On the Brewing of Manabane

From the Lord Scholars of the Grand Consiliarum, to His Grand Majestic Overeach, Timaldus, considered by some, a Sage.

A treatise on Manabane, oft called Druid's Tea.


Manabane is nothing more than a common tea made of Meadowsweet, an herb which grows in damp meadows in each of the Four Lands. You may know it as Lady of the Meadow, Dwarfwort, Elfrot, Meadspice, or Brideflower.

Meadowsweet stems are 3 to 7 feet tall, erect and furrowed, and range in color from reddish to purple. The leaves are a dark-green on the upper side and whitish and downy on the lower. They are much divided and pinnate, having a few large serrated leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 1 to 2 inches long, and boast 3 to 5 lobes.

But the active ingredient you seek is found in the flowers. Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white flowers clustered close together in handsome irregularly-branched cymes, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from June to early September.

These florets need only be steeped in a brew of hot water and sprinkled with pepper to have the desired effect. Some allege that an iron pot will make a more potent brew. Anyone drinking a cup of the tea will find themselves unable to cast spells for a period of 24 to 48 hours, depending on the dose and the efficacy of the brew. The brew produces an immediate effect that wizards term mana drain, but it also prevents the drawing of mana to replace that which is lost.

Naturally this brew will have no effect upon Holy Men as the source of their power is different.

Interestingly, though this plant is used in the making of some intoxicants, its magic-arresting properties are themselves greatly retarded by the presence of alcohol in those drinks. Nevertheless, it is our advice that a practicing wizard avoid most meads, wines, and most especially Dwarven beer, if they would not suffer ill effects.

We trust this information will be most useful to you and look forward to serving in whatever capacity your imagination desires in the distant future.