What's that Whistling Noise?

Part 2 of this year's Thankstaking is live! Head over to the Thankstaking book and continue the storyline.

Eric and Elryn have a few (few? more like a wall of text, am I right?!) words for you:

Hi everyone!

In this next part of our celebration, we’ve had a bit of fun. The holiday season is all about having fun. Light-hearted stories are a long-standing holiday tradition with DF, and I remember fondly my first time playing around with Thankstaking and Frostval. I was only able to play a limited time each week due to work constraints, but the light-hearted nature of the holiday quests meant that the time I spent playing our beloved DragonFable was all that much more meaningful.

I’m really excited to continue to be part of the holiday traditions of DragonFable as we’re moving forward. It’s been fun to explore new characters and new scenarios as DragonFable has continued to evolve! Here’s to hoping we get to spend many more holiday seasons together, as friends and compatriots.

Eric Greydawn.

The Anatomy of Barrel

The work of a Moglin Cooper is no job to simply barrel right through. It takes a good amount of precision in putting a juice barrel together correctly especially given that juice barrels are made without a drop of glue. They are required to be airtight and leak proof which is important for all juice barrels. Some types of woods cannot be used as the wood is too porous and a good few juices would simply leak through the pores of the wood. Lastly, the type of wood used can have various effects on the taste and quality of the juice in the barrel and so the making of juice barrels takes the combination of the right wood, the right precision and the right knowhow and experience in putting one together.

Making one usually starts with making the "staves" which are long, plank-like pieces of seasoned (aged) wood that make the frame of the barrel. Oak is often used because the chemicals oak wood releases usually improves the taste of the juice it contains.

The width of each individual stave varies, but everyone of them will be wider at the middle and narrower at the ends. This is what gives a barrel its trademark, curved frame that is larger at the middle and smaller and the tops.

Once the staves are on hand, the Moglin Cooper places them around within the coil a metal ring. The staves are kept together by the sheer pressure of the staves lined up neatly in a row one after another and restrained by the ring. To reinforce and keep it that way, the Moglin Cooper adds one or more heavy iron bands over and under the metal ring. At this point, the barrel’s curved shape appears… well, half of it. The other end is still a bunch of staves that spread out like the petals of an opening flower.

In order to bend the other end of the unfinished barrel, the staves need to go through a combination of heating, steaming or soaking in order to be made flexible enough or the staves will break rather than bend into shape. At this stage, a fire is lit either under or in the barrel to heat and singe the inside. Singeing the inside of the barrel has a determinant impact on the flavour of the juice so a Moglin Cooper must be careful in how much singeing is done.

Now comes the tricky part. Once the frame of the barrel has been made flexible, the Moglin Cooper must supervise a pack of Moglins that will bring the other end of the barrel tight enough to place bands upon it. To do so, the Moglins gather around in a circle and with the strength of their collective hugs, hug the frame of the barrel on the end into the desired shape. This process infuses some Moglin hug magic into the barrel which in turn will give the juice its potency.

The Moglin Cooper replaces the heavy iron bands by sturdier and lighter metal or wood ones. At this point, three steps remain to complete the juice barrel. First, the cooper carves grooves and neatly fits the circular wooden covers of the top and bottom of the barrel. Next, he sands down the exterior of the barrel into a polished finish. Finally, he drills a bung hole and plugs it to allow the barrel to be filled and emptied with juice at will.

And there! Now you have a complete barrel of juice, ready to be filled and stocked with juice for years to come.

Elryn