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Samhain Celebrations
Oct 31 - Nov 1
The smell of baked apples wafts across the Gathering, carried through the air by the sound of fiddlers, pipers and drummers. Paths and streets that wend their way through the town are lit by hollowed-out turnips with candles flickering inside them. Many of the people making their way to the Gathering are wearing homemade masks or costumes, repesenting animal or plant spirits, devils and demons, ghosts and hobgoblins. Near the center of the Gathering, a huge bonfire sends out tongues of flame that lick the sky.
There are tables laden with food: a rich tomato and herb soup, a thick chicken broth, beef and onion stew, toad-in-the-hole with a thick onion gravy, huge wooden dishes of roasted turnips, parsnips and carrots, and of caramelized new potatos, sizzling strips of bacon rolled around crisp chunks of green apple, hot baked potatos filled with spicy chicken and sprinkled with raisins, freshly baked bread rolls with curls of creamy butter, little patties of tart goats cheese, big rounds of strong chedder cheese, big bowls of popped-corn (some buttered, some sweetened with caramel, some salted).
Still hungry? For those with a sweet tooth, there are baked apples decorated with cinnamon sticks, candied apples on sticks, juicy red apple and blackberry pies, jugs brimming with fresh cream. Thirsty? There is hot apple cider, hot milk sweetened with honey, mulled red wine. Of course, there are also frothy mugs of ale, specially brewed for the occasion, and shots of strong spirits.
To one side, there is a long table with a large pile of oat-currant cakes, wooden goblets of wine, and many small candles. No-one takes food or drink from this table, but candles are lit and added to the table as passers-by offer a moment of silent prayer for the dead.
There is dancing, naturally, but there are other entertainments too: bobbing-for-apples, jesters and jugglers, a troupe of men performing acrobatics. There are people offering predictions through the reading of cards, the casting of runes, the scrying of water or flame.
A wooden barrel filled with hazelnuts sits near the main bonfire, and a line of young girls is waiting to take their turn. Each one picks out a hazelnut, names it for a young man she likes, and throws it into the fire one. There is much squealing if it's spat back out of the fire, for that means a hand-fasting is in their future. Some refuse to admit defeat, and continue to name hazelnuts for different men until one of them is finally spat back out at her. This game appears to be rather unpopular with the young men of the community, most of whom are avoiding the area like a plague.
They seem to prefer the fighting ring that has been marked out on the dirt to one side, by Lars from The Tar, where money and other items of value change hands fast in the cheering, jeering crowd. In this area there are also tug-o'-war games, displays of strength and agility, and women all too ready to attend to those who require momentary company. For a price, of course.
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THE BLACK ARMY
THE COUNCIL
THE TRADESMEN
LOCAL KIDS
OTHER NOTABLES
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