(with thanks to Jo Hart, who helped me work this out)
The small room was quiet, no sound from outside penetrating the simple black velvet drapes on the wall, and none of the pounding from Shal-Mari caused so much as a single tremble in the roulette wheel that rested on the ebony table in the centre. The gold decorations on the wheel gleamed dully, and the divisions seemed to ripple with light.
"Another year," said the thin man, power shivering in the air around him like the heart of a dark star.
The woman nodded as she knelt before him, bowing her head till the nape of her neck was fully visible. The gas-lamp laid shifting lights on the silver rings that decorated her small horns and were woven into her curling hair, on her white sheath dress and green arms and shoulders. "Yes, my Prince."
"Rise."
She stood gracefully, her ripple of movement betraying training at the hands of another Prince. Her eyes flicked to the roulette wheel, and to the small ivory ball that the man held between dark-gloved fingers.
He nodded slightly at the movement of her eyes, each gesture sparse, and let the ball drop. As it fell through the air, the roulette wheel whirred suddenly into motion, and the ball clattered against it, dancing against the side of the spinning bowl and jolting between numbered slots.
She could not take her eyes away. Every year, she swore to herself that she would be strong enough not to look, and every year she failed.
The ball trembled on the edge of the _0_ slot, and her heart clenched inside her. Not now, she thought insanely, not after so long, so many years, so many payments, please, anything, if there is a God, if Lucifer would hear me...
A final click, and the ball slipped into the _10_ slot. Her long slow exhalation of breath seemed to last forever in her ears, filling the silence in the room, but a breath of life, and a reprieve from death.
"You owe me ten favours." The thin man's voice hung in the air, and his presence surged again, driving her to her knees.
"Yes, my Prince." *But it was life. For another year, it was life.*
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Ambsace is a Free Lilim - or so it is widely believed. She owes no Geasa, not even the traditional last Geas/1 which Lilith always keeps upon her Daughters, and is beholden to no Prince. Holder of the Word of Gambling, she manages a well-hidden chain of casinos in Shal-Mari, and one particular Casino, where only the most _elite_ come to play. Lesser demons never find the doors, or are thrown out by the Djinn bouncers. (Many lower-class casinos do operate in Shal-Mari, and often pay her a rakeoff, but Ambsace herself runs the most elite, the most secret, and the ones with the highest stakes.)
A few minor, unobtrusive doors on the Strip give entrance to her casinos. Inside, all is restrained luxury, sufficient even for the comfort of a Prince. Guests are shown to private rooms where they can indulge in games of chance for the highest of stakes - damned souls, Servitors, Geases, favours, Relics and Reliquaries, areas of influence, territories on Earth. The sky is the limit.
It is said that on occasion, even _Princes_ patronise Ambsace's most private casino, and on those occasions she self-Geases herself to absolute silence and acts as their croupier. If this should be the case, then nobody has ever spoken about it - reliably. But rumours are rumours, and it is said that even Baal enjoys the occasional gamble.
Ambsace has a group of loyal workers who keep the Casino functioning, "lent" by the Princes of Shal-Mari, who have an interest in it. She pays a regular tithe for these services, and as "ground rent". Oddly enough, she is somewhat prejudiced against her own Band - or so they complain, as Ambsace will only accept Lilim for service in the Casino if they place a Geas/6 upon themselves to serve loyally for a year. There is a "house rule" for all staff that no resonances or attunements are to be used upon customers, even if the customers grow violent. (Ambsace has a well-trained security staff who get called out on those occasions.) Despite that, working in the Casino can be very rewarding, both in terms of tips from happy customers, or in making contacts for later use and impressing the powerful. For these reasons, Lilim still seek employment there.
Ambsace herself appears as a dark-haired Lilim, elegantly dressed in simple white dresses - as some have cruelly remarked, a "poor man's Lilith". Her body is notoriously bare of Geasa. She is polite to all customers, and deferential to the very powerful - to her staff she is concise and clipped, and positively vicious if they disobey or err. Several have traced her habits of disciplining her staff back to her time as a Lilim of the Game. Some of her staff have even vanished after errors, and never been seen again.
Ambsace rarely visits Earth, but she does from time to time show up at a Casino, or at some major gambling event. However, she's really too busy in Shal-Mari to spare much time...
Ambsace's Secret
Ambsace never left the service of Asmodeus. She was permitted a degree of freedom to run her Casino, and he petitioned Lucifer for her Word, but she is still his Servitor - and a Countess of the Game. Her last Geas/1 to Lilith was the subject of some private discussion between Lilith and Asmodeus, and Ambsace still does not know what Asmodeus may have done to secure her freedom from it. She does, however, know that Lilith has never spoken to her since, or sent her any message at all.
Once a year, Asmodeus comes to Ambsace's Casino, and she attends him in a private room, which is empty except for a roulette wheel. He spins the wheel once, and the number of the slot that the ball lands in determines the number of "favours" that she owes him. These favours are tasks that he gives her, which may be minor or large. All that matters is that she obeys perfectly. If the ball lands in the slot marked 0, then he will kill her on the spot. These were the terms that he gave her when she first offered him this service, and she accepted them. Nobody else, save perhaps Lucifer and Lilith, knows of this private game.
So far, Ambsace is still alive.
Details (As In, The Devil Is In Them)
I'm not including any stats for Ambsace. She's an 15-Forcer, a Countess of the Game (though that's a secret to the rest of Hell) and doubtless carries plenty of attunements (from earlier services) and Songs. Inside her Casino, she should be pretty impossible to take down, given that she can summon help. If caught on Earth for some reason, she can probably hold enemies off long enough to run for it (something she has no qualms about doing). However, her "favours" for Asmodeus may end up taking her into dangerous situations, or cause her to employ pawns to fulfil them....
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