6.50 - Don't Kill Each Other
The scent of roasted meat floating through the air as Theo returned to Broken Tusk. Sarisa almost threw up again, but only heaved a few times. They hadn’t been gone long, but the town was coming alive. People ran through the streets with cloth streamers, some with cartoon representations of Zarali and Xol’sa. Several small fights had already broken out, but were contained to polite skirmishes.
“This is already shaping up to look fun,” Theo said, smiling as he watched more banners stream past. “How similar is this to a local wedding?”
“Very similar,” Sarisa said with a contented sigh. “The smell of that roasting hog reminds me of the old days. When there were still hogs in the swamp.”
Theo planned to forbid himself from doing work today. He was going to mingle and participate in the games people were running. This was the first wedding in Broken Tusk since he arrived, and he wanted to see what traditions Zarali and Xol’sa had adopted. He made his way north at first, walking along the road and passing by one hog-roasting station. A pig on a spit rotated over an open fire, filling the air with a pleasant smoky smell and the scent of roasting meat. The half-ogres who were in charge of cooking looked up with smiles on their faces, careful to baste the pig with every turn.
There was no tradition of gift-giving they had adopted for the wedding. Instead, everyone was expected to run an event or participate. The big stuff would happen in the afternoon, pushing into night. For now it was smaller games, starting from the northernmost part of town and crawling all the way to the mine. Theo and Sarisa arrive at the quarry, finding Ziz and his expanding gang of stoneworkers ushering people to a playing field.
“There he is!” Ziz shouted, waving for Theo to approach.
Theo looked over the court. Lanes had been created with piles of gravel, including a starting point. He watched as people stood at the line, tossing large stones as far as they could. If a person got the rock over a certain point, they were given a carved stone statue, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand.
“Looks like you’re running a carnival game,” Theo said, patting Ziz on the back.
“Dunno what that is!” Ziz shouted with a laugh.