Tavern League Member

Special Events Quest

(this is a Summer Solstice Festival quest and as such, is only available June 20 – July 10, 2007)

This is a quest that should be a requirement for all Dwarves and Hobbits!

PERSONAL NOTE: If you are extremely sensitive to motion sickness, you may wish to take a Dramamine or whatever you normally do to prevent queasiness. The quest run left me mighty queasy, and I felt like I'd had quite a lot of that virtual beer!

I completed the quest as Wokky, a level 12 Hobbity Minstrel, with Alluvian, my trusty level 10 hunter, leading the way. He knew the Shire a whole lot better than I did, hehe. See the map at the bottom for the best path we found.

The quest is not easy simply because it requires a lot of focus and freedom from distraction. There is no fighting involved, and nothing to avoid on the path, aside from cliffs and large bodies of water, which can slow you down. Even low-level folks can outrun the bears, boars and goblins, and you'll see nothing higher than level 14 on your trip.

When ready, seek out Ailward Grubb (Inn League Member), who is under the big yellow and red-striped tent at the Party Tree in the Shire, at 29.9s, 71.6w.

1. (60 seconds) Talk to Ailward, drink 6 beer as quickly as possible, then speak to Ailward again. You only have 60 seconds from your acceptance to when you must speak to him again, and 6 beer to imbibe in between – it is a good place to get used to the fast drinking skill you'll need later on! The beers appear on the table nearby, in several different brews. Once a mug has been drained, it will be refilled shortly, but just grab whatever you can reach!





2. (6 minutes) Ailward sends you as fast as you can go to the Plough and Stars Inn, located in Brockenborings. Although you have six minutes, you may well need most of that time, so hurry! Head north-east; if you are much under level 12, run like heck and try to avoid the bears, boars and goblins in the woods. Cross the river where indicated on my map, just above the waterfalls. The Plough and Stars backs up against some low cliffs, at 27.6s, 68.1w.

Speak to Bluebell Grubb inside the Plough and Stars; she has you drink 6 beer, and before the timer runs out, you must talk with her again.




3. (6 minutes) You now must travel to the Golden Perch Inn; it is tucked in behind a tall hedge in the village of Stock, at the far east side of the Shire (32.0s, 63.8w) . You have a generous 6 minutes to get there, but it goes faster than you might think! Stick to the road heading south from Brockenborings until you reach the edge of Budgeford. Then swing south-east, cross the river and jog into Stock.

Head inside the Golden Perch and look for Ernwulf Brandybuck. Talking to him means you have to drink… yep, another 6 beer! As you can see, I am still drinking beer like a pro - bottoms up! It is right after this point that you will have trouble seeing. Talk to Ernwulf again, fast!





As you leave the pub, you can see how having someone to lead you around can be helpful as your vision goes straight to pot:


4. (3 minutes) Now you are sent to Frogmorton, to the Floating Log Inn.. Run, run, run, and get there fast! You have only 3 minutes, and it is easy to miss. Stick to the road until you come to a slight jog to the left, immediately before Frogmorton; head straight down the hill (northwest) and weave through the houses instead, aiming for the Floating Log (31.7s, 68.0w). The INN, silly, not a log in the river. Focus now!

Hop inside and stagger around till you find Daylily Bolger. She presses 6 more beer upon you. If you can still stand, talk to her again, and quickly. Yes, you're slurring, but she understands drunkese.










Here is about all you'll be able to see as you travel the next leg of the quest (and yes, I did run right into the door-jamb, thanks - let's see how you do!):



5. (3 minutes) Off to the Green Dragon Inn you go! At least, that is what you think you heard. Nestled in Bywater (31.8s, 69.6w), this inn houses your next target, League member Fulk Proudfoot. There is no time to lose, with only 3 minutes and your vision like fish in murky water. Head south to the road, and west to Bywater.

Fulk Proudfoot smugly tells you to sample 6 more ale and speak to him again. HURRY!












