At the time the events of Dragon of Icespire Peak take place, there are/were twenty-two rock gnome recluses residing in the caves of Gnomengarde (RIP Orryn & Warryn).

There are eleven 40-gallon barrels of wine in Gnomengarde’s wine alcoves (area 8). The map of Gnomengarde shows twelve barrels, but one of them is not as it seems (wink wink).

Are the Gnomengardians drinking all that wine? Or is a significant portion of it produced for export?

Gnomengarde is a Kingdom, albeit a small one with just 22 20 subjects. Regardless of its size, a Kingdom requires income. And since Gnomengarde has no vassal houses with serfs to tax, the kingdom needs to turn to other sources for revenue.

Yes yes, there are auto-loading crossbow platforms and common magic items to sell to local lords and adventurers up and down the Sword Coast. But these are luxury items – not a steady export commodity that will keep the lights on at even the smallest kingdom. Gnomengarde is no exception.

Let’s assume that, at any given time, 8 of the 40-gallon barrels the Gnomengardians have in storage are in various stages of fermentation for export (wine is palatable at the 4-month mark). Assuming two of these barrels go out on a wagon each month, the Gnomengardians could produce 24 barrels of wine for export each year.

According to the Forgotten Realms wiki, a glass of mushroom wine in the late 14th century DR costed anywhere between 7 copper pieces and 4 gold pieces. Taking the lower end of that figure and subjecting it to annual inflation of 3.29% over that last 100 years, that glass of mushroom wine is likely to cost something approaching 2 gp per glass in 1491 DR, give or take a few coppers.

A bottle of wine yields five standard 5 oz. pours. Let’s assume that, as it is done here on Earth, the first pour of wine from a bottle pays for the purchase of said bottle, with the profits of the remaining pours going directly into the coffers of the house pouring the wine.

A 40-gallon barrel of wine is sufficient to yield 40 bottle of wine.

If each barrel mushroom wine is priced by how many bottle of wine it can produce (40 bottles), the cost for each barrel would be 80 gp. If the Gnomengardians export 24 barrels each year, that would generate 1,920 gp of revenue to the kingdom annually. Not too shabby, considering there’s only 22 20 rock gnome recluses to provide for at Gnomengarde.

That’s before exports of luxury goods such as auto-loading crossbow platforms, poles of collapsing, or rings of obscenities come into play.

By the way, I have no idea where this article ends. I’ve just been typing for the past hour (help!).

Anyway, there’s a lot of wine sitting at Gnomengarde, and I demand that fantasy locations have a healthy dose of realism. There has to be a reason for all of that wine stored a few steps away from a murderous rock gnome recluse with her very own auto-loading crossbow platform, and I just gave it to you whether you enjoyed that or not.

But, in all seriousness, you can put Gnomengarde on the map for the players at your table by offering Gnomengardian mushroom wine at any of the fine inns and taverns their characters wander into. That way, when Harbin Wester tries to convince the party to go out to Gnomengarde, having previously heard mention of it, the characters may be even more incline to go.

Let’s be mutuals over on Bluesky! If you’re interested, I’m @ticklecorn.bsky.social. I always follow back.

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