Saturday, August 11
Just past nine in the evening
The Black Chimaera
Northern Scotland

It was what passed for a lively Saturday night in the Black Chimaera, located somewhere in the wild forests of Northern Scotland. The infamous pub was now underground in more ways than one: its location was still a highly guarded secret, set underneath an old oak tree with entrance only allowed through a carefully guarded portkey, protected by a faithful Fidelius secret keeper.

Whispers of the Chimaera's revival had spread quietly since its reopening a year ago, weaving its way through shadows and down alleyways to find those who were inclined to be sympathetic to its owner's aims. Concealed as it was, it kept its visitors safe from the prying eyes of either Muggle or Ministry. These days, it was a popular escape for those unpopular with the Ministry: ex-Azzies, thieves and rabble-rousers, and those inclined to practice darker magics that might be frowned upon by those in power.

"Again?" Aviad asked, flashing his tablemate a bright smile as he used his wand to quickly recall all of the playing cards into a stack.

It had been almost five months since he'd removed himself from residence at the Shodding Arms Hotel, spooked by the assault against his neighbor[1] and news from his cousin[2] of Savvina Katopodis's survival. Living underground hadn't agreed with the mage: he looked paler now, with a strange sickly pallor about him that was difficult to exactly describe, but he seemed in good spirits as he began to shuffle the cards again.

Even if they hadn't quite been friends before, Nate Briggs was closer to one now. Aviad had kept in touch with his shabby former neighbor after he'd gone on the run. They'd fallen into a habit of weekly gaming nights, alternating between popular British magical games like Wizards' Poker and chess and those that were less common here. Tonight, Aviad was teaching the wizard how to play Ruach, a magical version of a popular card game back home.[3]

"You know, Briggs," Aviad said nicely, flashing his opponent a devilish grin as he expertly cut the cards, then continued to shuffle. "You aren't half bad at this. Are you sure this is your first time playing, brother?"

1.	March 20, 2012 - The Message
2.	April 6, 2012 - Why is This Night Different From All Other Nights?
3.	Similar to Yaniv, Ruach is a draw-and-discard game, where players draw cards from a central deck and then discard a card or run of sequential cards each round. It is made much more challenging by the fact that the cards turn invisible and visible at random intervals, meaning that a seemingly good hand can suddenly turn bad by the reappearance of an unexpected card, or that a carefully-planned strategy can get instantly scuttled when a key card disappears. It is also not uncommon for Ruach players to cheat by sneaking ghost cards in front of their opponent and then claiming that the card must have been dropped when it suddenly reappears.

Briggs' paranoia about the Black Chimaera and Cinead Tawse had been allowed to fade over the summer; neither made any omen of ill will or, even, that they cared about Briggs at all. It helped that Nate had once again given up burglary as a past-time. It also helped that his probation from his 2009 wand attack on an Auror in the course of one of those burglaries had finally ended. Now, no one cared where he went. He hadn't seen Bagnold or Lorelei Hunt either. No, this was the happiest Nate Briggs had been in years.

He inhaled from the cigarette and plucked it back from his lips to hold between his fingers before taking a sip from the brown liquor in the opaque glass. The index finger on his right hand had been absent since April, the skeletal prosthetic removed by a healer - he'd avoided the topic.

"What, like it's hard?" he asked with a hint of a smile. Nate spent a great deal of time with the very interesting, congenial, strange, and clever Aviad Cohen. Nate knew that his former neighbor was into dark and dangerous things, but perhaps that was part of the appeal, being doom-adjacent.

Then he elaborated. "Saw it played a few times in Azkaban. Where's Tzipporah?"

The cursed or re-animated toucan was a frequent companion for Avi, and Nate loved a pet.