A Chunk of Fantasy 1.06 – Potion of Crystal Intellect [Potion]
“You see Achmed, this potion is quite useful. Ahah – Don’t drink it..not yet anyway. No, no it’s not dangerous, just not ready. It has to be in the correct container and shaken up before the ingredients activate properly. Yes, that decanter there is perfect – the crystal one. Ahah I see by the look on your face you understand the choice of the name now. But don’t think about it too much. You’ll understand soon enough…”
Served: In a crystal container
Duration: 2 hours typically
Effect: Clarity and Intelligence boost
Downside: Unstable if kept in incorrect container
The Potion of Crystal Intellect is a semi-popular potion. It’s not illegal but highly regulated due to how it needs to be made. You won’t get in trouble for making your own but if you want to sell or even give away you need a license, to make sure the liquid is untainted and error free, as its very easy to make a mistake when brewing this.
PoCI gives the one who drinks it a boost to their intelligence. It reorganises the mind and makes your thought crystals clear. Some have compared it to a coffee, but without the caffeine rush that some get. For 2 hours your work at above your normal mental capacity, after that you slowly drop back down to “normal” until roughly 24hours after drinking your first dose. Ironically it works better the lower you standard or base intelligence is. Genius or others with high intelligence who drink this might be lucky to get a small boost of intellect, but dullards will often find themselves at what others would consider above average intellect levels. Multiple doses are possible but each is less effective than the first. Most people who drink this regularly drink one in the morning as this seems to be the most effective method.
One curious property about the potion is that it must be kept in a clear crystal container, either a bottle or cup or another holder, the shape doesn’t matter, jut that it is made out of crystal. Keeping it in glass or other material causes the potion to become unstable and its effects unpredictable. To this days, sages and alchemists do not know why this occurs, but as the crystal is relatively easy to come by it’s not treated as a major hindrance.
Strictly speaking, the potion in itself is not addictive, but the effect it gives, the clarity and boost to intelligence can be an addiction to some. To know that once your intellect soared above others, or that you could once again solve this problem you been having if you only took another dose of the potion…that is addictive. There are rumours about of a city somewhere where the entire population drinks this potion on a daily basis. No-one has confirmed this, yet oddly it has not been denied either.
