The light of scattered candles in the dreary alcove served little to peak my interest in my studies, illuminating only the dust that drifted through the air of the chamber. Sighing, I brought myself closer to the scroll and as my mind lingered upon the mysteries contained within, every word became increasingly more obtuse and outright frustrating. Enlightenment is certainly a difficult road to read upon for an Illuminati, but whether or not you'd have a scroll written by someone coherent or by an initiate who was hitting the pipe far more than they should've been has always been a dice roll. Perhaps, in some ironic way, it was fitting for this subject of my studies.

"Paradigms and the Illusion of Probability," I murmured, reviewing the title of the scroll at its peak.

With another sigh, I moved my hand over to the side of the aged vellum and began to furl the scroll once more, lightly securing it with a black and gold ribbon. Holding my hand aloft of the vellum, I began to chant underneath of my breath. Within moments, I could see the words flare to life from the back of the scroll and shift into a mass of illegible shapes and symbols.

"At the very least," a raspy voice said from the dark, "you care more for security than you do for your studies."

Alarmed, I gave a slight push from my desk, my chair scraping loudly against the sandstone floor of the pyramid and sending a loud reverberation through the hollow chamber. The voice emerged into the candlelight, the light catching the gold of his robes and flaring brightly.

"Teacher," I replied with a start. "My apologies..." I added with a newly hushed tone.

"The underlying principles of the reality-altering facets of probability are difficult for me to fathom," I admitted defensively.

"Explain?" my teacher replied with a rasp, tilting his hooded head to the side in curiosity. He was of small stature, yet imposing all the same with his aura of authority. He was an aged dracnari as far as one could tell from what his robes revealed, his azure scales dulled by the passing of time and from obvious experimentation. His robes were a mixture of black silk, golden adornments, and purple trim. Patterned among the robes were runes made from golden cloth and front and center of them was the stamp of the Illuminati Order.

I merely took the scroll into my hand and stood from my chair. Moving cautiously towards the Archprelate, I extended the scroll towards him and he grasped it within his mutated claw. Lifting it close to his cowl, he merely began to chuckle underneath of his breath.

"Ah," he managed in the midst of his lighthearted mirth, "this is rather easy to explain, Initiate."

My teacher shook his head and his posture suggested an odd mixture of both amusement and disappointment.

"Understand," he began, concealing the scroll into the folds of his robes. "Probability is just another aspect of this reality that can altered to your whim... You must project your will and make i--"

"I know," I replied swiftly in slight protest, "but in my experiments with rolling dice, even if I willed them to roll a certain way, they would not."

Sighing, my teacher beckoned me forward with a gesture in his claws. With an acknowledging nod, I moved behind him and we began to move towards the exterior of the Illuminati pyramid. Strange was the normal here, and the strange was beyond anything I could really comprehend.

We reached the exterior of the pyramid and the city proper. Gaudiguch was a brilliant and vibrant city, full of colors and bronze architecture. The heat on most days would render it unbearable for most, but my teacher and I were greeted to the steady chill of the night and the light of both the nearby Eternal Flame and the stars aloft.

"Come," my teacher said again, as we made our way deeper into the city itself before finally finding ourselves in a rowdy tent of sorts. Festivities and raves were the norm in the city and just about any reason could be found for celebration. These reasons generally ranged from a military victory to Gaudiguch or just because it's a fine day in Tzarin. The Illuminati were no strangers to celebration, but those of our Order were generally a bit more restrained as we acted as the spiritual advisors for the city.

However, contrary to that claim, our teacher made way through the rabblerousers and patrons towards a nearby card table lined with a few patrons and a seedy-looking dealer. The dealer was a male human of darkened complexion, short black hair, and modest clothing save for the large golden hoop attached to his left ear.

"Aha," said the dealer, catching sight of the two of us as he collected cards and winnings from the previous hand. "Here to try your luck, my fine hooded friends?" he asked, granting us a wide smile dotted with golden teeth here and there.

"Here to teach a lesson," my teacher replied curtly, taking a seat between two other patrons, both of which looking as if they had too much to drink.

"Very well," the dealer chuckled, "you teachin' him cards? For a few sovereigns, I'll be glad to teach em' too."

"No," my teacher replied, removing a few coins from the folds of his cloak and placing them upon the table. "A different sort of lesson."

The dealer nodded and gave another seedy smile. "Place yer bets then," he said with enthusiasm to the rest of the patrons. Like clockwork, each patron placed their coin on the table and received two cards in return. Finally, the dealer came to himself and issued two cards as well.

