Canonfire! - Postfest V, Part II: The Miner's Fair

Up from the hollows and down from the mountains they come. Dirty. Mean. Looking for a good time after the hardest kind of work. They are also loaded with valuable ore. This ain't no tea or social. Its the Miner's Fair of Verbeeg Hill and its as rough as it comes.

The Miner’s Fair
By: Glenn Vincent Dammerung, aka GVDammerung

Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

Date: 4th, 5th and 6th Reaping
Location: Verbeeg Hill (The High Vale)
Type: Guild/Local

Mining is dirty, hard and dangerous work. In the Clatspurs and Yatils, the work is also life threatening because the deeper mountains contain many monstrous inhabitants; hostile tribes of humanoids or worse, ancient evils better left undisturbed. It is work that must be done, however, for the mineral resources are sorely needed in Furyondy and the Shield Lands if they are to have the resources to withstand the depredations of the followers of Iuz. Miners work hard and risk much, and when they choose to celebrate, they work just as hard at having a riotously good time. That time comes on the 4th through the 6th of Reaping.

The Miner’s Fair draws miners from throughout the Clatspurs and the northeastern Yatils. It is a time when miners come down out of the mountains to re-supply, little more than halfway through the year, and to sell off the ores they have worked from the earth. Merchants gather to cater to the miner’s needs, but after the haggling, buying and selling, the occasion is taken to have a good time. Heavy drinking is the order of the day. Beside a general revelry, drinking contests are the only organized activity. These contests can become quite boisterous as, in addition to the human miners, the dwarves of the mountains attend. To a dwarf, a drinking contest is serious business.

The town of Verbeeg Hill hosts the Miner’s Fair more out of necessity than any real enthusiasm. The town is well situated to host the fair and a great deal of money is generated from the miners in the surrounding mountains, both during the fair and throughout the year. However, the destruction and disruption caused by the Miner’s Fair almost outweighs the benefits. During the fair, Verbeeg Hill is almost lawless and for the days of the fair, Verbeeg Hill has arguably the highest population of whiskey sellers and persons of ill repute, per capita, of any town or city, even in the Bandit Kingdoms. While the town elders always take on extra sword arms to control the worst violence, things always seem to get out of hand. Matters are made more difficult because it is necessary to indulge the miners to a degree. In compensation, Verbeeg Hill pays well for those who can keep the miners in line, while not completely spoiling their fun. Like mining, it is a hard, dangerous job.