Marked M for inevitable drug and alcohol use

> As the sun went down on the steppe, Chaos set out to open with a bang. He had a bit of a surprise ready, thanks to the owls' speedy wings bringing him what he needed - a hot coal lit from Mount Vulcan. A big pile of dry wood was already stacked in a circle of stones from the ruins, ready to be lit. Carefully letting the coal roll out of the sand-packed cow horn it had been stored in, he gently huffed at the coal until it was glowing, then began feeding it until the blaze was hot enough he had to move away. Throwing up his head, he gave a ululating howl. Well, if the light didn't begin to attract them, his call certainly would. Them, they, the ones who would party. He grinned... well... wolfishly, surveying his handiwork with pride. The bonfire safely caged with the ring of stones, the clay jars of alcohol still covered but ready to drink, the drugs. Oh yes, the lovely herbs he had learned from his parents, the ones that would mellow and the ones that would electrify. Yes, everything was ready. He threw his head up and laughed out loud, howling that ululating howl again to speed them on their way. ooc: Anyone interested in a party post here by the end of the day Saturday! But if you miss the deadline don't worry, you can jump in any time! There will be drinking and drugs and crowing and dancing. If your character or their companion has some form of instrument feel free to have them bring it! ""

MAY THE ROOF ABOVE NEVER FALL IN Now this was something he could get behind! He approached the boss with his head leveled with his spine. What little life existed behind the cataract in his dead eye glinted in the dancing flames as he investigated the pots. He had never seen anything like them before, but the stench of what he knew was alcohol wafting off them was familiar enough, what had shocked him however was just how powerful the scent was. He had already begun to wonder when the word “Drink” kept coming up, as far as he knew the only thing one could drink was water, getting plastered on the other hand came from eating rotting fruit. It had been so in the land he grew up in and the land where he…Well.. that wasn’t something he wanted to think about. “Fook me.” He muttered, carefully stepping away from the jars now that he realized that their contents were near sacred. In his motherland, he had been renown for his ability to hold his liquor, sometimes eating as many as three fermented peaches at once just to prove a point, but now it seemed he was a small fish in a big BIG pond- The wolves here were larger than any he had ever seen before, and were clearly familiar with what Chaos had referred to as a “Brew” each jar of which, he had determined, might have contained a whole orchard worth of alcohol. But then, he wasn’t much fun sober anyway, and going into a drunken stupor for the rest of the season sounded like a wonderful plan to him. He wasn’t sure he’d be the life of the party, but he did have plenty of stories from his glory days and a few from- He squashed that thought before he could complete it. No one wanted to hear about that. Those stories weren’t even that great for lively moods such as this one anyway, and either way, he had already gathered a story from this place that to Chaos in particular might be interesting. He had saved his encounter with who he had dubbed “The Great Brown Bastard” just for an occasion just as this. The Great Brown Bastard might not have understood him, but he would be damned if the legend of Hewart Jass; the crafty bandit with one brown eye, died at those rapids. This is talking MAY WE BELOW NEVER FALL OUT

Artemis was loving this festival thing. So many new faces had come to mingle, and she eagerly awaited all the weird things Chaos had told them to bring. Trading was a strange concept to the woman, but in this setting she supposed she could see the benefit. Artemis wondered if Chaos would hold these at other points during the year, quietly hoping so. When she heard his call ring out through the growing dusk, she grinned. He had promised festivities in the evening, right? She turned towards the sound of his call and kicked it up to a lope, hoping to get there as quickly as possible. She may have been... a bit excited. Upon arriving she saw that Ruthgar had beaten her there, and smiled at the grumpy old brute. "Heya Ruthy," she greeted him amicably, not really caring what he thought about the nickname. She promptly turned to Chaos and all the goodies he stood beside, looking him up and down. "You look like a cat who's caught a mouse. Whatcha got there?" She tacked a wink on at the end. She had, in the past, stumbled across the same alcoholic fruit her parents had fallen victim to but nothing quite like what he seemed to have in these jars. Much like Ruthgar she was a bit taken aback by a cautious sniff. Artemis grinned and snickered. Well. This was certainly going to be a night to not remember. "Talk" "You" Think

