Raefel Herbal Blend

The lecture hall at the Academy was mostly empty, other than two men and a woman standing around a table on the podium. Three mugs of steaming tea were at the table, one for each person, and all three were staring at their cups, as though waiting for the others to make a move.
Alistair reached out first. "In for a Florin." He grabbed his mug and took a slow drink, swallowing carefully. "Not bad, but not my preference."
Lily shook her head. "I'm a woman, what exactly is this supposed to do for me?" She took a sip and then spat. "Eugh. Vile."
Tarvo closed his eyes and drank. Bitter, with strange flavoring. Something unique to Raefel Island? "Drinkable, but I'd rather not. Lily, we both did it, at least swallow a gulp. This is for Progress, after all."
"Right, progress." The guardswoman took a sip and swallowed, gagging as she did so. "Absolutely disgusting. I don't understand why men flagellate themselves drinking this garbage out of, what. Insecurity?"
"The need to be virile, but we all have our hang-ups, Lily." Alistair had finished his mug. "Not that I would support anyone spending 40 florin on three bags of tea. Either of you feeling 'bigger' yet? Because I'm not."
The mechanic frowned. "Nope. Kind of want to get a drink at the Radiant End to wash the taste out of my mouth. Lily, is anything happening?"
"Oh no! My chest!" The guardswoman clasped her arms over her cuirass. "It's exploding! I can feel it!"
The wizard blinked. "Very funny. Although I can imagine a product that did that being very popular."
"Not as popular as tea that would help women lose weight, Alistair." Lily pushed her armor back into place. "Can we go now? This stuff clearly hasn't done anything." She thought for a moment and reached down. "Nope, definitely nothing."
"Alright. Let's meet here tomorrow around the same time and report anything happening or not happening, and I can take this to Mellitus to try to convince him not to waste his Florin on this nonsense." The wizard steepled his fingers on his forehead. "Mellitus is a *wizard*. He and I can just do this the *magic* way. I don't know why he's so obsessed with doing things naturally."

Summary

The following advertisement is in broad circulation in the Etoile Capital City and other major settlements.

Have you heard of Raefel Island?
Have you seen the size! Of the animals on Raefel Island?
Have you ever wondered! What makes them so big?
Wonder no more! The Etoilean Herb and Life Consortium has an answer for you!
No matter what you need! If it needs to be bigger, we can help!
Our Ministry-approved secret herbal blend is Guaranteed! To Help You!
Simply brew and drink, and You! Will! Get! Bigger!
The Herb and Life Consortium guarantees your satisfaction, or every Florin you spent will be returned twice over!
My name is Hiram Criadh, of the House of Criadh, and I personally have approved this message!

Historical Basis

Raefel Island is known for its megafauna, though most researchers have correlated megafauna with islands in general, rather than Raefel in particular. By all accounts this is an adaptive trait, and not a consequence of eating the local plants (or else the denizens of Port Raefel would be very large indeed), but this bit of reason has not prevented charlatans from looking to make a Florin or two. 
While snake oil remedies always been a recurrent problem, this particular product is widely popular, as it is marketed as a performance enhancing supplement, rather than a cure for disease. The imprimatur of the Ministry of Health (which only certifies that something is not dangerous, rather than it does what it claims) has only enhanced this particular product's appeal. Allegations that the herbal blend is actually sourced from a local farm have turned out to be untrue; a contract with several gatherers from Port Raefel indicates that several pounds of herbs are shipped from Raefel Island to the Capital City every week.
Notably, while this type of 'enhancement' is very possible with the use of magic and a willing magus from the Wizard's Association of Etoile, this type of cosmetic body modification is explicitly prohibited in the Associaton bylaws, and most ordinary people would likely shy away from direct magical manipulation.

Spread

The Etoilean Herb and Life Consortium has invested heavily in the advertisement of this product, aided by word of mouth. While the popularity of this particular herbal tea is the subject of jokes and skewering in the Etoilean Monitor, its certification for safety has resulted in many taking a 'well, what harm can it do?' attitude. 
While several testimonial accounts testify as to the effectiveness of the product, many more have claimed that the blend does little or nothing. The Academy of Etoile has not yet deigned to perform a formal test of the blend's true utility. Any such actual test would likely be subject to charges of wasted time and effort - for the true believers, no evidence would change their minds, and for everyone else, it would simply confirm what they already supposedly know.

Cultural Reception

By all accounts, Raefel Herbal Paste has been a boon for the Herb and Life Consortium, with security holders receiving record dividends for the last five years. While widely mocked and derided as a fraud, its apparent harmlessness has resulted in the unusual circumstance of people who openly mock the product whilst taking it in secret. Such an occurrence was discovered when the Etoilean Monitor discovered empty packets of the blend in the trash outside the home of Academician-Professor Vauxman of the Academy, a noted proponent of banning the product outright. 
Whether it truly helps people with their 'problems' or not, its ubiquity as a punchline is firmly embedded in at least the Capital City.

Date of First Recording

720