The Bottle

''Non Aqua Vitæ, Non Regia, Non Fortis. Aqua Occultæ.'' So reads the cryptic note accompanying the bottle, written by the Abbot Father Martín and addressed to the Head Butler. It is a vector for intense factional conflict while remaining essentially cryptic to all parties.

Its clear liquid contents were produced by unknown means by the Franciscan hermit and mad scientist, Brother Piet. It was thought by the clergy to constitute the substantial distillation of the crazed renunciant's spiritual perfection. It is unclear what if anything this amounted to; for the intense delirium and degeneracy experienced by one Wolfgang Maier upon its consumption is essentially impossible to distinguish from the common effects of Domestic Agnosia.

The brief interception of the bottle by the Under-Butler as it was en route to his superior effectively brought about the first high-level cooperation of partisan forces in some years. This conference saw it handed directly to Messrs. A & B, senior partners within the legal profession. It is unknown whether or not it truly was the couple who ultimately delivered it to its target and if so, why.