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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 720744" data-attributes="member: 6294">"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 16The group moves on to check two more houses, but finds little of note.  Only one building is now left for them to explore: a large, warehouse-like complex in the back corner of the settlement.  Two sturdy wagons stand before this structure.  The first is typical in construction and appearance, but the second is quite unusual.  It appears to be a huge barrel, mounted on wheels, with a seat placed at the front for driving.  At the top of the barrel is some kind of platform, while the back has doors that can be easily opened to access the contents."This must be how they transport the wine." Mantreus slaps the side of the huge barrel. "Do you think there's anything in it?""One way to find out." The Padre marches to the back of the barrel and throws open the doors.The contents of the barrel flood out in a solid wave, knocking the Padre off his feet.  Unfortunately, it is not wine.  Instead, a thick, reeking slurry of manure, waste and other compost items pours forth, completely soaking the unfortunate cleric, who is left lying on his back amidst a spreading pool of the foul slime.As the Padre slowly gets to his feet, expression stony, the others do their best to avoid meeting his gaze. Well, except Mantreus.  He just stands there with a big grin on his face, as a particularly large lump of manure slides off the Padre's shoulder and plops onto the ground."What are you so cheerful about?" the cleric grits out."I thought that the only thing people were going to remember from this adventure was me falling in the ditch." The rogue replies cheerfully, "But you've made sure that won't happen.""I'm glad I could be of assistance." The Padre squelches out of the pool of liquid manure, then sits on a patch of clean grass to remove his boots and tip out their contents."No more healing for you." Twinkle tells Mantreus, sotto voce.  She does her best to look innocent when the Padre flicks her an exasperated glare.  "Maybe you could clean over at the well?" she offers brightly, while moving to stand upwind.Eventually the Padre has cleaned himself off to his own satisfaction, and the group enters the warehouse.  It quickly proves to house the entire wine-making process: there are dry rooms for storing the berries; pressing rooms to extract the juice, and a single large chamber filled with barrels."Here's the oil that was mentioned in that note." Elspeth announces, gesturing to some packing crates in  a store room at the back of the complex.  "There's heaps of the stuff - we could burn the town three times over with all this.""Good." The still 'fragrant' Padre responds, "Because I've just been through the dry rooms and every last bunch of berries seems to have been infected with some kind of sickly, yellow mould.  I'd say that's how the disease was spread.""The berries?" Twinkle squeaks, her eyes going wide.  "But I! - In the fields! - And they! - You're sure?"  she runs around in a circle, occasionally spitting out incoherent fragments of sentences."Do you have any idea what she's going on about?" the Padre asks, wearily."She ate some berries in the fields outside the town." Elspeth replies.  She gestures to the first barrel of oil and the Padre nods.  The two of them begin to roll it toward the door, ignoring the hyperventilating gnome. "Quite a lot of them, actually.""Oh.  Is that all?" the Padre shrugs, "She should see the day I'm having."They leave the wails of the diminutive rogue behind as they continue to roll the barrel out onto the grass."This shouldn't take long." Sirdros remarks, as he and Stormstrider follow, rolling another barrel together, "We'll need to make sure we douse everything flammable as much as we can, though.  The weather's been damp.""We should take this wagon before we go." Mantreus slaps the seat beside him.  He's perched in the wagon, watching the others do the work. "We can drag it out of town and use it to carry the stuff we found.""Could we pull it?" Sirdros looks doubtful."No problem." Stormstrider doesn't even look up, merely lifts the barrel they've been rolling casually onto his shoulder, and strides off."I'm convinced." Sirdros concedes.Twinkle sidles out of the barn, looking a little pale."Am I going to die?" she asks plaintively."Not tonight." The Padre grunts in reply. "Show Stormstrider where to put that barrel.  I'm sure you know more about setting things on fire than the rest of us.""You bet!" Twinkle scampers after the elf, then jogs beside him, occasionally jumping into the air as she explains finer points of successful pyromania.</blockquote>

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