Stoneforge Fermenter (SC'20)

Written by Steve Tremblay

The Dwarves of Stonesunder have always been known for their ability to create and drink alcohol that would seemingly kill the normal person.
They can craft the tastiest ales, the smoothest liquors and hands down, the best beers. In recent years though, products coming out of Stonesunder have also included something that while certainly alcoholic, might also be used to remove paint or acid-etch stonework.
Somewhere along the way, a dwarven couple, Marla and Ulritch Stoneforge managed to combine their passions, brewing and stone crafting. Ulritch was working on a solid, oval stone container as a prototype water filtration system. His wife, a master brewer noticed the device and saw its true value. With some tinkering, additional parts and perhaps a blessing from Moradin, the first Dwarven power fermenter was invented.
They discovered that while brewing mid-range alcoholic drinks that usually took months to reach maturity, in this device it only took weeks. Further, if left alone, the potency grew as well.
The first drink in what would become the orc vs dwarf alcohol "war" was Blackout. Before Blackout, the usual whiskey, rum or gin was the standard and getting drunk took a little while for the more sturdy dwarves.
When the Stoneforge's debuted Blackout the results were immediate, it was a hit! Blackout became the 'I dare you' drink.

3 shots and remain standing? Sure, 50 gold!

A fortune in gold and property changed hands in the first month that Blackout hit the establishments in Stonesunder.
Marla and Ulritch were celebrated as heroes but did not stop working on whatever would come next. When Blackout was smuggled out of the mountain and into Ellara, the Stoneforge's became instantly wealthy and expanded their brewing operation in a less populated area of Stonesunder. Ulritch had created an even larger fermenter and several of those. The danger of explosion to nearby buildings was too much to risk but the demand was skyrocketing.
When the Bru'Gal orcs released something called Skullsplitter into the world, the drinking game was elevated even further. By this point, several people had died from these drinks and foolish bets. The games were out of control and the idea of just getting drunk quickly and passing out became a life and death risk.
Enter "Cave-In". Marla's life's work as a master brewer, in addition to the Stoneforge Fermenter brought this unnecessary near-poison into the world. This "drink" tops out at the far end of the Lavern scale for alcohol, almost double the weakest batch of Blackout.
Cave-In is truly for the most robust constitutions and those who have zero regard for continuing life as a functioning adult. Its addition to the world is not assumed to be a positive or historic event but it could go down in the category of "we know you can do that, but should you?"
Months later, the orcs released something they call 'The Murderer'. Ranked higher on the Lavern scale than Cave-in (somehow), it is assumed to be created with raw sewage and the blood of Straad. It may be a weapon of war, an attempt to kill everyone but the orcs or a cruel joke.
What no one knows is: How exactly are the orcs making drinks this potent without the technology that the dwarves are using?