Valdís had been quick to duck out of site. After her last encounter with the large woman known as 'Pyralis' she didn't have much of a desire to relive the encounter. Sure, the game of coyote ball had been fun but getting chased by a bear was not. Valdís liked her head attached to her body not sitting in a bear's stomach and marinating all winter. As the sun began to set she heard the Boss' call and quickly spied the fire. Her eyes narrowed warily at first until she saw him sitting there with the fire ringed in by stones. Strange clay jars were arranged about and she simply eyed the whole seen with suspicion. What on earth was the Boss planning this time? "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis had seen both Mara and the girl she'd lured into a game of coyote ball. She'd glimpsed them at the festival but had yet to pin one down for conversation. Of course, it was hard to think on conversation when she was so intent on exploring a brand new territory. After all, how often did a lone wolf get to explore territory owned by a pack? She wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by but in the mean time she wondered if she could gain a few exploration buddies. She had followed the flames, eyes light with curiosity when she spied the girl. Sauntering over to Valdís she draped her left arm over the girls shoulders and leaned into her cooing affectionately. "Eeeeee it's my wee little playmate. How ya doing, girlie? Glad to see that bear didn't turn you into a wee snack." She barked out an obnoxious laugh at the thought. "Talk" "You" Think

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari didn't know whether to be excited or freaked out by the fire and the weird smelling drinks. What exactly was going on? Everyone that had showed up so far seemed to know each other and he could help but feel like the odd man out. Maybe answering some random strangers call to go party was a bad idea. He wished his siblings were there or at least Kassander. Wasn't this his pack? He glanced about uncertain what to do. "Uhh… excuse me, alpha…sir, ummm… what is in those jars it smells terrible!"
   

Xephyris heard the call that Chaos sent out, howling to the wolves he had invited to this harvest fair; the activities of the day were past, and now was the time for partying. He had never participated in such a thing before, so he really didn't know what to expect, but a social gathering seemed like more fun that moping around by himself. And if he was lucky, Jaelle would be there. Perhaps they would have fun, although he did have a lingering doubt that the past could be put behind them so easily. Approaching the gathering, his eyes were drawn to the fire, something he'd never seen before. The smell was acrid, ashy and strong, but the flicker and glow of the flames was fascinating. The closer he got, the more he could feel the warmth radiating from it. How interesting. It was like the warmth of the sun in the dark of night. So far, he was impressed by this gathering, and looked forward to seeing what else there would be. He glanced around, recognizing the wolves that had showed up originally to Chaos' call, but he didn't see the pretty gypsy yet. Would she come at all? He was rather disappointed not to see her, nor hear her charming bells calling out, but he would try to ignore his lingering feelings and focus on what was to come. His nostrils flared when he caught scent of something very peculiar beyond the burning branches - herbs, and liquid in the jars near Chaos that gave off fumes that burned his nose even from a distance. What was that all about? Before he could ask, a younger man spoke up, clearly on the same page as him about the smell coming from those jars. Stepping up a little closer, Xephyris placed himself next to the young man who had posed the question, curious as well to find out what it was, and what role it would play in this night. "Talk" "You" Think

Kassander had slipped in and out while Chaos was building his fire, the auburn healer and his fox both shuttling jars there from where they had been sitting in his den, in turn having been carefully carried the whole way from their previous storage in what had been Yfir. Remy rode on his shoulders most trips, sternly overseeing the transfer of his precious brew, but as they collected a last few jars of mead and Chaos' call rang out, the mouse lemur opted to stay in the mountain den rather than risk, as he put it, some drunk idiot dog mistaking him for one of the snacks.

Others had already arrived by the time they got back. To Kassander surprise Rommel too disappeared once he had set the jar down, but he supposed that made sense. Not all wolves liked foxes, and with a lot of strangers around it would be safer not to have the brush-tailed little predator around them. Still, he felt awkward and naked without his constant companion, and remained silent while he arranged the mead with the other jars. Questions arose about the beverages though, and he made himself speak up to answer, particularly since one of the askers was his young nephew.

"It's called alcohol," he said shyly, paw resting on the lid of a wine jar. "It's controlled fermentation of different ingredients. The fruit smelling ones are called wine, they're made from grapes and berries, and the apple and pear smelling ones are cider. The ones that smell like honey are called mead and they are a lot stronger so please be responsible with them," he added anxiously, trailing off under his alpha's amused glance.

