Azoth
| ! | |
| Object ID | 74 |
|---|---|
| Potion ID | 8 |
| Base value (Au) | 1500 |
| Item level | 7 |
| Random generation | Potion pool |
| Weight | 20 |
| Fragility | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Unidentified appearance | Random container |
| Cursed name | mercury |
Azoth is a high-level potion whose result depends first on plus and then on BUC. A naturally generated copy is uncursed but has `plus=-1`, so drinking it immediately invokes the poison branch rather than its cosmic-power benefit.
Generation and appearance
It is a common level-7 member of the random potion pool and receives a shuffled container appearance at game start. Unlike other potions, its initialized nonzero negative plus is not replaced by the potion constructor.
Data and mechanics
It is object ID 74 and potion ID 8, with weight 20, fragility 5, base value 1,500 Au, item level 7, initial `plus=-1`, and initial blessing 0. Its cursed identified name is mercury.
Effects and interactions
| State gate | Result |
|---|---|
| Any BUC, plus below 0 | Adds 25 poison units. |
| Any BUC, plus 0 | Halves current constitution. |
| Cursed or uncursed, plus above 0 | Halves current and maximum power, then drains 0 through 9 levels. |
| Blessed, plus above 0 | Invokes the cosmic-power branch, subject to the strength overdose check. |
The beneficial branch kills the player if current strength already exceeds twice maximum strength. Otherwise it heals with amount 10 and clears blindness, cleanses poison and disease, uncurses equipped cursed items, sets mana to three times calculated mana, sets current strength to three times the old maximum, and increments maximum strength by one. The potion does not automatically identify itself in any branch.
A successful blessing of the natural uncursed copy increments blessing to +1 and changes plus from -1 to +2, satisfying both positive gates in one operation. Merely enchanting plus while leaving blessing at zero reaches the soul-warping branch instead.
Strategy
Never drink naturally generated Azoth unchanged. Verify both positive blessing and positive plus, and reduce current strength to no more than twice maximum before drinking to avoid instant overdose death. A blessing effect is the direct preparation because it fixes both fields together; a plus-only enchantment makes the potion differently dangerous.
Trivial
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable defines “azoth” as an alchemical name for mercury and as the universal remedy of Paracelsus. That documented vocabulary explains the game's pairing of the true name Azoth with the cursed name mercury, although no creator statement confirming intent was found.