Chapter 20

Collector’s Journal

Snow fell ferociously. So hard that each snowflake stung like paper cuts. So cold, that I mistook the sting for paper cuts. I was driven indoors while this cold front slept in my woods. I had no other choice but to wait it out. I would have liked to chop more wood, but that wasn’t up to me.

Thrush had been gone for nearly two days now and the pool of blue smoke on my ceiling was just dissipating away. I corked the gourd of mana beer and set it away from the stove along with the other four beers I’d brewed.

[Quest Objective: Brew a mana beer. Complete]

[Reward: Two uncommon brewer’s loot chests. One rare brewer’s loot chest.]

I now had 3 loot chests to go through. Before that, I wanted to try one of each beer I’d brewed. I grabbed both a bowl and my beaten copper mug.

Oh right. Thrush isn’t here.

I returned the bowl to its place on my shelf. Then I grabbed the first gourd of beer. The one made with barley. Just like the first one, it was brown and hazy. There was quite a bit of sediment. Smelled skunky, and was again a beer I found most foul. Deserving of a Poor Man’s Ale reputation.

The wheat ale was even hazier and just as disgusting. The only difference was that I could taste a hint of banana. I had one of each that I left unopened and stored them down in my cellar. To clear my palate, I enjoyed a small simple salad. Undressed. Ten I had myself a mug of Ale from the Vale of Ara.

Fields of honeysuckle and yellow flowers filled my world. Dellia’s smile was brief and playful. In the blink of an eye, per sip, I came to my senses back in my cabin.

Now that’s a true beer!

The last beer to try was the mana beer.

I rinsed out my copper mug, uncorked the gourd, and poured. Blue smoke drifted out, carrying tiny bubbles that floated to the ceiling and popped. Firelight from the stove blinked upon each bubble.

The beer was a purple brown with a shining foam of the same color. It smelled just as skunky as the previous beers and I took a small sip. The flavor was less horrendous than the previous two I’d brewed. Nevertheless, I grimaced and smacked my lips as though I’d bitten into a rotting lemon.

Left to my own judgement, I thought that the mana beer was greater than a Poor Man’s ale by a hair. What was interesting was how it made me feel. I hadn’t had that much beer quiet yet, but I was certainly feeling the effects. I also felt rejuvenated, as though I had enough energy to produce 20 more blown gourds in a row.

Might have to since I’ve only got four more gourds to brew beer in. On the other hand, I do have a firkin and a clear glass bottle. I might even have more containers in my new loot boxes. Speaking of which…

I cellared all my new beers, then returned up the ladder and set my 3 loot boxes on the table. One by one, I opened them from most common, to least common.

From the first uncommon loot chest, I received blue brewer’s yeast, old hops, old barley, and another pile of cracked barley. When I opened the second uncommon loot chest, something odd happened. One of the items glowed a brilliant gold. It became a shape of light that morphed into a larger item. The light dimmed. Since I had leveled, I had a chance to receive higher level items; lo and behold, there sat a level 3 Brewer’s skill book. Without it, I would have to grind my brewing skills to level up, so skill books were always a welcome aid in leveling up fast.

I was delighted to also find a Collector’s Ale Journal. Lastly, there were two piles of old hops.

The rare loot chest was heavy and much larger than the others. The chest had a latch that opened on its own when I moved to touch it.

In the chest were 2 piles of oats, 2 piles of the first green-ish hops I’d ever seen, 2 piles of old brown hops, 3 piles of barley, 2 piles of wheat, and 2 handfuls of yeast. And a bottle of beer.

What is this?

I lifted the bottle from the chest. It was cold. The glass was amber and looked a bit on the melted side. The glass was amber so I couldn’t tell the color of the beer. The bottle was fit into a leather sleeve. Burned on the leather was the name Honey Wicks.

The name of a brewer? The name of a brewery? The name of the beer?

I couldn’t contain myself. I stoked the fire in the stove, set some potatoes to bake, then put away all my new loot.

I then made myself comfortable before two items. The collector’s journal, and the new beer. I opened the journal first. It was heavy. The pages were thick. The leather binding was thick and floppy. The first page read ‘Collector’s Ale Journal. Pour a drop upon an empty page to start your collection entries. Entries will automatically be organized by rarity and then alphabetically.’

I popped off the cork from the Honey Wicks brown ale. Creamy white foam cascaded like a fading dream from the neck. I splashed a little more than a drop onto the second page of the collector’s journal. The liquid took on a life of its own, slithering across the page like spilled ink. The ink darkened, brightened, and changed colors as text was written and images were illustrated. At the bottom of the page was a beautifully illustrated, exact replica of the bottle and leather label. A section of the bottle was missing, revealing the amber liquid of the beer. The exact color of the real beer’s foam was beautifully rendered from the neck of the illustration. Above the image was the journal entry.

[Honey Wicks Brown Ale.]

[Common.]

[Rewarded by Dellia Lucerne.]

[Originates from the Honey Wicks brewery in Gleefstad.]

[Notes of lightly roasted malt, herbaceous hops, with a fall-apart, creamy white foam. Slightly hazy.]

[Ingredients: Gleefstad grown barley, Gleefstad hops, Lunstad Hops, fresh water, greater common brewer’s yeast.]

[Value: Four copper per gallon]

[No special attributes]

I sipped the beer straight from the bottle. There were indeed notes of lightly roasted malt. The hops were herbaceous. When I poured myself a mug, I found that the foam was fall-apart and that the ale had more clarity than my abominations.

I had to add the beers that I brewed to the journal. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were considered [Poor Man’s Ale]. Both the barley and the wheat beers. The mana beer was no different, except that it had special attributes. [Replenishes mana at twice the speed over one full day. Stacking. Quality causes the drunk affliction. Stacking.]

Then I added a drop of Ale from the Vale of Ara.

[Ale from the Vale of Ara.]

[Level 10/100 Greater Legendary.]

[Originates from the Vale of Ara.]

[Notes of flowers blooming in early summer mornings with dew not yet shaken from their petals. Notes of Chamomile, daffodil, sweet grass, honeysuckle, goldenrods, pollen, and morning rain evaporating from slate and pebbles. Crisp. Eternally chilled. Slight haze.

[Ingredients: Vale of Ara grown barley and wheat, wild Vale of Ara yeast, Ara’s Cheeky-gold hops, and rain water.]

[Special attributes: Brewer’s Portal. Transports high level brewers to the Vale of Ara.]