Each of her experiences working in an Elder’s domain differed from the last and she was excited to find out what she would experience under the tutelage of Aldr? Would it be a long, drawn-out failure as it was with Ylst? An isolated stressful experience like with Ortik? Or the whirlwind of excitement and danger she had with Bolst?
Arriving that morning, it was both more and less than she had expected. The main chamber housed gigantic vats of hewn marble, open to the air above and filled with an opaque liquid that stunk of burnt tea and vegetation. Though there also lingered the sweet smell of honey in the air. Around the base of one of these vats, a group of kobolds gathered. They were hefting wooden barrels and aligning their opening to a spout jutting from the bottom of a vat before letting its contents flow, filling them one by one. But through the hustle and bustle of their work, there were smiles, jokes, and comradery that she hadn’t seen elsewhere.
Seeing as the morning work had already begun, Losq and Qot quickly joined in. They’d hammer a plug, which she’d later find out was called a ‘bung’, into the opening they’d used to fill each barrel before rolling the now quite heavy casks off to be stored in another massive chamber with racks upon racks of them where they would age for some time.
She watched them work, everyone knowing their place and picking up the next step of a task from the kobold before them. Their labour appeared strenuous but well practiced as they split the load amongst themselves. Kori wasn’t sure when it happened, but at some point she had gained company in her observation. It wasn’t until he spoke that she realized she wasn’t alone.
“Welcome to my humble little brewery Kori. You’ve been missed in the Elder’s chambers these last weeks.” Startled by his sudden words, Kori took a moment to recognize that it was Aldr. He continued on, either ignoring or having not noticed how she jumped when he’d spoken. “Well, mostly having someone to fetch us tea or organize the petitioners rather then just letting them form a line, we’re back to hearing the same complaint three times some mornings...” He gave his head a shake and chuckled before saying, “I think you spoiled us a little. There’s even been talk of making your old position a permanent job.”
Having overcome her initial start, Kori found some small comfort in the Elder’s words. That they saw value in the time she mostly considered wasted standing behind Ortik during the meetings making her feel at least a little better about the time spent. “Thank you, Elder Aldr. I appreciate the invitation. Especially after what happened…”
Waving away her thanks Aldr looked towards her before replying, “Nonsense. We all know Bolst pushes things too far. If it wasn’t your Skill, it would have been something else. You should have heard the castigation Chieftain Ortik gave him over some of those ‘specimens’ he was keeping.” Lowering his voice conspiratorially, before he continued, “Can you believe he was keeping a nest of redback cave spiders?”
Leaning in like she were sharing a secret with him, she replied, “And a stonefish! That things venom is apparently like setting your blood on fire… While it’s still inside you…” She gave a shiver as she recalled the somewhat fuzzy looking fish that bore no real resemblance to the stone she was used to. “Not even sure where he got the thing. Must have come from the humans.”
“I heard! Well, about the fish. I didn’t know the things poison was so bad.” Aldr replied, shaking his head in disbelief while the pair gossiped, a wide grin on his face the entire time. “Now then, why don’t I show you around. The prep room is free for the morning, so we’ll get you set up there.” He started showing her around the various facilities that made up the brewery, which was a bit of a misnomer apparently as they did not just brew but also distilled.
Showing her about, she was struck with how large an operation the place actually was. They produced more than she had thought; mead was their primary product but they also made ale and liquor, as well as the alcohol that she had used to create the flame flasks with. The only time she saw anything other than a jovial expression from Aldr was when she asked about that particular product. The pure alcohol was a pain in the tail to produce according to Aldr, requiring his own personal labour to do so safely, and more so to store. It would ruin a barrel from being used for anything else ever again if it was used to hold the flammable menace and the fumes were enough to get drunk off of just by themselves apparently.
Finishing the tour in an medium sized chamber, “And this my dear, is what we mostly refer to as the ‘prep room’. Though its proper name is the brewmaster’s room.” He waved his arm to showcase the room as he spoke. It was filled with equipment for large scale preparation, a pair of large stone wheels to mill with, a steel barrel set at an angle over a fire pit, smaller vats that had fire runes etched directly on their surface and more arrayed about the room, leaving just enough space for a kobold or two to work between the various implements.
“This is impressive Elder, I barely know where to begin!” Trying to figure out what the uses for each of the pieces of equipment were left her with many questions, like why they used steel in some places and stone in others, or how fine could the mill stones grind, or what was the angled barrel with the weird screw like shape inside for.
“Ah, before any of that, here within the brewery it is ‘Brewmaster’ not Elder, please.” He gently admonished her, “Sometimes the other Elders stop by, so it’s just better that way.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Oh, of course, brewmaster.” Kori replied, not wholly understanding but seeing no point in disagreeing.
“Thank you.” Giving her a nod in return for her complying without fuss. “Now, the prep room is free for the morning but I’ll need to prepare a mash for the stills this afternoon.” He informed her, “I’ve got a crate full of the moss you need from Ortik already, so why don’t you walk me through your process and we’ll figure out how to do this then?”
