A Druid’s Pharmacopoeia

Slumberweed

Description

A tall plant with heavy golden flowers, it is most usually found by tracking honey bees. It is most often found in wet, open area close by heavy forests. A perennial bloom, it is often found in dense patches of varying degrees of germination. Once harvested, it is dried, and will keep indefinitely.

Effect

Slumberweed is often used to prepare a patient for serious surgery. When used properly, it casts the patient to a deep sleep, reminiscent of the arcane spell of the same effect. However, slumberweed has been proven effective on all forms of living beings, especially ones that have proven immune to the previously mentioned spell.

To use, a patient is given one or more stalks of slumberweed to chew, and must swallow its juices. It has a surprisingly pleasant, sweetish taste. After a few minutes, the patient will fall asleep, and will stay asleep, for approximately ten minutes per stalk of slumberweed. Once asleep, the patient must be continuously monitored and attended by a healer until they awaken, in the off chance that the patient may suffer some form of trauma while asleep. There are no known and safe methods to awaken someone under the effect of slumberweed.

Slumberweed juice has been found to be a disappointingly poor arrow or blade venom. It appears that some interaction with the saliva of the patient is what encourages its efficacy.

However, owing to its sweetish taste, slumberweed has recently been adopted by criminal elements as a bloodless means of obtaining access to guarded area. I have heard stories of guards being offered sweetened slumberweed stalks, with obvious conclusions.

One of the properties of slumberweed is the propensity of the user to mumble and babble while asleep. Some druid factions have taken the babblings to be prophetic pronouncements, while others have conducted interrogations of individuals under the effects of slumberweed, but I believe that their words are as random as the rolls of dice, and not to be taken seriously.

[Slumberweed puts an individual into a deep slumber, from which they will awaken after sleeping ten minutes per whole stalk chewed; if they choose, they make a Fortitude check at DC 15 +2 for each additional stalk chewed, to stay awake. Slumberweed takes 1d4 minutes to take effect.

Slumberweed requires a Wilderness Lore check at DC 20 to locate 1d6 ripe stalks.

Slumberweed requires a Healing check at DC 20 at its first use, and an additional check at DC 15 every ten minutes after, until the patient awakens. A failure indicates that there has been an overdose or other trauma. Treat as an ingested poison of DC 13, with 1d3 Con initial damage and 1d6 Con secondary damage.

The user has a 50% chance to begin speaking about whatever they are thinking of or dreaming of while asleep. Some people could find this quite embarrassing.

Price: 5 gp per stalk. Availability: uncommon.]

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