Beers and Beards

Book 2: Chapter 58: The Fellowship of the Brew

They did eventually return, and Otto shook my hand to introduce himself, then disappeared back into the night as suddenly as he’d arrived. He left behind a shell-shocked Richter, who was staring at the floor and blinking.

I went and punched him in the shoulder. “Hey! How did it go? Do I need to go tell Penelope to give him a running goodbye?”

Richter’s voice was uncharacteristically unsure as he shook his head. “No, it’s fine.”

“Want to talk about it?” I passed him a tankard of Liquid Gold and he took it in shaking hands. He drained half the glass in a single chug, before coming back up for air.

“I t’ink… I t’ink I might, Pete. Thankee.”

We pulled into one of the booths that the crew had set aside for members of the Thirsty Goat. The only current occupant was an ornery Penelope. Her little drink bowl lay forgotten on the floor where she’d dragged it after the umpteenth partygoer denied her a beer. She was in the middle of eating Aqua’s satchel and that needed to stop before she did something we’d all regret.

“No! Bad goat, Penelope! Shoo!” I waved her away.

*Beeeeeeehh*! [Translated From Primma Donna Goat] “What a knave, to interrupt a princess while she dines! Hmph!” She flicked her tail and absconded, but not before taking a pair of napkins to eat as she went.

The pair of us clambered into the small knot of silence that was the booth, surrounded by raucous drinking and partying.

“Is da Princess stayin’ or going?” Richter asked, pointing after Penelope. “Dat’ll be a hard decision ta make.”

I sighed. “That’s going to be up to Annie. I suspect she’ll come with, to help grant the new brewpub some legitimacy.”

“Aye… legitimacy.” Richter frowned again, and sipped at his beer. The tall black-skinned dwarf did brooding better than anyone I’d ever seen.

I gave him a few minutes before broaching the subject. He spent them drinking his beer in silence and occasionally asking for another. “So, what’s up?”

“You know how me da left tha brewery, aye?”

“He wanted to earn more money than Jeremiah could get him, to pay for your schooling.”

Richter took another chug of liquid gold. “I kept turnin’ him down. He ‘asn’t been ‘round tha goat in a decade.”

“You don\'t see him at home?”

Richter waved a hand. “I moved out. Family dinners are… awkward.”

“What brings him around now? Did he just want to congratulate you?” I had no real frame of personal reference; I was never estranged from my parents. We always got along just fine, even into my adult years. Oh sure, I never got into the hobbies dad really wanted me to get into, but we still had things to chat about at thanksgiving and christmas. Some of my adult friends however. Hooooeee.

“See, da got hired into Faultless Brewery.” Richter glanced askance at some of the apprentice brewers from other breweries that had somehow made it into our family party. Friends of Annie or Johnsson I supposed.

I whistled. “I thought you had to be a Fault to get into that place.”

Richter nodded. “Aye, or have a family based Specialisation. Me da was a [Clan Brewer], while Jeremiah was an [Ancestral Brewer].”

“He couldn’t have been brewing for that long, and he Specialized already? Once or twice?”

“Just tha once. He was already an [Alchemist] when he arrived, though.”

I gave another whistle. For a dwarf to get a Specialization like that in under a century was pretty amazing. I could count on both hands the number of Specialised people I’d met so far. No wonder the Faults had wanted him! “So, what brought him back?”

Richter looked like he wanted to hit something. “He… he did somethin’ real stupid. When they found out we won and you lot were headed to Kinshasa, he contacted the University in the Capital by commstone. They’re tha biggest University in Crack, and it’s hard to get into! I dunno how he did it, but I - I have a letter of acceptance, and tuition covered. I just need ta show up in Kinshasa and the spot is mine!”

He was shivering now, though if it was from stress, joy, or anger I couldn’t tell.

“Are you… happy?” I asked, cautiously.

“I dunno what ta feel! He shouldn’t ‘ave done somethin’ that big without askin’! Usually only nobles or rich merchants get in there!”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Do you not want it?”

“I DO! But! But! After all’o these years, I thought he’d accepted my no. Why is he here again!?”

“Oh, I can answer that one. It’s because we’re allied with Fault Brewery right now.” I nodded vigorously. “We owe them, and with the money they’re going to be making soon, they owe us. He probably saw it as an opportunity to try and reconnect.”

“Annie said da same t’ing.” Richter groaned. “I wasn’t sure I was coming wit’ you before. Getting into Minnova University was ma dream. But now…”

“But is Kinshasa University what you want? Listen, Richter, as parents we often make choices that we think are necessary for our children. The best we can do is teach the hard lessons we learned and hope our children don’t make the same mistakes. But the most important lesson every parent needs ta learn is when to let go. I know some parents never really get used to the loss of control and things can get… well, ugly would be a polite way of puttin’ it.”

“One way of puttin’ it…” Richter glowered into his beer.

“Your father probably never intended to become a Brewer when he moved here, but he threw himself into it when the opportunity presented itself. I can respect that, and I know that you do too. You’re too logical to not see it.”