A bit surprised that the Elder would not only be helping her, but he was going to defer to her on the matter, it took her a moment to begin instructing him on how the ointment was made. As she detailed each step for him, Aldr pointed out and described the equipment that they could use to accomplish it in a larger scale than she was used to and they discussed back and forth the possible issues that might arise or steps they would need to take.
The steel drum was a roaster apparently, normally used to roast grains to be used in the brewing process it was ideal for drying large quantities of the moss. The mill stones were able to grind the moss finely, not to the full extent that she would require. Still enough that the finishing touches wouldn’t leave her elbow and wrist as sore. The vats would be perfect to brew the tincture with the dried moss as well, keeping it at just the right temperature.
All in all, this was going to be a drastic upgrade to doing the lot of it by hand in Ortik’s work room. And though Bolst’s lab was superior in terms of precision, this had it beat on volume several times over.
Between their chatting, the tour, and the time spent on working out the process, most of the morning had already gone by when they were ready to actually begin and Aldr would soon need the room to complete his own work for the day. Instead of rushing her work or delaying his, Kori offered to help instead. “I’m here anyway, can I help with your ‘mash’, brewmaster?” She asked.
“I would love that, Kori.” He graciously accepted her offer and began to describe the process to her in turn, telling her how they would roast the grains to create a malt and bring out the flavours and then boil the mash which would later go into the still to produce the spirit they would be making. This part of course confused Kori greatly as she was unaware that you could make spirits in such a manner, at least until she learned that the word had more than one meaning.
As they worked, and it truly was a shared work with her assisting as best she could rather than him observing or directing as she had gotten used to, Aldr explained more of what was happening at each and every step. That they roasted the grain both for flavours and for colour of the final product as well as to change the sugars within. He described how normally they would need to store the oats and barley for weeks after roasting but his Abilities let him use them right away. The more they worked, the more acquainted with the equipment Kori became, learning how to use the roaster and mill at the side of a master. And there was no doubt in her mind, Aldr was a master.
From the way he knew to adjust the flame’s heat or the speed that the roaster rotated at a glance to keep things exactly how he wanted, to how he fed just the right amount of grain into the millstones to keep a perfectly even consistency, or how he didn’t bother to measure the water in the vat for the mash, adding what seemed to be just the right amount for the batch without having to adjust, Aldr knew the process like Kori knew her own scales. Probably better.
And better than simply watching him do these things, he explained them. He detailed why he was adjusting the roaster or millstones, how to tell how much water was needed, what temperatures things should be at for which stages, and more. So much more. By the time they were done with the mash and separated out the used grain, which was now called the wort, the pair had spent several hours working together. The experience was different than Kori had expected, and so was the brewmaster.
Each of the other Elders that Kori had spent time with had their own idiosyncrasies. Korse was fatherly and caring, placing her wellbeing at the forefront. Ylst was dispassionate and distant, letting the younglings succeed or fail on their own with minimal interference. Ortik was demanding and strict with expectations no youngling would ever likely meet, but he pushed her to her limits to get as close to them as she possibly could.
She hadn’t worked with Bolst for long, but the only word she could use to describe the man’s work was fear. Not that she feared him, which she did just a little bit, but that he himself was scared. He worked hard so that he could protect the clan from those fears. His fear for the clan’s safety pushed him to create better traps with better poisons, his fear of his own mistakes pushed him to create spectacularly overcomplicated safety measures, and even his fear for himself made certain that he shared the experience with those under him; so that should he be lost, they would not be.
Aldr was different again. He wasn’t parental or distant, strict or cautious, he was amicable, cordial and firm. He worked alongside those under him, bent his back hauling barrels next to the lowest apprentices, and even instructed a guest, openly sharing all that his years of wisdom had to offer.
Between his guidance and the Titles that Kori had recently earned, it was little wonder to her that by the end of the day as the pair watched the liquid drip from the twisted tail of the condenser that she received a notification.
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When she informed the Elder of the Skill he shared in her celebration, genuinely glad for her accomplishment and astounded by the speed in which she’d done it.
The next weeks were much the same as that day had been, Aldr would help her in her work, she would help him in his own. Between their combined work, her growth was nearly as explosive as her work with Bolst had turned out to be.
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Whether it was his instruction or her new Titles, both of which applied to these tier one crafting skills, that made the difference she wasn’t certain. What was certain was that the Skills were coming faster than ever before. She had even begun assisting the other brewers and apprentices where she could, though many of their most difficult tasks were beyond her. Not because of any matter of Skill however. It was her lack of muscles that really did her in. Her smaller frame and low Might making her ill suited for lugging a full cask of mead about or manhandling a still onto its side for cleaning. Though she was great for getting down into the tight spaces that the others struggled with when cleaning.