Basic Potion Brewing

     When I first arrived in Meridell, potioncraft captivated me. There was something magical about how the rainbow-hued concoctions glistened in the windows of the merchant city. I found myself transfixed by them. On more than one occasion, Lisha had to literally drag me away from a shop called “Potion Perfect.” The smudges from my paws dragged across the glass day after day. After a solid week of being torn away, I decided to poke my head into the shop and beg for lessons. After agreeing to clean off my days of heavy breathing on the glass of his storefront, I landed a gig.

     It wasn’t easy. Raphael, the shopkeeper, very happily accepted the free labour and took full advantage of my eagerness. I memorized numerous chemical combinations, reagents, and proper component storage as well as delivered goods to homes in the city. This could be gruelling considering how vast the area was, but also a great way to learn the layout and people therein. Neopians began knowing me as that quirky Zafara in the star-clad outfit, and it worked just fine for me. It’s a good thing Lisha’s big brother had an important job at the castle and extra cots to spare or who knows where I would’ve been sleeping. Or eating.

     As the King’s potions master, it’s hard not to love life. I’m following in the footsteps of Kauvara, a Neopian who wouldn’t be born for a couple of centuries. She is the very Neopian who ultimately inspired me to seek my profession. Yeah, I know. Time is weird. I try not to think about it too much—my brain gets all mushy.

     Back in the early days, I was just an enthusiastic kid transplanted hundreds of years in Neopian history. Now I’m an enthusiastic adult with one paw in the present and the other planted in the future. Those days far beyond were simpler times, sometimes I really miss them. I guess two wars will do that to a Neopian.

     For those of you who wish to follow in my footsteps, I thought to write down a few of my early insights based on old notes and drawings. I even bribed my friend Serian for some of his insights. He really likes my healing potions, after all! Something about sparring all the time—I guess he really enjoys his battles.

     Anyway, here are a few of my thoughts for fledgeling merchants.

     1) Know what ingredients go together to make great-tasting or great-looking potions.

     Countless Neopians are out there making similar potions to meet demand, but your potion must be the one to stand out. And how does it stand out, you ask? By tasting different, by fizzing on your tongue, or by having an unusual shape or effect. One of my most satisfied customers (and remember kids, it’s okay to bribe your customer with free supply before you get their feedback) had this to say about Kayla’s Little Pick Me Up:

     “I have to admit that the potion effects were beyond adequate. Each time I used one, I could feel the restorative attributes immediately. More than anything, the grape flavour, warm glow, and semi-sweet aroma is what drew me in. The potion itself has a warm feeling, like a hearth with a newly kindled flame, and it stays alight in your body for hours to come. Quite frankly, I don’t know if I would’ve survived the War without them.”

     Let’s just say he was one of my most eager test subj—taste testers. He really loves anything with a grape flavour, I’ll tell you. There was one time when I gave him an experimental potion meant to help with his sleep and it ended up swapping our minds! Ah, that was an interesting day… and a story for another time.

     Anyway—and I guess Lisha’s right, my mind tends to wander a lot—I highly recommend using different fruit juices in combination with different herbal remedies such as comfrey, which aids in easing pain and inflammation. Read up on the herbs of the Meridell region at the Central City Library as well as the Brightvale Library; “Restorative Herbs and their Uses,” “Common Plants of the Shire,” “Improving the Four Humors,” and “Herbs for Afflictions of the Mind and Body” are just some of my favourites. There are countless records available for the curious mind if you’re willing to search.

     2) Stock your shelves to meet client demand.

     Being that I live and work in central city Meridell, I serve a whole variety of customers. Everyone from farmers who travel a great distance to obtain healing salves, potions, and fever cure-alls, to the knight who fractured a bone for the fourth time this year (maybe stop sparring with Jeran every day to prove your mettle? Then again, it does make for steady business) and requires regrowth formula, extra grape-flavoured healing potions for the grumpy yet loveable Darigan Citadel dignitary with a knack for finding trouble, to the King, with his persistent headaches and flatul—tummy aches. It’s a good thing the King doesn’t usually read the Times, huh? I need to find some disappearing ink, or at least something to cover over unneeded text… Note to self: invent erasable ink. Or maybe ask Lisha to find a spell that removes unwanted words.

     Your stock will depend heavily on where you’re selling, what ingredients are obtainable that time of the year, and the specific needs of your clients. If you’re selling near the outskirts of town, don’t expect many nobles to find their way to you. Most of the people you’ll serve will be from the farm fields beyond and the mercantile classes. And definitely do what you can to make a relationship with your customers. Being reliable and friendly goes a long way, especially when there is plenty of competition in the city.

     3) Practice, practice, practice.

     When you’re first making potions, you will get the mixtures wrong. Often. There’s a lot of trial and error, especially if you’re adventurous like me. You may even put so much sparkle powder into your cauldron that your entire store glitters like a wall of diamonds for months to come. That happened to me five times during my first year. There was so much glitter that my mane would glimmer after three washes. I still have sparkle-related nightmares from that.

     Potion-making is a rather exact science. I say rather because I may have deviated from the recipe on occasion to great success, but mostly loud booms, sludgy residue, that one time when we made a living marrow monster, blinding flashes, toxic gas, and healing potions so strong that they act as a double shot of espresso. And I may not have been back to the modern-day in years, but let me tell you, this Zafara will never forget the time when her parents let her try super-charged coffee. Or that time when I offered my own attempt to a very battle-weary Jeran. Let’s just say his subordinates couldn’t understand a single thing he said for the rest of the day. Actually, no one could understand him but me. It was kind of funny, albeit Lisha wasn’t laughing nearly as much as Serian and I were.

     Make sure to have tools in your arsenal to properly measure out your ingredients. In a few cases, especially in the more potent potions, an excess of any one ingredient can transform a helpful brew into something highly poisonous. It helps to have enchanted litmus paper that will tell you not only acidity and basicity, but also whether the contents are safely palatable.

     4) Study under a master.

     Even though Raphael, the owner of “Potion Perfect,” could be tough on me and worked me long hours, his teachings were invaluable to my work as a potions master. Not only did he demonstrate his most common recipes, but also how to mix ingredients carefully, stirring slow enough with the right level of flame to produce a useable product. His wife, Helga spent hours running me through local species of plant life, including which species could be obtained in the wild, grown in a garden, or could be gathered only for a short window of time. Her knowledge in the botanical sciences is second to none, even the Brightvale University biologists seek her counsel. One species she taught me about, the Aurora Lily, could only be gathered in peak bloom and full sunlight, as the flowers produced a potent sedative that could lull even the worst insomniac to a peaceful slumber. Gathering these flowers too late or when they retracted their blooms could produce a poison capable of trapping someone in a dreamlike state for days. Oftentimes there is a careful level of precision required to create a safe and effective potion.

     These are a few of the things that come to mind from my experiences, but often the best way to learn is by watching. I am more than happy to open my shop to instruct our future potionsmiths. If ever you have an interest, even an inkling thereof, and want to see the art in action, you can always stop on by. And who knows? I might even be seeking an apprentice in the near future. Somebody has to test my newest brews, after all!

     Come by sometime, I’ll be waiting.