In the former orcish city of Bozageest the Duchess of Oublier, a half-orcish woman more frequently known as Drndyllyn the Wyld, was overseeing the finishing touches on the massive festival of celebration. This was to be the first Oktoberfest in the Archduchy of Maelonbourg and the Wenigzustand and the weight of it had been vexing Drndyllyn. She had never thrown a party before and the scale of this dwarfed any previous occasion she had ever been to or even heard of. Quite simply it was a major bash and everyone in the realm had been invited to attend. While it was unlikely that everyone would show up, it was still going to be a big deal.

Fortunately for Drndyllyn she had surrounded herself with people that knew how to get things done. Security for the event was taken care of by the jorish huntsman Malek who by this time was easily identified as Drndyllyn’s suitor as well as he was for being the head of security for the Crescent Import & Export Company’s branch office in Bozageest. There wasn’t a person in the city that dared to cross Malek. Placing him in charge of keeping the peace during Oktoberfest was a guaranteed way to insure that folks didn’t get too crazy. Malek in turn had backed the recommendation of his cousin Moak who had told Drndyllyn that if she wanted to provide a memorable feast then she had better employ the services of Lendler Giftmördun. Lendler had recently settled in the area with his large extended family and they had a well-deserved reputation for catering parties and hosting exclusive events for those that could afford it. Lendler had graciously agreed to do the job, and for a modest fee compared to the exorbitant amounts of money he was rumored to normally demand.

The rest of the festival would fall into place thanks to hundreds of volunteers from all across the Archduchy. Farmers were taking advantage of the gathering to sell and show off their harvests from the previous year. Soldiers and those that had been conscripted into service for the brief conflict with Lotharingia were celebrating the victory they scored at the Second Battle of Käsestadt. Everyone else was just looking for a chance to drink a lot and eat more than they had any reasonable right to. The entire realm was buzzing with excitement.

While the event itself was only a few days away Drndyllyn had asked her resident mage to send a missive to the Archduke and the other notables of the realm reminding them that the day was fast approaching. Her only real fear was that these important people might not show up. Drndyllyn didn’t need to see them. But the people of the land would very much enjoy having these “Troublemakers” on hand for the party. There was something alluring about the nobility being every bit as rough and tumble as the people were themselves. Even if Malek’s reputation was enough to keep everyone in line it was still going to be easier to keep everyone happy if the Archduke and his companions were present. Drndyllyn was beginning to realize that the worst part of planning any party was making sure that the key invitees showed up.

Next year this was going to be somebody else’s problem. Drndyllyn would see to that.