The Tale of Drunken God

285 AC, Tyrosh…

Two men were walking side by side in the streets of Tyrosh while several guards were following them behind. One of them was wearing a brown shirt with black pants. On the other hand, the other man was wearing a white robe adorned with golden engravings.

Of course, the white-robed man was Gerold and the other one was Aemar. At this moment, they were walking through the streets towards the soup houses of the temple for a visit.

Gerold was surrounded by a gentle aura that drew attention from the men and women on the street. Some of them were bowing in respect for the man that they believed as the voice of God while others were more curious about the reaction of these people as they did not know the man. However, just minutes ago, this revered man was sitting beside the Fountain of the Drunken God and talking to an old man with a long beard.

The man, of course, was not someone insignificant as it can be seen by Gerold's visit to him. He was one of the so-called "gods" that descended to the mortal realm and this one was named Drunken God by locals.

Drunken God was named as such because of a wish he granted upon a man. According to the legends, a man driven mad by grief came to him and asked for a favour. The man's wife was brutally killed because of a dispute in his business and it was him who found her lying in the streets, her innards were scattered upon the dirt on the ground and that was a sight the man couldn't forget.

After that event, the man was not able to feel any joy so he asked to forget all things and feel joy again but he also asked to remember all that happened after that joy so he won't forget to take revenge from those that did wrong him and his wife.

Of course, the demon granted his wish and gave him a recipe that was able to make him forget everything for a small amount of time but he also asked a price for his wish and the price was to spread the recipe amongst his kin.

In the end, the man gave the recipe to all he knew and began brewing and selling it. He gave it the name of his beloved dog, Ale. Soon, he became so rich that he was ready to take his revenge from those people. However, drinking all day without stopping while dreaming about his revenge he was going to take soon met a gruesome end as the man lost his sight while trying a new drink he tried to invent.

Shortly afterwards, the man started having nightmares about someone breathing to his neck but when he tried to grab that person there was nothing there. It was maddening so much that he was not able to sleep anymore. He was soon visited by the demon and he asked for a favour from him. He wanted to feel nothing and the demon, again, offered a price for his wish. The price was his soul after his death. As the man had no choice other than to accept, he agreed to it.

The demon offered the man a sip from his flask to fulfil his wish and as soon as the man sipped from it, he died of heart failure. The last thing the man heard was the cackling of the demon and he was no more.

This was the tale Gerold told Aemar when he asked of the old man's identity. Aemar was shocked when he heard of it because he did not expect that the ale people drank in the inns were the product of such a thing.

When the tale ended, they arrived at the soup house. Most of those who came here were slaves. Indeed, even after the elections, there was slavery in the city because abolishment of it would have raised an attack against the temple in the Essos as the free cities in this continent were operating mostly in slaves.

Even when the Lys abolished slavery, there was an attempt to destroy their economy and force them to enslave those that freed again. However, Gerold's small inventions supported Lys through hard times.

Thus, the abolishment of slavery had to wait until, at least, the western shores of Essos was in the hands of believers.

Gerold stayed in the soup house and listened to people for a few hours then went back to the temple as he was tired and needed to be ready for tomorrow, he went to rest until tomorrow.

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The next day...

Gerold was ready to go to Drunken One's Inn for the contest. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt as he was not going out for official business. However, there were still two holy guards following him in civilian clothes.

Gerold went towards Drunken Street as it was where most of the inns were located. The street was named as such when the city was founded first. Just beside that street was the Red Street where the brothels were located. All in all, that area was the most popular site in the city because of their services and the inns were profiting well by being next to Red Street.

The Drunken Street was reeking of the foul smell of vomit and alcohol. There were men lying or drinking from their jars while laughing on the sideways. After walking for a while, Gerold saw the sign of Drunken One's Inn; a fountain spraying yellow ale.

Gerold stood in front of the door and took a full breath in then opened the door. He was welcomed with laughing and yelling sounds and a strong smell of alcohol that can't be smelt from the street. It was nearly full as all of the tables were full of glasses of ales. However, a table on the left corner was mostly left alone so Gerold went towards it and sit on one of the chairs looking at the table while his guards were standing.

As soon as he sat, all the merry laughter and the talk ended. Everyone turned his head and was looking at him with stern faces. Soon, one of the serving girls working for the inn came beside him and said, "I'm sorry but this table is reserved for only the champion of the Drunken One. May I take you another table, please?"

Gerold raised an eyebrow and looked around. All of the people were looking at him like they were looking at an idiot.

Seeing Gerold not replying, the girl opened her mouth to ask him to leave but someone put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Its okay, Melinor. This man is a friend of mine." The man was someone with a long white beard and he was carrying a flask in his hands.

The girl turned her head and looked at the old man with respect in her eyes and said, "Of course, Champion."

Drunken God sat on the opposing chair of Gerold and smirked, "And here I was thinking that you won't be coming, hahaha!!"

Not long after, the laughs and talks of the men continued and Gerold looked at Drunken God with the same gentle smile that was always on his face, "And here I was thinking you were a poor old man but look at you, a champion of an inn."

"Well, if not for the perks of the title, I would have not even contested for it. Now, I can drink as much as I want and I don't pay for anything. So, what do they call you young man?" asked Drunken God.

"Gerold, though they prefer to call me Your Holiness." Gerold looked at him and asked, "And, here, they call you Champion but I'm sure you have another name so what is it?"

Drunken God gave a carefree smile and said, "Well, when you get as old as me you get many names, some call me Drunk Man, others say Drunk One. Sobers take you, they even tell me I am the embodiment of the Drunken God."

Drunken God's smile fell from his face, suddenly, and his face washed with a glare that could kill a man from a distance, "You are like that last jumped-up fool, right? Trying to weaken us won't end well for you, boy."

Gerold started laughing so hard that his eyes were brimming with tears. He wiped off the tears in his eyes and said, "You know, that's really funny because that whore in Lys said the same thing when she first saw me in the city. And look what happened to her." Gerold gave a cruel smile to him, "She is so weak that she can't even grant wishes anymore. However, don't worry because I won't let you suffer like her, your end will be swifter."

Drunken God humphed and said, "That one was weak even before you. If you really think me as weak as her then you can already consider yourself dead. Now, enough of empty talks. If you know the rules then let's begin?"

"I'm ready." Gerold stretched his arms and talked with a resolution.