Lacrima
From Circle Of The Crone
Lacrima (also known as "mandrake tears") is the thick sap common to all mandragora. A rusty color, the fluid is thick and viscous, more like congealing vitae and fresh drawn blood. Even its smell is similar to congealing blood - a rusty or astringent odor of decay.
While the sap does allow a (very) small amount of nourishment to vampires of weak blood, the vast quantities that would be needed make even animal blood more feasible. However, with a very compelling taste, many vampires enjoy the substance for aesthetic reasons. So much so, that some speak of others becoming addicted to it and to the perceived 'rush' that comes with consumption. Depending on the clan of the vampire who feeds the mandragora, it is said the taste is subtly different.
As such, some vampires with botanical bents have in the past worked to bottle 'blood wine' and provide new and varied tastes for the palettes of the dead. Typically a bottle of 'blood wine' contains no more than a 1/3rd lacrima by volume and the rest is typically filled with blood from some remarkable or 'special' source (e.g. children, virgins, celebrities, etc).
Others, especially among the Acolytes, are known for their efforts to mix other extracts (plant, biological, or mineral) into distillations of this 'blood wine'. Some of these merely provide an interesting taste (akin to the herbal infusions that give Gin its signature taste) and yet other combinations involve poisonous plants and hallucinogenic materials for use in Rituals and Worship.
The odd nature of mandragora and its sap mean that the most common harvesters are among the Acolytes and the Ordo Dracul, the former for ritual purposes and the latter for alchemical purposes. A special blend of lacrima was a crucial part of the ritual that incepted the Crone Seers. But by no means are these the only two covenants that trade in this precious commodity. Rumors persist that with modern transport and shipping facilities, some Invictus have gone into 'wine making' as a business - often covering up the shipments of blood wine within shipments of actual wine.
Of final note, mortal beings do not take well to lacrima. The taste is off putting and its effects are detrimental - ranging from hallucinations, to inability to use limbs, destruction of the senses and in some cases, even death.
(For further information and mechanics please see pages 62-64 of the Ghouls book.)
