Item
Nectar of Power
What is a family secret to you is an aperitif to me. —Marcus Crassus
Drows make nectar by removing a memory and setting it into food or drink. A human who swallows it receives the donor's emotion, images, and knowledge all at once. Nectar stores no mana: its emotion raises human Charisma, which in turn feeds magic (see 5). It has no effect on drows or other creatures.
Effect
A human who does not speak Drow feels the emotion but cannot understand the memory around it.
| Grade | Memory | Charisma | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | A strong feeling: fear, desire, old anger | +1 | 10 minutes |
| Fine | A formative memory: death, betrayal | +2 | 1 hour |
| Great | Something hidden for a century | +4 | 1 hour |
The bonus grants ½ CHA to caster level and ½ CHA to the slot reserve, both rounded down. A human who speaks Drow also understands the memory and the donor's knowledge at that moment: a route, name, formula, or face.
Nectar does not stack. A new dose replaces the previous one. The GM may allow doses to stack for a singular story event.
Production
Nectar requires a traumatic memory, which the donor loses forever. Each batch therefore needs a willing donor with something worth surrendering.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Exposure | Ingestion |
| Preparation | The donor sets the memory into fruit, honey, or wine over several days |
| Shelf Life | Indefinite while sealed; disperses within hours of opening |
Marcus Crassus kept Nelvia and her drow settlement producing nectar in the Underdark, and drank it before major spells. Qormuza obtained it from orchards tended by his drow servants.
A people that sells its memories is spending the last thing Zaran Mor left it.