Potion of Smoov

The ideas for this article were created with the help of my daughters Sarah and Maire and my niece Natalie

From the archived records of the Provost of the School of Comparative Abominations :

Had to deal with politicians and law officers today. Government is unhappy with alleged social consequences of student Archellus Didimus' "potion of smoov" created (and failed) some months ago. Something about a famine? Visitors insisted potion must be banned and all reserved destroyed. Visitors unwilling to drink anything I offered to avoid the eventuality that it might contain some of the potion. Insulting. Of course the tea had some of the potion in it. Impolite still to mention it. Banning creation of the potion and destroying stocks of it will allow "rebuilding" to begin. I gave assurances the matter would be dealt with. They demanded I agree to their course of action. I told them I would definitely act on it. The once again demanded I pronounce specifically that I would take all measures required to destroy the stocks of the potion. I rolled my eyes and gave the statement. They added term "immediately" and would not leave until it was acknowledged.
Action item: Reverse decision to expell Archellus. Turns out potion is an abomination after all. Instead award degree to Archellus for his incredible success.
Action item: hide away some of the potion before stocks are destroyed.

The Potion of Smoov dissolves an individual's social anxieties, social inhibitions, and social awkwardness, allowing stress-free encounters guaranteed to be enjoyable by the one who consumes it.
The potion was a commercial success, very unusual for a project from the SCA, but turned out to be terrible anyway. Because so many people enjoyed socialization and interaction, less and less work was accomplished, and the result after only a few months was famine and social collapse.
After the potion was outlawed, order was slowly restored.