"Nerissa finished the cup of wine and fumbled it back to the table. She picked up the velvet box, displaying it proudly, and opened the top. The contents glittered. 'I have my jewelry,' she replied with as much dignity as she could muster, 'and some of these pieces have been in my family for generations. This one, for example'—and she lifted out a filigree comb of spun gold with a single large sapphire—'was given to my grandmother on her wedding day. Or this,' she said as she carefully withdrew a stiletto, the sheath dotted with three rubies, 'was kept by my great-uncle when he was at court. It's really just a showpiece, but he fancied himself quite the soldier.' She laughed self-deprecatingly but found herself in an unsettlingly steely gaze from Carlotta. She returned the knife to the box and waited for the old woman to speak."

"'No,' the crone breathed, her eyes never leaving Nerissa's. 'No, I think we should play for more… significant stakes.' She waved away Nerissa's stammering objection with a tiny movement of one hand. 'I think we should play for the most significant stakes of all. What, my dear, would you want more than anything else in this world?'"

The newest addition to the Diablo lore archives, "The Turn of a Card," is now available in the Game Guide! Written by Robert Arjet, this unsettling tale centers on Nerissa, a destitute member of Westmarch's high society who will do anything to reclaim her family's riches… even wager all that she holds dear.

For more heroic tales, be sure to explore the short stories for our iconic classes and characters, available here:

• Wayfarer
• Hatred and Discipline
• Unyielding
• Doubtwalker
• Firefly
• The End of her Journey
• The Orphan and the Jeweler
• Brothers in Arms
• Middlewick