Herbs and Potions

## Herbs

These five local herbs are essential resources. Staples of the battlefield, the physick's kit and the apothecary's lab, they may be used individually to treat a range of ailments or combined in potions and tonics.

In the hands of a skilled physick, the herbs can be used to treat the following complaints:

 Red Nettle
 Boyar's Beard
 Sovereign's Fingers
 Northern Vervain

## Potions

It is possible for a skilled apothecary to mix herbs together to create a powerful potion. Anyone who is not so badly wounded that they cannot fight can consume a potion unaided, and anyone can be fed a potion to receive the benefits.

### Anodyne Embrocation

This analgesic body rub numbs pain, and the strong scent helps to clear the mind when rubbed firmly into the skin. It can also be used to alleviate the symptoms of painful medical conditions such as inflamed joints, arthritis and rheumatism, but the cost of doing so with a potion tends to place this option outside the reach of all save the most wealthy.

* **Form:** Salve.
* **Description:** This dark blue cream has a gritty, slightly sandy texture. It smells strongly of freshly cut grass. Put a tiny drop on your finger or your tongue, and the tip quickly becomes numb.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** The salve numbs the pain of your injuries, and its strong scent helps to clear your mind.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You can ignore the roleplaying effect of a single traumatic wound until the end of the current engagement.
* **Recipe:** One dram of Boyar's Beard and one dram of Northern Vervain.

### Bloodharrow Philtre

A thin, slightly toxic elixir that harrows the blood of the one who drinks it. After a moment or two of agonising pain, the body is purged of venom, and of some minor poisons.

* **Form/Description:** Liquid.
* **Form/Description:** This translucent red liquid has tiny white particles suspended in it. It has a spicy scent, and a tiny amount on your tongue or your finger tingles unpleasantly for a moment.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** Pain spreads rapidly through your body; you feel as if your blood is on fire. After a moment or two, the pain fades.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You lose the venom condition.
* **Recipe:** One dram Varushkan Roseweald and one dram of Boyar's Beard.

### Elixir Vitae

This potent healing elixir captures the essence of Northern Vervain to restore health and vitality. It is a common preparation in the Empire, carried by warriors and healers alike, and many can identify the clear, slightly sticky liquid on sight.

* **Form:** Liquid.
* **Description:** This translucent liquid is tinted a pale blue-green. It has a clean, fresh scent. A tiny drop of the sticky fluid on your tongue or your finger tingles pleasantly for a moment.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** A warm glow spreads quickly through your body, removing pain, revitalising your spirit and creating a sense of enormous well-being.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You regain all lost hits.
* **Recipe:** One dram of Northern Vervain and one dram of Red Nettle

### Feverfail Elixir

This elixir drives out the lingering effects of enervation. It is occasionally useful in treating symptoms that include excessive tiredness or dizziness.

* **Form:** Liquid.
* **Description:** This translucent grey liquid smells faintly of spring flowers. A tiny drop of the thick, syrupy fluid on your tongue causes a grimace - it tastes a little like spoiled milk.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** You feel nauseous. A dizzying chill spreads through your body, leaving you incapacitated for a few moments. Both effects clear as quickly as they arose, leaving you feeling revitalised.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You lose the weakness condition.
* **Recipe:** One dram of Sovereign's Fingers and one dram of Varushkan Roseweald.

### Ossean Balm

This blue salve is used to rapidly restore a ruined limb. The treatment forms a thick crust over the damage limb, causing it to become stiff and immobile for a few moments, after which the damaged skin peels away to reveal fresh and undamaged material beneath.

* **Form:** Salve.
* **Description:** This blue cream has no discernable scent. It has a gritty, sandy texture and quickly dries when you rub it between finger and thumb, leaving a thin crust that soon flakes away. It tastes disgusting.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** The salve forms a thick crust over your damaged limb, leaving it stiff and immobile for a few moments, after which the damaged skin peels away to reveal undamaged flesh beneath.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You regain the use of a limb that has been ruined by cleave or impale.
* **Recipe:** One dram of Red Nettle and one dram of Sovereign's Fingers.

### Mageblood

This thick red liquid visibly contains finely-chopped particulate and has a slightly salty taste; all factors that contribute to its common name. The fact that the philtre has proved to be most popular with magicians who focus on healing spells has only helped to reinforce this naming convention, to the point where the original Urizen name - *The Philtre of Celestial Excellence* has fallen out of use except among the most traditionally minded.

* **Form:** Liquid
* **Description:** This red liquid contains tiny particles of pale material suspended within it. It is very thick, and smells faintly of copper. A tiny droplet on your tongue reveals it to have a surprisingly salty flavour.
* **Roleplaying Effects:** You feel an urge to gaze in wonder at the world around you for a few moments.
* **Mechanical Effects:** You regain up to 2 points of spent personal mana. If you do not have personal mana, the preparation has no effect.
* **Recipe:** one dram True Vervain and one dram Imperial Roseweald.