PREAMBLE: NEVER try to out-drink a Dwarf!

[Eanwulf]

OOC

Borik is currently downright Unfriendly. I tried rolling an immediate action Diplomacy check (-10 penalty) for Marak to see if he might change the dwarf's demeanor and wound up rolling a Natural 20 as his first roll of the game! Even though it still wasn't '˜technically' enough to change Borik's mood, I considered it too good to pass up and as thus will allow Borik to be considered Indifferent to Marak's presence. The dwarf however, as a compromise, still doesn't like Kalen being in the room! Some posting on the halfling's part might help him.

Having been utterly flabbergasted by the pair's unexpected intrusion, Borik continues to stare wildly for a moment before beginning to blink profusely and rub his reddened eyes in an attempt to try and focus in upon his comrade's actions. Marak's slap on the back is soon met with the response of a bitter grumbling and once the two heroes have unwontedly entered the room, the grizzled dwarf exclaims angrily, 'œWhat in the Nine Hells do you think you are doing Marak!? I've got guard duty tonight and you know damned well that Captain Trask said that there was to be absolutely no drink'¦uhmm spiced Mead did you say now? Aw, Blast it! Who cares what Captain Trask says, come on in!' The grizzled dwarf quickly closes the office door behind the two heroes and waddles his way back over into the room. Once inside, he hurriedly makes his way behind a wooden table that lies near the center of the room and casually plops himself down into a nearby chair, commenting. 'œMighty nice of you to show up tonight Marak, I was getting pretty damned tired of guarding all of these here books! Hah! Such a waste of a true warrior's talents, I tell you! Nevertheless, I reckon that I got what's coming to me'¦'

OOC

The room that you enter seems to be a foyer of some sorts. It is roughly 20 ft. by 20 ft. and has three additional exits other than the one you have just entered. One door to the north and one to the south both stand shut and '€" from what you can remember '€" lead into adjoining conference rooms. A set of double-doors is likewise located across the room along the eastern wall, and should lead directly into the Record's Hall. This is where you need to go!

A common rug adorns one region of the floor and two wooden benches rest caddy-corner along the northwestern and southwestern walls. A simple wooden table and chair is seen near the center of the room and two large and over-crowded bookcases stand just past that along the northeastern and southeastern walls '€" their shelves crammed full of various books and ledgers.

And finally - It would appear that Borik has made himself rather comfortable at the center table, having moved most of its contents unto the floor. A simple wooden platter and mug rests upon the table, as does the warrior's weapon of choice '€" a heavy iron hammer. The platter seems to contain the open and picked at remains of a roasted goat's-beef and limburger cheese sandwich. The mug also appears to be rather untouched and contains some form of a milky substance.

Map

As the old dwarf continues to ramble for a few moments, Kalen struggles to lift the heavy cask unto the wooden table. A resounding *thump* and the cask is soon put into place. Wasting no time, Marak quickly passes his companion a pair of large empty mugs and instructs the halfling to begin filling them with mead. A sour look soon falls upon Borik's face as he watches Kalen fill the first mug with mead. The cranky old dwarf seems to be rather agitated at the halfling's presence and even gives him an unpleasant smack on top of one of his hands as he tries to fill the second mug. 'œI don't need nobody to pour my own drink for me now, thank you very much!' - he exclaims wildly - 'œI mean, whatcha gonna do next, burp me!?' The old dwarf then scooches forwards in his chair and begins to fill his own mug with some of the mead, adding, 'œNo offense Marak, but these here haffers are usually only out for one thing and one thing only '€" money! Let the little guy poor my drink now, and next he'll be asking me for a damned tip! As a matter of a fact, ye best go ahead and pay the lad now whatcha owe him and send him along to go run off with the others. Sides, I'm sure he has other work to do now anyhow!'

---

From the DM

REALLY TIRED TONIGHT'¦so taking a brief pause to get some much needed sleep.

[Trogdor]

Kalen rolls his eyes, shrugs. and looks back at Marak. "He don't want my help, then I don't need to stay. I still get what we talked about for haulin' tha' mead here, tho." He holds his hand out for payment. "I can get myself back to the kitchens," he adds.

OOC

I don't want to blow our chances with this. Kalen will take his coins from Marak and hastily retreat.

Once out of sight of Borik, Kalen spills a little mead on his apron, then takes a swig or two, swishing it around his mouth to help firm the smell of mead on his breath. Then he tries to find a place within sight of the door to the cartographer's office where he can settle down and enjoy the peace.

OOC

Find a spot where I can make it look like Kalen has slipped away to enjoy some mead while he skips out on work. Take 20 on a Hide check (= 32) to keep out of sight.

