Quest - Dark Harvest: A Hefty Brew | Page 2

Now that they moved from hops-picking to boiling a brew, they now had time to stand around and talk through the hour-long process, now that Sylpha had all the ingredients save the yeast at hand.

Obviously, the first question was how she knew the process of making beer. "It was my homework once." She said. "Beer bread. I'm a baker on the other side." She kept the word "other" in a slighly softer voice, because generally players don't let people in on each other's lives. However, since Sylpha was intending to bake here, too, it didn't matter to her as much.

She wasn't the kind of person that would be affected much by having other players learn of her identity, anyway.

The next question was regarding how to determine the brew was nearing completion. "Because the color and the smell changes. The stronger the st... aroma is, the closer it is to done." She changed her choice of word, in case it was pleasant to someone. To Sylpha, it stank, and would stink more when she added the finishing hops because it drew out the... 'fragrance' of the hops.

A good half hour into the boil, she lifted the basket. Picking up the second basket of hops, she placed a quarter of it into one pot and then into the other, saving half of the basket. Those she would add fifteen minutes later, to make it extra stinky... er, fragrant. Since she didn't have to be in front of the kettle, she could stand a slight distance in front and still talk, meaning she didn't have to bear as much of the smell as they did... though she was so close it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"These hops flowers contain oils" Sylpha said. "The ones you add later into the brew is what gives it the smell. That and the yeast at fermentation. This is alcohol we're making."

She lifted the hops basket. "And since this is the Dark Harvest we're talking about, they're not going to let us be stingy with the hops."

Total Highest rolls (post-modifier):
101, 108
Brew qualities are Supreme for both batches.​

 

"I thought alcohol had to do with the fermentation of sugars, not yeast." Solaria mused, having only learned anything about alcohol because of her nursing classes. Hearing that @Sylpha Astarte was a baker in their own world, the nurse-in-training giggled a bit. At least she wasn't the only one open about her real life. And to know a baker? That was a pretty nice thing.

Giving a small glance to @Verity, she couldn't help but wonder about his life as well. Did either of these two drink alcohol? They both seemed fairly comfortable in this job. Then again, Solaria didn't feel quite too out of place either, which was a shock. "Do either of you actually drink? I'm curious to know the charm of this one, but I usually avoid anything that could affect my senses."

Then again, this brew was already attacking her senses. It was an unusual stench, one she hadn't dealt with before. It was probably more pleasant than the scent of death, but it certainly wasn't a fun odor. In all likelihood, a skunk would be more refreshing to her. By themselves, though, the hops hadn't smelled so bad...

"You said as we add more hops it becomes stronger, right? But...Why didn't the hops smell so...uh...vibrant? Before becoming brew, I mean."

Total Highest rolls (post-modifier):
101, 108
Brew qualities are Supreme for both batches.

 

While he has no interest in joining their discussion about brewing alcohol, he was surprised that @Sylpha Astarte was a baker in real life. Guess that means that there are some real-life skills that translate well into Terrasphere. But about drinking alcohol, well he did try drinking beer once, only for him to be knocked out due to too much alcohol. He swore never to try it again for the rest of his life.

"I'm afraid I can't drink them. I prefer tea and wine with less alcoholic substance." He was aware that @Solaria's current appearance wasn't the same as her real-life, but he wondered if she did drink some outside the game or not. He was worried that she can't handle alcohol like him.

Speaking of which, the scent of the brewed hops also overwhelmed his senses, to the point that he has to pinch his nose in order to avoid the smell. "Like she said, we are making alcohol. I don't know much about this process and how it really smell, but you can't expect the sweet scent of a food or drink from it."

Total Highest rolls (post-modifier):
101, 108
Brew qualities are Supreme for both batches.​

 

Clearly using the opportunity to learn, Solaria kept the questions coming. Thankfully, none of them were really complex. "Yes it is, but you have to use yeast to start the fermentation process to begin with." The yeast was why the sugars were fermenting, so both statements were actually correct. Alcohol was created through the combination of sugar and yeast. In this case, the sugar was in the dark colored liquid that Sylpha had poured in when they started the brew. As for the yeast, that would go in after it was cooled so that the yeast would not die.

Sylpha wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, being careful not to flick any of it towards the brew. She wasn't going to leave any kind of "personal mark" in it. As she dealt with her sweat, the conversation continued. The topic turned to their preferences (or lack thereof) for alcohol.

"I am also like Verity. I prefer tea and wine, though I do drink a bit wider variety of alcohols, like cider and... well, spirits. I do flavor some of my bakes with them and many a recipe mandates their use, anyway. "

Sylpha picked up the basket and shoved in the last of the hops into thee kettle before stepping back, allowing the two to control the boiling of the kettle. They did a very good job of doing so, giving Sylpha a sense of satisfaction for chancing upon just the right people to help her out. She had a little smile on her face, but tried to keep it hidden.

