Chapter 42: Thirsty Goat Brewing

Chapter 42: Thirsty Goat Brewing

“Is this it?”

“I think it is, Pete.”

“There could be multiple places in Minnova called ‘Thirsty Goat Brewing”

“I think that’s unlikely.”

“Minnova’s a big place.”

“Not that big.”L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

“But it could be possible.”

“Aye, but this is probably it.”

“I could go in incognito and scope it out, make sure it’s the right place.”

“Annie would spot ya right away.”

“I could wear a disguise?”

“You got anythin’ to use fer one?”

“I could go buy one, we still have.... over a hundred silver.”

“Seems a waste of money.”

“But a little info on your future family before you meet them. Could be useful!”

Balin sighed. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Balin’s intense desire to see Annie, it would have taken us all day to get here. Minnova was an amazing town from the perspective of a non-native, and I could have window shopped and toured the attractions for hours.

During our short trip through the city centre, I’d seen magic devices, armour and weapon shops, street performers, strange plants, strange animals, strange food, strange people, and more. It was like watching a fantasy movie from my childhood with all my childhood wonder left intact. City hall, at the dead center of the city, had been a massive, multi-storey building with intricate carvings and a gigantic clock face on the front. There looked to be some kind of mechanism as well, but I’d barely looked at it for a moment before Balin had grabbed my ear and pulled me down a side alley.

Now we were standing just across the street from Annie’s brewery on a busy side street. Minnova’s roads were very easy to navigate; Annie’s brewery was on 4th Street South-West, just off of Main Street West. The numbers counted down to the main street, and every city block was nearly exactly square. It was horrifically well organized, and anyone from the Okanagan would have found it to be overbearingly OCD. All of the streets in Canada were named after famous people, so you just had to go down McCurdy, turn on Craig and then you’d find Webster Street. Except of course, Craig Street actually turned into Hemlock Street at Hartman... Alright, maybe numbered streets were more practical. Still, where was your sense of adventure Minnova?

The brewery was a tall single-storey red-brick building that took up nearly half the block. The walls were weathered with age, though one side of the building was clearly new. A wooden sign over the door said ‘Thirsty Goat Brewing’, with a drawing of a goat with its face buried in a tankard. There were several shuttered windows, and a single step up to an ornate wooden door.

This street seemed to be a random collection of shops and businesses. To the left of the brewery was a general store called ‘Knicknack’s’. It had a large picture window, and I could see various tools and hardware inside. A few dwarves and gnomes filtered in and out of the store, carrying everything from fishing poles to buckets. To the right of the brewery was a rather plain stone building with no signs or even obvious habitation.

“Pete, I’m going in.” Balin said, his voice firm with conviction.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” I nodded and the two of us walked up the front step together.

“Wait, Pete. I changed my mind.”

“Nope.” I gently dwarfhandled Balin through the door.

—

The inside of the brewery was a rather standard front foyer for any shop. The room was well furnished with wooden walls and eaves and plush green carpet. A counter stood to one side, with a line of casks on the wall behind it. The rest of the walls were lined with various pieces of brewing paraphernalia. Some fairly standard magic solstone lamps gave a bright, cheery yellow glow to everything. The feeling was kind of like a pub, and I think that was on purpose. I didn’t see any actual place to sit and drink, but perhaps one of the side doors had a tasting room.

The brewing equipment littered around the room was quite close to what I expected. There were several giant wooden rakes for stirring mash, some kegs, a few ladles, and a big barrel that was clearly a mash tun for stirring hot mash. Several awards were plastered here and there, though most of them were from a few hundred or thousand years ago. A line of portraits ran along one wall, which ended with a painting of Annie and a rather severe looking blonde dwarf who I realized must be her father. I was about to go get a closer look when a voice called out to us.

I think I had Aqua’s number at this point. She was probably the company gossip, and the most sociable to boot, so if I wanted my advertising plan to go to plan, she was the best place to start. She struck me as the kind of dwarf that would talk for hours if you got her started.

“Thanks for telling us all this Aqua,” I gave her the best smile I could muster with my middling charisma, “we’re hoping that we can fit in here, especially Balin.” I gave her a wink and she tittered.

“Oh, Annie has been pining, so I think the boss won’t have any choice in the matter!”

“Hah! Yes, I remember when my... friend’s daughter was like that. It was impossible to tell her no!” We both laughed at Balin’s expense, and he turned around to study the paintings on the wall. That didn’t stop us from spotting his red cheeks and we laughed a little harder. Eventually though, Aqua turned her attention to me.

“What about you, Peter? Are you going to ask the boss to hire you too?”

“Yes, I hope so. I’m actually a titled [Alchemist], and I almost have my first specialization.”

“Really?! Annie didn’t mention that!”

I nodded. “I earned it by tinkering with powders, but my real love is brewing.”

Aqua chewed her lip. “The boss could use another hand helping out with brewing. Annie helps a lot, but it’s hard with just the two of them.” She bobbed her head slightly and continued. “My dad is a hard worker, and he’s got Tiara’s blessing, but he doesn’t have any milestones to help with brewing.”

“Well, if Mr. Goldstone needs a hard worker, Balin over there is the hero of the City of Minnova mine! He’s a titled [Knight] and he saved a dozen dwarves from a stoneant attack.”

“What!?”

“Oh yes, indeed! He’s even got shining armor! I told him to sweep Annie off her feet, but he’s too shy.” I whispered the last in a faux sotto-voce.

Aqua leaned in conspiratorially, her eyes sparkling. “Goodness, I’d pay gold to see that!”

“Yer gonna pay fer this later, Pete.” Balin groaned.

I studiously ignored him. “It’s alright. We have quite a lot of gold coming in from our project.” Eventually, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Annie mentioned that, can you talk about it?”

“Perhaps over a drink...” I said, waggling my eyebrows.

“Of course! I can’t take you into the brewery itself, but you can come into the tasting room and have a drink. We use it as a mess hall.” She led us to another side door and opened it, motioning us inside. The inside of the room had a few picnic style tables and a giant mural of a drunk goat on one wall.

I glanced up at the cock-eyed caprid. “You know, I’ve been wondering why this place is called the Thirsty Goat...”

“Oh, that’s because of Penelope-the-Ten-Thousand-and-Fourth.”

“Penelope-The-What?”

“Over there. Come say hello, Penelope!”

That was precisely the moment that a waist high, pure white unigoat rammed me in the gut.

"Ooooh..." Aqua hissed. "Sorry, that's just how she says hello."

"Maaaaah!!!"

[Translated from prima donna goat] "Prithy who art thou, trespasser?!"

All I could do was groan back.