned shame... I call." The Hyur to her left said while sliding over some Ventures.
The center of the table was filled with Venture tokens while a crate to the side read 'Prize Bin'. The game they played was simple; whomever had the most tokens at the end got to pick from the crate first, followed by the runner-up and so on. The small stack of tokens in front of her said she was going to be picking the bottom of the proverbial barrel though.
Two Elezen put down their hand first, neither of them looking very happy. At least one of them still had three Kings, the other had clearly been bluffing.
Next up was a Roegadyn who had been grinning ever since his hand was dealt. The man was impossible to read with his big dumb smile and had been winning so big she'd almost think he was cheating.
"Read and despair..." He boomed across the table "This old marauder is going to Flush the winnings Straight into his pocket." He put down his cards starting with an Ace, followed by a well-made image of Raubahn. He was in the middle of showing his next card, represented by Nanamo when an alarum suddenly went off.
"Thall's Balls!" the Hyur called out, "Time!"
And with those words the game was called short. The Venture tokens on the table were completely forgotten when almost everyone made a mad dash for the crate and grabbed the first thing they could get their hands on, leaving the diminutive fifth to sigh softly. She gathered the coin left there by the others, seeing no need in letting good venture tokens go to waste and tipped over the crate to see what was left for her.
...
"A... flounder... thanks..." The words from the adventurer taking the fish in his hands could not be more disappointed and she knew the poor creature would be reduced to a handful of sand the moment she left the Lavender Beds. "Here's some more tokens... Try and do your best, I guess."
She took the two bits and secured them with the rest of her stash before bowing and heading back towards Ul'Dah. Determined to do her best and play better this time.

--------------------------------------------------
497 words
Character Name: Taross Blackburn
World: Excalibur, Primal Datacenter
Prize Choice: Scarf of Wondrous Wit
--------------------------------------------------