Connorsville Swine Festival

Having just entered the town, the hail now turned to rain again, our friends soon come across the Cherry Street Inn. It's not very big building but it has a nice, small, faux tower. There are no lights on downstairs, it's past midnight. Next to the door there is a bell pull that runs to the first floor. When the party pulls it, a window opens after a while and the head of a dwarven woman appears. She tells them she'll be down soon.

She opens the door dressed in a dressing gown, carrying a candle, looking about middle aged, and introduces herself as Mrs. Wangainer. "Are you people here for the festival, you’re awfully late," she comments. "The what?" our friends ask, still having no idea where they are. "The Connorsville Swine Festival, of course. It’s a yearly tradition." Both Boldrek and Kieran are well versed in Geography and they now know they have arrived in Dolac, about halfway between Avale and the Otteun border.

Luckily the tower room is available due to some guests not showing up. Our friends are very happy to be out of the rain and take the room, it has quite a nice view down the street at the intersection. They hang their clothes to dry and are soon asleep.

Day 1

The party wakes up relatively early, there is a lot of bustle both inside and out, rain is still hitting the window, the smell of bacon wafts up from downstairs. As our friends make their way down they are met on landing by rotund gentleman with round glasses who asks if they are here for the festival and think the rain will let up.

Coming down into the common room the party get quite a bit of attention for arriving in their armor and weapons. But then the front door opens and two men walk inside, dripping water everywhere. There is a small dialogue between the two: “Man, it’s wet out there.” “It’s been wet out there every day, it’s not summer.” “I hope you have good footwear, people.”

Then our friends are greeted by Mrs. Wangainer who asks if they slept well and seats them at table. There is a buffet breakfast which consists mostly of porridge - one can add salt, sugar, or bacon bit -, day old bread, fruit, honey, and a few other things. As the party is finishing up they are approached by a woman who introduces herself as Melsany Jostins. She asks them if the happen to be traveling to Avale tomorrow. She is going there to deliver some cargo and wouldn't mind to travel together for added safety, she's willing to pay. Our friends are happy to accept, deciding to stay today and check out the festival.

When our friends leave the inn Kieran immediately steps into puddle. There are quite a few people walking down the street towards the city center. Along they way the party sees kids playing, some are building a tree house. They cross a small bridge that goes over Ash Brook, which flows through town.

Closer to the center they pass the temple of Ulaa, the temple to Beory can be seen in the distance. Then they come to the town square, the first thing they see is an old beggar with his hand out. In the middle of the square stands a statue, one side holds the town hall, and many businesses can be found on the other sides; the Tip Top Tavern, the Guellian Inn, a tailor, a book store, a pawn shop, an office for the Guild of Bookkeepers, Notaries & Scribes that holds a branch of the Pursue Hickory bank, an apothecary, a jewelers, and more.

Gobbler’s Knob

This is not where the festival proper is held though, that's just a short walk onwards on Gobbler’s Knob. The path up there holds a number of wooden, upright pig sculptures that flank all visitors. At the entrance a number of signs are put up to direct attention to different events:

• A listing of conferences held at the Guellian Inn during the day, they are all pig related.
• Tonight: Swine Fest, includes three course meals, two complimentary drinks from the bar, PIGGY Awards ceremony, live music, bachelor auction, buy your tickets early!
• Biggest vegetables & fruits, and best arts & crafts entries close at 10:00. Judging starts immediately after!
• Pig of the Year election at noon!
• Companions of Elric fundraiser at our building; come for the prizes, help support those less fortunate. See feats of strength, gravity defying stunts, and more!
• Free tours of Thomasses Slaughterhouse today, see the latest in pig processing.
• CDC presents: Swine Lake Ballet by the kids of the Connerville Dance Company at Shaffeler Theater, 10:00.
• Matinée performance of Swine Before Pearls, directed by Virgil Honeycutt, staring Virgil Honeycutt & Sandy Maschmeyer, at Shaffeler Theater, 14:00.

Up here there are many pavilion tents and lots of stalls. It has stopped raining, due to the elevated location most of the water is gone as well. Numerous musicians play at a number of locations. As the day goes on more people walk around with embroidered sashes declaring things like: “Piglet Parade Winner”, “Bacon Baron”, etc.

Food stalls sell a lot of different festival food and drink, including:

• Pork Scratchings, deep-fried, salted, crunchy pork rind.
• ‘Swine Blood’, a mead colored with beets.
• Boar’s Brew, a specialty made by the local Ash Brook Brewery.
• Mince Mops, a cylinder of minced pork, spiced up a little, wrapped in pastry and then baked.
• The Triple Oink Challenge, a monstrous sandwich stacked with pork belly, sausage, and ham.
• Pig on a Stick, skewer with bacon, onions, and endives.
• Hog Logs, spicy sausages.
• Sow’s Surprise, stew served with bread.
• Stuffed Snouts, roasted pig snouts stuffed with herbs and garlic butter.
• Sugared Boar Ears, crispy pastries dusted with powdered sugar.
• Piglet Pops, cake pops shaped like tiny pig faces.

Knickknacks are of course quite popular as well, they can be bought and are also used as prizes at many of the games:

• Tiny wooden pig in a blanket.
• A scarf with snout at one end, tail at the other.
• Squealing Pig Whistles, wooden whistles shaped like pig snouts that emit a loud squeal.
• Porcelain Piggy Banks.
• Boar paintings by Laurent Bellec.

There quite a few things to do at the festival, these are some of them:

• A pavilion tent holds the biggest vegetables & fruits, best arts & crafts (including food).
• Pin the Tail on the Pig.
• Face painting.
• Punch & Judy show, with special guest star Miss Piggy.
• Squeal Like a Pig Contest, give your best pig impersonation, judged on volume, realism, and flair.
• Catch the Greased Pig, a small pen where contestants try and catch the animal as fast as possible.
• Guess the Number of Beans in the Jar, 1 sp entry, closest guess wins a free drink a day for a year at the Tip Top Tavern.
• Pork Portrait Artist, draws you as a caricature pig.
• Ten Pig Bowling, roll a barrel painted like a pig to knock down ten pig-shaped pins.
• Pig Trivia, show you know your sows from your hogs.
• Piglet Relay Race, teams must carry a squealing piglet through an obstacle course without dropping it.
• Trough Bobbing, catch floating pickled eggs in brine-filled troughs for a prize.
• The Great Pig Escape, a piglet is let loose in a maze, 5 cp bet on which exit it will choose.
• Pork Pyramid Smash, throw beanbags at tower of wooden piglets, topple them all to win a prize.
• Sowsyphus Pork Barrel Push, push a large barrel up a slope, first to the top wins.
• Trough Toss, toss coins into progressively smaller pig-shaped buckets for prizes.
• The Great Princess Hamela Tells Your Fortune, a pig predicts fortunes by choosing between cards.
• The Lost & Found tent.