As Solaria's question turns to the... strong scent all over the room, Sylpha had an answer to that, too. "It's oils in the flower, so like many other plants that store oils, you have to crush or rub it in order to get the smell you're thinking of." It was true for citrus fruits like oranges and lemons, where the most fragrant oils were hidden inside their colorful zest. Her knowledge as a chef allowed her to deduce this, because there was no way she was going to willingly crush one of these flowers to get herself a sample of the beer fragrance she hated so much. Judging by how her two friends were reacting, they didn't entirely like the smell either.

Thankfully, once the brew finally settled after the final addition of hops, they were done. "Alright, brew's done. Pick up the kettles and let's set this out to cool." Sylpha produced two pairs of gloves to pick the kettle with, donning a third pair herself. She had gotten these on the way back the first round.

She called one of the brewers over. "Our brew's done!"
A middle-aged man approached, smelled the brew and gave a big grin. "Now that's the greatest brew I' ever smelled, and it's only gonna be better after a week... Almost a shame to waste it on somethin' yearly like the Dark Harvest."

Still, he lead them over to an area where the finished brews were drained from their kettles through a wooden rack-like contraption that acted as a sieve, catching the hops and grains and leaving them out of the brew. The liquid would fall through onto a large wooden tray, one for each batch, which would then be cooled through the large surface area.

"Pour it out on these two 'ight here, please." He'd say.
Naturally, Sylpha would support Solaria and Verity to tip the kettles and pour out the brew. After that, she'd hand the kettles and gloves over to the man for his keeping.

With that finally done, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Nicely do-

Before she could even finish her sentence, another middle-aged man with an odd windswept hairstyle broke in and interrupted. Sylpha could recognize this man with dirty blonde hair: He was the one called Todd who requested Sylpha to bring in help to begin with. Or, to be exact, bribed with bread to let Sylpha and friends help.

"Thank Iedi you're still here," Todd said between pants. He clearly ran in looking for them. "I completely forgot to ask you if you wanted to help us with a shipment for Dunnstads."
Sylpha blinked once. "You don't have enough people to deliver the brew?"
Todd returned a similar gesture. "Ms. Astarte, if we don't even have enough people to harvest and brew, we don't have enough people to deliver them. You don't have to accept, of course, but I still wanted to ask, anyway."

"Well, can't argue with that." Sylpha was convinced by his logical argument and turned back to Solaria and Verity. "They still need our help. Your opinions?"

 

"Where we're from, I'm actually not old enough to drink. Not that it's stopped many people, but..." Timid laughter left her lips. Her history of trying things she probably shouldn't was one of her most embarrassing secrets, considering how much she was against such substances as of late. "I like juice most. Tea...Is good, if it's not at my friend's house."

Shivering from the memory, she couldn't help but assume alcohol (which she'd been forced to drink once in the game) and that particular medicinal tea were similar. They both had a strong smell, both were known to burn the throat as they went down...Actually, was that even tea she'd been drinking?

With a timid laughter as they let the brews go cool off, she took a few moments talking with her friends and with the locals they were helping. Or rather, she'd planned to do that. When the man asked them to do a shipment, she'd been only mildly distracted by strangers at the time, turning towards Sylpha's questioning.

"I think you know me well enough to know I can't leave someone alone when they need help~ Of course I'll join in on the delivery trip!" Her lips were a simplistic smile, her hands clasping onto each other behind her as she stretched forward, preparing for the trip already. "How much are we bringing? Any idea?"

@Sylpha Astarte @Verity

 

At least they have something in common: They prefer less or no alcoholic drinks and tea. Sure, they have different reasons like @Solaria mentioned that she was too young to drink in her home, but at least these girls didn't have this vice back in real life. Otherwise, he will have to deal troublemakers who were somehow drunk inside the game.

Eventually, Verity sighed in relief that the brew was finished without any problems, hoping that he would go back to his apartment and sleep for tonight. However, it wasn't possible when he saw @Sylpha Astarte was approached by an NPC, who he asked her to deliver the shipment to Dunnstads. He groaned at this, feeling that he was getting more quests than ever. Yet he didn't want to leave those two alone with this task. Besides, he was never the type to abandon anyone.

"I guess I should tag along as well. I doubt you two won't able to carry them alone." Besides, them carrying a heavy shipment is worst than an ambush from any enemy around them.

 

Overhearing the conversation, the man named Todd heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed both of Sylpha's friends have agreed to the deal. Now it was just for Sylpha herself.

