(Orothon) “I expect honesty, but this will require it,” Kavax says as he holds his hand toward the ground. From the tips of his dragon claws an opalescent liquid-light pours down, filling the area beneath his boots and rising up to form a dome around the newly formed council.”
The Zone of Truth is SUCH a great utility spell. I tend to make my PCs less utility and more damage-dealing, but Kavax has a handful of spells that have been perfect for heavy roleplay/story development sessions.
The spell casts a magical zone that prevents those within it from speaking an intentional lie. This mechanism would normally be triggered by an involuntary or voluntary failed saving throw by the person entering the zone.
Kavax used the spell with an ad hoc counsel that was formed following the overthrow of the city of Veradume. Also, I understand that makes zero sense to basically all but four other people reading this, but suffice it to say there was some political Tom Foolery occurring in the campaign and Zone of Truth was cast since pretty much everyone was suspect as hell.
This cocktail is a recreation of the El Bandito at Forman’s Whiskey Tavern in LA County. It’s an awesome bar with a killer list full of riffs on the classic Old Fashioned. El Bandito has mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde Chile Poblano Liqueur, agave, orange bitters, and Szechuan bitters. It’s absolutely excellent.
The faint green, mostly translucent look made think of how I picture the spell when Kavax casts it. When I recreated it, I paired it with an opalescent cocktail glass which gave just a touch of jewel glean, which is perfect because Kavax is an emerald Gem Dragonborn.
For my version, I used regular simple syrup and just orange bitters (though the Szechuan bitters look awesome and I’ll be picking some up soon). The cocktail has that amazing sweet smokiness expected from the mezcal and the bite from the poblano liqueur pairs wonderfully. For the mezcal I used Quiréme Mucho Tobalá. It has a fruiter taste than other mezcals I’ve tried, which I thought would go well with the pepper spice and orange bitters. Though personally, I find the star of this cocktail to be the poblano chile liqueur. I love a spicy cocktail and this liqueur doesn’t sacrifice flavor for spice, it’s well-balanced and wonderful.
Zone of Truth
Ingredients:
- 2.5 oz Quiréme Mucho Tobalá Mezcal (or your preferred mezcal)
- 1 oz Ancho Reyes Verde Chile Poblano Liqueur
- Two dashes of orange bitters
Recipe: Add everything to a cocktail glass; add a large chunk of ice. Stir to chill.
The Bourbon Dragon 