23

Leaving Fred to go banter with his mates throughout the front room, Celia leads you to the bar and tells you about the wide choice of beverage available. It means precious little to you, especially that there is such a variety of different beer. Back in the village you’re exposure to beer was regular and mundane: it was merely the safest way of purifying water with limited means, and every man and woman knew how to do it. After a lengthy explanation of the other existing alcohols you settle on allegedly the strongest ale served, though not a huge mug like the orcs and half-giants seem to use as their norm.

It is strong; very strong. You feel a little dizzy. In fact, remove 2 points from your PROWESS score, roll one die, and divide the result by two. This number, you naive peasant fool, represents how many chapters you will wait before restoring those 2 points to your PROWESS score.

Turn to 33.