Kola Nuts

Names: Kola Nut, Wakeberry, Donttalktometillivehadmy-nuts

Appearance: Kola Nuts grow in heavy clusters on short, broad-leaved trees native to the humid tropics of provinces like Moonband. The nuts themselves are roughly the size of a small child's fist, with a hard, mottled shell in hues ranging from deep mahogany to reddish-brown. When cracked open, the interior reveals pale, bitter flesh streaked with crimson veins. A sign of the stimulating compound within.

Uses: Primarily, Kola Nuts are roasted, ground, and brewed into Hot-Brown Morning Potion, a dark, steaming beverage favored by Nobles, merchant Commoners, and overworked bureaucrats alike. The potion is known for its sharp, bitter taste and the invigorating energy it provides, often described as "like catching lightning in your gut."

Kola is also used in stamina tonics, soldier’s rations, and artisan brews by Houses such as House Still and House Bottlin. Chewing raw Kola is a common habit among dockworkers and long-haul wagon drivers.

Side Effects: For humans, dwarves, and most other races, Kola offers an addictive but manageable boost of energy and mental clarity. However, for fey creatures, even trace amounts of the compound (known as caffeine) are toxic. Symptoms in fey include trembling, delirium, spontaneous rhyming, and, in higher doses, death. As such, fey-influenced provinces like that of House Mendel's, mark all Kola-based products with a warning symbol, and many Moonband taverns post signs reading "Fey beware, sipping with out a care may result in slipping"

Cultural Impact: Kola Nuts are a core export of Moonband, heavily regulated by House Nacioun, who enforce strict trade controls to prevent tainting fey trade relations. In many parts of the Oligarchy, a well-brewed Hotbrown Morning Potion is a mark of status, especially if made with a type of beans known as Copy Luwak. These are processed by feeding whole Kola Nuts to Displacer Beasts and carefully cleaning the results. It was named after a Dwarf called Luwak. He was never allowed to live down what he did that day.

Some nobles even host elaborate tasting rituals akin to tea ceremonies. With elaborate processes that involve tamping down the beans, carefully cooking them over an open fire and even grinding on them

Meanwhile, in Serf folklore, it’s joked that the gods themselves drink Hotbrown Morning Potion to survive the dawn. Others claim it was Kola that first allowed mortals to "stay awake long enough to start plotting."