Hambar

Among the numerous plants that grow in the Kirludin Islands, one of the more curious is the Hambar. A brush that grows at ground level among the rocky shores of the archipelago, it has an uncanny ability to filter salt water and sand as well as normal plants would normal earth and clear water and hold on though despite harsh climate.

The brown berries it produce are lovely, and when ground and mixed with milk, make a sweet, well loved beverage that's among the favoured foods used for celebrations in the Kirludin. These berries are also well loved by seagulls, and among the more pricey trade goods of the islands.

What of interest from the medical standpoint is that, thanks to their abilities to retain the nourishment they absorbed before blossoming into berries, the seeds are such powerful concentrates of proteins, one alone contain as much calories as a single whole meal would, but they're far more easily carried around.

The seeds have a gummy consistence when eaten - it takes some time to completely consume one - and they can release they nutritious content slowly as long as they're not ingested; this mean that one single seed can be kept in mouth the whole day and used to substain oneself; this is among the reasons the seed are considered of great value by the Kaltenland barbarian, who are known to pay disproportionatedly to the seeds real price to get a steady supplies of them.

Hambar Seed's pouch: contain 6 seeds, count as 1 backapack item, each Seed count as 1 meal.

Hambar Seed: 1 single seed can be used from sleep to sleep to substitute for any meal in the meantime - the player munching on it lose 1 END instead of 3 when he doesn't eat a meal - but cannot speak or use their mouth in any way unless the seed is consumed. A seed can only be used this way for a single day, not more.ù

Alternatively, 1 single seed can be used to substitute for 1 single meal, after wich it is spent; this is the more normal use.

Hildun

A conifer that grows only in cold lands, this plant is well known among medics and nobility for its very rare properties, but is almost unheard of by commoners. The cone of this plant can be ground to produce a fluid that, if ingested, can cause an exceptional clarity of mind, and as such liquors made from this plant are among the most wanted and harder to found commodities among rich people in Magnamund.

It has never been proven that drinking product containing Hildun makes one more intelligent; the uses of this plant in the healing arts are due to the ability it confers to dull pain and to allow the mind to rest.

The Hildun trees are very rare in Sommerlund, but it’s said that some can be found in the northern Kirludin islands and near the Durncrag, north-west of Anskaven. Certain people believe the Kai to also posses at least some of these plants, as they are specially known for their researches in the effects the Hildun fluid can have on people. The Toranese also favor the tree and it grows in the Guildhall in a special environment created for cultivating Hildun leaf.

Hildun potion: +1-3 WP, dark blue in color

Karakacha

The Karakacha fluid comes from a beetle that prefers desert climates. The acidic substance that the beetle contains inside its abdomen has an odd effect upon mammals, seeming to slow time to a halt. Some who had the chance to try it even claimed that it allowed them to foresee how actions they had already taken would resolve, and to change them accordingly before they reached completion. It’s universally known that this fluid effect is very short lived, and that it puts a great strain on the mind.

Karakacha fluid: allow to reroll any two dices during combat.

Klorva

Tree-like bushes that grow in the southern provinces of Magnamund, specially in the Bhanar. It leafs are easily recognizable by being golden in color and decorated in a scarlet red pattern; the plant is often called Golden Leaf because of this property.

The main medical propriety of the plant that make it valuable for medics is the sap that coats its leaves; this substance has the capability of healing bruises quickly. It’s not as efficient as the Laumspur effect, that is far more general and is preferable for ample wounds; however, it has several advantages over its better known rival, one of which is that it greatly increases blood flow and forces out poisons. The other major difference is the more important one; the Klorva sap is far more easily absorbed through blood, so the leaves are all that is necessary to use: the lengthy potion-making process is not needed.

The plant is not particularly rare and has a normal reproductive cycle; however, due to its golden color, it is very easy to recognize, and given its importance for all kind of healers, the wild varieties are under the constant threat of being destroyed by unscrupulous adventurers that only care for selling the leaves to herbalists.

This makes the plant rarer to be found in the wild and creates vicious competition for the bushes; many herbalists fear that soon the plant will exist only in the gardens of those herbalist orders that cultivate it.

