After you've had a chance to listen to Episode 23 of The Dimension Door Podcast, you'll understand just why this episode's cocktail is inspired by hair, domovoi, and hatch chilies.

Hair of the Domovoi is a twist on the Hair of the Dog cocktail that adds an underlying bite of chili heat to the traditional hangover drink. It's as white as the Irrisen landscape where the questers from Taldor have ended up, and combines smoke & heat with cream & sweet in a way that is evocative of the events of Episode 23.

Keep reading for the full directions to make this cocktail.

September is International Podcast Month (IPM), and I was fortunate enough to be able to participate by playing in a TTRPG one-shot run by the wonderful Russ Wilde, gamemaster of the Prism Pals podcast. This game was my first experience with the new Quest TTRPG system, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to give a bit of a peek behind-the-scenes regarding what goes into creating a character and learning to play what ended up being a simple, enjoyable, and incredibly wholesome game.

You can find the IPM Episode for this one-shot here. Keep reading if you're interested in learning more about what goes into character creation for Quest, or if you just want to learn more about the characters we played.

Just as the most recent episode's drink was inspired by the small Irriseni town of Waldsby, so is this cocktail from Episode 16 inspired by the small Taldan town of Heldren. Whereas for Waldsby we had a hot beverage perfect for the inhospitably cold climate, for Heldren we had an icy, refreshing drink that celebrates the summer season and its flowering, fresh botanicals. The local Dansby farm produces some fine mead for the town (may poor Farmer Dansby rest in peace), so it's only fitting that any Heldren cocktail include mead as an ingredient. The garnish of this drink is also a bit of an homage to the donkey belonging to Vasilisa Morozova (Heldren's local wisewoman). After all, Marigold is a Very Good Donkey.

Keep reading for full instructions to make your own Heldren Highball.

This drink is inspired by the small town of Waldsby, which the characters of The Dimension Door Podcast enter for the first time in Episode 22. Waldsby is a small town in Irrisen which sits just outside of the Hoarwood. I won't say too much about it (this is a spoiler-free zone!), but one thing I can say is that the people of Waldsby are very dependent upon the resources the Hoarwood has to offer for both their livelihoods and their diet. The primary resource to be found within this Irriseni forest is the winteryew, also known as the witch-tree. They depend on winteryew trees for lumber, and on their edible seeds and bark for food.

One way that the inhabitants of Waldsby can warm up​ is by enjoying a nice, hot cup of Winteryew Wassail.