[arkahm]

After Kalen exits... "I figger'd ya wanna have sum special treatment this holiday. Ye been worked so hard the past few months its hard to catch up to ya now days. Ye gonna be outdoin me afore long. Kinda crappy job this be though. Almost like Trask has it out fer ya. Well don't ye worry 'bout him t'nite. He be out der celebratin' and I'll drink ta his party." Marak lifts his mug waiting for Borik to gulp down his mug in toast. Marak follows, but only drinking half what he would normally gulp, acting as if he is downing a complete dousing of mead. "May the party keep him forever...har, har", and he lifts his mug again for another toast.

OOC

He will attempt to disguise his drinking as much as possible to prevent himself from getting too drunk. I want to ensure that Borik is drinking more than Marak

[Eanwulf]

I just wanted to bring the following to your attention before continuing to post. Enjoy...

Getting Drunk

Getting Drunk
An average person's Alcohol Threshold (AT) is equal to his Constitution score, but this number can be modified by several other factors. Any racial, magical, or class-based bonuses to resist poison add to this number, the Endurance feat adds +4 to this number, and the Hard Drinking feat doubles a character's AT (Constitution score and all other modifiers are doubled).

For each size category smaller than Medium that you are, your AT is reduced by half. For each size category larger, double your AT. For example, the AT of the average Halfling is only 5, whereas a great wyrm red dragon would have an AT of 496. Once you reach your AT, you become tipsy. As you drink more, you progress through the various levels of intoxication, with a number of Alcohol Units (AU) equal to your threshold increasing your drunkenness to the next category.

For example, Stumpy has a Constitution of 14 and is a Human. He drinks two shots of whiskey (12 AU each, total 24 AU). This exceeds his AT, so he becomes tipsy. Another 4 AU will take him to 28, putting him in the merry category.

The DM may give a temporary bonus to a character's alcohol threshold of up to +2 from various factors, such as a full stomach or magical enhancements.

Drink Sizes
Servings of alcohol are measured in shots. A shot does not denote any real-world significance; rather, it is simply a convenient word to measure small volumes of liquid in game terms. The number of shots contained in various drinking vessels is as follows.

Drink Size	No. of Shots
Shot glass/mouthful	1
Small glass (cup)	2
Mug/glass (pint)	4
Wineskin	4
Large flagon (quart)	8
Jug (two quarts)	16
Large pitcher (gallon)	32
Keg (3 gallons)	96
Small barrel (10 gallons)	320
Large barrel (40 gallons)	1280

Drink Strengths
The strength of the drink is measured on a scale, with 0 being no alcohol content, and 10 or higher being powerful beverages. The following table should not be regarded as a definitive list of drinks, but rather a rough guide to how to use alcohol strengths. A drink's total effect is measured in AU. The AU of a given drink is the product of its number of shots times its strength. For example, a mug (4 shots) of wine (Strength 4) is a total of 16 AU.

Sample Drink	Alcohol Strength
Water	0
Weak Beer	1
Regular Beer	2
Wine	4
Strong Wine	6
Spirit	10
Strong Spirit	12
Dwarf Spirits	14

Categories of Drunkenness
Alcohol is basically, a poison. The more you drink, the greater the effect it has. There are several levels of intoxication, each accompanied by penalties to certain abilities, and a slight bonus to resist pain.

Tipsy: Judgment slightly impaired, but no noticeable effects. -1 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves. No effect on movement or hit points. Must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells or take similar actions.

Merry: Inhibitions lower, voices raise, and balance wavers slightly. -2 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves. +1 temporary hit point per Hit Die. No effect on movement. Must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells or take similar actions.

Drunk: Dizzy and disoriented, words slurred. -4 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves. +2 temporary hit points per Hit Die. Can safely take one action each round, but nust make a Balance check (DC 10) to both move and take an action. Falls down on failure. Must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells or take similar actions.

Hammered: Can't walk in a straight line, generally incoherent. -8 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves. +3 temporary hit points per Hit Die. Can safely take one action each round, but nust make a Balance check (DC 10) to both move and take an action. Falls down on failure. Must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells or take similar actions.

Plastered: Communication is nearly impossible, as is standing up. -16 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves (though the character can take no actions, so it usually doesn't matter). +4 temporary hit points per Hit Die (but usually unable to take advantage of this). Must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells or take similar actions. Character is nauseated, and the only action he can normally take is a single move action per round. A character who is plastered can, however, choose to take one standard action other than a move, but is then stunned for the next 1d6 rounds.