"Now," my teacher murmured, shifting his attention towards me. "I'm going to teach you that you create your own luck and determine your own probabilities. This reality..."

"No time for jabberin, my fine hooded friend!" the dealer exclaimed, "would you be hittin', standin', or just givin' me your coin?"

Grunting, my teacher resumed his play and examined his cards. Over his shoulder, I could make the presence of two cards, a ten and a two. My teacher smiled and looking over to me once more, he gave a casual motion of his hand. Minute, yet discernable, a shift in reality had taken place in the most subtlest of ways.

"Hit me," my teacher said, giving a smile towards the dealer.

"Literally or with a card!?" the dealer joked, shaking his head before issuing another card towards my teacher.

A ten.

It's a shame, I thought, that we Illuminati could not modify the flesh of our chins. If we could, I was fairly sure that the mouth of my tutor would've caused it to drop all the way to the floor with the stupified look on his face. It was readily apparent, even with the cowl.

"Aww, twenty-two! Bust!" the dealer exclaimed, taking my teacher's coin and everyone elses to boot.

"Again," my teacher grunted, placing a heftier load of coins on the table this time. As the dealer reached him, the energies fluctating around my teacher became more palpable this time and almost dangerously obvious. He was issued two cards:

A three and another three.

Grunting, my teacher made slight, fidgeting notions with his hands, simultaneously adjusting the reality on the card table and placing more coin on it.

"Split," my teacher murmured, and the dealer issued him a card on his first three. It was a seven.

"Hit," my teacher said, and the dealer kindly gave him a ten of hearts.

Satisfied, my teacher stood on that hand and then requested to be hit on his other three. Again, it seemed, that luck was truly in his favor as he received another seven. Tapping on the table again to signify that he wanted another card, the dealer humbly obliged and granted him a ten. With a wide smile, my teacher stood on his pair of twenties.

"My, my," the dealer exclaimed, "a bit lucky there, aren't we?"

The dealer looked to his own cards, the first being one of the few remaining tens. Flipping his concealed card, it was revealed to be...

An ace of spades.

"Twenty-one!" the dealer said with the sort of grin that would give even a furrikin a violent inclination. Scooping the winnings, the dealer took them all towards his side of the table.

My teacher howled in frustration this time around, placing more coin on the table. As the night grew longer and the ale grew stale for many of the patrons, the tent began to clear out. As the bets passed and the dealer collected more of my teacher's coin and frustrations, we were left with just myself, the dealer, and my teacher.

"I've had it!" my teacher exclaimed in absolute frustration, watching as the dealer collected his coin on another blackjack. Paying me absolutely no mind, he turned on his heel angrily and stormed out of the tent.

"What an excellent take tonight," the dealer murmured, moving the large sum of coins into his pouch.

Before long, another figure drifted into the tent and made a motion towards the table. At first, I thought it was my teacher, but these robes were far more ornate and ceremonial in their appearance. The dealer merely raised his head and give a cocksure smile towards the figure. "Archprelate," the dealer said, giving a slight bow of his head.

The Archprelate bowed his head in response before casting a sidelong glance towards me.

"Are you teaching him?" the Archprelate asked.

As my confusion began to set in, the dealer waved his hand in a dismissive notion. "Nothing so crass," the dealer replied.

"You know," the Archprelate began, his tone slightly annoyed yet hushed. "If you wanted to make extra coin on the side, Grand Cipher, there are better ways to do it than shedding your robes and being a two-bit con artist."

"Grand Cipher?" I said with a shock in my voice, making a motion to cover my mouth.

The Archprelate and Grand Cipher both looked over to me this time. The Archprelate's face, as far as what could be soon from the cowl, had some small measure of disapproval while the Grand Cipher's smile became all the wider.

"So," I said carefully, "does that mean you've been manipulating the outcomes all this time? Utilizing Paradigmatics?"

The Grand Cipher opened his mouth to speak, but was swiftly cut off by the Archprelate. "No," the Archprelate said with a loud, disapproving tone in his voice. "He just cheats."

The Grand Cipher smiled once again and shook the sleeves of his tunic, causing a fair number of cards to fall from it and onto the table.

Dumbfounded, I spent a good few moments staring at the card table with my mouth slightly agape. Without realizing, the Archprelate had gone already and I was only roused by the touch of the Grand Cipher's hand upon my shoulder. With that same smile, he walked past me and towards the folds of the tent.

"You make your own luck," he said in passing before he made off to the city proper.

"Apparently so," I murmured.