Brewing Love

Brewing Love was a virtual representation of one of Kassandra's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.
==Description==
While hunting for the Champions of Boeotia, especially Drakon, Kassandra met Melanippos, a man desperately in love with Drakon.
==Dialogue==
Kassandra made her way to the gymnasium in Thebes and found a forlorn looking man standing in the center of the building, cursing at himself.
*Melannipos: You're a fool, Melanippos. A fool.
*Kassandra: Did you lose your pankration match?
*Melannipos: Worse. I lost my one true love. My Drakon has found someone else—I just know it. he avoids me, and when we're together he's always distracted...
<tabber>
Sounds like it's over.=
*Kassandra: I admit, it doesn't sound good.
*Melanippos: Even you think I've been replaced. But I can't let him go. He's my golden demigod.
*Kassandra: Then you must have a plan.
|-|Don't lose hope.=
*Kassandra: Maybe there's still a chance?
*Melanippos: I can't leave this up to the whims of Tyche. I won't let Drakon go.
*Kassandra: Then what's your plan?
</tabber>
*Melanippos: I'm going to make a potion. It's a recipe that guarantees eternal love.
*Kassandra: That's an honest way to save a relationship.
*Melanippos: It's simple. I'll "borrow" his precious armor for a few days, coat the inside, and let the potion seep through his skin—straight to his heart.
*Kassandra: So... Drakon will be left without his armor. Aren't you worried he'll be vulnerable?
*Melanippos: Oh, he's the strongest, most chiseled man in Thebes. He'll be fine without it.
*Kassandra: Good to know.
*Melanippos: My problem is the last ingredient. I need to buy the rarest herb in Boeotia from my herbalist, but she hasn't come to Thebes in a while.
(Accept – I'll find the herbalist for you)
*Kassandra: I can find her for you. I must believe in love after all.
*Melanippos: Thank you, thank you.
*Kassandra: Where will I find this herbalist?
*Melanippos: She lives on a farm west of the city near the Tomb of Menoikeus.
(If players choose "What is the herb for?")
*Kassandra: Rare herb, huh? What is it?
*Melanippos: A herb hot enough to impassion him. Red hot to make his affections—and his skin—sizzle.
(If players choose "How did you meet Drakon?")
*Kassandra: Tell me how you met.
*Melanippos: It's a tale for the ages. I moved to Thebes with dreams of becoming a great champion. I came to this gym and saw him... A mighty warrior with an even mightier smile. I wanted to learn from the best, but the only muscle he truly worked on was my heart.
(If players choose "Why do you love Drakon?")
*Kassandra: You're going to a lot of effort for Drakon. Is he worth it?
*Melanippos: He's a living, breathing Herakles—you tell me.
(If players choose "Where is Drakon?")
*Kassandra: If he's not here, where is he?
*Melanippos: Normally we're both here night and day. The only time he leaves is to perform at the training ground.
(Leave – "I'll go find the herbalist")
*Kassandra: I'll go find that herb for you.
Kassandra left the gymnasium and traveled to the Scorched Rolling Plains to find the herbalist. She spotted a farmhouse and beside it a silo that had a red cloth on it with the help of Ikaros. 
*Kassandra: This looks like the place.
When she arrived at the farm she found a farmer surrounded by bandits.
*Farmer: Don't. Don't.
*Archer: Then get her out of the house. You die if she doesn't.The farm is ours.
Kassandra fought the bandits and defeated them.
*Kassandra: Bandits! What a surprise...
Kassandra freed the farmer who had been tied up.
*Kassandra: They're gone, you can come out now.
The herbalist opened the farmhouse door which had been barred against the bandits.
*Farmer: Thank you, misthios. If you hadn't intervened we'd surely be dead.
*Kassandra: They must have really wanted something from you.
*Farmer: The farm. It's one of the few untouched by the war. Herbs aren't free, you know. They'd uproot 'em and sell 'em.
*Kassandra: Speaking of herbs, that's why I'm here. I need to buy one for a man named Melanippos. Says he knows you.
*Farmer: That troublemaker still wants to make the love potion?
The herbalist turned around and closed the door to the house.
*Farmer: Well, he'll have it his way. I can sell you the herb he needs.
<tabber>
|-|But I saved you.=
*Kassandra: I saved your farm. I feel like that deserves some gratitude.
*Farmer: I have to make a living, don't I?
|-|Here's the drachmae. [1000]=
*Kassandra: Fine, here's the drachmae.
*Farmer: On second thought, you did save Episthenes and me.
*Kassandra: Thank you. I appreciate the gesture.
|-|I'm not paying.=
*Kassandra: I think exchanging herbs for your life is a fair trade.
*Farmer: While I'm thankful for your help, I didn't ask for it. I can't be giving my herbs away for free in such trying times.
</tabber>
Kassandra came back later to pay for the herb.
*Farmer: Ready to pay now?
<tabber>
Here, take it. [500]=
*Kassandra: Here's the drachmae.
*Farmer: On second thought, you did save Episthenes and me. Here, take the herb.
*Kassandra: Thank you, I appreciate the gesture.
|-|I'm leaving.=
*Kassandra: I shouldn't have to pay after risking my life for you.
*Farmer: Suit yourself, but no one else in Boeotia has this herb.
Kassandra came back later to pay for the herb.
*Farmer: Ready to pay now?
(Back to dialogue choice one.)
</tabber>
Kassandra returned to Melanippos at the gymnasium with the herbs.
*Kassandra: There, your herb. It better be worth all the trouble.
Melanippos was delighted and begun to sing.
*Melanippos: Yes, yes. Drakon is mine 'til the end of time. Maybe I'll take him for a moonlit walk at the Site of Iphigenia's Sacrifice... He won't have to go far from his training site.
*Kassandra: And his armor?
*Melanippos: It waits patiently for the potion in my house.
*Kassandra: Good. Be sure you take your time with it... for the potion to work best.
==Outcome==
Kassandra obtained the herbs Melanippos required to make his love potion. Melanippos stole Drakon's armor to apply the potion and Drakon was weakened when he and Kassandra finally met.
==Trivia==
*This quest is missable: finishing The End of Drakon removes the quest.
*It is possible to avoid paying the herbalist for the herbs by killing her and looting them from her corpse.
**Alternatively, saving her husband, walking away from the first offer and returning reduces her asking price by half.
*Completing this quest strips Drakon of his armor, making him more vulnerable in a fight if not allowing for a one-hit assassination.
==Gallery==
ACOD Brewing Love 1.png|Melanippos at the gymnasium
ACOD Brewing Love 2.png|Kassandra meeting Melanippos
ACOD Brewing Love 4.png|Melanippos giving Kassandra directions
ACOD_Boeotia_-_Herbalist's_farmhouse.png|The farm at the outskirts of Thebes surrounded by bandits and a kneeling prisoner.
ACOD Brewing Love 5.png|Kassandra outside the herbalist's home
==References==
*Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Category:Memories of Kassandra
Category:Memories relived using the Animus HR-8.5