The Bessom Hill Donnybrook
On the eighth of Mayo, 5530NG, two rival groups of Beet Jam participants met up to discuss what they called 'inequities' in the Great Root Race. The Sheffields, of Corman, faced off against the Plattes, of Higsby. The argument turned into a real bruiser of a rumble, with many perfectly ordinary gentlefolk throwing punches and butting heads with gleeful abandon. In a flash, fists and feet turned to sticks and stones, and before too long, old Jasper Goatman got his left eye put out for his trouble, and Cal the Fleecer lost two of the fingers on his left hand.
These injuries put a serious damper on the spirits of the combatants, and the entire ordeal ended with the folks patching each other up and heading home a little sheepishly.
Ever since, two contingents of young Beet Jam revelers will meet up in the woods to drink beet-rum and dance to wild music. This party's location changes every year in an effort to keep the old folks from finding it and breaking it up, but the "old folks" were once the young folks who actually found all the cool spots to party in the first place, so all their labor is in vain.
The Conflict
Prelude
The great Root Race developed into a real problem one year when the ducks of two different townships came together in a massive duck-jam that had most of the locals laughing for days. Some few of the participants from Corman, however, had far too much to drink, and took offence at the laissez faire attitude of the visiting Higsby contingent. To be fair, the team from Higsby had carved some of their ducks out of turnips, which led to the clogging of the river, and the inability to choose a proper Beetmeister for the year. The effectively canceled out any luck having a beetmeister would even bring, and the superstitious folks from Corman took it upon themselves to "teach those Higsby punks a lesson" in Beet Jam etiquette.
Deployment
The Sheffields and their rangers took the east side of the hill as their starting point, while the Plattes led their own drunken mob of friends and family up the northen flank of the forested mound.
Battlefield
Somewhere very close to the summit of Bessom Hill, the fair people of Higsby and Corman faced off in a fierce, beet-based conflict.
Conditions
It was night time, with a clear sky and one full moon. The other moon was a waning crescent, and the Hunter was risen high in the southern sky. The other constellations danced round the Hunter in their never ending celestial waltz, and a cool breeze was blowing from the north-east.
The Engagement
Who it was that threw the first punch is unknown, and in the end, it never really mattered.
Outcome
Honestly, there was much embarrassment and supplication once everyone sobered up and stumbled home to their own beds.
Aftermath
A new local tradition was invented the very next year by some students from the world famous Bardic College Campus, who had come up with a new drinking game called "Three Finger Shooters" in honor of Cal the Fleecer, who was a well known boozer around Eastern Craysilt.
Historical Significance
Legacy
A tradition of younger generations from Corman and Higsby meeting up to drink and dance during The Beet Jam sprung up from the Donnybrook, resulting in countless marriages, and innumerable connections between people from the disparate townships. They are not especially close to each other, so the travel can be a real chore, and yet it is happily undertaken each and every year by the folks of each township. Of course, the woodsfolk of the area are more than up to the task; another legacy of their complex relationship with each other and the forest wherein they live.
Maps
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Eastern Craysilt: The High Road
The thoroughfare between the Middle Kingdoms and the city-state of Feynor.
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