Richter frowned, and began to speak, but I held up a hand to interrupt him.

“BUT! He’s absolutely in the wrong here! He shouldn’t have done this in a way that essentially forces you to make a choice. And it’s a choice you’re going to need to make, one way or the other. All I can say is that if you don’t come to Kinshasa with me and especially Berry, you will almost definitely regret it. So don’t go to Kinshasa for him, do it for us. He just threw a welcoming gift in it for you.” I smacked the table with my palms for emphasis.

Richter stared at me for a long while before he spoke. “You going to tell me your story soon?”

I blushed into my beard. “Aye. I plan on telling everyone on the trip to Kinshasa. There’s stuff everyone will need to know. If you decide to stay, I’ll tell you before we leave.”

RIchter gave a broad white smile. “You say I won tha bet?”

I winked and he chuckled.

I stood and stretched. “Time to go socialize, Richter. You coming?”

Richter settled back into the booth seat. “I t’ink I’ll stay a while longer. You’ve given me plenty ta t’ink about.”

—

The rest of the night was a blur. There were so many new faces and names that even my burgeoning Intelligence couldn’t handle it all. There were Titles to remember, various clan connections to tap dance around, and tossed dwarves and tankards to dodge.

All in all, it was lower key than the launch party, and much more intimate, but still definitely dwarven. The Liquid Gold started running out fairly quickly, and I was set to task using [Bottomless Barrel] as much as possible. A couple other attendees also had the Ability, so we never actually ran out of beer; the perks of a [Brewer] party. Good thing too, as the few dwarves that tried the gnomish wheat-based barista brew ran screaming for the bathrooms.

I ended the evening with my beard done up in bows, several fresh scars, and Emerelda draped over my shoulder. We had all gathered around the bar as Annie hoisted herself up and called for attention. Penelope was front and center of the crowd, shoving her little beer dish around and getting angrier and angrier as everyone ignored her.

“Thank you so much for coming to our clan gathering! I’d like to make a toast!” Annie raised her tankard. “First, to Johnsson! Congratulations on your Blessing!”

“TO JOHNSSON!” We cried. His father, John Sr was literally crying.

“And finally to our beloved home! For Crack and Minnova!”

“FER CRACK AND ANNIE!” Came the joyful reply.

“GODS DAMN YOU ALL!” She roared back, crimson, and we all laughed.

After a few seconds of ranting, Annie schooled herself and launched into her speech. At this point most of the crowd were drunk or blitzed, so it was a bit long winded in my opinion. Could have used some more jokes and puns. She thanked everyone for their support, yada yada, many centuries, blah blah.

Then she got to the important part!

“We’ve just received the final word of who will be coming with us to Kinshasa!!!”

The crowd grew silent. Heck, even I didn’t know what was coming!

“Johnsson, Richter, Aqua, and myself will form the core of the crew!” Annie announced proudly. “We’ve been working together since we were moustached, and I can’t imagine a group I’d rather work with!”

There was general applause and merrymaking. I spotted Richter and he was happily accepting fistbumps. I had to assume he’d made his decision and spoken to Annie at some point during the party. Well, good for him! I’d have to ask Berry to tutor him on some music magic on the trip to Kinshasa.

“Next, we’ll be joined by the Roughtuff clan! You probably better know them as Brewer Peter and my fiance, Knight Balin of Goldenlight!”

Now it was my turn to face congratulatory applause, backslapping, and head-bonking. I accepted it all with good grace. Balin was behind the bar guarding Annie, lucky bastard, and only had to deal with shouting.

“Next! I’m very pleased to announce that we plan to open a similar establishment to what we have here, complete with food cooked by the one and only number one chef in Minnova! Bran Hurler! He’ll be joined by his fiance Doctor Opal, who will be using up some of her years of vacation leave!”

“NO!” I heard Beatbox scream before he was drowned out by similar applause and congratulations. Bran looked pleased as punch, and Opal looked… resigned, but happy.

I was of course over the moon! I gripped Emerelda in a big, headlocking, WWE style hug and chortled. She kneed me in the stomach in response.

“And of course, the easiest to miss will be the one person you can’t miss walking in our doors! Kirk Manly, action adventurer!”

This time the screams of ‘no’ definitely had a more feminine tone to them. Well, alto, at least.

Kirk waved happily. Nobody threw tankards at his head I noted.

The noise in the Thirsty Goat was reaching a fever pitch, and Annie was going to need to do something to let it off soon, or the place would blow.

Instead, she made a grand sweeping gesture, and announced, “And I am announcing today, that the star of the Thirsty Goat’s move to Kinshasa will be the one, the only – “

The crowd hung on her every word as she drew it out. I was impressed. She must have been going to see wrestling with Balin on the sly.

“PENELOPE!” Annie finished, pointing down at the goat.

“BEEEEHHHHR!!??” [Translated from Primma Donna Goat] “BEER!!??” At her name being shouted, the antsy, angry, and hangry goat launched herself at Annie.

And then the party blew up.