J is for Juniper Ale

Along with "Orc's Blood," Juniper Ale is one of the specialties served at The Mournful Jackal Inn & Tavern. Juniper Ale is brewed in-house by Oodagh, the owner and inkeeper of The Mournful Jackal. Oodagh refuses to admit to the full list of ingredients, claiming it is a recipe handed down through generations of his mother's family.

Juniper Ale is an acquired taste. The drink itself is a solid black liquid with a smooth texture, although it is very thick. Oodagh insists that it must be served in a tall glass tumbler. It smells faintly of pine cones and has an unusual taste with hints of chocolate and charcoal.

But it is its medicinal qualities for which Juniper Ale is most renown.

Juniper has long been known for various medicinal qualities, particularly stomach ailments. Somehow the recipe Oodagh has concocted--or inherited--does just a bit more. Besides its alcoholic qualities, Juniper Ale--as served at The Mournful Jackal--acts similarly to a vial of delay poison, albeit with a lesser effect.

Each glass of Juniper Ale costs 1 gp at The Mournful Jackal Inn & Tavern. There are rumors that some of Oodagh's competitors are working on similar brews of their own. To date, however, such rumors remain exactly that, and drinkers of all shapes and sizes still flood into The Mournful Jackal for a tall, glass of thick, black Juniper Ale.

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Juniper Ale

Juniper Ale has a similar but lesser effect to delay poison. Drinking a glass tumbler full of Juniper Ale grants the drinker a +1d2 bonus to poison-related DC saves. This effect lasts for 1 hour after drinking a glass of Juniper Ale. The drinking of additional glasses does not have a cumulative effect; however, at the expiration of the hour-long effect, another glass of Juniper Ale will extend the effects for an additonal hour. There is no limit to the number of times the drinker can extend; however, the drinker must re-roll the 1d2 bonus for each additional glass of Juniper Ale.

The beneficial effects of Juniper Ale come at a price, however. For two hours after drinking a glass of Juniper Ale, the drinker will temporarily lose his or her sense of smell. In addition, each glass of Juniper Ale imbibed causes a cumulative -1 modifier to the drinker's Wisdom. The Wisdom modifier effect also lasts for two hours after each glass of Juniper Ale is consumed.

If served in a pewter mug, however, the effects are different. Instead of a +1 modifier to the poison-related DC save the drinker takes a -1 modifier. In addition, the -1 Wisdom modifier effect(s) are doubled, lasting four hours each.

Cost: 1 gp per dose.