Brew Goddess
Whenever populations migrate from one place to another, they bring their beers and spirits with them. Whenever different populations collide, drinking contests are inevitable. For the first annual Autumn Harvest and Brew Festival in The Far Reaches, that contest produced the Brew Goddess. Perhaps some day there will be a Brew God as well. Perhaps not.
A Feat of Endurance
Of course I can outdrink a human or a dwarf! Have you met my husband?!
The title of Brew Goddess was an impromptu creation. Event organizers intended to focus on sampling other cultures and respecting their creations. The drinking contest was entirely unplanned. No one is exactly sure who started it - the best theory is that members of each race began by claiming their beer was stronger - but after a while, it took on a life of its own. Challenges were issued, brackets were created, and off they want. Dozens of competitors who had come to Frosthold in the spirit of cooperation and consideration suddenly became expert quaffers. The competition took an entire day, with several rounds and rest periods. By the end of that day, few of the competitors could remember why they had consumed so much - they only knew that the honor of their whole race depended on them continuing to do so.
Releasing Tension
No, seriously, I adopted a Hauflinfolk quite by accident. He thinks he's my son - my biological son. He says he remembers his birth and described it to me. In. Detail. He drew pictures!
The varied races of The Far Reaches are always only a few tense words away from war. When the Autumn Harvest and Brew Festival was first announced, many were skeptical that anyone from outside Frosthold would show up. Most others thought that, if anyone did come, they would start an incident that, itself, would lead to a wider conflict. The drinking contest and subsequent bequeathal of Brew Goddess on the winner had quite the opposite effect on those who can remember it. Rather than adversarial, the relationship between members of different races, at least those within the city, became celebratory and then competitive. Now, instead of plotting the next raid or attack, there are at least some elves, dwarves, humans, and gnomes who are planning a new strategy for holding down more Flinterberry Cider.
An Annual Event
I don't think I'm going to compete next year. It it clear that no race can brew a concoction to compete with the migraines my family gives me.
For next year, the door is wide open, and the different races are already paring down the list of potential champions. One thing is for certain: almost everyone competing has new respect for the staying power of gnomes. For now, the event has served its purpose. It helped the harvest festival to bolster relations between the races for a time, and it crowned the first Beer Goddess.
We had to quietly bring in a wizard to look for magic. No one could figure out how that gnome seemed to be drinking more than could fit in her body She was like a bag of holding, but only for alcohol!
Ves has always been such a... witch! Love her!
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak.