Aledar Ironstout

Aledar Ironstout was an ale loving dwarf who ventured out from the safety of the dwarven hold of Ironbone Keep to save his family's legacy. Out in the wilds of Viru he found adventure and the ingredients he was looking for to make Ironstout Ale the best brew in the Ironbone Spine once again and revive his legacy.

Early Life & Military Service
Aledar Ironstout was born in 461 DE to Jekira Greyheart and Strasan Ironstout of the Ironstouts, a prominent brewers guild family in the Ironbone Keep. Each of the major brewing families owned at least one tavern, a place where folk from all over Ironbone could come and try out their ales. Ever since Aledar could walk, he was helping his parents in the family tavern, bussing tables, helping cook food, and anything else that his parents needed help with. Throughout his childhood he was learning the trade of his family, learning recipes and techniques on how to brew the families famous beer, the Ironstout Ale.

When Aledar was in his mid-twenties, he was summoned into the military to begin his training, for which he would spend many years training with fellow dwarves. A custom among the people of Ironbone Keep and further back when they were a mere mountain dwelling peoples with no name. He spent the customary twenty-five years in military service, helping protect the keep from the evils within the Underdark. Many of the Dwarves in service would stay in service after their quarter-century was up, the Dwarves were a people built to be soldiers in more ways than one. Aledar, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to get out.

Into the Brewering Business
After his military service was up, Aledar returned home to his family business and began experimenting with different recipes in order to improve his family's ale. He returned to his family as they had began making their rise through the arbitrary hierarchy of the brewer families and the Brewer’s Guild. He worked tirelessly alongside his father and his brothers to improve their Ironstout Ale. The Ironstout Clan made their way to the prestigious top 5 brewmasters in Ironbone Keep over the following decades - and if you asked a Dwarf, all the world by default. From there things were difficult, a grind. The truth of the Brewer’s Guild elite became apparent. It wasn’t a matter of having the finest brew in the Zubac any longer. It was about who you knew, what your name was and who you paid.

Their ale alone improved their stature to what most unanimously considered the third best ale in the Guild. And eventually, as their vault filled with coins, the Ironstout managed to pave their own way to second within the next bunch of decades and past that had fought with the Zafirlagen Clan and their Sapphire Lager to maintain the runners-up position. Aledar had grown tired of the bureaucracy, to be fair. And considering the power that the premier Stonebrew Clan held, it seemed impossible that something short of an assassination would allow Ironstout Ale to take the mantle. They had held the Mithral Tap, a trophy for the best brew in the Ironbone Spine, for the better part of three centuries. The Stonebrew was fine… just fine. Perhaps it was his own bias talking, or perhaps it was bitterness towards the system that held them aloft that pedestal, but Aledar had never thought the Stonebrew all that satisfying. *Spit*

All the while, Aledar had become the head-keeper of the Ironstout Recipe within his clan. It fell to him to design the next versions of the Ironstout from one season to the next. A little bit of Earth Leaf during the autumnal months. A pinch of rare Duergar sugar during the summer. He did his job well, was celebrated for his innovations both within his clan and out, but it had never been enough. He hated the idea of the bureaucracy and deception of it all and had long ago vowed to himself that if the Ironstouts were to take the mantle and the Mithral Tap from the Stonebrew Clan it would be because the quality of their ale was so undeniably superior to that of the Stonebrew that there would be no choice...

The Tundra Rose & Beyond
One day, a trade came into Ironbone Keep with a special ingredient Aledar have never seen before. The trader said it was a Tundra Rose, it was a blue flower, but there were other special properties, it glowed, and it was translucent. It was cold to the touch, and smelled fragrant like of a brisk breeze in the air. Aledar bought up all of the traders stock of this Tundra Rose and immediately got to work. Weeks went by, blood, sweat, and tears went into working with this new ingredient, finally, a batch came out perfect! It was cold as ice, but not frozen, and it never was cooled by other means. The aroma and taste was pure bliss on Aledars tongue, he had never tasted anything so wonderful!

He began to fill up as many kegs with this new recipe as he could with the remaining Tundra Rose. “Not enough kegs.” Aledar thought, as the remaining ingredient only filled a handful of kegs. He had run out of this sacred ingredient, this would never be enough to win over the hearts of minds of the Ironbone Keep elite! He had to find more! He spent the next week asking anyone he could, mostly foreign traders, if they had any of this Tundra Rose, or where he might be able to acquire some. He also spent that time selling his new brew to as many taverns as he had kegs for, trying to get a feel for how the populace reacted to this new recipe.

Aledar is determined to find this Tundra Rose, and to learn as much as he can about it. He wants his families brew to be renowned throughout Ironbone Keep and all across the land! He wants to return his family to the fame and fortune they once had many years ago.