Klorva leaves: +6 END when eaten; heals many poisons

Larnuma

Similar to the olive three in many aspects, the Larnuma is a kind of tree with a twisted trunk and little, spherical, purple fruits. These fruits contain a very nutritious and sweet oil.

The trees grow better unopposed by other plant life and thus do well in a poor soil and as such are one of the few plants that survive in the Wildlands around Ragadorn and in the more fertile areas of the Vassagonian desert. It is a close cousin to the Olive tree.

Being particularly sweet, the oil of the larnuma can be fermented into an equally sweet, placating liquor; requiring a more complex process to be made, the liquor tends to be pricey than the oil.

Larnuma oil: +1 END, +1 WP

Laumspur

The most commonly known of all the medicinal plants; this is because of it being spectacularly widespread. It's often considered the plant with the highest diffusion in all of Magnamund, due to its incredible adaptability; the only places it does not grow are humid swamps, arid deserts, frozen wastes, and the Darklands. The roots of the Laumspur plants are capable of easily modifying the nutrients they drain from the soil and turning them into their own syrup. Laumspur can develop itself in the form of either bush or weed, further increasing its chances of surviving in hostile environments.

The berries of this plant have the capability of greatly increasing the production of blood and greatly empowering the replication capability of all organic tissues they touch; this means that syrup from these berries can be drunk or applied on a wound with effective result in both cases, though different kind of wounds can be more efficiently treated in different ways.

Laumspur also has a minor and lesser known variety, Laumwort, which is a moss. As such, it can’t produce the classical berries that define the plant, but it can produce spore with a similar, if less efficient, effect. The moss is about as widespread as the main variety, with its reduced dimension and ability to grow in the dark compensating for the less efficient recovery system.

Another not much known variety is the Cowana, a seaweed form of Laumspur more easily found in the seas of Southern Magnamund; this algae does not produce the berries, but spores, like the Laumwort; however these are considerably bigger spores and, for all intents and purposes, they can be used as effectively as the normal Laumspur berries.

The unbelievable resiliency it shown has led many to see the Laumspur as a plant blessed by Kai, and the symbol of hope and perseverance against adversity.
The Laumspur-derived potions are usually red in color, albeit with different shades depending on how the potion is made. Laumspur potions are also often an ingredient in a good number of others, more advanced potions.

Laumwort Potion: Restore 2 END

Laumspur berries: Restore 1-3 END per handful (about a dozen berries)

Laumspur Potion: Restore 4 END

Cowana Potion: Restore 5 END

Distilled Laumspur: Restore 5-6 END
These potions are made with the different process then the common Laumspur potions; instead of simply draining the syrup from the berries, they are crushed together with the leaves into powder, than mixed with any alcoholic liquid and boiled; the result is a distilled and more effective potion. Depending on the kind of alcoholic liquid used for the process, the hue of these potions can vary from crystal pink to midnight blue, and some are even favored as wines by some of the richer class.

Concentrated Laumspur: Restore 6-8 END
This special type of potion requires hard work to be made; the Dessi Mages are the only ones who know the true secrtet of creating it, and as such, the rare ones that make it out of their secluded land do it only in the stashes of the greatest among the Vakeros warriors. The Toranese Mages have begun to try and replicate the process, but their potions invariably come out weaker.

Mokradon

This is a very rare tree, that mainly grows in the southern areas of Magnamund; it is noticeable for its shining blue leaves, and the Forest of Dang, in Banhar, is famous also as “the blue wood” for having an unusually high concentration of these trees.

The reason why this plant can be of interest to healers is because of the scary effect of its fruit: if ingested, these can cause a temporary blindness, that can last from two days to a full week, depending on the individual and how mature the eaten fruit is.

Many unsavory guilds have great interest in this effect, and so the fruit of the Morkadon is greatly sought after by these shadowy characters; several variants of the potions have been created among the years, like tinctures whose effects last less than an hour. But the most frightening variant is the one created by the Cener Druids, a concentrated potion that can make the effect permanent.

