Octavius allowed no delay in the emptying of his first tankard of ale. Of course, Ceres waited until after he was refilling the mug to challenge all comers to a drinking contest. The warlord laughed. There was no way this woman could drink him under the table. A year out of practice and the pirate was willing to bet he could drink everyone else unconscious. "I'm still not eating your food, but I'll drink you under the table all the same, lass." he declared, answering the challenge the only way a captain could. If he lost this one, respect for him would drop. He didn't know if Ceres understood that, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't matter. His liver had just been given a whole year to recover, surely it could keep him on his feet for long enough to win. Putting all of his faith in his formidable constitution, Captain Cuttlam raised his tankard with a grin. "Let's have a go then!" he shouted, before proceeding to down his second tankard of ale with just as much ferocity as the first. Unfortunately, the first one didn't count, simply because they hadn't started at that point. They were all starting from scratch. By the looks of it, though, the whole group was on even footing, thanks to the impeccable timing of the vessel's glorious captain.

As he moved to refill his mug once more, the pirate lord began to wonder if this was such a good idea. Ceres had magical powers over water. That probably had some effect on her ability to drink. Challenging someone like that had to be a terrible idea. But the worst part, was that she had challenged him. A pirate couldn't back down from a challenge in the first place, a captain had even less choice. It was pretty well win or die, now. The potential loss of respect, should he fail in this competition, would be far worse than just about anything else that could happen at this point. [i]You're fucked regardless. Just don't lose.[/i] he reassured himself as he waited for everyone else to prepare their next tankard's worth of ale. He didn't feel very reassured, but put on a good front. These tankards were rather large, and he didn't see anyone lasting much longer than five...