Nehwohnian Alcohol

Common Potables
There are myriad forms of alcohol in Nehwon. Brandy, a form of distilled wine, is both commonplace and highly flammable, making it useful for warming the body on a cold night and burning down a tavern during a bar brawl. White brandy is also produced on Nehwon, but is much rarer and fetches a high price. Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage and is consumed unadulterated, mulled, or fortified with brandy. Mead is produced in the Land of the Eight Cities, which, aside from Ool Hrusp, is too young a land to make good wine but has an over-abundance of apiaries. The following are the most common varieties of these beverages. Some are specific to certain regions, while others are widely traded and can be purchased most anywhere.
• Amber Wine of Quarmall: The subterranean kingdom of Quarmall produces two vintages of wine, but its amber wine is the one most commonly found outside of the secretive realm. Made from grapes grown on the hillsides below Quarmall Keep, Quarmall amber is a light-brown, dry wine similar in taste to a Riesling.
• Bubbly Wine of Ilthmar: One of several vintages of Ilthmart wine, bubbly wine (sometimes called Ilthmar light wine) is a mildly carbonated, light colored or completely clear (depending on vintage) beverage similar to champagne.
• Ilthmar Resinated Wine: A cheap form of Ilthmar wine, this yellow wine is left to ferment in clay amphorae sealed with pine resin. The resin gives the wine a heavy piney aroma which some enjoy. The strong pine odor has the unintended side effect of overpowering other scents, making it the perfect drink for thieves and press gang agents to doctor with opium and other soporifics to drug their victims.

• Ilthmar Strong Wine: Similar to Tovilyis strong wine,this potable is not as sweet and has a slightly higher alcohol content.
• Lankhmar Stout: Brewed from the surplus wheat of its many grain fields, this dark ale is the most commonly consumed beverage of its type in Lankhmar and the surrounding lands. More sanitary than water, stout ale is enjoyed by all ages and sexes, and is often mixed with the bubbly wine of Ilthmar to create a type of Nehwonian “black and tan.”
• Lankhmar Sour Wine: Lankhmar is surrounded by grain fields, not vineyards, a fact its native wine attests to. Lankhmar produces sour red wine that is little-loved outside of the land of Lankhmar—and even there it is not a popular beverage. Lankhmar sour does not travel or age well, and is consumed soon after it is finished fermenting.
• Mingol Kumis: Enjoyed by the Mingols when Quarmall mushroom wine is not available, this drink is made from fermented mare’s milk aged in horse-hide leather skins strapped to a Mingol’s saddle. The heat and jostling of the mount’s daily ride produces a lightly carbonated, mildly alcoholic beverage.
• Ool Hruspian Old Wine: Although not nearly as old as the vintages made in Quarmall or the better wines crafted in Ilthmar, Ool Hruspian Old Wine is the oldest variety of wine made in the Land of the Eight Cities. The grapes that make Old Wine were first cultivated in the days when Ool Hrusp was still a vassal of Lankhmar. Old Wine is a harsher wine than most, but its high alcohol content makes it popular with sots and sailors.
• Tovilyis Strong Wine: What we would call “port,” Tovilyis strong wine is a dark, almost purple wine with both a high sugar and alcohol content, making it a sweet potable that can pack a wallop.
• Usquebaugh: Whiskey made from wheat grain, usquebaugh is identical to Irish whiskey. It is sometimes used as a form of grog, being cut with water to reduce its potency and served to sailors and galley-rowers on oceangoing trips.
• Violet Wine of Kiraay: This beverage is one of the most common exports of Far Kiraay, making it readily available in most major cities at a reasonable price. Semisweet, this lavender-hued wine is similar to white zinfandel and a popular choice among civilized (or at least those pretending to be civilized) women and nobles.
• White Snow-Potato Brandy: This spirit is produced by the barbarian tribes of the Cold Waste and is nearly identical to vodka. It is a high-proof, clear alcohol consumed by the natives to ward off the winter chill and raise the spirits.
• Gahveh: Although not an alcoholic beverage, gahveh is enjoyed by many Lankhmarts, Ilhtmarts, and other citizens of Nehwon. This dark, bitter beverage is closely related to coffee and is served and consumed in the same manner. Favored by sleepy-headed watchmen and need-to-soberup bravoes alike, gahveh and roasted gahveh beans can be purchased in most major cities.
-Legendary Liquors-
Blooded Snow Brandy: Made from rare ice grapes and crimson snow berries found in the Cold Waste, this liquor is imbibed by northern berserkers before battle, administered in a religious ceremony by the clan’s shaman or spiritworker. Blooded snow brandy grants the drinker the ability to ignore the first wound he takes in battle for up to one hour. After that time, the brandy’s effect fades. No creature can benefit from blooded snow brandy more than once per day.
Horborixen Date Wine: This vintage is a highly-guarded secret known only to the King of King’s chief vintner and his most trusted apprentices. The wine is a powerful restorative, said to be able to revive even the most flagging spirit. When consumed when recuperating, Horborixen date wine allows the drinker to roll his hit die twice and take the better result, then add +4 to the total.
Quarmall Mushroom Wine: The second of Quarmall’s vintages, this blood-colored, almost viscous wine is made from crimson mushrooms grown on the Lower Levels of the interred city. The mushrooms are mildly psychotropic and consuming large quantities of this wine produces visions and hallucinations. Quarmall mushroom wine is popular among Mingols, who rely on its hallucinogenic properties for both magical rituals and battle-madness. Due to the psychotropic nature of the mushrooms used to make this wine, overindulging in it can lead to hallucinations and temporary madness. A PC can consume a number of drinks of mushroom wine equal to 1 + Stamina modifier (minimum of 0) without effect. If a greater quantity is consumed, he must make a DC 10 Fortitude save. For each additional drink of mushroom wine the DC is increased by +2. On a failed save, he must make a Luck check. If the check succeeds, the wine provides a slight benefit based on his class . The effect lasts for 1d4 hours.