The noise didn't go unnoticed. There's a sigh from the Boatman, a hollow rasping thing.

He takes up the oar and paddles more vigorously, bringing the boat around.

Not long after, he carefully leans over the side, reaching into the still water with a skeletal hand.

A very dead-looking body gets hauled out of the waters, and is unceremoniously plopped down towards the back of the boat.

With that, the Boatman returns to his post, pulling at the oar to turn the boat back onto its usual course. As he does so, he speaks; a harsh, creaking voice.

"I generally prefer that my passengers not make extra work for me. Or, at least, that they not do so here. Mind, I've no specific complaint in this instance. It's not the first time that one's tried something of that sort, and the comeuppance is richly deserved."

"I'm glad you feel I didn't do anything wrong, sir. May I have your name, if you please?"

He turns to look at you, grinning. (he's always grinning)

"Alas, you may not. In this place, I am less my self and more my role. I am known simply as 'The Boatman'. I ferry the dead across the river."

"So I am dead. Bugger, She's going to be so mad. She's probably going to Raise me, if she finds my body, I don't know if that changes my destination?"

He tilts his head slightly at the unusual terminology, but elects to answer the question directly.

"That depends. The rules suggest that my boat ought to only have one destination, but there are loopholes."

He gestures to an old and battered-looking chess board, set up across the nearest seat to the Boatman's station.

"Perhaps the oldest and best-known loophole is that anyone who defeats me in a game is permitted to return to life. Do you play?"

"I've only learned to game with dice, sir Boatman. I know Mia and Perudo."

"A game of chance is as valid as a game of skill, for my purposes."

So saying, the Boatman gently brushes all the chess pieces off to one side of the board, before flipping it over.

The opposite side of the board is divided into six spaces, each marked with two different symbols. There's a bat, a cat, a hat, a rat, a tentacle, a lens, a bee, an eye, a knife, and a tower. And... two less identifiable symbols.

The symbols are laid out such that each space contains two symbols, in opposite corners; bat with tower, cat with knife, hat with bee, rat with tentacle, lens with eye, and the two indecipherable symbols with each other.

The Boatman proceeds to produce a trio of twelve-sided shapes, gently handing them to you, while pushing the white chess pieces in your direction.

"The game is Devils' Dice. The white pieces are your starting stake. Place as many pieces you like on whichever spaces you like, then roll the dice. For each matching symbol, you keep your stake and win an extra piece. Any pieces you put on a space that doesn't match any of your rolls are lost. If you put a piece in the middle of the space, both symbols on that space count, but you can also put them in either corner to double your winnings if it matches that symbol, but earn nothing if it matches the opposite. If you roll a winning symbol on more than one of the dice, you win more than once."

Uh. Valka tries to think it through. She's nowhere as smart as her Lady, but she's been taught to try and think and not give the first answer that comes to her mind.

So if she places all the pieces on a single symbol she's probably going to lose them. There's twelve symbols and three dice, so more likely than not that the symbol doesn't appear.

What if she places all pieces in the middle of the space, divided equally? Let's say... three pieces in each space. Then she rolls three dice, and gets back... three she staked, plus three more, for each dice. So that's... eighteen pieces, same number as she started with. Uh, it's a fair game, she didn't expect it to be.

"What happens if I win more white pieces than we have available? And what happens if - conversely - I lose all of them?"

"If you win all of the black pieces from me, I'll take you to your preferred side of the river. Conversely, if you lose all of your white pieces, it won't be possible for you to return to life."

Her Lady will rescue her. For sure. There is nothing that can stop Her from Raising her, right? As long as her soul is intact she can be...

Oh.

So that's what the wager really is.

"I understand, sir."

So she'll need to cheat. Alone, without her magic and with just her clothes on her.

This is fine.