#anointment

(Image source: 10ml Arabian Style Dubai Fancy Empty Metal Essential Oil Attar Dropper Bottles - Made-in-China; image description: Three small white bottles with ornate gold caps. Each one has a small jewel-like stone in the center of the bottle (one orange, one green, one purple).)

Potion, rare

This consecrated oil contains the blessing of a deity and takes on qualities associated with its associated divinity. You may use an action to apply 1 portion of this oil to a willing creature to confer the effects of the bless spell upon them. This spell effect does not require concentration and lasts for 1 minute. If this oil is used as a material component for the bless spell (1 portion of oil per creature affected by the spell), the die rolled is a d6 rather than a d4. A normal-sized bottle of oil of anointing contains 10 portions, but a bottle found as treasure will contain 2d4+2 portions.

Background

Consecrated oil is found across numerous religions, but it was only recently that divine scholars discovered the ability to invest a significant amount of divine energy into specially prepared oil. Experiments with rarefied ceremonial oil produced huge explosions of radiant energy, far more than what was put into the oil in the first place. Something about the oil was both amplifying and destabilizing holy energy, but it wasn’t clear what. It was Naberian the Wanderer, itinerant priest of the deity of commerce and travel, who encountered a town that produced oil of unimaginable purity. Upon tasting it, Naberian could not quite place the flavor and the townsfolk would not say what plant or animal it was derived from. Despite this, Naberian elected to bless it for further use in their travels and discovered that the oil’s purity perfectly complemented their deity’s divine essence. Further experiments with the oil determined that it was a near perfect match for many deities, and thus did a sleepy little village become a center for religious pilgrimage and trade from across the world.

Story Hooks

The supply of oil is drying up, but the villagers won’t say what the problem is. Priests from deities across the pantheon are begging them to accept help, but the villagers aren’t budging. With prices of the oil skyrocketing, less than scrupulous priests have asked you to discover what’s really going on and to get the secret of the oil at any cost.

Another personal favorite 👀 I use this Hair & Beard Growth Botanical Oil after every shower...but it’s also work wonder in any spell, ritual or anointment!

Apparently Capuchin monkeys engage in a practice of ‘anointment’ where they squish a type of millipede on themselves, possibly to ward off disease. Pretty cool actually.

“The corium of Reactor 2 of Fukushima Daiichi is clearly visible”