History of Alcohol of the Mossborn Clan

[_RoyalCrafter_ 3193]

Introduction:

The most well-known fact about dwarves is their love of alcohol. From ale to rum, brandy to whiskey, the dwarves are undoubtedly masters of their drink. The primitive and defunct Mossborn Clan is no exception to this rule. Though they are well known for their armour, the history of their alcohol industry is no less interesting. This text aims to chronicle their long-lost methods, and the changes in production of their alcohol through time.

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First Drink:

Being Forest Dwarves, their alcoholic beverages are not typically made of malt, wheat or hops, instead they fermented the produce of their forest such as wild berries and roots. The first Chief of the Mossborn, Brak The Leafy, is credited for the invention of their traditional Hollow Cider. According to Legend, Brak The Leafy wanted to stash a hoard of fruit away for himself. He found a hollow tree in the forest, and deposited all his fruit into it and then sealed it. He later forgot about the stash, only remembering it a few months later. When he rushed to recover the fruit, he discovered that there was a strong smelling liquid inside the tree. This liquid was the very first Hollow Cider. The original Hollow Cider was described as “drinking rotten tree bark” but regardless of this, it was popular because of its powerful inebriating effect.

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Improvement:

In the year SA 17, the 6th Chief of the Mossborn Clan, Baran The Sappy (a known reveler) wanted to improve the taste of the alcohol in order to drink more cider. He implemented rules prioritising the cultivation of special trees specifically for fermentation and ordered his brewers to experiment with different formulas, flavours and ingredients. This concentrated brewing effort resulted in a much more delicious and fruity Hollow Cider.

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Decline:

Unfortunately, in the year SA 18, Baran The Sappy plucked a cursed mushroom. When he brewed it into cider and drank it, he began foaming at the mouth and shortly he fell down dead. It was deemed he had an extreme allergic to the mushroom. A few months later, a plague swept through the trees used for Hollow Cider, since those trees were closely grown to each other. This event was known as the Cider Drought, because the plague nearly destroyed their entire Hollow Cider industry. A strict cider rationing was implemented shortly within the clan.

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Discovery:

This period of drought lasted for 2 years. It was ended when scouts of the Mossborn clan discovered a wagon wreckage containing various alcoholic drinks and ingredients. In the wreckage there were crates of yeast and wheat, alongside barrels of ale. Farmers replanted and grew wheat in the forest with limited success. In the end, they eventually bred their own unique strains of grains to be more suitable to the forest floor. The brewers who worked previously with Baran The Sappy were very experienced and took to brewing these ingredients into new forms of beverages, such as Sweet Moss Ale and Berry Liqueur. However, because of the limited production of wheat, there was only a small increase of alcohol in the clan. When salvaging the wagon wreckage, symbols of axes were discovered engraved onto the barrels and wood. These were preserved in the clan, in order to give thanks for the revitalization of their brewing industry. It is believed that the wreckage belonged to the Grandaxe Clan.

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Conclusion:

In SA 28, when Chief Eilek The Bramble eloped with his dryad lover, the Mossborn clan descended into civil war, due to prior religious differences. This internal civil was terribly brutal, and resulted in the effective extermination of the tribe, and the destruction of almost all of its relics, including the barrels of the Grandaxe Clan. There currently exists no remaining trace of the alcohol brewed by the Mossborn clan. Though things might change if the clan ever gets revived.