Mokradon fruit: can cause from two days to one week of blindness

Tincture of Mokradon: can cause from half an hour to one hour of blindness

Concentrated potion of Mokradon: cause permanent blindness

Moon Balm

This is a very special kind of mint that, instead of doing its photosynthesis with the light of the sun, does it using the reflected light of the moon. How this could be possible is unknown, but many have declared the plant as blessed by Ishir, and it is commonly used in rites in Her honor.

The scent of this plant is known to placate people, and is particularly effective on women; it is rumoured that it can halt the hand of even a warrior from gripping his blade, or at least thinking twice before doing it. Perfumes made by this plant are so precious that only queens can buy them.

Aside from this placating function, the plant has a medicinal uses. Its flowers, if crushed and mixed with Willow Weed sap, can create a potion capable of restoring the strength. It has also been studied for its effects (by assassins) as a nerve damaging agent and (by healers) as a way to cleanse mental corruption.

However, Moonbalm is such a rare and pricey plant that all attempt to use it more regularly in healing have never been truly effective, due to the excessively high costs and difficulty in finding the plant outside of private gardens grown by Ishir priestesses.

Moon Balm potion: restore CS to the original score for the day. (Grey in color)

Mustow

While this plant is not very known nor diffused in the lastlands, where it must be imported at surprisingly high prices, it is very appreciated and commonly used by the tribes that inhabit those lands where it grows, mostly diffused in the deserts of Vassagonia and Shadaki.

The majority of potions, when mixed with the Mustow syrup, turn into some kind of gaseous compound, whose condensation would then allow one to create distillates of various potions; so, this is the kind of potion used only by those in the business of creating potions, not by generic healers.

However, in their native land, the Mustow Syrup is far better known for its ability to turn instantly into a choking, noxious black smoke when exposed to air, which makes it a commonly used weapon in the tribe wars that trouble those places, and one of the favorite weapons of thieves, who use it to enable their escape when cornered.

Mustow potion: Creates foul, choking gas when released into the air. Deals no damage but highly distracts enemies.

This plant is the only one on this list I didn't worked on at all; it was an addition Zipp's made to the main herb thread. As such, I'm not aware if he invented it himself, or imported it from somewhere else.

Either way, I greatly thanks Zipp for coming up with it if he did, and if he didn't, than my thanks go to whomever the original ideator is! ^^

Also, should the original author not like me using their plants, they only need say it and I'll take it down from the list. In the meantime, it's an interesting plant, for sure! :)

Nachre Seed

For many years, Nachre was thought to be poisonous. Growing in Southern Magnamund, especially in the area of Telchoi, but also along the far Eastern banks of the Talestria River, the plant that produces these seeds (in fact, berries of a bright red colour) was largely ignored. The Ceners claim to be the first to have discovered its true properties, though in fact it was Tahouneese Shamans who first learned of it and used it in their magics.

The seed puts the user in a state of like-death for about a half-hour's time. During this time, breathing is reduced to an infintesmal whisper, the body temperature drops, and the muscles begin to stiffen. For all intents and purposes, the body is dead; even a master healer would think so. However, when a half hour passes, the body rapidly recovers, leaving the user dizzy and confused, but alive.

The Cenereese believed that, if taken often nightly, the seed could greatly expand not only their lifespan but also the amount of benefit they got from rest. After a few Ceners worked themselves into exhaustion with the seed, or accidentally overdosed on it, work turned to more sure (and more dark) ways of gaining eternal life. Some still work with the seed, though, and believe it holds the secret to immortality. Meanwhile, the Shamans of Tahou respect the seed and have gained more from it towards longevity than the Ceners ever will.

For rogues, the seed can be useful to imitate death, giving enemies enough time to leave a body for dead, effectively allowing the user to escape capture or a battle he cannot win. It is useless against beasts and the more primitive of the Darklord's forces, for they tend to eat their kills.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:43, Sat 19 Nov 2011.

Obhantor

This is a spice that is particularly diffused in the westernmost regions of Magnamund; unluckily, the fact that its favored breeding grounds are located in the Hammerland and Lencia make it an hard luxury to come by.

However, for the lucky few who do have a good access to it, the Obhantor spice is considered an excellent addition to any kind of food, and there are tales of people capable of surviving trek across wastelands and desert by using it.