"Alright, that's settled, then." The azure-haired Yladian turned to Todd who quickly injected himself into the conversation to answer questions. "No, no, no, we ain' havin' you carry these out! We gots a dray in the back. Six or Seven loaded. Enough room for one driver and you other two to sits."

He quickly ushered them over to see the "dray" in question. It was a cart pulled by two horses that most would expect out of a shipment by land. Next to them were two more, bereft of horses and only loaded with one or two barrels. "Em lads in Dunnstads trained these two real good. Only walk on roads and hay, them. This goin' to Luebec Village, just two hours southeast from here. Just take 'eir payment to yerself and leave it with them when 'yer done. Belongs to them, anyway."

Sylpha nodded and turned to the two. "Well, who here knows how to work a horse? I don't and I'm not sure if now is a good time to try. N-not that I mind." If she could luck out and find two very good alchemists, perhaps just one of them might know how to get horses going as well.

 

And suddenly there were horses. Really, what didn't this game have anyway? Well, besides the fact she didn't have a horse herself. She knew people with them, and got some practice through it...But would these horses listen to her? Taking a peek at it's stats, it looked like it was at a level she could manage....And she was the only one she could tell with any mastery points there.

"It's not much, but I am up to trained in riding. It looks like this horse duo shouldn't be too uncomfortable with me based on my level, so if you're worried, I can take care of this part." Her words were said with a smile, though that smile dimmed just slightly because of uncomfortable looks from the nearby inhabitants of the world. 'Mastery points' wasn't exactly normal vocabulary.

Shaking it off, she pet the two horses carefully, stroking each of their manes and getting them used to her voice. When they seemed fairly at ease with her, she took her spot at the head of the wagon, adjusting so she could both command the horses and not be too in their way. "If you can, at least one of you should keep an eye on the brew in case it gets bumpy on the way there. If one's enough, I can have someone else up here...But stability for the brew should be our priority, along with getting there."

 

At least carrying them with a horse carriage to their destination can be less stressful than carrying them. Although, the problem was that he didn't spend his Mastery Points on his Riding mastery yet. So he can't possibly able to lead them. However, with @Solaria's declaration, he mentally sighed of this as a relief, yet he was worried regarding her current level.

"If you're worried about the stability, maybe I'll try to keep an eye on them and make sure that it won't fall from the carriage." But speaking of deliveries, he wondered about their route they will use to get to their destination. "Though, since we have to cross the plains to Dunnstads, we have to expect any monsters that may ambush us in route." He then turned to the man that was talking to @Sylpha Astarte and said, "But unless you have a good route in mind, we have to prepare not only to defend our lives but also the brew inside the carriage."

 

Well, if she wasn't right on the mark. Again. As it turned out, her green haired fellow Yladian knew how to work a horse. That meant Solaria would be in the driving seat and the other two would be in the cart with the beer. Now the next problem to solve was stability issues.

"I have that covered. I can use Arcanamancy, so telekinesis spells to hold something down or to move it into a safer place is actually easy when there's no combat to pay attention to." After all, she couldn't do nothing through the trip. Verity's concern about ambushes was definitely very real. Sylpha didn't have any answer for that, so she turned to Todd. He just raised his hands in the air as if he didn't have any real answer, either. "Ye a smart one, lad, but there's only one real route and they're going to try anyway since it's the Dark Harvest."

Then, something clicked in Sylpha's head. "Is that why you don't have enough people to deliver? Everyone has to go with one shipment to fend off the robbers?"

"Right on. Whole magic schtick should stop most from trying though. They know people fight extra hard during the holidays, but you gotta have people ready." The middle aged man confirmed her hypothesis.

With that, he got the three to climb into the dray and told Solaria the road signs to follow and to "Mostly just keep to the left." Finally, he handed Sylpha a fistful of faire vouchers for the Dark Harvest festival. "For you and yer friends." He said as he finally sent them on their way.

It wasn't until they left the village that Sylpha distributed the vouchers evenly between her, Solaria and Verity. "Th-Thanks for helping out." She said with a slight stutter. "I hoped I didn't impose too much on you two."

 

Verity's point about being prepared for an ambush was fairly reasonable- but, based on @Sylpha Astarte's words, it sounded like at least the two Yladians of the mix wouldn't be able to do much on the battlefront in this scenario. That would in essence mean their hopes in battle solely rode on the other alchemist.

"I can't help fight while I'm in the driver's seat...Sylpha can't battle and keep things stable at the same time... @Verity, you have some fighting skills, right? I remember that time we went out on that gather and defend quest with the feisty felis. Think you can take care of sentry duty?"

