As we walked through the messy streets of Lanten in rearch of a place to sit and drink at, I came to realise how dirty the city is. It's with strong revulsion for this city that I entered a small tavern.
The place was poorly lighted, smelly and hot as a heaver's ass. The low room was filled to the brim with travelers, workers, and anyone wanting a place to drink booze and have questionable fun. Most of them were crammed around the bar. A pair of cute waitress were retaining most attention while trying their best to serve everyone. It's true that customers were mostly male.
On the back of the large room was another crowd, seemingly uninterested in the source of drinks. Instead, they were all focused on a small, square table, where a strange contest was taking place. Out of curiosity, I approached the crowd. Four men were sitting around the table, all fired up for a pair of snails on the table. I questioned an old man on my right.
-What in Kal's name are they doing?
-Oh, you must be a stranger, never heard of the snail game? It's kinda the thing here. It's quite simple to be honest, no need for fancy stuff! every evening, we bring a few snails from the fields. Four guys will sit around the chair,and all of them have a handful of short sticks, you can see some on the table.
-Yeah... I was wondering what these are for...
-Well you see, they take turns either placing or removing one stick at a time. The goal is to slow down, speed up or change the course of the snails.
-They try to guide them towards themselves, is that it?
-Nah, it's the opposite. You see, the first one to have a snail reaching his side of the table will lose, and pay for all the game's drinks. And you need to empty a whole glass of booze before placing or removing a stick.
-I see, that's why they're so dizzy... And everyone around, they're just here to cheer on them?
-Yeah... everyone is chering for a friend while waiting for his turn. after all, you have a good chance of drinking for naught if you're a bit skilled, and very lucky...
-And do you play too?
-By Kal, yeah! My turn's next !
I left my partner to his cheering and laughing while one of the snails was to reach one side of the table, under the horrified look of the player and the loud gloatings of everyone else. This was definitely a funny game, quite well suited for such kind of place. I thought that these guys must not have much other hobbies in this damned region.
Comments