Serve Drinks
Pick Your Peril: The Hero of Mudtown
(This is part of a series of choose-your-own-adventure articles. If you want to start from the beginning, click here. If you want to revisit the previous chapter, click here.)
The lack of coin in your pockets is starting to become a hindrance. You need a way to make some money fast, and serving drinks for tips seems like it might be a perfect solution.
You take a tray of tankards from the Innkeeper and get to work. There’s plenty of customers to serve, and their never-ending requests for libation keep you busy. A few generous souls hand over a coin or two when you deliver their drinks, but for the most part your work goes unrewarded.
A thin man in a lavish purple coat beckons you over with a hand bejeweled with many rings.
“You there!” He smiles at you when you approach his table, and it’s clear that he’s already overindulged in the tavern’s beverages. “I need you to get something for me.”
He grabs your arm and pulls you closer.
“A few years ago I was staying at this very tavern, and they served THE MOST divine drink I have ever tasted.” The smell of liquor on his breath is nearly overwhelming. “I simply must taste it again. The name was something like…”
The rich man stares off into the distance, eyes unfocused, trying to recollect the name of this wonderful beverage. When he’s finally able to remember, his eyes lock back onto yours with giddy excitement.
“Cinderberry Brandy!” He chuckles and claps a hand to the side of his face. “How could I forget!”
The rich man pulls a heavy-looking bag of coins from his coat.
“It’s not a vintage the Innkeeper will easily part with, I know.” He grins at you and jingles the bulging coinpurse in his hand. “I’ll make it worth your while if you can convince the Innkeeper to give us a bottle of Cinderberry Brandy. Very worth your while, indeed.”
You nod and waste no time asking the Innkeeper about the brandy in question. He scratches his chin and looks at the rich man in befuddlement when he hears the name.
“Cinderberry Brandy?” The Innkeeper laughs. “We don’t have anything called Cinderberry Brandy. We have Cindervine Wine, but it’s the cheapest stuff we carry.”
He shrugs.
“You can tell him we don’t have it, or you can just give him the Cindervine Wine. I doubt he’d be able to tell the difference anyway, especially with how much he’s had already.”
What will you do?