Open Grand Party for the Giant of Sunberth

[Casio Maddox]

1st of Spring, 2019

A grunt of exertion pushed past Casio's lips as he heaved a thick cylinder of wood up and onto his shoulder, not unlike the sounds coming from the mouths of other men and women that were doing the same as him. He was careful to lift with his legs and not his back like some of the less experienced around him were doing, which gave him an edge against the others in the small game they'd made in their sudden need for competition. The advantage was minor, really; he'd only been given minimal tips while hanging around at Tall Johhny's, lifting weights before a fight. But it was enough that he was ahead of the curve, having carried more logs than most of the others.

Even so, he was still struggling behind Kander Carver and one particularly large man. All the men - and some of the women - had long since ditched their shirts as they began to sweat more, the lot of them almost completely layered in perspiration and dirt, and it was obvious by simply comparing their physiques that no one else could keep up with the two bigger lads. But of course, they tried their damndest, picking up the chopped pieces of tree and carrying them to the cart that the Carver brothers had brought to help.

"Oi, it's a bit unfair, ain't it? You've been doing this shyke for longer than all us, haven't ye, Carver?" Casio jabbed lightly as he slowly walked towards the cart. He kept his back straight and both hands on the log that had already begun to dig into the top of his shoulder from its weight. He could feel his biceps flex and push against the log as he tried to keep his breathing even, which was something he saw Kander doing - breathing in with a closed mouth then exhaling with a hiss through his teeth. It seemed to help enough as he didn't drop to the floor as he finished his short journey to the cart and simply pushed the log off his shoulder and onto the back, having lost the strength to keep heaving it up and over as he had been doing earlier.

Kander merely shot Casio a cheeky smile as he got in the front to handle the reins while the lot finished loading the cart. Casio was the first to begrudgingly toss a silver miza to the other, larger man as he proclaimed his victory with a roar as they began their trek back home. "Y'know, I'm fine knowing I've got more than air between my ears than in my arms. Ya big lug," Casio shot with a small grin, eliciting a snort and a parting shot from the large man.

----------------- Back at the Slag Heap Fire at Sundown ---------

Casio sat near others as the Bolt Hole finished setting itself up around them, but spoke to no one. He was still streaked with dirt and smelled of wood, but he'd been resting for long that he was no longer very sweaty. Just sore, but his muscles ached almost pleasantly, like after a hard-won fight. There were people all around, chatting excitedly as Syna dipped lower and lower, darkening the skies and signaling the beginning of the Celebration.

He got up and walked towards the makeshift bar that'd been set up, behind which stood the bartender and her crate of drinks. "Let me get two Lightning Bolts, ye?" He slapped down five silver onto the bar, stating simply, "And an extra for the entry. Can't let y'all go out of business, can we now," he chuckled as he took his drinks, sipping at the top of one while he walked back towards where he'd been sitting.

Instead of sitting, though, he instead carefully clambered on top of the seat that was actually more of a barrel and took a decent gulp from one of his drinks. And they were both his, it appeared, as he then took a gulp from the other for some reason or other. "You'd be hardpressed to find someone old enough to have been around when the Giant was. Dear Olsten," he motioned with one of the drinks towards the burning effigy, spilling some of it. "Though you lay dead and rotting some feet under the dirt, you will not be forgotten. Without you," he continued very loudly, many of those around him now gone silent to listen to his already-tipsy speech. He obviously couldn't hold his drink quite yet.

"Without you, maybe we'd all be dead. Or not living. Just slaves to damned wizards. Petch wizards!" He yelled, taking another drink from one of the Lightning Bolts. This drew some yells of agreement and encouragement before he continued. "Dear Olsten, our heroic giant. We have you to thank for our freedom, and we have you to thank for the death of damned wizards. May you lie peacefully and rest well knowing that if any stupid lot of people tried to take what makes Sunberth great, I'll be leading the charge! Long live the Giant of Sunberth!" He'd been practically screaming, the strength behind the Lightning Bolts already leaving him swaying and tipsy as he stepped off the barrel into the equally drunk crowd who roared in cheer, subjecting him to a merciless amount of slaps on the back and 'whoops!' right in the face.

[Casio Maddox]

The Lightning Bolts in Casio's hand didn't last for much longer, as he drank as much as he could but more than he liked spilled as he was pushed and shoved by the mass of bodies around him. It didn't take long for his body to become once more drenched in sweat, this time brought on by the heat of his body pressed against so many others.

The crowd of intoxicated and inebriated individuals had swallowed him whole and turned him into part of their whole, their unity, so that he moved as they did and they as he. He waved to the pulse of distant music as he surrendered himself to the whole, the alcohol long since covered his mind in a thick layer of warm, light, yet disorienting fog. He could feel the pain from accidental jabs and times where he was stepped on or kicked by particularly active dancers near him, but he merely brushed them off as he continued, falling deeper and deeper into the warm embrace of that fog.

Whether by complete luck or divine intervention, he was slowly ejected from the center of the crowd and back towards the makeshift bar just as his thoughts incoherently bubbled at him to get more drink. He hadn't even realized his eyes had been closed as he opened them again, only a few mere yards away from the bar. Drenched in his and other's sweat, his hair moist and beaded with that same perspiration, he stumbled towards the bar. From his eyes, the world tilted and swayed at random, not unlike a boat in deep waves or a man that had been rapped about the head one too many times.

"Dearie me, just who'd I been thinkin' of." His eyes were bloodshot and his lids heavy yet his heart thumped at a quick pace as if he were still connected to the mass of dancers not so far from him. "I'on know what I want this time, though. Lightning Bolt's were fantastic, but you got some a li'l... Harder?" He slurred, leaning heavily against the bar. It was obvious he tried to be as charming as he could, but the drunken mess was probably more annoying and slightly repulsive than charming.

"Ye, I've got somethin' for ye," the bartender said with a grin as they pulled out a small bundle of what looked like an odd herb. "Chew this until you think you got most of the juices out, then just swallow it. You'll melt into obliviousness, mate. Need a gold for it, though."

Casio nodded slowly as he processed the words at a snail's pace. "Ye, ye, ye, that sounds like what I need. One... Gold," he muttered as he fumbled into his pocket and pulled out the right amount before he tied the small money pouch tightly and securely back into his trousers. As drunk as one might be, you never forgot to make sure your mizas were tight and secure on your person.

Drugged, though, was another matter entirely. Casio would have been glad that the last bit of rational thought left instilled the notion that this was the last thing he'd be doing for tonight, else he might not secure his bag and get robbed blind. But that last bit of rational thought slowly faded as he chewed the relaxant, the natural juices flowing down his throat before the rest of the herb followed.

It was like he could feel the small bundle land in the pit of his stomach, as a deep, slow wave seemed to pulse from his abdomen. It completely enveloped his person, until he felt like a slow, vibrating mass. Time seemed to slow to a near halt as he was sucked back into the mass of bodies, more in-tune with the movements of those around him than he was with his own mind as thought completely shut down.

OOC: Since no one joined, I'm going to start writing this as more of a solo for some development. I'm planning on having Casio pass out next post and have a weird, hallucinating, drug-induced nightmare for character development, so if you wanted to join in, it should probably be after that.