These artifacts are grown, not made. It was
discovered, way back when, that long-term exposure to
the energies emitted by a Tether did interesting
things to grapes. Wonderfully interesting things. It
takes about fifty years or so for a Tether to saturate
the countryside enough to produce the effect, but once
it happens anyone who knows how to make wine may make
this artifact. Most of the larger Tethers find an
excuse to have at least a few grapevines around
somewhere: needless to say, Tethers to Flowers have a
large advantage here.
Tether-wine's level depends on the age of the vineyard
it comes from: 50 years of existence will produce
Tether-Wine/1, with additional levels coming with
every doubling (thus, Tether-Wine requires a vineyard
in existence for four centuries). The vines must be
completely within the Tether's locus for the full
bonus: for every 10 yards outside the locus, subtract
one from the maximum level. Tether-Wine/1 is common
enough to be served at the best parties.
Tether-wine/6 is incredibly hard to get, unless you
happen to work for a very old Tether: it's effectively
reserved for Superior tables.
The artifact acts as a special sort of Talisman: every
level adds 1 to any roll or action that would support
with the Word it originates from, for one hour. This
bonus is not cumulative, and the user must drink the
relic in order for it to work. Servitors of a
particular Word who drink the same type of Tether-wine
will also find themselves imbued with the Word's
power: for them, every dose will remove one note of
dissonance. A 'dose' is equivalent to 12 glasses of
Tether-Wine/1, 6 of Tether-Wine/2-3, 3 of
Tether-Wine/4-5, or 1 of Tether-Wine/6. This will,
incidentally, make any drinker quite intoxicated (-4
to all physical rolls) but quite happy. Tether-wine
never causes hangovers.
Tether-wine, by the way, is exquisite in its flavor
and bouquet, and may be of any normal color: there is
an entire celestial subculture that argues,
incessantly, about what makes the best combination of
type and Word (especially prized are the rare blends
that result from two Tethers' loci). Interestingly,
this controversy utterly ignores Choir/Band alignments
and Superior rivalries. It's even joked that true
enthusiasts who share the same love for, say, a
Lightning Red will cheerfully split a bottle, even if
one's a Malakite of Stone and the other is a Shedite
of Factions.
Interestingly enough, once the vines have been
altered, they stay that way, even after the Tether has
been destroyed (this is often the only way to get the
rarer types, like Death or Knowledge). The vineyards
inevitably end up heavily used in local wine
production (regular humans don't get any of the above
bonuses, but their palates are sensitive enough to
know when they've got something good, here). The
location of more than one lost or destroyed Tether has
been found by a determined series of drinking
binges...
Cost: 4 per level for a bottle (six glasses' worth).
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EDG <[email protected]>
In Nomine Collection Curator