These artifacts are grown, not made. It was discovered, way back when, that long-term exposure to the energies emitted by a Tether did interesting things to grapes. Wonderfully interesting things. It takes about fifty years or so for a Tether to saturate the countryside enough to produce the effect, but once it happens anyone who knows how to make wine may make this artifact. Most of the larger Tethers find an excuse to have at least a few grapevines around somewhere: needless to say, Tethers to Flowers have a large advantage here.

Tether-wine's level depends on the age of the vineyard it comes from: 50 years of existence will produce Tether-Wine/1, with additional levels coming with every doubling (thus, Tether-Wine/4 requires a vineyard in existence for four centuries). The vines must be completely within the Tether's locus for the full bonus: for every 10 yards outside the locus, subtract one from the maximum level. Tether-Wine/1 is common enough to be served at the best parties. Tether-wine/6 is incredibly hard to get, unless you happen to work for a very old Tether: it's effectively reserved for Superior tables.

The artifact acts as a special sort of Talisman: every level adds 1 to any roll or action that would support with the Word it originates from, for one hour. This bonus is not cumulative, and the user must drink the relic in order for it to work. Servitors of a particular Word who drink the same type of Tether-wine will also find themselves imbued with the Word's power: for them, every dose will remove one note of dissonance. A 'dose' is equivalent to 12 glasses of Tether-Wine/1, 6 of Tether-Wine/2-3, 3 of Tether-Wine/4-5, or 1 of Tether-Wine/6. This will, incidentally, make any drinker quite intoxicated (-4 to all physical rolls) but quite happy. Tether-wine never causes hangovers.

Tether-wine, by the way, is exquisite in its flavor and bouquet, and may be of any normal color: there is an entire celestial subculture that argues, incessantly, about what makes the best combination of type and Word (especially prized are the rare blends that result from two Tethers' loci). Interestingly, this controversy utterly ignores Choir/Band alignments and Superior rivalries. It's even joked that true enthusiasts who share the same love for, say, Lightning Red will cheerfully split a bottle, even if one's a Malakite of Stone and the other is a Shedite of Factions.

Interestingly enough, once the vines have been altered, they stay that way, even after the Tether has been destroyed (this is often the only way to get the rarer types, like Death or Knowledge). The vineyards inevitably end up heavily used in local wine production (regular humans don't get any of the above bonuses, but their palates are sensitive enough to know when they've got something good, here). The location of more than one lost or destroyed Tether has been found by a determined series of drinking binges…

Cost: 4 per level for a bottle (six glasses' worth).