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THE HERBAL D-G

DAGMATHER (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The spine of this plant must be brewed for one week in fresh water at the end of which time it may be drunk. If it is successful, it will heal any damage to a persons cartilage that are capable of healing naturally.

DAINABERRY (Maya Kniese)

The Dainabush or Sleepberry is a creeping, thorny vine, much like a bramble. Young vines are about 5 mm thick, with 2 mm long thorns. Older vines can become as thick as 10 cm, with curved thorns up to 5 cm long, although this requires many years of growth. Young vines are light green, with 3 lobed green leaves. Older vines grow reddish brown, darkening to black, with leaves, such as there are, dark green in colour. The vines flower in early summer, with light blue, bell shaped flowers. In autumn, it carries dark blue or purple berries, which are fleshy, almost crunchy rather than juicy. The berries are slightly sweet and quite tasty, but have a strong effect on mammals: those who eat them fall asleep. The berries have this effect on mammals only, but a single berry is enough to bring down any man sized or smaller mammal, and given enough berries, even the greatest mammal will fall asleep. There is no saving throw, although the sleep caused is quite normal, and a sleeping creature can simply be awakened. Although the berries can simply be eaten to cause the effect, it is also possible to dry them carefully, and grind them into powder. This powder is weaker (save vs poison to avoid), but will keep a long time. The powder can be added to any food or drink, but has a very sweet taste.

DARNELL (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

These tiny yellow flowers will, if eaten, cause dimness of the sight for several hours. This dimness means that in full light the character will see as if on a moonlit night. This herb does effect those with infravision or ultravision.

DARSURION (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The leaves of Darsurion when applied to a wound will heal 1 hp of damage if used within 3 rounds. The effect is not cumulative.

DEADLY-NIGHTSHADE (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

This plant can grow up to five feet tall. It has soft green spreading leaves, and purple flowers and berries. The berries must be left to stand in water for a week and the distillation drunk. Deadly nightshade will put someone to sleep for 4d8 hours. They cannot be woken. A roll of 1 will kill them, a roll of 20 will render them insane.

DEGIIK (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

Degiik leaves must be given to someone at the point of death (at -10 hp and not losing any more hit points). They will keep the person alive for one day.

DELREAN (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

DITTANY (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

This herb grows six or eight inches high with square stalks and sort round leaves. The leaves must be dried for two weeks and then be boiled in ale or wine. It is then applied as a lotion. Dittany can be used to draw splinter and bone fragments from a wound. It is also an effective antiseptic for cleaning wounds, and can therefore prevent infections caused by dirty water etc.

DOG ROSE (Shaun Hately)

The dog rose grows to about ten feet in height and has very sharp thorns. In spring and early summer it has pale pick flowers which turn into vivid orange seed pods at the end of summer. These pods must be dried and then eaten at the rate of one per three days to avoid scurvy in environments where this disease is common (ie, on long ocean voyages.) Certain ancient and medieval cultures believed that placing a dog rose in a coffin would prevent the body within from rising as undead.

DRAAF (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The leaves of Draaf must be eaten in order to restore 1d3 hit points, as long as they are eaten within 10 minutes of the damage being inflicted.

DRAGONTEARS (Druann Pagliasotti)

This rare, small, translucent succulent grows primarily in the low desert. When crushed, it exudes a sweet, milky white substance with numbing properties. Properly prepared, dragontears promotes rapid healing and prevents scarring from wounds. Drinking dragontears can be fatal, as its numbing properties can cause choking or heart failure. (Cures 1d8 hp, always prevents scarring.)

DRAGONWORT (Shaun Hately)

This plant has a gnarled, erect and cylindrical stem. It has wavy leaves, dark green on top, bluish green underneath. It has pink flowers that cluster in a spike at the top of the stem. The root of this herb should be boiled over a low heat for three days, and the infusion drunk by people with smallpox and the plague in order to effect a cure. The value of this herb increases greatly in times of plague.

DWARF MALLOW (Shaun Hately)

This small plant has a single primary stem from which other, shorter stems ending either with leaves or with small pick flowers. These flowers when crushed and mixed with honey and salt into a poultice will relieve the pain of bee stings on a successful application. In addition the crushed flower may be mixed with oil and smothered onto the body in which case, no bees will approach for 1d4 + 2 hours. At the GMs discretion, this effect may extend to other small insects.

