Serve the Wine
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.)
It seems the rich man is the type of customer that won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. You decide it’s best to just get him something to drink.
You ask the Innkeeper where they keep the Cindervine Wine.
“Through that door.” He points over to the kitchen. “Agatha will show you where we keep it. We store it in the back since customers didn’t seem to like it all that much.”
You enter the kitchen and find a hunched old woman basting some meat over a fire.
“Please,” She glances at you for the briefest of seconds before turning her attention back to the food. “Tell me you’re here to help.”
You shake your head and ask about the Cindervine Wine. Agatha curses under her breath and begins to grumble as she shows you to a dusty wine rack in the back of a broom closet. She brushes cobwebs off a bottle and hands it over to you.
“We must be out of everything else if the Innkeeper is willing to serve this swill.”
When you tell her a customer requested a whole bottle, she laughs and shakes her head before turning back to her cooking.
You bring the bottle and a wine glass over to the rich man’s table. He nods enthusiastically when you draw near.
“Yes! Yes, that’s the stuff! I can recognize it by the bottle.”
The man snatches the wine glass from your hand the moment you’ve finished pouring and takes a long drink. He doesn’t say anything after the first drink, just examines the wine for a moment. He swirls the dark liquid around his glass and takes a hearty whiff before downing the rest of the rest of it in one gulp. He sits back in his chair, satisfied.
“Oh yes! This tastes exactly how I remembered.” He smacks his lips and pours himself another glass. “I’m glad the Innkeeper was willing to part with such an elixir, it’s good he can recognize a customer with taste.”
The rich man raises his glass to the Innkeeper, who gives a confused wave back. The man fishes out the coinpurse from the depths of his luxurious coat and tosses it on the table.
“Thank you for your service, peasant.”
You scoop up the bag of money and look around for potential allies to hire. The evening has passed quicker than you realized, and the Tavern is pretty much empty except for your rich new friend and a few old drunks. After dropping an armful of empty tankards in the kitchen sink, you head back to the bar to tell the Innkeeper that you’re done serving drinks for the night.
The Innkeeper gives you a thankful nod.
“That customer in the purple coat had a lot of nice things to say about you.” He smiles as he dries a glass. “Left a pretty generous tip too. I’ve got an empty room upstairs if you need a place to rest for the night.”
You’re too tired to think about anything other than sleep, and graciously accept the Innkeeper’s offer. You find your room and fall asleep within seconds of settling into your borrowed bed.
The next morning you awaken and head downstairs to find the Innkeeper at his spot behind the bar. You thank him for the bed and bid him farewell.
“That’s too bad, I was hoping you might want to stay another night.” He shrugs and looks at you hopefully. “It’s hard to find good help, and Agatha really needs someone to lend a hand in the kitchen.”
Now that you have some money, it will be a lot easier to hire some help for your quest. The whole reason you came to the Stoneville Tavern was to seek assistance, it wouldn’t make much sense to dawdle. The sooner you can find your family and the rest of the missing villagers, the better.
With this much money in your pockets, it’s possible you might even be able to bribe a guard to let you through the castle gate. Money seems to be the quickest way to get what you want, and it’s worth seeing how shaky the castle guards’ loyalty is.
Although…
Staying at the Tavern could have some advantages, and helping the Innkeeper wasn’t as tedious as you had feared. Having a place to put your feet up sounds especially nice. Maybe you should slow down and take some time to contemplate your next move.
What will you do?