With a stretch and a massive, horribly loud yawn she rose from her spot near this the pack with the saber-fanged alpha. It was weird to be able to hang around such a place and not get chased off. Not an opportunity she'd squander, though. The promise of drinks and drugs were just too exciting to pass up. Nothing like being a pissy bitch and being able to blame it on whatever she was ingesting. Plus she'd never been allowed to partake in such things growing up in that ridiculous pack. With that, Mara made her way into the territory, pace quickening at the sound of the howl. She wouldn't miss a moment of this - not a phrase she thought often. Sitting near the laughing Pyre, Mara observed the others with a skeptical gaze. She was here for the booze, nothing more. If something interesting happened or she heard an amusing tale that was just a bonus. "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis felt like a kid in a candy store, so many wolves, new scents, new things to see. This was kind of fun hanging out with the mortal rabble, pretending she was actually one of them. Oh, if they only knew a goddess was in their midsts! She gazed at the small, shy male who called the drinks alcohol. Huh… made from fruit? She squinted at them but another scent caught her attentioned and she turned to see the scarred visage of her favorite grump. Grinning she peeled herself off of Valdís and sauntered over to the other woman. "Mara! How is our hunter of sea beasts? What brings you to this gathering of midnight rabble? Dare you to drink a jar of the strong stuff!" "Talk" "You" Think

The fireside began to fill with interested wolves, mostly his pack with a generous leavening of loners. He was mildly disappointed that no wolves from other packs had shown up but he should have known it would be that way. Stuck up, boring old cunts, too busy walking around with a stick up their asses and their noses in the air to bother slumming it with Ardent's lower class citizens. No one fucking needed them anyway.

He barked once, sharp and loud, to catch the attention of those gathered. When it was completely on him (and he, of course, took a moment to preen under the attention) he went on. "Since Crew has never held this event before I thought I might take a moment to explain what's going on." He grinned at the other wolves, knowing that in the rapidly-darkening night the firelight would catch his fangs and eyes most fearfully. This was going to be fucking awesome.

"So here's the deal. I'm going to pass around a jar of alcohol. When it reaches you, you get your chance to make a toast to someone, or something, or to brag about how you're almost as amazing as I am..." He struck a deliberately arrogant pose as though attempting to look heroic. "Or tell an amazing story, or show some really cool object you found, or anything like that really. We call this Crowing. And then you take a big drink, and pass the jug to someone else. I wanted to start straight on the hard stuff, because that's more fun, but someone... " he rolled his eyes at the blushing Kassander in amusement, "Namely, Crew's resident healer, put his little foot down and said we'd end up poisoning ourselves with that much, so I suppose I'll start us with the cider and work our way up. I suppose."

He idly rolled the jar between his paws, the grin on his face just deepening. Sure, he'd told Kassander he'd stick with cider to start with, but while the auburn-furred healer was off fetching more jars, Chaos had combined two of the jars. So the first two jars of choice were, rather than being purely cider, actually half-and-half cider mixed with mead. Chaos tended to get his own way one way or another...

"But first..." Chaos adopted a suitably somber-and-responsible mien and met all their eyes solemnly. "We'll share a drink with all those who passed away before us, who live on in our memories until we join them again." He tipped the jar between his paws, spilling a generous drink on the ground beneath him. He watched as the dirt drew it in, then looked back up and passed the jar to the wolf nearest him.

OOC: Whoever wants to be the first wolf to drink and do w/e can be the wolf next to him!

“Roit.” He said , pulling the jar in front of him slowly before spilling a bit on the floor…For Orsus he supposed, but he kept that to himself. He cleared his throat, “A decided tae take some initiative mysel.” He said, keeping his head low, and his eyes toward the ground. Muttering and almost humble. “A went tae the Rapids,'n foond th’ biggest pack on this forsaken land. Thar stink came off from a mile awae, hard tae miss really.” He slowly gained confidence and managed to raise his head slightly, even managing to speak a little louder. He cleared his throat again, mentally walking himself through the story as he had rehearsed it in his head a million times. He had kept the story to himself for so long he could hardly believe he was telling it, and wanted more than anything for it to be over so he could pass the jar to the sorry shit next to him.He shook out his fur nervously and took a deep breath “Ye keen do this.” He thought, closing his eyes and opening them again. “At furst A wus jus’ gonney leave ‘n bae don wit it, bu wan o’ the cunts saw me. Huge fook ‘e was, ‘round yer size.” He said glancing at Chaos momentarily before continuing.”Bu fatter ‘n shite colored.”- He added “A told The Great Brown Bastard a was lookin’ fer a man named Hew Jass, a terrible bandit wit wan broon eye.” He glanced around momentarily to see if anyone was ready to shut him up, then paused to take his drink before shaking out his head. “The turd dinne understand a ward a said ‘n joos let me leave.” He finished and passed the jug, already beginning to feel self concious but the feeling was thankfully being chased by the warmth of alcohol. “Musta tho a wuz mad.” This is talking