After Agnor ended up in the doghouse last Brewday, and the resulting embarrassment that followed, he really had planned on keeping things very low-key this year. Truly he had.

However, Mum had other plans.

"I'm nae feeling up tae th' full even this year. Can ye go wi' me while I do a spot o' shopping, an' nose around frae aught that be new this year, lad? Nae hurry on reporting back, o' course. Enjoy yuirself a bit while there."

While he was a bit concerned at how tired the flame-haired halfling looked, his concern was quickly overridden by excitement. As a coldain from Thurgadin, he definitely enjoyed his "liquid libations" to Brell, and he had, with only a few lapses, been very serious and responsible during most of his apprenticeship to Niami DenMother. To be able to properly celebrate on Brell's holy day would be an absolute pleasure!

As they neared the entrance to the Barrel Room, he marveled once again at the special magic that made the tiny place appear much bigger on the inside. His marvelings were cut short as Mum spoke up, apparently following part of his train of thought.

"They are having a bit o' trouble wi' finding a place tae store this entrance this year. Seems they had some issues wi' gobbie an' bugbear attempts tae break intae th' place while it was in storage this past year an' they need tae find somewhere safe tae house it. Shame I do nae hae th' room frae it."

Agnor stopped walking for a moment. He had never really thought about where the magic entrance to the Barrel Room went once the celebration was over, but it stood to reason that it had to go ... somewhere. Oh, what he could do with a place like that during the year, now that his apprenticeship duties had been relaxed! He managed to keep his face impassive and stoic, however, as he spoke. "Seems I have the space for such a thing now, if they need somewhere safe for it."

"Och. Aye, ye hae th' Vale home now, don't ye?" Mm's voice was idle, as she watched a couple of drunks stagger out the Barrel Room door. "I suspect I could hae a bit o' a talk wi' Mraugl an' see how things stand."

There was the usual chaos inside - music, laughter, drinking, more drinking, belching, more drinking, shouting, drinking, etc. While Agnor headed off to catch up with his friend, Oldar Foambeard, Mum slipped behind the bar, helping serve up drinks while she chatted with the bartender, Mraugl Stonecrusher.

It was some time later when she sought out Agnor, handing him a mug of Thurgadin Icebrew. "Well, lad, I hae some guid news an' some nae so guid news. Seems Mraugl is willing tae consider ye as a suitable caretaker o' th' Barrel room frae th' coming year, but he's a dwarf who takes more stock o' actions than words. It'd likely nae hurt yuir cause if ye were tae make yuirself useful around here now an' again, durin' th' festivities."

Inside, Agnor was crowing with joy, already pondering the types of parties he could throw throughout the year, but his face betrayed none of this. "I would be most pleased to assist - when my duties for you don't get in the way."

"Oh, pish. I'm going tae be taking it easy frae a few days meself, an' ye should enjoy yuir holiday appropriately. Brell wuid be pleased." Mum seemed to brush off his concerns.

It didn't take much to convince him, because he really wanted to be convinced.

Over the next several days, as long as the ale kept flowing, he kept working. Cleaning up spills, disposing of empty kegs, helping Sam in the basement with rowdy Serilians and so on. It was exhausting, but he kept reminding himself of the payoff - almost a year as caretaker of the Barrel Room.

Of course, he wanted it for religious purposes! It was the proper spot to worship Brell year-round, and he had to show Norrath that the Coldain still knew how to properly worship Brell! Of course that was his motive! He even managed to convince himself of that fact as the celebration started to wind down.

The final day saw a mind-numbing round of drinking and cleaning and cleaning and drinking. He was so fogged by the end of it, that he almost missed the fact that, at midnight, he and Mraugl seemed to be the only people left in the bar.

"Ah, the wonders of magic, m'boy. The rest should have been kicked out when the clock tolled. I'd be mighty obliged if you'd give the cellar a final go-over while I sort things out up here, and then she's all yours for the year, praise Brell."

Agnor could barely suppress a groan at the thought of the noxious mess from the drunken goblins, gnolls and bugbears that awaited him in the cellar, but he trudged down the stairs and through the trapdoor, mumbling, "Praise Brell" like it was some sort of mantra.

It was even fouler than imagined, but eventually it was cleaned to his satisfaction.

