"Charge!" Captain Agar-Andred bellowed. His four companies, aligned in rows one behind the other, advanced.
The First Company fired their dragoon pistols into the Farwide Trading Company's mercenaries while the other three companies marched closer in formation. Soon as First Company closed, swinging their axes and goring with their horns, the enemy swarmed around them.
Second Company fired their dragoon pistols into the swarming mercenaries with little fear of hitting their fellow 'maurs then charged in with their axes. Third and Fourth Companies circled around the flanks of the battle, to attack the circle of commanders and their reserve.
The melee was fierce but once the Farwide commanders were forced to fight, it quickly turned into a rout. What few mercenaries remained were allowed to runaway.
"How many are we down, sergeant," Captain Agar-Andred asked as he returned to his aide.
"We lost eight 'maur, Cap'n," the older battle-wizened sergeant reported. He tossed his, the sunlight glinting at the metal spike that had replaced a horn broken off years ago. "Twenty were sent to the healers. Good news, runners brought in that new tonic so's our most wounded 'maur'll be back in fighting form in days instead of weeks."
"Blessed be the clerics who discovered Gold Caps," Captain Agar-Andred huffed out in relief.
"Blessed be," the sergeant echoed.
What is a Gold Cap Tonic?
A Gold Cap Tonic is a medicine that enhances the natural healing rate of a Brahmaur. Being immune to magic, they cannot be healed by magical means. It is far from an equalizing factor but with magical healing leaving the patient too exhausted to fight for a day, but it is a great improvement.
This tonic has become a very expensive staple for Brahmaur armies and expeditions. Its so vital that the clerics of T'Ar have devised an entire order of fleet-hooved couriers to deliverthe tonics. These couriers travel in groups of four, with one Brahmaur carrying the precious tonic and the other three running along as armed escorts.
There is a great need for escorts as Gold Cap Tonic is a very addictive bringer of dreams to those who are not Brahmaur. These dreams are either fanciful or nightmarish with the drinker never knowing what dream they will get. The tonic is such a problem that most non-Brahmaur realms make the selling of Gold Cap Tonics illegal, with no exceptions for the Brahmaur who need the medicine.
How It's Made
A Gold Cap Mushroom must be picked at the "golden peak of perfection" which lasts only one day. To pick a mushroom too soon or too late will make a deadly poison instead of the tonic.
The Gold Cap Mushroom is then sliced and boiled in honey until it the mixture becomes hard and brittle. The sliced mushrooms are carefull picked out of the brittle and discarded. This best done by tossing the sliced bits into the flames to destroy them as they are not safe to eat.
The brittle is then ground into a fine powder then boiled with frostberry leaves, rosehips and more herbs the Brahmaur have never revealed. After boiling for two hours, the mixture is strained and poured into vials.
The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret.
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