EBUR (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The flowers of Ebur must be eaten each day. If the treatment is successful the rate of healing for a sprain will be doubled for that day.

EDRAM (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

Edram is a moss which when eaten will cause bones to heal at one and a half times their normal rate.

ELDAAS (Druann Pagliasotti)

This tall, blue-flowered plant with spike-shaped leaves is the base for medicines against nausea, usually taken in the form of a bitter-smelling and -tasting herbal tea. Eldaas is used to counteract the nausea associated with hangovers, motion sickness, morning sickness, and more common illnesses. (Adds + 2 to saves versus Constitution for each level of potency the herb is brewed at, to a maximum of + 6 - however, at this strength eldaas can cause dry mouth and constipation. Lasts 1d6 hours regardless of potency level.)

ELECAMPANE (Shaun Hately)

This plant has a thick root, with leaves that are white on the bottom and green on top, as well as showy yellow flowers. The root may be eaten in which case it will cause the recipient to vomit. This effect, while useful in removing ingested poisons from the system, will leave the recipient weak (- 1d4 to Constitution for 2d6 hours). For this reason it may be used as a mildly debilitating poison.

ELVISH GALINGALE (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

Elvish Galingale grows to about four feet in height. It has a triangular stem on which grows a tuft of grass like flowers. The roots are boiled and left to stand for a week and the resulting decoction is then drunk. This herb increases the flow of blood. This is very useful when a person is cold. However if a person is bleeding, either internally or externally, or is wounded it will double the speed of loss of blood. Its effect lasts 1d6+1 hours.

ENTRISTE (Druann Pagliasotti)

A small-leafed ivy that hugs the ground. Entriste's leaves absorb liquid and, when crushed, may be used to draw poison from a wound. (1 leaf absorbs a quarter-pint of liquid. Causes 1d4 damage but draws 100% of poison from a wound if applied within 5 rounds of insinuative poisoning, -25% for each round thereafter. Does not work against gases or "instant-death" poisons. Most poison effects are weakened if the poison is at least partially removed.)

FALSIFAL (Druann Pagliasotti)

A wide-leafed plant with large pink flowers and thick roots containing a slimy gel. When the root is pulped, mixed with water and used as a poultice, it is effective against fresh burns, aiding rapid healing. The root-gel can also be thinned and drunk as a thick tea to counter the effects of blood loss. (On burns, add 2 hp/day for each of the first 3 days of rest the character takes. Used to counter blood loss, victim regains 1d3 hp/day instead of 1.)

FEBFENDU (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The roots of this plant must be brewed over a low fire for one week, and the resulting distillation drunk. If used successfully, hearing will be restored to the recipient.

FELMATHER (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

The leaves of this plant should be placed under the tongue of a person in a coma. If successful, the person will awake in 1d6 hours. If a roll of 20 is made, the persons mind will be destroyed.

FENNEL (Shaun Hately)

Fennel has thick stems, and bright green, lacy leaves and routinely grows to about five feet in height. (There is a rare form which has a bronze stem. In terms of its use, it is identical to the common fennel). In summer it has golden, yellow flowers. These flowers turn to seed in early Autumn. The seed heads must be harvested and left until the seeds separate from them. The seeds may then be mixed with boiling water to make a tea. This tea has the effect of relieving hunger pains in the recipient for 2d8 hours, However it does not in anyway act as a substitute for food, and any damage due to starvation will still occur.

FETHERFEW (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

This herb grows to about 18 inches in height. It has many small white flowers. The flowers must be dried and then boiled in white wine. The resulting mixture must be drunk. This herb will remove the effects of vertigo from a person for up to twelve hours. It does this by stabilising the persons inner ear.

FIRE-FLOWER (Shaun Hately from C.S. Lewis' `Chronicles of Narnia')

It is suggested that this herb be found in one location on an entire world, ideally in a Mountain range in a tropical or subtropical region (The Mountains of the Sun). This is a small bush which has one pale golden flower and small red berries with the appearance of a live coal. The flowers of the bush must be taken and crushed into a diamond vial, and left to cure for ten years. This is also the amount of time needed for a single flower to bloom. A single drop of this elixir will heal any illness or injury, but will not allow limbs or other appendages to grow back. This is an incredibly powerful herb, and is likely to only exist in the hands of powerful lords and kings.

