Chapter 94

Low on Mana Beer

Jewelweed was mossy and wet. A humidity stuck to the city. Horsetails invaded every strip of grass and the walkways were narrow. Touch-me-nots were on the brink of flowering. Which meant that autumn was only a couple months away.

Ambling about, I went from shop to shop. I traded for most of the time. Other times I simply bought things, or was flat out rejected where my Merchant Options weren’t at a high enough level to work. More than once, I ended up spending more than I wanted to, or selling items for less than I originally planned.

After selling to Jesse, I became quite fond of selling beer so I sought out more taverns and inns. Toadshade & Toothwort bought 2 barrels from me. A passing merchant bought a few gourds. Tavern ‘Pokey the Hog’ bought 4 barrels, and a shop of varieties bought a few waterskins.

I still had a lot of beer to sell, but I was dismayed to find that I was getting low on mana beer. I only had a few left, and at the rate that I was drinking them, I knew I’d have to do something about that soon.

The last place I wanted to sell beer to was an inn called Tansy. I arrived at noon on my last day in Jewelweed. It was the last inn on my way south.

I pushed past the swinging doors. A few crotchety men looked up with saggy, wet eyes. The bartender greeted me warmly.

“Good day, traveler,” she said.

She was a small human, but by the way she moved the furniture and kegs around, she was deceptively strong.

“Morning,” I said.

“Breakfast?”

“That sounds mighty fine. Do you have fish?”

They had fish, but no smoked fish. No one ever had smoked fish. I bought a plate of sliced salmon, two dozen poached eggs, garlic and herb pasta, roasted tomato soup, onion soup, steamed corn wrapped in husks, yogurt with berries and granola, and tomato pie.

“Something to satisfy my journey,” I explained.

Skeptical, the bartender suggested I order things one at a time, so I did, and paid her per item. I kept my head low as I ate, but damn was food good. A lot more flavorful than the simple foods Hawkin always made. After an hour of non-stop eating, I’d affected 1% of my composition.

“I’ve… …never seen someone eat so much,” the bartender said.

“I’m still so hungry,” I said.

“If… …you want more… …I guess we can keep going… …if you’d like.”

“I’ll have a beer, and I’d also like to gauge your interest in purchasing beer from me.”

“You’re a brewer,” she said.

“My friend Hawkin is a brewer. I’ve been selling his beers everywhere. Super Tavern Ales. I was told they make a good house ale for the working folk.”

“Depends on the price. Name’s Lilly by the way.”

“Thrush.”

As I offered her some samples of beer, I navigated my Merchant Options. Flattery was a no-no with her, so I retreated from that tactic. Lilly responded well to reason, so I mostly focused on my Merchant’s Reason skill with her. Her interest grew when I broke down costs and discounts for larger quantities. She was receptive to all of it.

But before closing the sale, I ran out of mana. Merchant Options ended and I was let with a choice. Either drink some mana beer, which I was running low on, or handle the rest of our negotiations blind.

I was ultimately after cowbell root, so if I needed mana for something, then that would be it. Otherwise I could stock up on mana potions from a potioneer if I thought the cost was worth it. I could also maybe send someone to Hawkin’s ethereal plane to ask him for some more mana beers. It would be a good opportunity to see what else he had that I could sell during my travels. All in all, I needed some sort of mana replenishing item. My mana wouldn’t replete fast enough on its own.

I went through the rest of our negotiations blind, using only my gut. Lilly bought 15 barrels for 4 gold each. I helped her move them off to a cooler corner of the inn among some other barrels. After setting them upright, I returned to the bar and ordered one last tankard before heading out.

“Thanks again,” Lilly said. “So, where are you headed?”

“I’m looking for cowbell roots. I should find some near Omes Arbor.”

“Roots. Exciting.”

“Have you been there before?”

“No,” she said. “I’d like to go one day. Never left Jewelweed. Heard stories though. Will you be coming back this way when you’ve found your roots?”

“Perhaps.”

“Stop on by and tell me if it’s true that people live in the trees there.”

“If I come back this way, I’ll pop in and let you know.”

With that, I finished my beer, paid the rest of my tab and left Jewelweed.

Four hours later, I came upon an intersection in the road. There was a pole with signs. One pointed south to Omes Arbor. The other pointed southeast and had a warning tacked to it.

“Multiple reports of ambush and murders. Take this path at your own risk.”

A family of travelers heading north stopped to inspect the signs with me.

“Bandits,” a man surmised. “Not in our direction, so who cares.”

“We still ought to be careful, papa,” A young man said.

“I’ll strangle each one with my bare hands,” Papa said. “Ain’t nothing getting past me!”

“Just like the mortsands?” An old lady said.

“That’s right,” Papa said. “Just like the mortsands. Killed two of those nasty monsters myself. Easy as pie. What about you, stranger? Have you seen any monsters or bandits coming down?”

“No,” I said.

“Apart from the mortsands, we ain’t seen nothing neither.”

A moment of thought passed across the older man’s eyes.

“Anyways,” he continued. “Let’s get a move on. Jewelweed can’t be more than a day away. Good luck traveler.”

“Good luck,” I said.

I changed course and headed down the alternative road. It was a dark road that narrowed tightly beneath the canopy of pines. I pulled down my hood and used my superb sense to hunt down any nearby bandits.