Sure, she could help with minor buffs just before departure- and, if needed, she could easily heal her teammates after all this was over. The problem was during their ride. "We'll need to rely on you for it. I can buff you before we start the trip, but I can't keep it going afterward without possibly losing control, so we're kinda screwed there."

 

Another advantage of being cautious. Although compared to their current masteries, he agreed with @Solaria with his fighting skills. It made sense since she was with him at the said quest, not to mention he was aware how skilled he became with his Aeromancy spells and his swordsmanship skills. Also, he felt that he should able to spot any bandits or monster thanks to his observation habits.

"I'll try. Though I have to warn you that I only have limited ranged spells right now. So I mostly focused on close-ranged if I can on the moving carriage." Also, having buffs before departure might help him a bit as his current equipment so far was lower than his now higher masteries. "If you like, you can cast the buff on me right now. The important thing we need to worry is the safety of the shipment. As long you can drive us to our destination, I might able to defend the carriage even if the buff expires."

Once he climbed up the said carriage and obtaining the voucher, he turned to @Sylpha Astarte after she thanked both of them for volunteering. "Not at all. We did accept your help on our own accord. I might as well lend you a hand once more for everyone's sake." At least his words meant that he was not all cold and gloomy like he usually acted.

 

Verity confirmed that he had at least some limited ability at ranged combat. "Don't worry, I'll back you up when you need it. I don't need to put all of my attention to the barrels." The dray was not designed for an entourage of magic wielders. It was designed for a bunch of villagers to get their stuff from one place to another. Therefore, if the dray had that many problems with it, nobody would in good conscience send any shipment with it. If one considered that they would most likely want to keep up relations with the other village, then sending a shipment on something that might spoil them would just be a bad idea.

Well, the dray belonged to said village to begin with.

Solaria asked if it was required that she disperse buffs. Sylpha simply refused one, confident she had sufficient arcanamancy prowess and the party set out on their way.

Now that they had left the village, it was scenes of rolling greenery and small hills. Forests could be seen far off into the southern direction, but no roads seemed to lead there. Too far north and it would be the coast.

It was a rather quiet journey, and they passed by the first hour unmolested. They did see a few other travellers of stereotypical kind, but Sylpha paid no heed to them, mostly looking at the barrels.

Compared to earlier where many a conversational topic was had, Sylpha seemed to have fallen into silence, her expression quite blank. It showed neither overt concentration nor boredom. She had cast her magic a total of one time during a sudden bump, but they could have gotten by without the use and just manually holding it down.

As for what her companions would think of the current situation, though, may or may not differ from Sylpha's lack of opinion.

 

She had cast her magic as requested before taking hold of the reins, giving Verity a boost alongside the horses she was soon to command. Though she'd expected some sort of excitement, the quiet ride wasn't all that bad. Quiet was peaceful and sometimes good for the soul, just as much as an outlet for any pent-up stress could be. It was a bit boring, but at least it didn't ruin her focus, right?

The longer the ride took, however, the more sleepy her eyes. With one hand holding the reins, the other moved to wipe some fatigue from her face, her glance looking both ways to seek what wasn't there. "Is it me, or is this a bit too easy a ride so far?" She mused, speaking just loud enough to be heard by those behind her without having to turn her head. Surely, they'd been worried for a reason, hadn't they? And yet the road was not much longer.

"We're already almost there, it looks to me. Guys, get ready to dock! Well, I guess that's not exactly the right wording, huh...Say, do we know where in town we need to drop this off?"

 

To his surprise, the ride from Pormont to Dunnstads was relatively quiet so far as all he can see was the mountain range and the wind blowing through the grassy fields. But despite the calm atmosphere around them, Verity stood vigilantly while he turned around for a second to see @Sylpha Astarte focused on using her magic to stabilize the brew. He already had @Solaria's buff still within him and he didn't want to lower his guard even within this peaceful atmosphere.

But now that the green-haired Yladian mentioned it, this trip was somehow too peaceful in his own taste. "I agree. Something is not right." But as he said this, his eyes widened as he heard something from the eastern side of their current location. "Huh? Hold on..." As he focused his ears onto the sound, he noticed that there are some leaves rustling and some vague footsteps coming towards this direction. "Solaria, stop. We're being followed."

As he checked behind to the carriage, he noticed that there were no signs of anyone that were following them. But he remained cautious as he switched his focus on some nearby rocks and trees, which he saw some of the leaves rustled as some kind of figure fled from the trees. Seeing this, he slowly drew his sword as he turned to the girls. "When I say "go", move quickly as fast as you can, got it? Sylpha, keep stabilizing the shipments."