Tisanes of the Labyrinth
These preparations are of special interest to the priests of The Way. Each of these preparations uses liao, and consequently those apothecaries who master them usually require the assistance of someone with access to that comparatively rare preparation, Under normal circumstances this means a priest with a congregation as a resource.
Usher's Decoction
Consuming this sweet, pale orange preparation allows a character to enhance their ability to perform priest skills.
The dreams that come after the use of Usher's Decoction are troubling to some theological scholars. While many of these dreams seem to be little more than night-time fancies, albeit very vivid ones, there is some circumstantial evidence that the dreamer is actually experiencing one of the dreams originally dreamt by a past life. Priests have reported dreams that made sense only in the context of someone else's life.
- Form: Liquid
- Description: When this pale orange liquid catches the light it seems to glow. It has a light, spicy scent. A tiny droplet of this thin fluid on your tongue reveals it to taste faintly of cherries.
- Roleplaying Effects: Until you next perform or participate in a ceremony, and for a short time afterward, you feel remarkably centred. If you are dedicated to a virtue, you feel a strong urge to take action in line with that virtue. If not, you feel a strong urge to take action in keeping with your personal philosophy. The night after drinking this potion you will have particularly vivid dreams.
- Mechanical Effects: The next time you perform or participate in a ceremony of anointing, consecration, hallow, exorcism, excommunication or testimony the effect is one rank higher than normal. You must possess the appropriate skill to take part in the ceremony. The effects last for ten minutes or until you next perform a religious ceremony. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
- Recipe: One dram each of Imperial Roseweald and True Vervain and one dose of liao.
Waywalker's Suffusion
Consuming this bitter, midnight blue preparation allows a character to greatly enhance their ability to perform certain priest skills.
Theologians have discussed this potion at some length. There is a school of thought that it somehow places one in contact with those previous incarnations who were either strongly virtuous or were actual priests of the Way, somehow drawing on their presence to empower one's understanding and ability to affect the world. There is little concrete evidence for this, but there are regular - if rare - reports where one of the auditory hallucinations said something that seemed relevant to the situation at hand, or offered a fragment of useful insight.
- Form: Liquid
- Description: When this midnight blue liquid catches the light it seems to glow. It has a light, spicy scent. A tiny droplet of this thin fluid on your tongue reveals it to have a rich, bitter flavour.
- Roleplaying Effects: Until you next use a priest skill, and for a short time afterward, you are aware of unseen presences as if you are at the centre of an unseen crowd. Occasionally you hear distant muttering or occasionally a comprehensible word or fragment of a sentence.
- Mechanical Effects: The next time you perform or participate in a ceremony of anointing, consecration, hallow, exorcism, excommunication or testimony the effect is two ranks higher than normal. You must possess the appropriate skill to take part in the ceremony. The effects last for ten minutes or until you next perform a religious ceremony. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
- Recipe: Two drams each of Cerulean Mazzarine and Marrowort, one dram of True Vervain and two doses of liao.
Shadowcrow Infusion
This preparation owes its origins to a Kallavesi remedy that was designed to aid troubled minds. This remedy helped those troubled with traumatic memories, troubled sleep, night terrors and the legacies of hauntings or possessions.
Subsequent study by Kallavesi priests following contact with the Imperial faith revealed a further, at the time unintended, effect upon the soul. Several members of the synod have lobbied on more than one occasion to have the use of this mystical infusion declared illegal, but has not yet succeeded in getting the support of the Senate in doing so. Indeed, some priests argue that seeking to outlaw knowledge is a slippery slope that leads to unvirtuous behaviour.
- Form: Infusion.
- Description: This glimmering silver liquid has a light scent reminiscent of cloves. Tasting it reveals it to have a sharp bitter flavour that is never-the-less quite appealing.
- Roleplaying Effects: Inhaling this infusion causes a momentary anguish, like the sudden separation from a loved one, but there are no other immediate effects.
- Mechanical Effects: Inhaling the steam from this infusion causes your aura to become impossible to read with the insight ceremony or similar effects. You are also unable to make use of liao, true liao, or any religious skill. The effects last until the next sunrise. If you are human, any time you sleep under the influence of the potion, you either do not dream or do not remember your dreams. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
- Recipe: One dram of Marrowort and one dose of liao.
| Potion | Roleplaying Effect | Mechanical Effect | Bladeroot | Cerulean Mazzarine | Imperial Roseweald | Marrowort | True Vervain | Mana Crystal | Liao | Ilium | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usher's Decoction | Until you next perform or participate in a ceremony, and for a short time afterward, you feel remarkably centred. If you are dedicated to a virtue, you feel a strong urge to take action in line with that virtue. If not, you feel a strong urge to take action in keeping with your personal philosophy. The night after drinking this potion you will have particularly vivid dreams. | The next time you perform or participate in a ceremony of anointing, consecration, hallow, exorcism, excommunication or testimony the effect is one rank higher than normal. You must possess the appropriate skill to take part in the ceremony. The effects last for ten minutes or until you next perform a religious ceremony. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Waywalker's Suffusion | Until you next use a priest skill, and for a short time afterward, you are aware of unseen presences as if you are at the centre of an unseen crowd. Occasionally you hear distant muttering or occasionally a comprehensible word or fragment of a sentence. | The next time you perform or participate in a ceremony of anointing, consecration, hallow, exorcism, excommunication or testimony the effect is two ranks higher than normal. You must possess the appropriate skill to take part in the ceremony. The effects last for ten minutes or until you next perform a religious ceremony. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends. | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Shadowcrow Infusion | Inhaling this infusion causes a momentary anguish, like the sudden separation from a loved one, but there are no other immediate effects. | Inhaling the steam from this infusion causes your aura to become impossible to read with the insight ceremony or similar effects. You are also unable to make use of liao, true liao, or any religious skill. The effects last until the next sunrise. If you are human, any time you sleep under the influence of the potion, you either do not dream or do not remember your dreams. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |