<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/IoRcGg5.jpg)</div><strong>"Well then, ladies and gentlemen,"</strong>Erica says with a smile as she steps onto the stage in an exaggerated manner, hands behind her back and her chest pushed forward prominently, a pair of stage hands rushing out in front of her as though she had left them with little to no time to actually prepare for her actual act as she had described it to the owners and operators of the<em>Beholder</em>. On the stage they placed a table ever so slightly tilted forwards towards the audience to allow them to see the trick prepared and textured with felt to avoid sliding as a result, and presented Erica with a pack of cards, to which she nodded her thanks,<strong>"to the common person a single coin is magical, it can fill their bellies for a day, a week, longer perhaps depending on the scarcity of the metal made in its forging. Personally I've always thought of bankers and accountants as magicians, being able to move massive amounts of coins here and there when needed by their clientele."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"And that's the thing, isn't it? Magic is common, we know it exists and it's so common as to be unimpressive when used on stage. I don't have the knack for it myself, never even thought of it. What I have always found impressive though, are people who can move money."</strong>Unsealing the cards she begins to shuffle them,<strong>"Those magicians I mentioned earlier, I've studied <em>long</em> and <em>hard</em> under them,"</strong>she says, picking out four cards with one hand, the other making a slow jerking motion near her mouth as her tongue is used to protrude the side of her cheek,<strong>"on the magic of moving money. Tonight I am going to present to you an illusion of money going from one pocket," </strong>revealing one of her cards to be the Jack of Clubs,<strong>"to another,"</strong>showing the Queen of Hearts, King of Diamonds and the Joker,<strong>"without even using my hands. It's at this point I would like to ask for a volunteer from the audience, firstly to mark the four coins I'll be using and to ensure that no actual magic is taking place, that everything is simply sleight of hand and showmanship."<br/></strong><br/>A lady from the audience raises her hand and is brought by an usher to the stage. She reveals herself as a hedge wizard by trade, one who normally runs a local shop specialising in the trade of minor magical items, having identify and detect magic available in her repertoire and prepared today for her work. After being asked to mark the coins, she does so with her initials.<br/><strong>"Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for my lovely assistant and referee for this evening."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"Now, to move some money... I'm a little short myself, would you mind if I borrowed four silver pieces from you? I assure you you'll get it back after the show... wonderful, thank you."</strong><br/><br/>Erica places all four coins on the table that had been brought out and the four cards face up beside them,<strong> "Now at the start of this, everyone starts out equal. From the highest king in all the land,"</strong>she says covering one coin with the king,<strong>"down the ranks to the lowliest of paupers,"</strong>she continues as one after another the coins are covered, Joker last.<strong>"Now money moves fast, in the blink of an eye. We all pay taxes here, so everyone knows what I'm talking about. It can move... like that."</strong>Erica snaps her fingers, sliding the the Joker and revealing nothing beneath, with the space empty - the Jack and Queen  still had their coins and the King having two. The cards go down again, lifting them all up a split second later reveals the King with all four.<br/><strong>"Later of course, services are required. Horses seen to, bread to be made and the wealth is redistributed."</strong>The King's card goes down and all four coins are back in their original position as Erica moved her hand over the table.<strong>"This is all fairly simply for now of course, and I did say that I had studied how money moves, it can move so fast that you never even knew you had it - that's where the banker comes into play - "</strong>Picking up the Joker's coin she holds it in her hand, gripping it tight in her fist and opening it one finger at a time until her empty palm could be seen by the audience,<strong>"going back to the top," </strong>revealing quickly that the King once more had two coins. The King's card laid flat with one hand on the corner ready to reveal underneath, Jack's coin was lifted, palmed and mockingly thrown as she kept her hands apart, only for it to be revealed beneath the King again. Down goes the King, the three coins visible under three corners as the Queen's coin is lifted, the same trick with the Joker repeated as far away as possible and the coin once more revealed beneath the King.<br/>The coins are all verified to be the ones marked by the shopkeep.<br/><br/>The coins are replaced, one under each. The Queen and Jack are lifted, each having their respective currency, both go down to cover their coins. Lifting them again without her hands having left the cards Erica shows both to now be under the Queen. The King is lifted to show it again, the coin travelling once more to the Queen, the actioned slowed down for the audience to try and follow. Queen and Joker are lifted, coins revealed. This time - no hands. Erica snaps her fingers and all four coins are under the Queen when the last cards are lifted.<strong>"Lawyers are another set of magicians who make money move,"</strong>she mentions,<strong>"looks like the wife cleaned up in the legal proceedings. Odd thing about moving money, sometimes it just disappears when unexpected trouble comes about - "</strong>the coins are placed in the middle of the table, cards in the corners. One by one the coins are lifted and vanish much like in the previous part of the act where they went under another card. One by one the cards are lifted revealing that the space below each is empty and place in a row one by one slowly.<strong>"But people always seem to be able to make more for the cycle to start up again, with interest" </strong>the black haired tricker states as she moves each card to their starting positions on the table and slides each card away from the centre, revealing a coin beneath each, now gold and each with the mark still on them, without a trace of magic having been used.<br/><br/><strong>"And for being such a good sport, my lovely assistant reaps the benefits as her four silver coins are now given back to her with interest... Ah, the magic of banking, right?"</strong><br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Performance</div><div class="spoiler_body">At 2019-02-08 17:42:32, Erica (uid: 2076) rolls: 1d20a6 Result: 16 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=130568)</div></div><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Sleight of Hand</div><div class="spoiler_body">At 2019-02-08 17:42:49, Erica (uid: 2076) rolls: 1d20a5 Result: 21 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=130569)</div></div>