General Drink & the Prince

 Well, grab a beer and gather 'round and let me tell you a story:

A long, long time ago, there was this prince. Just so happens, he was the Prince of Whales. Yep, that one. He liked to throw big parties. He would invite his friends and neighbors from miles around. They all loved the prince and looked forward to his annual party in December. Over time, the party was declared DECEMBERFEST. During one of these parties, everyone was drinking, dancing to music and generally having a great time...until the prince found out that someone at the party had been fooling around with Mrs. Prince! Well this really upset the prince. Who would risk the wrath of the prince? He HAD to find out! He gathered all the guests into a big circle around the campfire. He needed to find the culprit. He didn't know everyone's name, so he gave them each a number. Starting with the first person to his left. This person was number one, then going all around the circle until each person had a number. Then he explained that it was forbidden to point to a suspect with anything but your elbow; no fingers, toes, feet, heads or hats. He began his dialog by saying "The Prince of Whales, lost his Tales and tips his hat to number 4". 

Now, number 4 does not want the wrath of the prince, so denies being the culprit by saying "Na", to which the prince immediately asks "Who?". Number 4 immediately blames someone else, by saying that person's number. He says "6". Number 6 says "Na", number 4 asks "Who?". This goes on until someone messes up the dialog. 

How could that happen? Several ways. To mention a few: saying something other than "Na", answering out of turn, taking too long a pause before answering or pointing with something other than your elbow. Generally, ANY infraction will cause a reaction from the prince. The only remedy is for the person causing the infraction to take a drink. That's a small justice for not paying attention.

Please stay tuned...I know what you are thinking. "I am getting thirsty watching this person take that drink." So, you take a drink, and get caught! That is another rule I forgot to mention. You can only take a drink when you get thirsty by loudly calling for a "GENERAL DRINK"! That's right, whenever you hear someone call for a "GENERAL DRINK", 

EVERYONE GETS TO TAKE A DRINK !!!

Back to our story, this is where you REALLY need to pay attention:

Number 6 messed up and had to take a drink. Number 6 now becomes the prince. Everyone's number just changed! Number 1 is always the first person to the left of the prince. Recount your number! The prince has TWO "numbers": the prince and the last number of the group. (Only used in expert dialogs)

Now the new prince starts the dialog, "The Prince of Whales, lost his Tales and tips his hat to number 8" (or whichever number he/she chooses), and the fun begins again...

Being a very democratic society, there are times the prince has to ask for a vote to make sure the guilty are given the chance to state their case. Any person who feels that they have been wrongly accused of a misdeed or answer or general blunder may ask for a vote before being forced to drink. Everyone listens intently, weighing the merits (or lack of) in the case in question. A vote is taken by a show of thumbs, up or down. Majority wins. Anyone voting WITH the loser also has to drink. 

Now, have fun, and

 GENERAL DRINK !!!