Unconscious: Character is unconscious, usually from sickness or extreme dizziness and confusion.

Recovery and Hangovers
A character recovers at a rate of 8 AU per hour. Additionally, eight hours of uninterrupted sleep enables him to recover completely. A character who has become drunk or worse suffers a hangover once he sobers up. A hangover consists of headaches, nausea and other unpleasant side effects. After recovering from drunkenness, a hangover begins. While hung over, a character suffers the same penalty to his attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and Reflex saves of the highest drunkenness category he reached the night before. Every two hours, the severity reduces by one category until the penalties go away.

A Craft (alchemy) check (DC 20) will allow a character to brew a hangover or drunkenness remedy. Characters with 5 or more ranks in Heal get a +2 synergy bonus to this check. Most such folk remedies sell for 2 gold pieces per dose, and many inns and taverns make as much money sobering up their patrons as getting them drunk. A character can only benefit from one dose of a folk drunkenness remedy per day. Remedies have an effect either on current drunkenness, or on hangovers. Particular effects may vary, the following is one example.

Hair of the Dog: This foul-tasting concoction doesn't even try to hide its ingredients: A clump of dog hairs float atop a green-brown broth filled with mashed leaves. The necessary ingredients for 5 doses can be found in a typical forest with an hour of searching and a successful Survival check (DC 12). Two hours of work and a Craft (alchemy) check (DC 20) can turn the ingredients into 5 doses, each the size of a small cup. A dose of hair of the dog reduces the character's penalties from a hangover as if 2 hours had passed. Only one such drink can have an effect per day.

Having Been Said

After reading over the rules, it should soon become apparent that:

'¢ Marak's Alcohol Threshold Level = 20 (18 Con, +2 racial bonus vs. poison)
'¢ Borik's Alcohol Threshold Level = 13 (11 Con, +2 racial bonus vs. poison)
'¢ Kalen's Alcohol Threshold Level = 7 (14 Con, +1 racial bonus on all saves, halved due to size)

A Mug (4 shots) of (Dwarven-made) Spiced Mead is equivalent to Strong Wine (AU 6 each shot) '€" this being said:

'¢ 2 sips of it are enough to make Kalen Tipsy (12 AU)
'¢ 1 full mug of it = 24 AU

Below are the respectful player's State of Drunkeness Categories

Borik
'¢ Tipsy: 13
'¢ Merry: 26
'¢ Drunk: 39
'¢ Hammered: 52
'¢ Plastered: 65
'¢ Unconscious: 78

Marak
'¢ Tipsy: 20
'¢ Merry: 40
'¢ Drunk: 60
'¢ Hammered: 80
'¢ Plastered: 100
'¢ Unconscious: 120

Kalen
'¢ Tipsy: 7
'¢ Merry: 14
'¢ Drunk: 21
'¢ Hammered: 28
'¢ Plastered: 35
'¢ Unconscious: 42

[Eanwulf]

Kalen makes his way out hurriedly into the hallway and begins to look for a suitable spot to hide and wait until Marak has finished doing his job. The young halfling quickly unstoppers his waterskin and takes a couple of healthy swigs of the spiced mead contained within. The mead is strong and sweet and its effects soon begin to take hold, much to Kalen's surprise. Filled head to toe with the pleasant sensation of a rather warm and fuzzy feeling inside of his body, the young rogue does his best to stay focused upon the task at hand.

OOC

The mead was stronger than you thought. You are now tipsy [12 AU] from only 2 mouthfuls. Damned Dwarves...

Down one end of the hall is a privy '€" well within earshot of the cartographer's office, though it is most likely more opt to be visited by the locals.

Down the other end of the hall, some greater distance away than the previous, is a small storage closet '€" ideal for someone of your size to try and conceal themselves in, though it might be a tad bit more difficult to hear Marak's signal to return.

[Eanwulf]

The halfling now gone from the room, Borik seems to become somewhat more relaxed and at ease around his fellow kinsman. The old dwarf quickly finishes pouring himself a drink and then nestles back snugly into his chair. 'œNo worries Marak,' he states as he raises the frothy mug in a friendly toast to his companion, 'œAll will be set just right, fine, and dandy in but a couple of minutes!' The old dwarf then places the mug to his bearded lips and begins to drink loudly...

*Chug'¦Glug'¦Gug'¦GULP!*

Within moments Borik's mug is completely drained empty and other than the spattered bits of froth that remain upon his beard, its contents no more. 'œBy Moradin's Beard,' Borik exclaims excitedly, 'œDid that ever hit the spot!' He then continues, 'œHah! Mighty fine of you to come and pay this old dwarf a visit tonight Marak. I do believe that I was in need of some form of excitement more than I had thought!'

