Upholding its reputation as a place where people can find beverages from any known land can sometimes be a challenge for the Four Winds Bar and its proprietor, the retired marine Cratinus. Fortunately for him, however, he has managed to establish a mutually profitable relationship with the man known as Nithernos the Ale’er, whose knowledge of beverages and skill with lockpicks and daggers — and access to a very special enchanted item — make him the ideal supplier.

“Nithernos the Ale’er” is a fun, self-standing swords-and-sorcery fantasy short story by author John Giddens that takes place in the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting, a Dark Ages fantasy milieu set in the Mediterranean and the lands surrounding it. A century after the old world was plunged into chaos, reawakening magic and all form of ancient races and monsters, the worshippers of Gods and Titans battle each other, nations struggle to survive and flourish, and adventurers descend into the ruins in search of wealth and forgotten knowledge.