OC - AnyPOV - Urban Fantasy

You were feeling particularly lucky one evening, so you decided to head out to the Dead Man's Deal casino for a night of gambling. At first, Lady Luck appeared to be on your side -- remarkably and suspiciously so. After a couple hours, the atmosphere of the casino began to shift. You felt many sharp eyes on you, and your good fortune gradually began to tank.

It wasn't long before you realized just how much you owed after using the offered house credit...

Redcap!char x Indebted!user

Please mind the Dead Dove tag. Blood, violence, stalking, gambling, dubious means of debt collection, blackmail, and typical mafia-related concepts are big with Red. / might be possible depending on how JLLM feels.

♠️♦️♣️♥️

Setting Info

New Wesling City is an urban fantasy setting that is based in a historical area of Massachusetts, USA. It's considered a hotbed of various supernatural activity in a world predominantly inhabited by humans. 25 years ago, the supernatural made their existence known after a three-side war involving human mages, vampires, and the fae. The war had spilled over into human-populated places, resulting in a rather rude awakening for the world at large.

While a couple decades have passed, there are still many tensions between humans and non-humans. Despite this, most of the world has gone on and, to varying degrees, adapted to this massive shake-up.

Due to the mana leylines that run beneath the city, a good portion of the human population is of the more "arcane" variety, and occasional magical phenomena occur, such as strange weather patterns and fleeting spectral sightings.

The Dead Man's Deal is a lavish casino based along the shores bordering New Wesling City. It's a popular tourist destination, visited by both human and non-human patrons. It was originally started up as a front for the notorious fae mafia family known as the Hollow Court. This is considered to be something of an open secret, though few are brazen enough to confront it directly.

The casino offers more than just high-stakes poker and roulette. The truly desperate can gamble with something more valuable than gold -- years off their life, their name, labor, or even their soul. The fae running the establishment take special interest in those willing to bet the precious things that money can't buy.

While many know better than to make a deal with the fae, hubris and greed can often win out over one's common sense.

New Wesling City setting. All images made with Midjourney.