"Yes, I hope so.  Are you the master of this brewery?"

"My name is Althiöf.  I sampled some of your creations over at the Inn."

"I'm in town for a spell, for the funeral of a friend, Elkiar Rusman.  Any chance he was a customer of yours?"

Thaenai stops at the dwarf. "Rusman, and a bunch of the Gnarleymen drink my brews, I'm getting a wagon prepared for them now, for the funeral next week. You tried my brews huh? How did ya like them?". She asks. She steps over to one of the tables and takes a cup off the table and then moves to one of the stills. tapping the large copper drum, it echos through the large brewery, she turns a knob at the bottom and out comes a amber colored liquid. She takes the cup back over to the Dwarf. "Try this, tell me what you think." she says.

"Elkiar always had told me that the Best Ale he ever had was in Hommlet."

"So, at the Inn, I sampled some of their selection.  They were good, but I imagined that they might have been slightly watered down.  When I inquired, they were proud to say your brewery is their supplier."

Althiöf accepted the cup, and once again, just as he had done at the Inn, the dwarf examined it by sight as he swirled the cup, and then by smelling the fragrances of the ingredients as they wafted from the beverage.  Finally, he slowly took a drink, to appreciate the flavors before he swallowed.

"It's delicious.  There's a lot of quality in there."

Thaenai frowns. "Watered down!, are you serious!" she says with a rather upsetting tone. "That is unacceptable." she says. "You seem to have a good palette, are you sure that my drinks tasted watered down?" she asks. "I wonder why they would do that, I supply them with enough, and my costs are comparable to many others that could be brewing around here. A shipment from Verbobonc would cost Ostler an arm and a leg. I don't charge him that much at all." she says. "If I go and demand to know why, I fear that I might be outraged over this, Would you be willing to try and find out why Ostler is watering down my brews?" she asks. "I could pay you in gold, or in product, either is fine." she says.

'Oh, here I've got my foot stuck in it again...'

"Well, I don't have proof of it, but theirs certainly didn't taste nearly as good as this one."  He thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "I'm not the devious kind of person, who'd try to cause trouble for gold or drink."  Although, truth be told, he was short on both at the moment.  "Tell ya what, I'll make an inquiry, if you pay me back in friendship."

"If I had to venture a guess, they're doing it to cut costs.  And not necessarily because the product is expensive, but possibly because their regular customers don't have much to spend."

Thaenai ponders for a moment. "Maybe they were not expecting the funeral, and all the extra people being in Hommlet for it. I could see them wanting to water it down to make it go further, but." she shakes her head. "That is my livelihood, I have had people come through Hommlet and try my brews at the Inn of the Welcome Wench, and then come order from the brewery. So having them water it down for whatever reason feels like a slight to me, and to my future. I have extra casks, they could have just asked, and told me the situation if that was the case. I would have provided more for the Inn." You can tell that this has shaken the Elven women, even with all her muscles and attitude, having the fear that her craftsmanship would be degraded on some level has upset her very much.

The locksmith was not certain if he should feel guilt or satisfaction for having brought this possible news, but at the sight of the woman's reactions, he felt guilty.  "I can see that you take pride in your craftsmanship, and well you should.  You are a master."

"I can see how the Inn is a good way of advertising your products, but it's not the only way.  I only learned of your beverages by word of mouth, from Elkiar.  I would be willing to spread good words of your business during my travels, and I have gotten around quite a bit already.  I'd do that for a friend."

"One of these days, I might just settle down and open my own place of business.  Perhaps I could sell your brands in another city."

"You know, there is always a small possibility that the Ostlers are not the ones watering it down, but someone else up to no good.  I do promise to ask them about it."

"Oh, by the way, my name is Althiöf."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:18, Wed 15 May 2019.

The Elf extends her hand to the Dwarf. "Pleasure to meet someone with with a nose for brews, I'm Thaenai, But you already knew that." she says. "You are right about the Inn though, I shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet. I would love to have you as a distributor, right now I have three places I deliver to. My methods for delivery are the issue though. Horse drawn wagons, It cuts into my profits when I have to pay for protection against road bandits, and the occasional goblin scouting party. Just last week, luckily it was a small shipment, heading along the north road, it was attacked by Goblins, They didn't kill any of my men, so it could have been worse, but they did make off with a shipment that was suppose to go to a Noble family in Verbobonc, The roads are not safe anymore, something is stirring, I just don't know what it is." she says. "Thank you Althiöf, You brought information to me that I needed, and calmed me down when I was about to blow my top. Should you ever want to do business in the future, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. But what does your clan think about you enjoying the drink of an Elf." she says with a jesting tone and a laugh.

Althiöf responded to the last topic first, it being the most fresh in his mind.  "My grandfather has a more open mind than most, likely due to his days adventuring among many races of friends.  So, my clan in particular would not mind at all if I drank, did business or had friends with elves."

