>>5411933Claudine gathers from the peasants that tonight the public house is being held by a husband and wife, trappers both, who have a freshly brewed pot of ale to sample. Sure enough, you find many of the villeins crammed into a cabin, the furs and small game hanging from the walls in the dark, smoky interior lending an oddly cosy if somewhat macabre feeling to the house. The boisterous atmosphere of the place is quashed immediately when the locals see Claudine and yourself stood in the door way. Mugs are raised awkwardly and stiff nods are given as Claudine introduces the new lord of the manor.
The crowd parts to give you a view of a heavy, bearded boulder of a man sat by the steaming cauldron.
“The reeve, Sir Carouliti: Giordano,” Claudine says, indicating the man.
“Ho, Claudine! Why not join us for a drink?” rumbles Giordano. Claudine offers him a thin, polite smile, but the seneschal seems reluctant to actually step into the public house. “And you, Carouliti!” he roars. “A warm welcome to Deveché!”
He does not call you Sir, and he does not bother to rise from his seat. What he does is take up an empty mug and plunge it into the simmering cauldron of ale, before raising it in your direction with a sharp smirk. A challenge.
Drink has given you much solace over the recent years, a more immediate relief than Her Mercy. It might also be blamed for the fact that you are here in the first place. Whatever the ale here is made from, it smells sweet and sour. Fragrant steam beckons from the tankard. The peasants are silent and apprehensive, looking between their new lord and their familiar reeve. Claudine glares at Giordano but does not dare to speak on your behalf.
You decide to…
>Rise to Giordano’s challenge and quaff the hot ale>Sip the ale at your own pace and talk with Giordano>Ignore the offer and go to the keep to continue your conversation with Claudine [roll 1d20]>Refuse the drink and reproach Giordano for his ill manners [roll 1d20] 