Elixir of Acheron

Elixir of Acheron is a brackish and opaque substance sometimes utilised by goblinoids and orcs alike as a form of destructive weaponry.

## Description

Oft compared to Alchemist's Fire, Elixir of Acheron is an incendiary substance capable of being used for devastating effect during battle and war, but also may be rigged as explosive traps that avoid magical detection - owing to its mundane composition.

## Research

### Completed by Sílon

The origins of Elixir of Acheron are muddled, the histories as troubled, confused and chaotic as the conflicts in which it is utilised have proven to be. Legend states that the substance exists only naturally within the Infinite Battlefield of Acheron, where it flows in place of water. Warriors of all kind drink of the mixture for replenishment and refreshment both and this stirs the fire within their body and soul to continue the eternal conflict. Some tales go further to claim the Elixir is created from any blood spilled by the Black Hand's morningstar *Fading Vision*, others from the tears shed when He Who Watches reaves destruction with *Realm's Demise.* This long-reproduced history gives stem to the nomenclature, but in truth it is not some extraplanar mana of destruction, but rather much more mundane.

Owing to the somewhat ardous production process, usage of Elixir of Acheron has generally been reserved for larger forces of fixed location, but there have been a few notable exceptions to this fact. Both the Battle of Bracken Horror and the Nilbog's Siege were later established to be rogue groups that had pillaged supplies from larger factions, but it gave pause to military councils nonetheless that smaller organisations had managed to acquire such weapons of destruction. At the Battle of Bracken Horror, an Orc raiding party that sought to find infamy sufficient to sieze control of the widespread Ironfang Tribe detonated a wagon filled with nearly two-dozen barrels, leveling the outer walls of Bracksong. The castle in western Gawylthlan was promptly taken - its garrison of a few hundred preserved in the salt of the nearby Verbalt Plains and mounted upon the walls until it was finally retaken by a coalition of Gawylthlan Bannerets and Atral Chevaliers. Conversely, when a Nilbog plotted to detonate the outer towers of Chalimar Palace, they found that the substance did naught but scorch the stone - the reasons for such a curiosity speculated further within the tome *Weaver of the World.*

Naturally, the creation of such a substance has been long coveted by other races seeking to stockpile, just as a duke seeks to see his soldiers clad in steel with blade in hand. The exact recipe has yet to be established, given the volatility of the Elixir, and the proclivity of its creators to see it detonated rather than captured for study, but the following is clear:

* Oakum, fibres from old ropes, cordage and offcuts impregnated with pine tar and pitch-sap is left to fester in a mixture of fat rended from animal bones and quicksilver, usually within a cast-iron pot buried for a duration of at least three months.
* Reports vary on what exactly the container is buried in, be it peat, ash, dirt or, if the more sinister tales are to be believed, bodies of the dead - preferrable those slain violently.
* After the time has passed, a combination of quicklime, sulphur and clay in mixture of unknown ratios is sprinkled in, and provided the ratios are correct, the substance is ready.