Hunter's Bane

The composition of the Hunter's Bane, its formula perfected over the years by the Order of the White in the north, and the chemists of the Order of the Serpent in the south, remains one of the most closely guarded secrets in either the Sacred Republic or the Darklands. In effect, it combines a powerful psychotropic with a physically transformative effect, neither of which is gentle. It ravages the mind and body, dredging up the drinker's greatest fears, testing their spirit and determination to the bitter limit, while warping and strengthening their flesh. To survive requires not just physical resilience, but mental fortitude and, moreover, a core drive so strong as to earn the name obsession.
The taking of the Bane at the end of a blood hunter's training is more than just an initiation, it is an ordeal. It is administered in a ritual, which takes place in a cthonic space. Weissgard and the House of Perdition each have shrines within their cellars dedicated to the initiation, but in the field any underground space will serve. Incense is burned to create a thick, heady atmosphere, and in ideal circumstances the initiate is surrounded by drummers and other musicians. The walls of the ritual space are decorated with images of the quarry that the Orders pursue. Again, the shrines of Weissgard are elaborately decorated, and many blood hunters gather for each initiation, but at need a single mentor will make do with a few sticks of chalk, a brazier, and two rocks to knock together.
Some are killed by the Bane, their flesh giving out under the brew's effects. Others are broken, their minds collapsing under the onslaught of horrors. Those who survive the brew are consumed by the hunt, but they are not driven by abstract principles or a simple, chemical effect. Despite their apparently mercenary nature – they always charge, as they have little source of funds besides the bounties on their quarry – their quest is always visceral, always personal, and this is the drive that carries them through the ordeal.