Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Fireballs / World of Donlon / Tea

Tea

Tea is illegal in Donlon.
Part drug, part fuel, part religion (to the Mudlarks, its corruption of the Flow is a sin).

There are several types of tea in Donlon: 
Common t'garden herbal, green or white tea. 
It's addictive. In heavy users, causes blown-out irises, shaking, and a doped, watchful state.
Has devastated communities, the ratkin of the East End, as Carlos has witnessed.
The Krag twins exploited tea to build their empire.
The Porcelain Police is provided government approved tea. 

Redwash/Redwoosh/Redwush
A low-grade tea given to Pete in the fighting pits. Kept him functional but gave him no access to his former magical self.
He ran on this for months. 

Herbal
Alternative blends with milder or more specific effects. Like Maureen's personal blend, ground four-leaf clover, is not standard tea.
It has a positive effect on her performance.
When Pete drank it in episode 2, it gave him a metronome element and a plus 1 to Performance until his next long rest. 

Black Tea
A new strain originating from Cathlon, a mysterious land. Never before seen in Donlon. 
Described by Magpie as 'the kind of stuff that'll pop your cork if you're not used to it.'
Worth half a million gold to the buyer. Multiple gangs are after it. The Mudlarks, the Street Genies and the Queenly Court. 

Magpie finds Mr. Tips' research notes. The notes contain two columns of possible effects, with the determining variable being strength of will. 

Column one: Death
For those whose will is insufficient: rapid shutdown of all parts of the body and mind, resulting in unavoidable death.
Column two: Godhood
For those whose will is strong enough: a measure of godhood.
The Cathlonic sages who brewed the tea described this as 'giving a measure of godhood to whoever sipped it.' The notes are vague on what godhood means.
The implication is clear: whoever drinks the Black Tea and survives the effects would become something more than mortal. 

Pete's experience:
When Pete swallows the Black Tea, he enters a void. Just Pete, alone, the room disappearing around him.

Midge describes this as the tea testing his will through a cascade of dice: d20 first, then d12, d10, d8, d6, and finally a d4.
If Pete rolls the highest number on any dice, he gains godhood.
If he rolls the lowest, he dies.
He must pass each check to continue to the next.
Pete rolls: 7 (d20), 9 (d12), 9 (d10), 6 (d8), then 1 (d6).
The tea begins to corrode his circuits.

Midge shows him what he almost became: Iron Pete, a vast iron golem.
After failing the test, Pete can only hold off the effects of the Black Tea for 18 seconds. 
After 18 seconds a vortex opens and sucks in everyone in its proximity. 

Speculation: Why Mr Tips wanted it?
Mr. Tips notes confirm that he understood what the Tea could do, and he understood that testing it required someone whose will was strong enough to survive it.
Together with his interest in Pete's Flow-altered abilities and his willingness to 'stress test' Pete in episode 3, show his curiosity and his methodical approach. 
Mr. Tips may have been selecting candidates.