"Say, I have an idea.  A group of us are forming at the Inn, with the intention of setting out in the morning to find these very same goblins on the road to the north.  What if we borrowed your wagon, perhaps with some empty casks, or even filled with water so that you couldn't lose any product?  Rather than finding them, we might entice them to come out of the woods and show themselves."

"At the same time, maybe we can rescue some or all of what you lost."

Thaenai nods. "Smart idea. lure them to you. Just know that I want the wagon back in one piece, or it will cost ya." she says. "I will have it waiting for you in the morning, load it up with a few casks of water, if your group is successful, I'll turn some of those barrels into ale." she adds. "If your able to find my stolen goods, I would be grateful, but I don't see any being left, if goblins stole it. They little fools don't know when to stop drinking." she says.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:26, Wed 15 May 2019.

"Alright, then.  I should get back to the others and let them know we have a plan.  It's been a pleasure making your acquaintance, Thaenai."

"If all goes well, I hope we have time for some more conversations soon.  Good day to you."

After she said any party words, and unless she prevented him by prolonging the conversation, the dwarf would make his way back to the Inn.

Thaenai goes back to work bossing around the others.

=======================END OF SCENE===========================

===========================START SCENE================================

Althiöf is back at the brewery, The laborers are still working at getting the wagons in order. And you can see them filling water into a few smaller barrels for the wagon the group plans to use tomorrow.

As the dwarf made his way to the brewery, he kept a careful hold of the creature's tail, keeping it at almost arm's length.  When he came to the bridge, he moved quickly across, not wanting to harm the structure with any acid.

Arriving at the brewery, Althiöf kept close along a wall, hoping to keep the creature hidden and not scare anyone, until he approached the door, which he hoped was open.  If he saw any of the laborer's, he asked if one could bring the brewmeister out, as he had some important business to discuss.

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:49, Thu 16 May 2019.

Nodding slowly, "Indeed, this was inside the cask of ale.  After I dispatched it, I checked another cask," raising the flagon in his other hand to illustrate, "but it appears as strong as it should be."

"The inhabited cask had a stopper in it, which I imagine the critter could not have done by itself.  Which begs the questions of who put it inside, and why.  Also, I cannot say for certain if the cask was within the Inn when the crime occurred."

"In any case, I wanted to assure you that it wasn't a case of your customer watering down the ale; it only seemed like it.  Ostler was with me when the creature emerged, and he was horrified and had no idea what kind of creature it was."

Thaenai shakes her head. "There are those in town that wouldn't like me to continue my craft. Because more funds could come into Hommlet through ties with larger breweries in Verbobonc. Rufus and Burne have been trying to push me out for years. I care less for their political maneuvering, this town would be better if they were not apart of it, all that gold that was suppose to go towards the construction of the Keep, and what do they have to show for it, its been five years and they have moved around a little dirt. I bet you its them that are behind this!" she says.

The dwarf's mind worked quickly, trying to wrap his head around this situation.  His intention was to make the acquaintance of the brewer.  Then he found himself investigating the Inn.  That led to being attacked and injured.  And now, politics were becoming allegedly involved.  Every time he thought he came to the end of the rabbit hole, it only went deeper. 

"Thaenai, why would those two working on the keep want to push you out?  And who else in town wouldn't want you to continue brewing?  I'd imagine your skills would be in great demand."

Thaenai sighs. "Rufus and Burne have ties back in Verbobonc, its where the two of them are from. They only moved to Hommlet when they retired from adventuring, I banged heads with them a few years ago when they wanted to start having the Inn use their friends Brewery in Verbobonc, claiming that it would cost less, and bring more trade to Hommlet. I was able to talk to Ostler and lower my prices and we agreed to stay business partners, but that upset the two, I think they had already promised their friend in Verbobonc the route. Well a week later a caravan of casks comes rolling into down with nowhere to go, Ostler out of loyalty refused to purchase them, and Rufus and Burne were stuck having to pay their friend." she says.

"Well, if anyone made a mistake, it was them for telling their friend before things were set in stone.  That's a horrible business decision on their part."

"I should probably get back to the Inn.  You wouldn't know a good spot to bury this thing, would you?"  He made a motion with his hand holding the dead creature.  "Or maybe someone who'd like to take it for the rest of its acid?"

Thaenai ponders for a moment then says. "Jaroo, Hommlet's Resident Druid, may want it, I know he like harvesting herbs and different things from animals. I bet he would be interested." she says. "He has a small grove tucked away in the woods across from the Inn and down a few houses." she says.

"Very good, I'll keep an eye out for him. Thanks."

"See you on the morrow."

The dwarf left to return to the inn.

Having returned from the goblins' lair, and the party splitting up back at the inn, the locksmith returned to the brewery with the wagon and mare, and his own mule.

Getting down from the wagon, he inquired of any present where he could find Thenai.