6. (2 minutes) Now stagger and roll to the Ivy Bush Inn - That's in Hobbiton, in case you forgot (31.4s, 71.1w). Take the road northwest out of Bywater for the most direct route – with only 2 minutes to get there, you'll need it! In the Ivy Bush you will find Moonlight Sandheaver, looking like she is about to start heaving herself. That is if you can make out anything at all by this point.

Talk to Moonlight, drink 6 more beer and converse with her once more. Your vision is so blurry that getting all six beer down in time is a bit of a challenge, not to mention getting a few garbled words with her afterward.








7. 5 minutes You are sent lickety-split (or lurching and crawling) to the Bird and Baby Inn, in Michel Delving, just north and west of town center (33.4s, 75.4w). You'll be lucky to remember your own name by this point. You'll need most of your 5 allotted minutes to make the trip. Head south from Hobbiton to the main road and follow it west through Waymeet and right into Michel Delving. When you see the hill with the statue ahead, bear north west and you will reach the inn with a minute and a half to spare.

Fall through the doors and flail about till you find Ioco Underhill in the back room of the inn, sprawled on the floor between some barrels. Talk to him and then drink 6 more beer, (aiming very carefully between the two widely separated mug images), and slur a few words at him once more… being impressed that you can still remember which way is up, sort-of (which is more than he can do), Ioco will grant your new title at last!






You are now a "Tavern League Member". I think the chief lesson is to NEVER drink that much again. Ever. I am just thankful that there is no hangover to go with, or my character would be in bed for a week!

TIPS:

- You will not need to take a lot of shortcuts, but it really helps to know your way around the Shire, and particularly the locations of the various inns; I suggest a practice run if you are not familiar with the area, because it is MUCH harder to see when you've a lot of beer in you.

- You may wish to use a "designated driver" and autofollow most of the way. If the driver is a Hunter, so much the better – you can use the speed buff! If you're really nice to your "driver", perhaps they will even open the inn doors for you. Believe me, it gets challenging enough.

- Queue up your drinks when possible. That is, start drinking one, and immediately right click on the next so that it starts progressing the instant the first one is done. Continue till you get all six, but be careful if you get the "object already in use" message – someone else may have already started drinking from it, or you may have clicked too soon. Simply click on another when your drink finishes.

- If there are a number of people doing the same steps at the same time, it can be tough to get all six beer you need at each waypoint, even though they spawn fast. Try to stagger the departures, or schedule your run for a less busy time.

- When you have blurred/double vision, aim your cursor between the double images in order to be able to right click or double-click on them.

- No matter how drunk your avatar is, you can still see perfectly on your mini-map at the top right of your screen, and on the large Shire Map (m on your keyboard). Use these to find quest-giver rings and to pinpoint your position.

Additional (and probably better) tips from Ngetal:
- When you get to the table/counter with the beers on them, position yourself such that you've a good number of mugs "in front" of you (that is, in the 180 arc facing forward). it's also helpful if you can click on the supervising tavern league member from that same position. you should be able to swill your 6 pints without having to move.

- Rather than clicking on a beer, use your "Delete" key to select the nearest 'actionable' item, then use your "U" key to 'activate' it - yeah, I know... it spoils some of the fun of trying to find your next beer when you're "drunk", so if you're a purist, feel free to try to click, rather than using this tip.

- If you can spare the coin for horse rides, I'd suggest that you horse from Brockingborings to Stock, then get a horse from Stock to Hobbiton but dismount when you get to the Frogmorton path, and finally from Hobbiton over to Michel Delving (for that last ride, try to click on the stablemaster as soon as you exit the tavern, use /follow to drag your sorry carcass over to him, then "U" to throw up on him... er, I mean, tell him you want a ride...

Click here for a larger version of the map below.


Special thanks go out to Brasse for providing this quest writeup!
Brasse has entered 66 LOTRO quests.