White Draught

White Draught is a medicinal drink now used throughout Magicians' End. Its origins go back to the early years of the Old Pale Empire when it was first used by the Empire's soldiers during the Southern Punjuki Campaign.

Utility

White Draught is an appetite suppressant and a mild stimulant. It facilitates the processes of fat burning within the body and for many thousands of years it has been used as a short term way of surviving on limited rations by soldiers and sailors and as an occasional aid to weight loss in conjunction with certain diets by civilian drinkers.
The Old Pale Empire would often send their soldiers into battle fortified by the White Draught, since the mild euphoric effects of the drink were also said to be associated with a short term energy boost, improved reaction times and an increased pain threshold.
Long term use of White Draught is detrimental to health and not recommended.
Most notoriously, a heavily modified version of White Draught was the basis of Emile's White Hunger during the Time of Terrors in the 4th millennium APC.

Manufacturing

Tapping Klewol Palm to make White Draught by DMFW with Midjourney

The manufacture of White Draught begins with the tapping of the Klewol Palm to extract the raw sap. There are only three plantations dedicated to the palm, all of them to the west and south of the Katra mountains, close to Bress.
The thick viscous liquid is fermented in curing vats for seven to ten days, then thinned with the addition of a measure of spirits of rye before the mixture is diluted in a ratio of one part of the concentrate to five parts water. It is usually shipped in small wooden barrels, stamped with the mark of the plantation and the date of sealing. A barrel will keep for fifteen to twenty years unopened, but when exposed to light, air or high temperatures it must be consumed within two to three weeks after which it becomes rancid and loses its potency.

Inventor(s)

The botonist Soramelle Peretek is credited with discovering the useful properties of the sap of the Klewol Palm and developing the earliest version of White Draft, which would go on to be used by the troops of the Old Pale Empire in the Southern Punjuki Campaign. Her notes inform us that she first tasted the drink herself on 14th Kerax, 4286 BPC.

Soramelle Peretek by DMFW with Night Cafe

Access & Availability

White Draught is not commonly available to civilians but neither is it especially difficult to get hold of for anyone that has need of it. Armies and navies of all types and nations usually have a stock reserved and doctors will always keep some supplies on hand. Because it is seldom used, except under difficult circumstances, and because it retains its potency for fifteen to twenty years when kept reasonably cool and dark, production volumes are not high.