Sleep, and a bit too much ale, were tugging at him as he returned to the main part of the bar and found a folded note with his name on it and a key waiting for him. Grabbing both, he stumbled out the door, listening to the lock click behind him. His eyes were far too blurry for him to read the note properly, and he promised himself a good long nap before he read it.

"Good thing the transport spell kicked off. There's m'front door only a few steps away. Sleep goooooooood."

The next morning, he found a packet of Mum's hangover remedy waiting for him on his mantel, and he drank down the foul brew before he stumbled out into the bright Vale daylight. Squinting a bit at the brightness, he headed for the entrance to the Barrel Room, pulling out the key and note as he went.

He was momentarily distracted by a goblin on the front steps, and even he winced at how loud his voice was as he chased off the lush. "Oi! Ye gobbo! Wake up! Get off my property ye drunken bounder!"

The key didn't fit in the lock.

This was bad.

Fumbling a bit with the note, Agnor headed under the shade of a nearby tree. Mum's hangover remedy might be pretty good, but even it couldn't negate all the effects of a true Brellian binge and his eyeballs still felt like they were melting.

Agnor,
Mighty kind of you to store this for me. Don't worry about possible vandals inside - the magic of the place keeps the doors locked until next year's holiday. It will only be ones sniffing around outside that you have to worry about. Found this key while cleaning up and expect someone may be around looking for it eventually. Be a good lad and look after it until then, will you?
Mraugl
P.S. I still can't see why you want the place when it will be locked up all year, but that flame-haired child of Bristlebane that is your boss says you're really pious like that. So, may Brell bless you for all your hard work and devotion!

"Locked up all ye- ... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

He swore he heard a faint feminine giggle, quickly stifled, but a thorough search of the place only found a drunken gnoll trying to suck the very last dregs from a discarded brew keg.

He felt both better and worse once he finished chasing the gnoll around the Vale. "Ye mangy mutt! {pant} Child o' Brell indeed! {wheeze} The party's over! {gasp} Get off my lawn and stay off!"

Bah. Flame-haired child of Bristlebane indeed. She set him up before Bristlebane Day arrived, dagnabbit. He'd get even ... somehow.

He could hold his own against Mum. Really.

Suuuuuuuurre.

Norrath's annual celebration of all things brewable (think: St. Patrick's Day, only with drunken dwarves and the like) is just around the corner. When this event is running, you will want to grab your stein and head for the "Barrel Room" found outside every player city.

This event will be released to the live servers on March 6, 2014, and will run through March 17th, 2014.

New Craftables

In addition to the returning recipe books from the past four years, this year "Brewday Accountrements to Craft V" makes a debut with 13 new items for you to craft. These books can be found inside the Bar of Brell on Balin Copperfoot.

In addition to T1/T2 common resources, you will need harvestables from Bountiful Brewday Gardens located in Antonica, Commonlands, Greater Faydark, Timorous Deep and Frostfang Sea. These gardens can only be seen while wearing the Improved Ale Goggles, which are a quest reward from Gilin Rockbreath in Brell's Bar for completion of the Ale Goggles quest. Don't worry if you can't find your goggles from past years, as the quest is repeatable once per year, and he'll happily give you another pair when you finish his quest.

Brown Velvet Curtain - Left	Brown Velvet Curtain - Right	Hanging Blue Luminescent Torch
Flowered Green Curtain - Left	Flowered Green Curtain - Right	Hewn Stone Counter
Hewn Stone Square Table	Hewn Stone Stool	Pot of Mulled Wine
Silvery Bowl	Silvery Goblet	Stone Wine Jug
Bowl of Beef Stew

New Questables

Bugbear Plushie "Drinks are on the House"*

*Drinks are on the House is repeatable every 2 hours.

New Buyables

Why would you want these tokens, you ask? Shiny new buyables, of course!

Armored Gnoll Plushie 4 tokens	Barrel Room Door 30 tokens	Healthy Hops Vine 4 tokens
Locked Barrel Room 80 tokens	Petamorph Wand: Animated Hops 6 tokens	Picklaw Goblin Plushie 4 tokens
Wild Boar (fluff pet) 30 tokens

Since those are some spendy amounts, you will likely want a better feel for sizing before you buy some of them ...

Default sizes, using the "halfling" measure	Maximum shrink, using the "halfling" measure
Maximum enlarge, using the "halfling" measure

And some door details. If you are facing the decorative side of the door, it opens AWAY from you (counterclockwise). And you will want a closer look at the back of the door, too...