Blinkroot

Long before the discovery of a more efficient means of planar transportation, at the beginning of our history, our only means of accessing other planes was the chewing of a bitter plant known as Blinkroot. Though it was once incredibly common, it has now been used to near extinction and is now one of the few protected species in Venathel, closely studied at the imperial university in Harvest. Without blinkroot, we never would have learned all we needed about planar transportation to allow for our current advancements in the field. There would be no Skybreaker, no planar gates, and that damn fool Abascin wouldn't have the knowledge to make that portal wand of his(though some believe he, like his mentor, is afflicted with the feytouch, which hastens the minds of men and lends itself well to that sort of scientific innovation). But the discover of blinkroot has offered ill as well as good. Without blinkroot, we never would have accessed Fey, never been subjected to the wrath of the wild hunt, and the Ashlands wouldn't be creeping across Venathel forever threatening to wipe away all life. Because of blinkroot, we have both the means to escape this world and a reason to do so.

Origin/Ancestry

These are the roots of a plant that long ago faded from our plane. That is not to say we eradicated the plant; the plant simply went somewhere else, of its own volition.

Conservation Status

Blinkroot is under protection by the Imperial University in Harvest, where it is being thoroughly researched to find a means of growing more. No advancements have yet been made, but neither has any more blinkroot been lost to young, curious practitioners of the arts looking to glimpse into distant, forbidden realms or naive adolescents looking to use them for recreation. Though its use is not forbidden, the threat of reprisal from the university is enough to prevent the use of blinkroot in most of the civilized world.