Love Potion No. 9

A love potion of unknown origin.



Effects
Drinking the potion will allow the drinker to fall in love with anyone they want. However, the downsides quickly take over, causing the user to fall in love with anyone and anything at random. The user also starts kissing anyone and everything and will continue to drink the potion, which is highly addictive. The potion replaces itself even if completely emptied and will continue to do so until the bottle itself is destroyed. The effects can be reversed by either breaking the bottle in which it is held or by forcing the person addicted to it not to drink it for three days.

Origin and Collection
This artifact's origin is unknown but has a history. Warehouse agents first heard about the artifact in the early 1600s in Germany, where they collected the first bottle from a alchemist who had dubbed his creation "Love Potion No. 9" (his ninth attempt at a love potion). He informed the agents that he had sold over a dozen bottles of the potion but was unable to provide the agents with much more. Over the next several years, the agents followed the artifact's individual activities, but each time they arrived at the sight of the artifact's use they discovered that the bottle containing the love potion had been broken by someone, which appeared to reverse the effects of the potion. Agents eventually discovered thirteen broken bottles, and when no more cases appeared assumed that all of the potions had been destroyed.

The effects appeared again in 1888 Germany, and when the agents arrived to find the artifact, they eventually discovered an eccentric man drinking out of a bottle. They quickly determined that this was more of the Love Potion No. 9 and were able to collect it without destroying the bottle. That allowed the agents to find the alternative method of reversing the effects of the artifact. Again in 1932, the same effects appeared in Washington, D.C., where agents visiting the city for another artifact quickly found and neutralized it.

The last time the effects appeared was in 1958 Chicago, where there were two separate cases of the artifact. Agents were able to snag and bag one of the bottles, but a police officer broke the second bottle before the agents were able to snag it. A year later, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had heard about the story in the news, wrote a song about the event.

Real World Connection
The song "Love Potion No. 9" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and came out in 1959. It was originally performed by The Clovers and topped #23 on U.S. chart and the R&B chart for the year. The song was about a man seeking to find love, and after talking to a gypsy who told him he needed "love potion number nine". The potion caused him to fall in love with everything in sight and kissing whatever was in front of him, eventually leading to him kissing a police officer on a street corner, who proceeded to break the bottle of love potion.

In one recorded version of the song, The Clovers added a final lyric that asked "I wonder what a-happen with Love Potion Number Ten?".