A Wine Time in Eknopolis

With Gallienus Kerularios dead and his wretched son Liberius in the wind, and Flavio Merula weaned off of the blasted lotus wine and ready to return to Fort Merula, I had time to visit Xenicos and see how the Oameni of Eknopolis fared.

While drinking the local plum brandy with a distant kinsman I mentioned that I'd once turned the local Abrian version of it into a minor sensation with a faked provenance from near the Abraso Forest, but that the Eknopolitan one was rougher than the square of goat hide that Teleptyon constantly carried around. He was wounded but conceded that many of the farms that had supplied them had fallen to the undead and the local stuff was made from fruit grown in courtyards alleys and potted on rooftops. I nearly choked when the image of an impeccably dressed half-urk I had seen pissing on one of the scraggly trees in an alley a few nights prior popped, unbidden, to my mind.

He said that they kept imported drink from Abria and a few other settlements for festivals and other occasions. By the end of the night we had an ambitious legitimate business plan to use the stored Aeriscan brandy to fund the import of more of the stuff.

Justina was instrumental in finding dockworkers in Nestoria. The pimps and madams of Xenicos pointed us to posh and posturing young men who enjoyed slumming. We greased the hands of guards, tavern owners, dock workers and one very ornery sea lion. Some required coin, some skin. The sea lion was especially fond of goat cheeses. A letter of introduction to some of the Ratcatchers in Abria with substantial coin primed the flow.

Cases of Abrasero Fine Frontier brandy began arriving in town as undeclared ballast and glasses were placed in the hands of dabblers from Nepygos and Argymos by barmaids who would titter about the virility of the Aeriscan league and how they'd heard rumors about the effects of the drink. Many found the drink a refreshing change from the soporific wine preferred by the elite of Eknopolis, but most did not.

As the party prepared to move on to the next adventure I cashed out most of my stake at 300 gold, but left some in for Justina to manage and make inroads for her eventual gang.

I certainly hope there are no broken arms this time.