The Mostly Stable Batch
The Mostly Stable Batch
“When the ale is unstable, the investigation gets bubbly.”
— Hook · investigation
“The Loom's Cinderbrax Brewery has started serving ale that makes people breathe fire, glow like lanterns, hiccup hard enough to break furniture, and, in one case, float away from the bar. The owner insists the brew is mostly stable, but missing ingredient shipments suggest the problem began beneath the district. You are being hired to find the contamination, stop further incidents, and safely destroy every unstable batch.”
— Hook · investigation
The party arrives at Cinderbrax Brewing Co. during a chaotic afternoon. One patron is glowing bright blue beneath a table, another is floating against the rafters, and a third is angrily hiccupping sparks into a bucket. Merris Cinderbrax meets the party behind the bar wearing protective gloves and insists that no one taste anything, then points out that two crates of catalyst yeast vanished before the latest batch was brewed.
Merris Cinderbrax
Merris approaches the party through a trusted Loom merchant, then meets them at the brewery with a sealed ledger, protective gloves, and a promise of payment from Sarnick Cinderbrax's estate.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01A brewer's assistant claims the ale was normal until someone changed the yeast barrels.
- 02The missing crates were last seen near an old service stair beneath the Loom's eastern market.
- 03Some patrons swear the glowing ale lets them see invisible things, though nobody can agree whether that is true.
- 04Sarnick Cinderbrax once used an abandoned pressure engine to heat experimental vats.
- 05A tunnel-dweller named Pipwick Knob has been selling directions to the brewery's missing shipment.
If the party fails, more Loom residents may suffer unpredictable elemental effects, the brewery may burn or collapse, and Halvek may gain the means to mass-produce unstable magical beverages. If the party succeeds, Cinderbrax Brewing Co. survives, the contaminated ale is contained, and the party gains influence among the Loom's merchants and craftsmen.
Background Lore
Cinderbrax Brewing Co. was founded by the eccentric gnome alchemist Sarnick "Sparks" Cinderbrax, whose experimental ales often incorporated harmless elemental reagents. After Sarnick's death, the brewery continued his work under cautious supervision. A recent shipment of mineral-rich yeast catalyst was diverted through abandoned maintenance tunnels beneath the Loom district. The catalyst was contaminated by residue from an old arcane pressure engine, causing the ale to express unstable elemental effects in anyone who drinks it.
Cinderbrax Brewing Co. has produced an experimental batch of ale with bizarre temporary effects, including fire-breathing, glowing skin, violent hiccups, and minor levitation. The brewery's owner has hired the party to investigate the contamination, recover missing ingredient shipments from tunnels beneath the Loom, protect civilians, and dispose of the unstable ale. The owner claims the batch is mostly stable, but no one should consume unidentified liquids on-site, and protective gloves are strongly recommended.
