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Dream World Mirau by Josephina Mari
Day Twenty One of NaNoWriMo

After I had settled into my room I decided to go check on Baer and Karou to see how they were doing. Neither of them seemed bothered at all by the boat ride. Baer told me he was going to try and get some rest since we had at least a day worth of sea bound traveling, so I decided to leave him alone. I went over to Karou’s door and knocked on it. After a few seconds I received no response so reached for the door handle instinctively and to my surprise the door was unlocked. Karou was sitting cross-legged on the floor with one of the crew members of the ship playing a tile game called Majongg. The object of the game seemed to be to match the title pictures in groups of three or more, but the exact rules I couldn’t be sure of from just observation of the two playing. “Hey Karou, can I play too? I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it if you give me the basic rules.” I said as I sat down on the floor next to him. “Well we don’t exactly play by the true rules. We modified a few rules and made some rules up, but our version of the game is simpler then the original. You get seven tiles to start with and then you take turns picking up one tile at a time then you discard one tile per turn so you always have seven. How you win is by getting groups of two, three, or more of the same tile, same number, or sequence of tiles like one, two, and three of bamboo tiles. A grouping of three beats a grouping of two. Scoring is a little harder to explain so we will do it this way. At the end you divide you tiles into the groups and then we cross eliminate based on how many groups you have. First we will start with all the groups of two. You can use a group of three to eliminate an opponent’s group of two but then you can’t use that group of three for anything else and it is put aside to start the not eliminated pile. Whoever has most groups not eliminated wins. Single tiles don’t count for anything and are eliminated. When a person has all tiles paired up then they say “Majongg” forcing other players to start elimination process with their tiles. Let us finish this round and we will add you in the next one okay Mari?” Karou said as the crew member looked a little annoyed that Karou was taking awhile to explain everything.

“Alright sounds fair. I’ll try to learn what I can watching you play.” I said smiling then I watched Karou take his turn. He drew a completely white tile which he kept then he discarded a tile with four circles on it. The crew member then picked up the tile Karou discarded and put it on his rack which I could not see. Afterward he discarded a tile with a bamboo picture on it. Karou and the crew member took turns alternating between drawing from the discard pile and drawing from the unknown pile that looked like a wall of tiles surrounding the discard pile. “Looks like I win again. You better hope that your lady friend can win your money back with some beginners luck. Majongg! Two pairs of three and one pair of west directional tiles.” The crew member said as he revealed his tiles to Karou and I. Karou used one of his groups of three to eliminate the crew members lone pair of two leaving Karou with only a group of three remaining after his non-paired tiles were taken away. The crew member had two pairs of three remaining verses Karou’s single group of three. Scores were tallied up and then all the tiles were put in the middle of the table and mixed up. After that four even walls were made of two tiles high and sixteen tiles wide. The walls were then pushed together to make a large square of tiles in the middle of the table. Karou then rolled a pair of small dice in the middle of the square revealing twelve since he got six on both dice. Karou counted twelve tiles counterclockwise then he took the two tiles that were below his finger when he stopped. He then picked up the dice and put them in the box the tiles go into. The crew member took the next stack of two tiles to the left of where Karou took his. “Take the next two Mari. We will each pick a stack of two for two more turns around the circle until we all have six tiles then we will each draw one more to make seven total. After that I will draw for the first discard. Randy will go next and Mari last.” Karou said as he took another stack of tiles.

Once we all had seven tiles I watched Karou and Randy arrange their tiles so I did the same trying to match the pictures. I already had one group of three to start with, but none of the other tiles matched. I watched Karou and Randy both take their turns and discard a tile afterward. I picked up the two of bamboo and placed it next to the single bamboo tile I had already then I discarded a tile that had a bird on it with the number one in the upper right corner. The game continued on rotating around the circle until finally I got the last Majongg tile I needed and said “Majongg!” in a little too excited voice. Karou and Randy both looked at me stunned then I showed them two pairs of two tiles and the group of three I started with. “That was quick. I only have a pair of two at the moment. Lady Luck is laughing at me today.” Karou said looking sad then I watched as Randy revealed his tiles. He had a pair or two tiles as well however the remaining three tiles did not match so they were discarded. I used my grouping of three to eliminate one of Randy’s groups of two leaving me with my two pairs against his one pair. “I jinxed myself. Your friend does have some crazy beginners luck. I think I’m going to call it a day. I should get back to my shift down below. If you need anything ask one of the crew. They may look like scalawags, but they are good people. I have been working on this ship ten years now since I was fourteen when the Cap’t took me in as a boy. Well enough of my life story, got to get back to work. You kids take care of your selves and be careful in Mesa. It’s not like it use to be over there.” Randy said then he handed me some cero as my winning before he exited Karou’s room to return to the lower deck of the ship. I helped Karou put away all the Majongg tiles into the small travel sized box then Karou put it away in the bag he carried over his shoulders.

“Hey Karou can you tell me about the monetary system here in this world? Baer was going to explain it to me, but I think it’s better if I ask you and let him rest. To start with how much is this money worth and what is the difference between coins and bills?” I said as I pulled out the money I got from the innkeeper and then I put it on the table in front of me along with the money I won from Randy. “The coins represent pieces of cero. The smaller silver coins are two hundred fifty cero, while the larger bronze coin is five hundred cero. The bills represent one thousand cero which is a light green color, five thousand cero which is red in color, ten thousand cero which is blue in color, twenty thousand cero which is orange in color, fifty thousand cero which is purple in color, and one hundred thousand cero which is a golden color. Total you have five thousand seven hundred and fifty cero. It doesn’t sound like much, but for a beginner that can buy you a lot of bread and a few good starter swords.” Karou said smiling at me. “How much money did you lose Karou? I can give you some of my winnings if you want me to.” I said offering to split the difference with him. “I lost five thousand before you arrived since I got a little careless, but it’s alright really. I’ll gain it back along the way I’m sure.” Karou said smiling optimistically. “Five thousand cero so that equals out to five of these green bills right?” I said holding them out to Karou while I kept the coins in my left hand. Karou nodded to me as he took the green bills from me then he stuffed them in his wallet. He then took out a red bill and handed it to me. “Those are a little lighter to carry around in your pocket since we didn’t get you a money bag while we were in town. I’ll try to get you one the next town we get to.” Karou said wondering how he always seemed to forget something important after it was too late to go back and get it.

“How much was the red one worth again…Ten thousand? No that can’t be right… It was worth five thousand cero. That’s exactly how much I gave him though. Oh well.” I thought to myself as I put the red bill and cero coins inside my pocket again. “We have a long trip ahead of us until we reach the shore, and even then it is still not over. We have to find Baer’s Master who went after the Akuen in Mesa. Mesa is a big place and dangers lurk around every corner so we have to go prepared. The potions I bought you will help with that. If you get hurt drink the red one to speed up your natural healing ability for a short time. The yellow potion is oil for your bow. You want to keep the string moist so it doesn’t break on you. The purple colored potion is thrown to the ground to activate a smoke screen to hide from enemies or escape. The light blue potions you won’t need until you start casting magic so for now try to save those ones. I think that is enough questions for today Mari you should try to get some rest.” Karou said hoping he didn’t confuse me too much with all the color coded items and their meanings. “I will try to get as much sleep as possible. It still scares me a bit when the big waves hit the ship and make it rock back and forth, but I think I’ll get use to it eventually. I’m curious to see what we are served for breakfast. Good night Karou. See you in the morning I guess.” I said to Karou then I waved at him before I left his room and returned to mine. I locked my door from the inside then I climbed into bed trying my hardest to fall asleep as I felt the ship slowly drift from side to side below me.