His nose starting to glisten red, Borik eyes the heavy cask greedily. "Shall we pour ourselves another then, eh kinsman?"

Roll

Standard Bluff check to try and hide the fact that you're holding back with your drinking. Some mods apply.

[Marak's Bluff check, d20 +1 = 18]

[Borik's Sense Motive check, d20 + 6* = 10]

* includes +5 Risk bonus and Borik's +1 Wisdom modifier bonus

Success! Borik hasn't seemed to notice a thing and Marak has managed to only have drunken half of his mug this turn!

'¢ Borik is Tipsy [24 AU]

'¢ Marak is Sober [12 AU]

[arkahm]

OOC

My post is finally up! Sorry it took so long. Got a Wii for the Birthday so been playing it with the kids. BTW, Wii fit is fun! lol

"Har, Ye drink dat like a true Dwur, Borik!" Marak says, "I'll get ye anudder one!" Marak grabs borik's mug and his own, refilling his first to mask the fact it is half full. After Boriks mug is full, he returns it to the tipsy dwarf and returns to his perch. Marak then raises his mug yet again. "Ta ye and yer experience and da battles that made ye so! May yer beard always be long, Borik!" Marak allows Borik to start drinking to the toast first and again masks the fact that he only himself drinks half.

Action

I plan to let him get one full mug ahead of me and then return to drinking normal again. I will begin to act tipsy and whatever to match the look that Borik is giving from his effects as well. This should be the last time I drink half unless I inform you otherwise.

[Eanwulf]

Borik gladly snatches up another mug of mead and begins drinking it, returning the toast to his companion. 'œA mighty fine toast der Marak! I do believe you are the best form of luck that I've had these past few weeks!' *Gulp* The old dwarf's cheeks redden and his eyes begin to glisten as he prepares a toast of his own. 'œHere's to fine dwarf women! May they all have beards, and walk bow-legged! At least, by the time that I'm done with dem! Har!'

Roll

[Marak's Bluff check, d20 + 1 = 21!]

[Borik's Sense Motive check, d20 + 7* = 16]

* includes +5 Risk bonus, +1 Wisdom modifier bonus, and -1 Tipsy penalty

Success! Once again, Borik hasn't seemed to notice a thing and '€" due to the Natural 20 rolled - Marak has managed to spend the round avoiding having to drink but a couple of sips of his own mug!

'¢ Borik is Merry [36 AU]
'¢ Marak is still Sober [15 AU]

Borik will need convincing in order to keep drinking the rest of his mug!

The two dwarves continue to toast one another for several moments longer before Borik starts to realize that the drink is starting to get the better of him. A sour look falls upon his face as he begins to shake his head wildly. 'œBah," he excalims, "Oh how I hates gettin old! The grey-bearded dwarf then places his half-filled mug upon the table, adding, "I think that I might have reached my limit cuzin. My damned head is starting to cloud sumtin fierce! Maybe we should call it a night and let me get back to guarding these here books. After all, I don't want to wind up pulling latrine duty for being caught drunk on da job'¦*again*.'

[arkahm]

"WHAT????!!, *HIC*" Marak exclaims on Boriks last statement, trying ta sound a little bit drunk with much agitation in his voice. "Ye ain't old. Ain't no self respectin' Dwur gonna talk like dat! Dwur are made o' da mount'n, and do da mount'n feel old????!! NO IT DON'T! 'Sides, there ain't ner a folk dats *hic* gonna bother dis paper stuff while ders celebratin' ta be had and it be guarded by Borik da Brave!! I hear what dey say behind ye back, sayin' dat no one can guard anyting like ye can! Dey only make ye do crap like dis cuz dey gots ta make ye look bad sumhowz!...*Hic*. Dis be Celebratin' ye deserve!" Marak poors it on thick to convince him to drink. "I know what it be *Hic*, Ye just be SCARED dat I gonna be out drinkin' ya! Drink up yer mug, I d'not haul this keg up here ta have ya dent it and bugger out! What'd yer family tink?*BURRRRRRPPPPPP* So Drink up for ye family!"

Action

Would an intimidation check be warranted here? After all I'm invoking the wrath of his race and his family? I have Intimidation +5.

[Trogdor]

Kalen moves swiftly to the closet, confident that he'll hear Marak when the dwarf has finished his drunken business. Quite aside from the question of smells, Kalen has no desire to subject his hiding skills to a series of bored eyes,

OOC

With luck it'll take Marak an hour or so to get the dwarf drunk and the two sips of dwarf mead will wear off.