All right folks, so here's the deal. In trying to develop a bar location, turns out the price list didn't have any booze listed. This prompted Jade and I into discussing making some items for the price list, which was a great idea. So this back burner project started like...a month ago? And the research that has gone into it has proven that there are too many factors to make assumptions of in a fantasy world to just say "here's generic mead for generic pricing." For anyone who hasn't looked into it beyond what brand is on the bottle they're enjoying at the bar or BBQ (guilty...), turns out booze if all types is more of a cultural staple than meets the eye. Everyone who's known this for some time is rolling their eyes, I'm certain... This all amounts to a deceptively simple price list addition that's turning into a pretty considerable project for the site.
Now I know what some of you may be thinking, "So why not just make some generic names and prices and be done with it?"
I'm glad you asked!
1) Ilaren; among her domains, she oversees alcohol; there's literally an Immortal (whoever said alcohol wasn't a gift form god?).
2) That now establishes at least 1 city and 1 religious faction that's hyped about this stuff, how many different things can be fermented and concocted, and drank for a good time, among other things.
3) This impacts the culture of how people interact where booze is present (or the lack thereof!), how the social environment looks like for quite a lot of folks in Idalos, especially those NPCs.
4) The booming success (hehe Ilaren puns) of something like booze, plus it's effects on the mind and body, are something to be taken advantage of everywhere.
5) Because this is fantasy, the generic booze alone (I'm not even discussing the made-up stuff we haven't even gotten around to yet) will impact all the fantastic people of Idalos differently.
6) Within that same element, booze as a story telling element is probably one of the most readily accessible for greasing the development of plots, characters, and conflict (e.g. George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or the HBO inspired Game of Thrones are basically all about what happens when your king is a drunk, from one perspective at least...); this stuff matters.
7) For some odd reason, as much as we desire escapism and fantasy, we also want it to be constrained to some Earthly boundaries that allow it to still be relatable. Climate, weather, and agriculture are some significant elements of that facilitated realistic fantasy.
8) Within a story like ST's, you know there are merchants or breweries that are vying for monopoly of this stuff, and it can (and will) be very nasty. While we aren't talking about assassinating royalty or divinity, economic competition is a rung on that assassination ladder for sure. In the mundane affairs of mortality, money talks, and booze is a money magnet.
N) And more, I'm certain...
Didn't think you'd be role playing/writing about something like alcohol on a fantasy site where the gods walk among you, ey? Funny how those things work out.
***
So this brings us to the actual project. We all know that developing a unique fantasy beverage is really simple. Take a fantasy ingredient, ferment it with yeast, and behold your new jungle juice, just slap a nel price tag on it (and develop the plant...and the sales location, the NPCs, the other location where this stuff is farmed, etc. in so far as is relevant to the story). What we don't have, and frankly need to develop by some virtue of it will be done "eventually" is the generic list of booze (and, for the sake of all the lovely staff players who are already swamped in development of other things, the respective locations (vineyards, orchards, beekeepers, farms, distilleries, bottle/cask manufacturers, etc), NPCs, and actual product pricing in the value chain that is booze. My most significant issue in tackling this project solo has been a general lack of information and it being way too much to sift through. This thread ultimately serves as a nexus for the booze related information as it is realized, shared, and developed into the entirety of ST's generic booze listing.
THAT ALL BEIN' SAID, here are the constraints/presumptions I'm working with to bring some sense of uniformity to the development. These are subject to change as new information is added from the community as we come to a closer realization of what booze in Idalos looks like.
Generalizations:
*Dry yeast is everywhere, thus so is booze of some kind (if you bake bread in the city, someone's probably brewing)
*All containers are mass produced and purchased by manufacturers to be properly bottled/casked/etc.
*Idalos has some semblance of science that distillers can mass produce their booze by a process that's repeatable for a consistent product
*To that same logic, mortals have discovered or been gifted with the insight that is "the standard drink." Though they are without the graces of "solo cups", the price list will reflect this measurement when it comes to pricing a particular booze by a respective measurement of volume
*By mundane or magical means, the manufactures have figured out how to seal and preserve their booze for wide scale sales
*Sales are largely made business to business or city to business in bulk. However because it's so wide-spread, 1 type of booze usually has a few substitutes producers so the price is kept consistent (though stays relative to the expenses it costs to make, bottle/cask, and ship the booze).
**That is to say, individual consumers are probably getting their drink at a bar/tavern/inn/eatery - unless they contract a merchant/distiller directly to make an order (for a barrel, cask, etc. basically a new contract).
*There are no trade tariffs on generic booze from city to city (as far as the price list is concerned, local governments/staff will designate otherwise)
*Earth cultured names for booze don't exist in Idalos, nor their materials or processes; cultural names will be replaced with some generic term like "spirit" with an attached booze % (e.g. We ain't got no vodka, cuz that be Eastern-European; we do have some good wine and fine spirits though...basically)
*Booze is generally accessible to anyone with the coin for it (limits on age, sex, race, social status, etc. are locally designated)
