Autumn Harvest and Brew Festival

Beer and the gods brought the first people together in communities. It's only fair that beer and the gods bring the races together to find peace.

— - Anbera, Warden of Taelnius

Across Karos, racial tensions have run high almost since the beginning of time. Open hostilities have been the norm since The Divinity Wars pitted the races against each other a millennia ago. While most people seem perfectly content to let old prejudices and hates simmer, a clan of Dwarves living just north of The Far Reaches has taken it upon itself to try to mend relations, at least with those living nearby. Their method? An annual regional beer festival.

Origins

The festival began when Anbera Frostbear, a priestess of Taelnius and avid brewer, set out on a pilgrimage with several casks of her family's signature Thunderfoam Pale Ale. Brewed with ingredients grown solely underground in her clan's holdings, she knew that the other races would not have been exposed to them. Her travels invariably led her to Frosthold, where she set off to share her peoples' cultural legacy with other races. Lost, she sought out the city's council of priests for advice, and together with them, the Autumn Harvest and Brew Festival was born.

The Party

Even the most contrary of souls only needs a reason to see the light and even the most hostile only needs the right nudge: good food and good drink - to find a friend.

— - Harrick, High Priest of Anselm

What started as a single Dwarf's pilgrimage quickly blossomed into an annual festival where members of all races are invited to offer up their best brews in a friendly competition of culinary catharsis. Members of nearly every race in the Reaches, including ambassadors, dignitaries, and priests descend on Frosthold with their offerings both food and beverage. They share their nations' agricultural boons, providing the ingredients for everything from beer and wine to mushrooms, lichens, and harvests from around the Reaches.

In the years since its inception, the festival has expanded to include cultural dances, games, and other pastimes. For three days, differences are set aside and grudges are tabled. Enemies become fellow revelers and vendettas are set aside, at least for the moment.

I would never have expected to enjoy a glass of Runestone Red sitting with humans or a Dwarf, and I will never tell them that I did, but it has been nice to see things from other points of view, even if only for a day or two. Just don't tell my parents.

— -Hylaea, Princess of Doire Fíor

Growing Together

While the festival is still in its relative infancy, it has already brought the various races of The Far Reaches closer than they have been in the seventy years since humans reentered the Reaches. For now, the good relations last for exactly three days before the festival ends and the animosity returns as strongly as before. Still, the festival is the only thing that has gotten the races together for even a brief window of time for anything other than warfare. One Dwarf's passion seems to have had a powerful effect on race relations within the Reaches.