FLOURE-DE-LUCE (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

The Floure-De-Luce is also known as the Blue Flag. It has broad and flat leaves shaped rather like a sword. The flowers are purplish blue and the roots which tend to stretch themselves along the surface of the ground are reddish brown on the outside. The root must be mashed and boiled in water and left to stand for at least twenty days before drinking. This herb removes bruises from a body very quickly (within 1d4 hours).

FOOTLEAF (Maya Kniese)

This 30 cm high plant has 3 thick, fleshy leaves, dark green and covered with soft hairs. The leaves form a rosette, lying on the ground, and form the actual plant. The light green blades that account for its hight are actually sheathes from which flower stalks grow during the summer. From each of the sheathes (there can be as many as 30 to a plant), a single flower stalk grows with tiny purple flowers. The thick leaves, which can become as large as 20 cm across, can be torn loose and put inside your boots (One leaf to a boot), enabling you to walk all day without tiring or even getting footsore.

FUMITORE (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

The stems of fumitore are angular and branching, and grow to a height of about 1 foot. It has grey-green divided leaves, and small pinkish-white flowers with purple tips. This herb prevents hair growing on a characters eyelids. (SEE: MOUNTAIN SETWALL)

GALLOWBRUSH (Sean Snyder from Joe Devers `Lone Wolf' series)

This briar is red in colour with bright crimson thorns. Any mammal pricked with these thorns must make a save vs poison with a +1 bonus or fall asleep for 1d4+2 x 10 minutes. Even if they save the victim still feels drowsy. The thorns can also be brewed into a drink when mixed with water. Anyone drinking this must save vs. poison with a -4 penalty or fall asleep for 1d6 hours.

GARDEN FLAX (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

The brown seeds of this herb (which has deep blue flowers) if chewed remove all pain from a characters wounds. It will also prevent a character from feeling anything. He could walk through a fire and feel no pain. There is a 10% chance per hour that a character moving normally will suffer 1d2 hp damage, while under the influence of this herb. This occurs because the character doe not notice minor bruises or scratches. It was widely believed in medieval times that if the seeds of this plant were strewn across a vampires path the vampire would be unable to proceed further, until it had counted every seed. At the GMs discretion this may be a use for this herb in FRP campaigns.

GARIIG (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

Gariig is a small cactus. It will restore all hit points to a wounded person if eaten within two days of being harvested.

GEFNUL (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

Gefnul will totally cure and heal the recipient if eaten within one week of harvesting. A roll of over the Herbalists intelligence will kill the recipient, a roll of twenty will kill the recipient beyond the ability of a raise dead spell to revive him.

GOAT'S RUE (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

This herb will cure poison if ingested within one hour of the poisoning. Any damage already taken, including death, remains. Goat's Rue grows to about 3 feet tall. It has hollow branches and pale whitish blue flowers that hang down in spikes. The flowers must be dried before use.

GOLDEN CROWN (Shaun Hately from Feist and Wurts' `Empire' Trilogy)

The golden flowers of this small yellow-green plant may be made into a poultice that is used to stop bleeding. One successful application will normally stop minor bleeding, or staunch the flow of major bleeding until it only minor (a second application will stop the bleeding altogether). This herb is often used by midwives to staunch the flow of vaginal bleeding after birth.

GOLDEN LUNGWORT (Shaun Hately from Alexander Scott's "Maelstrom" RPG)

Golden lungwort has large oval leaves, covered with small hairs, and small pale blotches. It grows to a height of about 1 foot, and has small bell shaped flowers with five petals which change colour from pink, to mauve to blue. Flowers of different colours are often found on the same plant. This herb heals the ears of all aches and pains.

GUARDSEYE (Maya Kniese)

This 40 cm high perennial has smooth, dark blue leaves and a woody stem. It has white, cuplike flowers, with purple flecks on the inside. In autumn, the plant dies except for a thick root than can be up to 50 cm long, but even dead, it does not shed its leaves. Thus the all year availability, for it is the leaves that are important. When cooked in water, the resulting tea will grant the drinker the ability to detect all life forms within 500 m. This includes hidden, invisible, phased, ethereal and similarly affected creatures. The effect last for fully 6 hours.

GYLVIR (Shaun Hately from ICEs "MERP" RPG)

This is an algae. When eaten it allows a person to breathe underwater (and only underwater!) for a period of four hours.

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Guide written by Shaun Hately © 1997