Troll Head Oracle
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The Troll Head Oracle
Three came riding for the pleasures of the gaming room
All will discover that gambling shall be their doom
Ashur-Kay pulled up his horse under the archway. “Did you hear that?” he asked his companions.
Lord Stakra barked out a laugh, forcing his steed into the tightly controlled circle he had trained it to, feet falling in the same hoofprints. “Ah the old speaker, the troll head. She’s up to her tricks, eh?”
A nobleman with all his inheritance to bet
In finding a cheat, his blood will be let
The eldest of the three, Antonio, had to stop his horse and turn it around. “No trick. They cut the head from a troll queen, and now it speaks ill-fortunes – to those who can understand.”
Ashur-Kay looked upwards to where the lamplight met shadow. A great black ball, with just the faint impression of features. He shuddered.
A youth from the country for the first time plays and wins
Will find the losers make good on his long clean limbs
Lord Stakra laughed again. “They hang it so it moves with the wind, and above, a hollow tube. When the breeze blows mysterious noises come forth. In the day you would find eager charlatans to translate.
Antonio shook his head. “No tube to be seen. It is known that the trolls have uncanny powers.
Old enough to know better, he loses more than he gains
Facing ruin in the morning he has no one else to blame
Tar sealed the eyes and blocked the ears; the mouth was sewn up and even if the troll head could smell, surely the only scent would be tar. Did it then sense the riders as they left to their fate?
Three came riding for the pleasures of the gaming room
All will discover that gambling shall be their doom
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