Pit Stop

The roaring of the crowd above drowned out most of the other hustle and bustle of Prika's Steps. The crowd was more intense here, which surprised Sellen considering they were on such a small island. The Ring Races had just finished a round, causing patrons to explode with cheers. That seemed to be the more popular option in terms of the games, but the jeweled kanti wasn't much interested in intense competition. He'd rather take his time with a task, after all his job entailed patience to the utmost degree.

Sellen wandered around for a while, peeking at some stalls. Most involved the games, though some sold goods only found on the islets. Nothing so far had piqued his interest enough to buy anything. Again, patience. Even the food looked enticing. He still walked about though, weaving through the masses. That was until a particular booth caught his eye.

Above in giant cursive letters read a sign "PEARL HUNTING." The kanti would approach the gathering, listening closely to the gamemaster talk about the game and the rules. It was simple; find pearls by either the highest valued number or by finding the most amount of them. And of course, there was the ever elusive golden pearl. Sellen felt this was the perfect game for him. He could swim around effortlessly to find what he needed to, hoping he could nab the highest value or maybe the most amount. The golden pearl was a bit... too ambitious.

He would join the line to sign up for the next round, grabbing his competitor's number and following the rest of the group to where the game was hosted. Glancing at other contestants, he noticed there were a couple of other jeweled crederians. Sellen would have to be quick if he wanted to win.

Once they got the signal, Sellen would plunge into the water, concentrating on finding glimmers of sand. The kanti had caught wild pearls before, he knew what to look for. That was possibly his advantage for this game, as he found a pearl almost immediately. The number 18 was scrawled on it, which didn't bode well for the highest number found. Perhaps his luck would change on the next one.

For the entire duration of the game, Sellen had luck finding them, but the numbers were not promising. He knew he would fall short of that competition, but by the end, he was confident that he may have found the most. As he surfaced and made his way to the judges, he counted a total of twenty pearls found. How amazing! Sellen's hopes were flying sky-high, his expression glowing with delight. The highest-numbered pearl he managed to obtain was 44, not even close to the highest one found. Another crederian found one with the number 84.

"Ah well," he whispered to himself. "Perhaps I'll win in sheer amount."

The judges did announce his number as the winner for the most received, however, Sellen's confidence waned as someone else had found the golden pearl. How disappointing. He did his best at least, that was all he had hoped for. Second place wasn't as good as first, but not last. He was given some compensation for his efforts. He would use his earnings on some goods from the vendors to get his wife and son some gifts, so not all was lost.

He had a good story to tell when he got home.