Obhantor spice: when added to a meal, the meal will make those who eat it also recover 3 END and may make a new CS roll.

Oxydine

Plants that grow mainly in the region of Talestria, this plant's leaves produce a balm that can greatly assuage muscle pain and remove infection from the muscle tissues very effectively. For this, it is a plant particularly used in medicine for the treatment of spasms, cramps and the like.

Making tinctures whit the properties of this plants is very easy, and they are a trading good very popular in the Talestrian area. Concentrated potions of it, though, are very hard to produce, so they are not easily found on the market; only expert herbalists are known to sell them.

Tintures of Oxydine: recover CS and END loss, though a minimal amount of both.

Poghlam

This is a tree that grows mainly in the woods of Southern Magnamund, with dark leaves and a green bark. The tree would be unremarkable in medicine if not for its yellow flower; these have been considered able to ward off evil presences with their smell, and are very often used as lucky charms in those areas.

Superstition aside, when ground this flower produces a golden powder that can be quickly absorbed by the human body; the powder works as a balm meant to be rubbed on the temples, relaxing both body and mind. It’s also know that, in some occasions, those who can use the arts of the mind found themselves capable of repelling attacks far stronger than they normally could; for these reasons, this powder is greatly sought after, even though it is a rare good and not normally found in the lastlands.

Poghlam Balm: When used, the balm adds 3 free WP to the player's WP total. These WP are spent before others and have to be spent within the hour.

Rickshaw Bark

The Rickshaw isn't actually a tree: it is the name of a pack that herbalists wear while gathering their herbs. The pack is a square box with holes in it to allow gathered plants to breath and not fumugate inside their container.

What tree the rickshaw bark comes from is a secret known only to rangers and herbalists: some think that perhaps the bark, once gathered, is soaked in something to give it the particular properties. Others argue that it is a very common tree that grows especially in Northern Magnamund.

The issue is not highly debated, for there is no profit to be found from gathering this back and while the bark does contain a substance (whether natural or manmade) that does aid in the restorative process, potions of laumspur and other plants are far more effective and thus more sought by the healing orders.

Rickshaw Bark: Heals 2 END when chewed; can reduce END loss due to hunger to -1 END if eaten when instructed to eat a meal. Only one piece of bark can be chewed at a time.

Sabito

A particular type of seaweed, deep blue in color to better blend with the sea, this plant is particularly well known because of its capability to filter oxygen from water and store it inside its bulbs. This property has never been adequately explained, but it’s known that potions made by crushing the plant allow those who drink it to breathe underwater for a short period of time. It’s also known that the Dessi Mages have found a way to compress the property of these potions into small blue pills that, thanks to their reduced dimensions, are easier to carry. The tales of how the Vakeros warriors are capable of fighting underwater have made this plant famous in the Lastlands.

Satchwort

This particular herb is one of the less commonly used among the healing plants, not so much because it is rarely found in nature, but because it is really hard to identify for people that are not very competent in the healing arts. It is a variant of the common clover, only distinguishable from it because of the much lighter coloration.

The healing properties of the Satchwort were discovered initially by farmers, that noticed an accelerated rate of health in, of all things, their sheep (clover has always been one of the favorite herbs to use for pasturing). When herbalist studied the plant to understand the reason of its effects, they discovered that this plant, for a very brief period of time, make the chemical reactions inside the cells faster and more efficient; in time, they managed to distillate a particular potion out of it, that could enhance a person metabolism for a very brief period of time.

In time, the plant interesting properties was noticed by the Nadziranim, that managet to get hold of some of these potions and created a special much more powerful version of it; however, as with everything the Nadziranim do, this particular version, while making the effect much more powerful while it lasted, had a serious backlash on the body of the user.

Satchwort herb potions are usually of a light green color.

Satchwort Potion: the user recovers 5 END immediately after combat
Satchwort Concentrated Potion: the user recover 3 to 5 END after every round of combat (5 round max), then loses 8 CS after combat is concluded.

Shrueberry

A bush plant that is believed to be extinct; it was a species native of Sommerlund, and it was hunted down by the Sommer people for centuries because it had properties similar, yet more pronounced, to those of the Hildun.

