Scenting Abiliity

[PetrichorPegasus]

-Sarr and Wylderkin have the ability to tell if a substance is alchemical after three seconds. Does this apply to food and drink? For example, trying to detect whether a food or beverage has been alchemically poisoned.
-If so, how would a character tell OOG if the substance is alchemical? 2/4 methods of poisoning may not be easily visible upon examination (placing a token into the food, pouring food coloring into a drink) and 1 is impossible to detect (making pouring motions, witnessed by a marshal).

 

[OrcFighterFTW]

Yes, food and drink can be alchemically poisoned, but that effect expires after 10 minutes. For how to tell if something has had an alchemical elixir mixed in, there will be a used alchemy tag for that alchemical effect taped to the bottom of the glass or plate or attached in some other fashion, but the tag will be there in some way. The first 3 seconds is really to look for this tag out-of-game, and if there is a tag, then it takes one minute of roleplay to identify the alchemy in-game if you have the Herbal Lore skill. The scenting ability only gives you the 3 second check for alchemy, but does not grant the ability to identify it.

The Alliance Rule Book 1.2 describes poisoned food more on page 107:

Mixing Elixirs
Only elixirs from the Alteration, Command,
Curse, Damage, or Gift effects groups
can be mixed into food or drink.
Mixing two elixirs does not cancel them
all. If a food or drink has more than one elixir
present, all elixirs will affect the victim.
Contact gels, however, cannot be mixed
with each other.
When a container of food or drink is so
poisoned, all food in that container will remain
poisoned for the next ten minutes. Anyone ingesting
any of the food or drink during that ten
minutes will be affected.
Poisoned food does not heal or provide
any beneficial effects such as increasing Body
Points or removing other effects.
For instance, a group of creatures who are
healed by the Sleep effect do not gain any benefits
from drinking a bottle that has been poisoned
by a Sleep elixir.

 

[Avaran]

-Sarr and Wylderkin have the ability to tell if a substance is alchemical after three seconds. Does this apply to food and drink? For example, trying to detect whether a food or beverage has been alchemically poisoned.
-If so, how would a character tell OOG if the substance is alchemical? 2/4 methods of poisoning may not be easily visible upon examination (placing a token into the food, pouring food coloring into a drink) and 1 is impossible to detect (making pouring motions, witnessed by a marshal).

It should be noted that the scenting ability does not give you the skill to tell what an alchemical substance is, that ability is granted by the Herbal Lore skill.


Page 46, ARB 1.2:

Sarr also have “Scenting Ability.” After examining
a substance for a minimum of three
seconds, a sarr can detect whether the substance
is alchemical in nature. This skill will not determine
the identity of the substance.