Among the nobles, the highborns and the rich merchant classes, there exist tales of a most sough for wine from the Altarence vineyard, located within the kingdom of Chaubrette. Alas, the location of the fabled vineyard of Altarence is elusive and for many years it has stopped selling wines to the merchants. Existing wines from the vineyard has become prized items and are sold at an exuberant prices. Some others seek to recreate the taste of the vintage.
- An invitation from the Altarence vineyard has been sent to various noblemen, esteemed members of communities and rich merchants. This is the first time since three decades ago that anything has been heard from the House of Altarence. The invitation requests the guest for a three days stay at one of its villa, promising the finest wines and food. Supposedly, a new heir has taken over the operations and he would like a few to sample the latest of his wine. The adventurers may be invited, if they are famous enough – or a paranoid merchant may employ them as guards. It is just as well that the adventurers are there, for when they arrived at Altarence, they found the place completely empty and in total ruins. And this is when howls fill the air…
- To thank the adventurers for putting down a monster or ending some nefarious plot, a nobleman invites them for a dinner, where a bottle of Altarence vintage is opened to honour the occasion. To everyone’s disbelief, the “wine” is actually blood, and once drained, there is a parchment wrapped in oilskin hidden in the bottle. The parchment seems to be a map of sorts, which actually lead to the vineyard, and scrawled on the back is “Things are not what they seemed to be”. Indeed so, for while everyone is distracted, the poured out “wine” suddenly take the form of a humanoid and attacks everyone…what’s the real truth behind the Altarence wine?
- A young beggar who has been helping the adventurers on numerous occasion one day say the most absurd of thing. He is the rightful heir of the Altarence vineyards, his father being the eldest son of the patriarch. However, his uncle (the father’s younger brother) drugged their dinner one day and while knocked out, sent them away from the villa and sold them into slavery. The young beggar says he knows of the route to the hidden vineyards, and would offer to bring the adventurers there to recover his inheritance. The beggar proves to be truthful, but something is really wrong once they reach the vineyard, for the leaves of the trees there are blood-red in colour and when the trunk are struck, blood oozes out from them…not to mention that the grapes grown all have a single eye in each of them…
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