Medicinal Plants

Herbs, flowers, and roots abound throughout Aropria. If you’re knowledgeable enough, and just a little clever, you’ll find that many of them have some very unique properties that you can put to use.

Common Medicinal Plants

For example, the Gilco Grass, found throughout the plains of Anock, can be brewed into a delightfully flavored tea that can cure most headaches. Unfortunately, the plant looks almost identical to common field grass. Only those with a skillfully trained eye can you glean the difference.

Another fairly common medicinal herb is the Silvia Flower. This shrub only grows in the mountains of Durann. The Alvainian healers will extract the nectar from the flowers and add it to various perfumes and makeups. The scent from the nectar is said to be a powerful aphrodisiac and is quite popular amongst wealthier households. Its actual effects are debatable.

There are many other common plants with a variety of uses. Your local apothecary can tell you all about them.

Congruence Laden Plants

Some plants that grow in areas of high congruence have taken on quite magical effects. The ambient congruence that they soak in transforms these flora and gives them wonderful, and sometimes dangerous, attributes. These plants are sought after the continent over and fetch a pretty penny at the market. The potions and salves crafted from these are often carried by travelers and adventurers; they can mean the difference between life and death in a sticky situation.

The most known of these congruence laden plants is the Harbin Fruit Tree. These trees can be found growing in almost every congruence hot spot on the continent. Their distinctive dark purple fruit possess incredible healing properties. When eaten, minor burns and cuts instantly heal themselves. This handy little morsel might not bring someone back from the dead, but if you have grievous injury it’ll keep you alive long enough to get to a healer.

For Writers Only

(The idea of the Harbin fruit is that it would have the same effect of a minor healing potion. It wouldn’t restore full health but would return a certain number of HP. There is the possibility of someone being able to take several of them and “crafting” them into a major health potion or the like. This couldn’t be so common as to be game breaking but they could be found in most markets)

One of the more interesting congruence affected plants is the Perlolin Gourd. This vegetable is only grown in the southern parts of Thelinis. It appears as a small squash with glowing purple veins running through it. The milk, as it is called, is extremely volatile, literally. If roughly disturbed, the gourd can violently explode with enough force to cave in the chest of a fully grown man. The milk of these gourds is harvested and refined into a more stable form, which is sold to militaries all over the continent. The refined milk, known as Perlolin Juice, has a number of uses, namely when applied to arrows and other projectiles it’ll pack quite the punch when it reaches its target. The obvious risks associated with growing and harvesting Perlolin makes the juice extremely expensive.

The most interesting, and by far the rarest, of these congruence specimens is the fabled Crystal Fern of Elabia. This fern is unbelievably hard to find. It can appear in any heavy congruence zone, but appears randomly. It is believed that a new one grows every hundred years or so, and there is no known way to predict where the next fern will appear, although that hasn’t stopped both academics and skinks alike from trying. The fern is described as being an ordinary fern at first glance, however if you're paying close enough attention you’ll notice a faint purple hue to the shadow the plant casts. On closer inspection one finds that the fern is not ordinary at all, instead of the normal tiny leaves one expects with a fern there are thousands upon thousands of miniature crystals lining its stems. The crystals are green in color with the faintest purple tint to them. There is only one verifiably documented case of the effects of the Crystal Fern. An academic from Nashriam found one while exploring the forest to the west of Thelinis. Not knowing what he'd found exactly, he decided to feed the fern to one of his servant boys to see what would happen. The servant says that he felt a great rush of power moving into him as soon as the fern touched his lips. Afterwards the boy was significantly stronger, faster, smarter even. A large scar he’d had on his forearm vanished. The scholar tried to consume the plant himself as soon as he saw these results, but found that the fern was now inert and had no effect on him. That slave boy went on to buy his freedom and started one of the most successful merchant businesses on the continent. He is still alive today 113 years later.

(My idea for the Crystal Fern of Elabia is that it would be the reward for completing an easter egg style quest line if we decide to put that in. Or the Fern could be an easter egg itself. The fern would be a one time use item that would grant the consumer a permanent stat boost.)