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Arcwine 2

Arcwine, one of the most important commodities for the nightborne

Arcwine or mana wine[1] is wine imbibed with the Nightwell's energies, allowing nightborne to ingest and gain sustenance from the arcane font. One of its physical properties is that it faintly glows.[2] Imbibing even a sip causes nightborne eyes to shimmer.[3] Children are usually considered too young for the drink, they thus receive "mana juice" instead that still provides nightwell infusions. However, some children were given arcwine during the rationing of Elisande.[4][5] Inv drink 22 [Mananelle's Sparkling Cider] and Inv drink 02 [Arcberry Juice] are also sold by many vendors in the city.

Background[]

During the long years of Suramar City's isolation, the night elven residents ran out of food.[citation needed]  Faced with starvation, the choice was made to utilize the magical energies as a source of nourishment.[citation needed]  The plan worked and the nightborne have since relied on the energies for more than casting spells or performing wondrous magical acts.

With the presence of the demons of the Burning Legion came rationing of the supply of arcwine, under the ruse that there was a 'shortage', to keep the city's populace compliant.[6][7] This action has opened the door for the growing resistance to reach the very hearts of the nightborne population. The resistance increased its support to the suffering citizens and attempted to stir them to action against the regime of the Grand Magistrix and the evil of the Legion.

The members of the resistance inside the city stole bottles and casks from the abundance of arcwine provided to the loyalists in order to distribute it among the common populace.[8] This was absolutely necessary to keep them from withering for another day.[9] The thieving and delivery of the arcwine became more and more dangerous, as the loyalists were becoming more observant,[10] and many wine thieves lost their life.[11]

After the nightborne joined the Horde, they apparently started exporting arcwine to the faction's other races, with Vintner Iltheux overseeing production. Shortly after the end of the Fourth War, Baine Bloodhoof sent assistants—Micah Broadhoof, Boss Mida, Kazit, and Nomi—to the Twilight Vineyards in order to speed up the process. However, this ended up having the opposite effect since Iltheux assigned the workers to roles they were completely unsuited for.[12] In the hopes of allowing the vulpera to join the Horde, Meerah and the Horde adventurer traveled to the vineyards and reassigned the workers to more suitable tasks.[13] In order to make the wine appeal to the diverse palates of the Horde, Nomi made some slight changes to the ancient nightborne recipe and sent the adventurer to gather firebloom and moth fibers for the task.[14] When the finished wine was brought to Iltheux, the vintner praised it and stated he could not have done better himself.[15]

Production process[]

Arcwine is made in the Twilight Vineyards of Suramar. It comes in different varieties, depending on what ingredients are used in the process such as manafruit, nightsap, berries, and shadowberries.[16]

The fruits are directly harvested from the nightborne orchards. One of them houses a species of tree that produces extra-sweet fruit. The Aging Chamber is necessary to allow the juice to ferment, as time magic inside the chamber enables the vintners to shorten the process. At the bottling facilities, each bottle is sealed with magic to prevent any of the Nightwell's essence from fading, where it is then either stored or distributed. A cask of arcwine can be safely stored for hundreds of years. The distribution facility is where the vintners arrange to send hundreds of barrels and casks of arcwine out to the city. These activities are monitored by the Magistrix herself.[17]

The fruits are processed into unfortified wine in a wide vat at the juicing veranda where the juice is extracted. A vintner determines how much of the other basic ingredients are required, and once the process has begun, it is important to keep up the pace as the delicate ingredients spoil quickly. Purified water adds a little moisture to keep the taps flowing. Silver jasmine adds a little brightness to the blend, and shadefruits a sour note. When the juices need a little massaging, one has to step into the vat and jump to squish the mixture around. The produced unfortified wine is then bottled. The process is considered a failure if the arcwine or the ingredients have soured, in which case the batch is destroyed.[18][17]

The most crucial part of the winemaking process is infusing the wine with Nightwell essence, which gives it the restorative properties the nightborne enjoy. This infusion process starts with taking up an energy vessel - a type of bowl - and using it to catch the delicate dewdrops of Nightwell energy as they fall. This is the only way one can safely manage its essence. Once the vessel is full, it is poured into a cask of unfortified wine. Infusion officially makes the wine fortified.[19]

In World of Warcraft[]

References[]

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