Unfortunately, all attempts to cultivate this plant in captivity failed; for some reason, the plant can only grew in the wild, as any homebred variant lost its mind-altering qualities. As such, people tried to store as many of the berries as they could, which in turn caused the species to become less and less numerous. Its berries were a favorite food for all manners of animals, and it’s now commonly thought by experts that the plant reproductive cycle was very long, making it harder for it to survive against the competition of more efficient bushes like Alether, Gallowbrush, and most of all Laumspur.

Due to all this combined factors, in the end sighting of the plant became rarer until it became literally impossible to find; especially since the Shrue berries were also a very effective cure against migraines.

Remaining pure potions of Shrueberry are practically non-existent and considered priceless. What does remain are carefully watered down versions of these pure potions. While an alchemist could sell a single pure potion for a fortune once, he can make an entire living off of distilling and watering down the pure potion and selling bottles of the stuff to mages, who favor the potion greatly.

Rumor has it that several Vakeros journey throught Magnamund looking for lost Shrueberry plants and there are some that believe that the Dessi Mages plan to find a way to repopulate Magnamund with them, a rumour that has many merchants nervous.

Shrueberry potion: +1-6 WP, Purple in color

Pure Shrueberry potion: restores all WP; +1 permanent WP

Steel Bud

A incredibly rare seed, the Steel Bud is not a plant of its own; this grey and yellow fruit can commonly develop on any plant of the nut variety, and should the seed mature to completion, it would be a normal nut three or bush to develop from it. The rarity is given by the frequency of its appearance; an optimistic estimation is that, of every one million nuts produced by a nut plant (like hazels or oaks), one is a Steel Bud.

The one external characteristic that distinguish the Steel Bud from the normal nuts, beside its color, is the strength of the fruit wall, which has an hardness on par with a steel knife – which gives the fruit his name – although, on the other hand, the fruit is easily dissolved if immersed into liquids (which adds another layer of rarity to the Bud, seeing as heavy rains could dissolve it while still on the three).

This plant is sought after by healers for it’s incredible property of strengthening the heart of whoever eat it, making it almost indestructible for about ten minutes; this can give a healer enough time to even try and stabilize a dying patient, assuming a cure is possible, of course.

Given the incredible rarity of this fruit, the randomness that is behind any findings of it, and the effectiveness it could have in allowing to save somebody even on the brink of death, this plant is treasured by any healer who got hold of exemplars of it, and is used very sparingly.

Although this fact is lesser known, the Steel Bud could be used to great effect by warriors, too; if one is eaten before a battle, the person eating it would be able to shrug off even internal wounds and great blood loss, and would survive the battle with 1 END even if it got reduced to 0 (the user could still be killed by a straight K result, likely meaning s/he received a lethal wound not involving the heart, like a beheading, or an arrow to the head).
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:17, Tue 22 Nov 2011.

Tortwich

A particular kind of salt mined mainly in the Bor mountains and the icy waste of Kalte, the Tortwich is a real luxury spice only rarely shipped to Sommerlund; the constant troubles in the kirludin make obtaining it from Kalte even harder than getting it from the dwarves.

When it does reach the lastlands, this spice is greatly sought after by mages, as it is known to greatly help restore the focus to the mind; people say about it that even the most meager of meals, if spiked with this salt, would increase the concentration power of who use it.

Tortwich salt: when added to a meal, the meal will make those who eat it also gain 3 WP for the duration of the day.

Valerion Root

A kind of yellow root that is long like a carrot but thick like a potatoe. It has a white sap that is known to increase the properties of other potions by speeding the body's assimilation of digested materials.

Examples:
Enhanced Alether potion: instantly heal 3 END, and then add 2 to CS for the combat. Gold in color.

Enhanced Moon Balm potion: recover CS to the max for the day, then increase it by 2. Silver in color.

Venell

This is a very peculiar weed, specially famous for its capability of surviving in wastelands and even, if some reports are to be believed, in the Darklands.

The weed seems capable of completing its photosynthesis by using the reflected light of fires (like those constantly burning in the darklands’ volcanoes), and it seems that, instead of absorbing common nutrient from the ground to grow, it can only get them from cinders and ashes. All this mean that the plant cannot survive in a pristine environment but, much like the Darklords themselves, it thrives in places where all others plants would wither.

