The Drizzlydale Expulsion
Every generation complains about the youth of today. Whether it be humans shaking their heads at their children's strange haircuts or elves tutting at the amount of ankle on show, there will always be someone ready to proclaim the degeneracy of the younger generation. Sometimes they're right but often they're not.
In the empire's early days, during what is known as the 'busy period', the university of Nesher undertook a survey of all the races of Nostvary. Teams were dispatched to all corners with orders to observe and report on the customs and behaviours of the empire's citizens, the intent being that greater understanding would lead to smoother governance. This study would become the foundation for what many believe to be the crowning achievement of the empire, the Grand Unified Temple, but in the early days, it led to the formation of some negative racial stereotypes, one of which is that dwarves are always inebriated. Ask a dwarf if they think they drink too much and they'll likely glower at you before going on about how alcohol affects them differently at high altitudes and the only time you'll find a drunk dwarf is in one of the human's low-lying cities (There have been many attempts to study the effects of high altitude alcohol consumption but the results are inconclusive, mostly due to the student/subjects getting too drunk to record their observations). Many dwarves are sensitive to what they see as a slur but others, such as those in the northern city of Dragsmund, embrace it and have given alcohol a central position in their cultural calendar.
Dragsmund is home to a sizeable population of dwarves. Most come from the Blue Mountains either as economic migrants or as exiles from one of the many political purges that take place in the burrows. It's the practice to punish entire families for the wrongdoing of one member. A son's transgression can lead to aunts and uncles being pushed out of their homes and forced topside with only what they can carry on their backs. Banned from entering another barrow they head to Dragsmund and start a new life among the creaking wooden homes and the cloying stench of decay.
The children of these exiles grow up detached from the rituals of the barrow but rather than succumb to the dominant human culture they create some of their own. One of the most popular is the Drizzlydale Expulsion.
Drizzlydale is a mythical place conjured up by a cheese merchant desperate to sell their substandard product. In this bucolic setting, fat cows graze lazily on lush grass as plump maids carry buckets of frothing milk destined to become the cheese of the gods. The reality is that Drizzlydale Cheese isn't fit for a mouse trap and was a struggling label until dwarven teenagers got a taste for it.
The first dwarf to sit down with a wedge of Drizzlydale Cheese and a bottle of plum brandy probably thought they were in for a relaxing evening but what they ended up with was a voyage of discovery involving hallucinations and not a little vomiting. When they shared what happened with friends and family most agreed it best not to mix the two but a few took it as a challenge and gave it a go.
Word quickly spread and soon any dwarf wishing to get obliterated was queuing up outside the Drizzlydale shop. The struggling shopkeeper was confused at first but once their till started filling up they were more that happy. Soon the streets in the dwarven quarters were awash with stumbling dwarves clutching squares of cheese on small sticks as they pointed at the sky or hugged each other. Parents tried to corral their wayward youth but there's no stopping a willful dwarf, not without starting a knife fight, so they let it go on and did their best to keep it confined to the back streets. But as more dwarves consumed the cheese it spread until it came to the attention of the humans living nearby and they attempted to get the sale of all cheese to dwarves banned. This was a massive overstep and only served in uniting the powerful cheese lobby with the numerous dwarven guilds. The proposed ban was dismissed and to protect against further attempts the right to eat cheese was written into the dwarven charter.
The following years saw the practice become a custom with special Drizzlydale Expulsion parties being held where those dwarves ready to become an adult partaking of a special cheese cake and drinking from a shared tankard of plum brandy. The entire community comes out to witness the event with older generations partaking if they so wish. At the end of the ceremony the tripping dwarves are cleaned up and a medal with the legend 'I got drizzeld!'.
Any humans or elves wishing to partake of the challenge will be sadly disappointed since the violent reaction only happens in the stomachs of dwarves, but there are other options available, just ask at your local cheese shop.
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