"This part of the rocky slope is covered in gnarled vines, arranged loosely in rows staked to short wooden poles. Next to the vineyards, a rough track leads to a stone-brick hovel, from whose chimney a curl of smoke arises. Suddenly, the door springs open, and two enormous hounds, one white and one black, hurtle through the door and race down the gravel track towards you, snarling with menace! Each dog appears to be as big as a small pony!
A strange green-skinned Dwarf with orange hair also bursts through the door, blunderbuss in hand, yelling:
'Snowflake! Midnight! Heel! HEEL!!!"
Contents: These are two Moon Dogs, ferocious canine guards, and their owner, a chaotic Half-Dwarf ex-mercenary and now vintner, Old Barney Gorbus. If the Heroes are foolish enough to fight the dogs, with the intent to slay them, Barney will also attack the Heroes with his Blunderbuss; if he runs out of ammo, he will dive back into the hut to get his axe and armour. He will fight the Heroes to the death, tears streaming down his face if his dogs have been killed.
If the Heroes merely defend themselves against the dogs, or even run away, they will heel and respond to Barney's commands after one Attack Round. Barney will gift any bitten Hero with a bottle of wine; likewise he will demand appropriate tribute if either of both of his dogs have been wounded in any way as well.
Assuming Old Barney has reacted positively to the presence of the Heroes, and they have paid any relevant restitution, he is happy to sell them bottles of his rough and ready home-made red wine. Each bottle costs 4GP, and restores 1-3 STAMINA points; drinking the bottle in one sitting causes the reduction of -1 to Attack Strength for an hour. Barney typically has between 4-24 bottles of 'Old Barney's Red Death' for sale. He will also swap bottles of wine for an equal value of food, Smoking Weed, or any other type of alcoholic beverage (including those made by Goblins, Orcs or Trolls).
Old Barney is a known regular character on the slopes of Mount Gulugu and knows Ghun-Fang the Astrologer, and F'Sal the Shepherd and Larna the Weaver, among others. Having previously worked as a mercenary hound-master for various armies and hordes of dubious morality, he also has cordial relations with the Orcs of the Bronze Serpent Mercenary Company, but hates the Gnolls of the Tusk-Gnasher Tribe with a passion, after they have attacked several other fellow hermits and outcasts here in the wilderness. If not at his hut (which will be locked and booby-trapped with his exploding Yokka Egg), Barney can be found at the Tavern of Tan-Kha, drinking Seaman's Grog, or the Fighting Pit of Azgrul, betting on the fights, while his two Moon Dogs are stabled carefully in the animal pens.
Barney's hut contains a spare Blunderbuss, flint and tinder, two spare ammo pouches (both full), a battered lantern, his battleaxe and armour, 4-24 empty bottles, a pot of spicy lamb stew on the fireplace (worth 2 Provisions), a wooden cot with a woolen blanket, two wicker baskets for the dogs (also lined with woolen blankets), two tin bowls full of water and several gnawed bones.
Under the hut is a cave-like cellar (accessed via a locked gate above stone steps leading down), where the wine is made in several large wooden barrels, and stored in a cool stone alcove that also contains 2-7 large joints of raw meat (each worth a Provision if cooked). Also here is a bottle of Crimson Leonar (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 55).
Stats:
Old Barney Gorbus, Chaotic HALF-DWARF, SKILL 8 STAMINA 12, Flintlock Blunderbuss and Battleaxe, Chainmail Cuirass.
Has 2-7 GP, 2-12 SP, a key to the cellar-gate, a wooden briarwood pipe, a pouch of 'Pure Axehead' Smoking Weed, and a Yokka Egg to use only in the most desperate of circumstances.
Snowflake, MOON DOG, SKILL 9 STAMINA 10, Large Bite, +1 to Damage Roll
Midnight, MOON DOG, SKILL 9 STAMINA 10, Large Bite, +1 to Damage Roll
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