Magebane Tincture

In the late years of the Rumain Empire, tensions between the ascendant Karthani breakaways and the Imperial Throne spurred a frenzied research into methods of containing, diluting and nullifying magic. The final and most potent product of this research was the Magebane Tincture -- a solution that would break magic. This tincture could be worked into wood, wet blades, and slipped into food and drink. Following the destruction of the Throne, the Karthani magi scoured the continent of any knowledge of the solution beyond its name.

At Last, Magebane

In the centuries since its founding, the Rumain Empire was not content to inherit its Lymian predecessors spirit. The Lymians thought that magic was given by the gods, and ought not be meddled with by mortals. Those who could use magic were a step closer to the divine, and to them was given the questionable blessing of being considered prophets. Rumain philosophers rejected this view. The gods had gifted to mortals magic, yes, but so too had they bestowed crops and creatures. Magic was a part of nature, and needed to be understood and tamed.

Concurrently the Ghandaran Empire to the east had broken from the Jade Throne, using the alkhamical arts of their scientists in ways that approached the arcane, but were grounded in chemical processes. Rumain's ill-fated experiments began on the Karthani peninsula, bordering the Ghandaran lands. The academies in the Imperial capital philosophised and analysed the data from Karthani experiments, and Ghandaran alkhamists were gifted to the Rumain Empire as a gesture of goodwill. As the boundaries of magic were explored by the Karthani academics, it became obvious that there may be need to contain a magus's powers.

Alkhamy was the obvious solution to the problem, and the Rumain alkhamists enjoyed an experimental freedom their Ghandaran contemporaries could but dream of. The Rumain view was that academic ethics were to serve the empire, not the reverse. Alkhamical processes, products and effects advanced leaps and bounds. So, too, did understandings of magic. Magebane was the zenith of anti-magic alkhamy. It could be administered to magi, applied to arrowheads, daggers and worked into cloth and leather.

Distinguished Discoverers

Magebane was discovered by a group of researchers headed by the alkhamist NAME. It built on NAME's previous research, and incorporated the work of his contemporaries, NAME and NAME. Records indicate NAME's team consisted of five assistants and a research pool of eight hundred and twenty-four individuals.

A Dangerous Decoction

The tincture's components required time to distil from dangerous and rare components. The skill required to mix the components was similarly scarce. The military and senate, and the wealthiest of patricians were the only segments of society with access to the tincture. The tincture's availability was further strangled due to scarcity of supply. Black market trade and fake Magebane were rife.

Manufacturing Methods

As with every alkhamical product, the manufacturing of Magebane followed the Four Great stages. It required a particularly complex handling of its active ingredients, and was distilled into a syrup. Rumain records name five official producers of Magebane in the last decades of the empire.

Every Iota Eliminated

The Karthani counterstroke was diligent. The capital was reduced to little more than ashes, but the existence of Magebane was the real threat to the Sable Tower. The magi systematically rooted out every report the Rumain alkhamists published and destroyed them, along with every guide to the production of Magebane, true or false. The Tower was not concerned with altering historical records -- they let the record of Magebane remain, along with its inventors, and the results of their invention.

Records, Rumours and Memoirs Remain

And thus the Magebane Tincture remains in history, its story a warning to Karthani magi and to those who seek to control them. To magi, it is a reminder that their power can be checked, removed, suppressed. It reminds the Sable Tower that it must remain vigilant of progress outside their borders. To the rest of the world, it serves as a warning, an illustration of the fate of any who oppose the Tower in its quest to map the physics of magic and, insofar as it can, control it.

Snake Oil, Ostrich Saliva, Sheep Dirt & Other Traps

It is forbidden by the Guild of Alkhamists to sell or attempt to create Magebane or any compound that seeks to imitate its effects or affect the ability to use magic. The Guild keeps a register of alkhamists and peddlers who breache this law, along with the falsified products. These records are submitted to the Tower every spring. In return, the Tower allows the Guild to handle the punishment of these offenders. An exhaustive list of false Magebane substitutes is beyond the scope of this article, but the inventiveness of small-time alkhamists and desperate peddlers is a source of amusement. Among the more curious alternatives are the following.

• The Milk of the Dune Viper. Purportedly the venom harvested from an Alkhafi snake.
• The Aged Droppings of a Wild Sheep. Steeped in a solution of lavender, orange essence and birch.
• A Decoction of Jasmine, Juniper and Goat Blood. Left to ferment beneath the moon for no less than two weeks.
• A Syrup of Myrtle, Lemon, Saltpeter and Bezoar.[/Ii] To be consumed at the moment of first light.[/li
• The Mixed Saliva of Child and Parents. To be poured on to a stone and drained into the left ear.

The Guild of Alkhamists reminds readers once more that the above have no effect on the use of magic or the effects of magic. For personal safety, the Guild recommends no person attempt to consume, apply, or otherwise use any of the above. Any peddlers or alkhamists found to be in possession of magic-affecting items will be punished under the power of the Guild's Charter.
Yours in inquiry,
Saffine ibn Sarheed, Secretary to the Office of Dra'a Mahbash

Related

Alramal Alkhafiya | Karthain