Healers where hoping to discover a way to breed its survival capabilities into other plants; however, by accident they instead discovered that the plant's ability of producing nutrient from ash meant that, when a powdered version of it got mixed with something, it added a powerful blast of nutrients to the consumer.

While useful in this, the research on this plant properties is ongoing, and many healers hope to be able to make something more out of it.

Venell powder: when added to a meal, the meal will make those who eat it not need food for another 48 hours.

Volko

A bush that favors harsh, hot, climates and is most famously found in the area of Kashun, south-west of the Vassagonian desert. The black berries of this plant produce a bluish fluid that greatly speeds up the reaction process when mixing potions and as such is specially loved by the various orders of magicians in Magnamund. The effect is generally to strengthen potions, causing them to heal more, strengthen more, or kill faster. The orders most known for experimenting with Volko are the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star and the Cener Druids.

Waterweed (known as Sebaris in Southern Magnamund)

It’s a kind of seaweed that doesn’t actually grew in the sea, but instead only in clear waters and is sometimes called "River Willow." Its main capabilities is to purge the water by absorbing a great number of microorganisms from it.

Drinking this kind of potion has the potential to purge any organic poison or venom from the bloodstream; it can’t heal anything of mineral origins nor wounds or diseases unrelated to external contaminations, but in its limits it’s a pretty efficient antidote.

The process of healing is not pleasant: the human body has an intense reaction to Waterweed and it causes instant painful vomiting and profuse sweating for several minutes. However extreme, this purging process is highly effective.

Waterweed solution: cure most poisons and diseases

Sebaris potion: purify any kind of contaminated water

Willow Weed

A kind of yellow weed that produces a sticky sap. While it has no effect if digested uncooked except a bitter flavor, it do can be used in medical procedure to speed up and simplify the process of closing wounds.

However, the main reason the Willow Weed is important to healers is because of it's property as reagent: as it happen, it is the basis components of most other potions and, as such, is a particularly important and easily recognized plant among potion-makers.

Yethlun

This is a small kind of flower that, somehow, manages to grow in the Kalte wasteland and is for this considered somewhat magical; it's colors - deep blue petals disposed in a double layered eptagonal pattern, around a white corolla - are almost considered the national colour of Kalte itself. Young nobles in particular like it, as its ability to survives in the wastes makes it an oft-used simble of neverending love; the marked is limited, but within it, the flower can be considered a minor luxury good, and those lucky ladies that get one often wear it as if a jewel - if kept frozen, the flower can last without decaying for several years.

From a medical standpoint, the flower is not very important - it barely register as Kalte's medicinal plant alongside the far more impressive Gramush - however it is highly prized by the barbarian tribes, because of the relative ease in finding and using it; it's the main magical plant used by the region's shamans.

As it stand, the plant's ability to thrive in Kalte's icy wastes is due to it's incredibly slow metabolizing and developing rate; every process in this flower proceeed unbelievably slowed. This very same ability is the one who makes it worth noting as a medicinal plant; when appropriately mixed to create potions, the Yethlun is able to slow down the effect of basically anything that acts on the body - potions, poisons, even decomposition in dead people or natural diseases - to the lowest possible speed. As such, the potion is very useful to the barbarians because they're constantly facing Kalhots, or even Javek, having these poisons act slower can, in many situations, save lives.

While the plant, in itself, isn't a good antidote - in fact, it isn't an antidote at all, it's just a slowing agent - its use has been, at times, the key for finding a cure to many fast-acting poisons; many more people have been saved using this plant than many would believe, and while the healers community at large doesn't much care for it, in some circles - especially among those researcher who dabble in poisons and way to beat them - it is a well known and commonly used herb.

Yethlun potion: Icy blue in color. If assumed, slow down the effect of any potion, venom, disease or other process external to the body as much as possible. After it is assumed, the effect remains active for over twenty hours, as the body take that much time to completely absorb it. This slowing down weaken most END recovering potions, and usually completely negate the effect of CS recovering ones. The effects on potions that affect WP varies.