Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for nutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits.
Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, aromatic and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered as "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and cambium), resin and pericarp.
Herbalists have always tended to rely on local knowledge and lore concerning various herbs handed down from teacher to student; textbooks on herbs and their uses are rare -- perhaps due to widespread illiteracy in rural areas of the Old World where knowledge of herbal medicine is strongest.[1a]
Notable Herbs[]
Agurk[]
- Other Nomenclatures: In the Empire agurk is also known as zitterwort, in the Moot it is called shiverweed, trema in Tilea, gysenblat in Norsca, and echryddeillen among the Elves.
- Availability: Rare
- Locality: Grassland
- Season: Autumn
- Inhaling the fumes from an infusion of agurk causes mild shaking for three hours. Conversely, a draught of agurk is a potentially fatal toxin.[2a] [3a]
Alfunas[]
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Coniferous forest
- Season: Summer, Autumn
- The fleshy leaves of this plant, ground into a paste, halve the normal healing time for a dislocated or broken bone if one dose is smeared on the site of the injury every day until healing is complete.[2a]
Earth Root[]
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Grasslands
- Season: Summer
- This herb is ingested to negate the effects of buboes caused by the Black Plague (though the swellings are still significant).[2a]
Faxtoryll[]
- Availability: Exotic
- Locality: Mountains
- Season: Spring
- When smeared on a wound, poultices made from this herbal coagulant staunch all bleeding from wounds.[2a]
Gesundheit[]
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Mixed forest
- Season: Winter, Spring
- A poultice of gesundheit leaves can applied to a festering wound to eliminate the infection. This application can be repeated with a fresh poultice no more than once daily, until the wound is no longer festering.[2a]
Graveroot[]
- Other Nomenclatures: Graveroot is also known as grobwort, dead man's finger, ghostbane and Morr's root.
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Forest clearings, graveyards
- Season: Autumn, Winter
- Smeared on a weapon, the congealed sap from the raw tuber of this plant is poisonous to Undead creatures. A poultice of graveroot, smeared on a festering wound caused by an Undead creature, can eliminate the infection. It has no effect on wounds caused by creatures that are not Undead. Somewhat strangely, a properly prepared draught of graveroot induces a deathly pallor in any who consume it, and the imbiber's flesh becomes cold to the touch for a few hours. If there is any useful purpose to such draughts, it remains unknown to most.[2a] [3a]
Juck[]
- Other Nomenclatures: Juck is also known as nettlesap, klosaft, and itching weed.
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Forest
- Season: Spring
- This herb is used mainly for practical jokes, and is a particular favourite of rural children. A few minutes after being smeared with the juice of the plant's leaves, the treated area begins to itch horribly, and the afflicted gets a terrible need to scratch. A more useful, if less common use for juck is as a treatment for frostbite. An application of a poultice containing juck to the damaged extremities can help to speed up healing. This treatment can be repeated daily.[2a] [3a]
Mage-Leaf[]
- Other Nomenclatures: The Elven name for mage-leaf is daionillyseiwyn which means "the good plant" in Eltharin. In Norsca it is known as troldblat, in Bretonnia as feuille sorceiere, in Tilea as folimaggi, and in Albion as draodill, which means "the leaf of the druids."
- Availability: Exotic
- Locality: Hills
- Season: Spring
- Mage-leaf is eaten raw, with the leaves remaining potent for a week after picking. As its name suggests, it is used exclusively by spellcasters to enhance their magical abilities.[2a] [3a]
Nightshade[]
- Availability: Rare
- Locality: Coniferous forest
- Season: Autumn
- Consuming this herb causes the victim to fall into a deep sleep after 2-3 hours. A nightshade slumber lasts up to 14 hours.[2a]
Schlafenkraut[]
- Other Nomenclatures: In the Moot schlafenkraut is known as dreamleaf, in Tilea as dormifolio, and to the Elves as paraudiel.
- Availability: Rare
- Locality: Grassland
- Season: Spring
- An infusion of schlafenkraut takes effect a few minutes after drinking, bringing on a normal sleep; for the first four hours of this sleep, the patient's chances of being woken by noise are halved. After four hours the herb's effect wears off, and the patient sleeps normally. A draught of schlafenkraut works in much the same way, but the effects come on a little faster but do not typically last as long. A draught of schlafenkraut will bring on normal sleep in a few minutes, but the chances of waking are halved for only the first two hours of sleep.[2a] [3a]
Salwort[]
- Availability: Common
- Locality: Mixed forest
- Season: Autumn, Winter
- When held under someone's nose, the aroma from a crushed sprig of this herb clears the mind of a stunned person.[2a]
Sigmafoil[]
- Availability: Common
- Locality: Marsh
- Season: Summer
- A lightly wounded person who is treated with this preparation will recover their wounds that day, no matter how they exert themselves, but provided they do not get wounded again.
Slowmind[]
- Availability: Rare
- Locality: Marsh
- Season: Autumn
- Slowmind is a very mild nerve toxin. The infusion has a bitter taste, and if added to a drink, a person may detect that something is amiss. Only one dose may be administered at a time -- additional doses have no effect. A poultice made from this plant has an entirely separate effect -- slathered on a fresh wound each dose immediately staunches bleeding wounds. However, any more than one dose may cause the same negative effects caused by drinking an infusion of slowmind.[2a]
Speckled Rustwort[]
- Availability: Rare
- Locality: Hills
- Season: Spring
- This herb is ingested to combat the effects of Packer's Pox. A draught of rustworth does not provide this protection, but can be used to treat an active case of Packer's Pox. Each dose reduces the duration of the disease by a few days. Taking more than one dose in a single day, however, causes nausea for the following few hours.[2a]
Spellwort[]
- Other Nomenclatures: Spellwort is the name of tbis herb as it is known in the Moot. Other names include unzauber, wizard's bane, feuille contraire and witch hunter's friend.
- Availability: Exotic
- Locality: Forest
- Season: Summer
- Spellwort is related to mage-leaf, but has a slightly different effect. Instead of increasing magical energy, it interferes with it. A spellcaster who drinks an infusion of spellwort suffers a penalty to spellcasting for a number of hours, but enjoys an increased resistance to the effects of magic during that time. A draught of spellwort provides much the same drawback and benefit as an infusion, but the effects last for only one hour. However, during that hour, anyone who imbibes a draught of spellwort will appear completely mundane to witchsight, and all traces of lingering magic about their person will be removed. This effect is lost if the subject uses any magic at all during this time, however. Witch hunters across the Empire have attempted to suppress any knowledge of this application of the herb, with mixed success.[2a] [3a]
Spiderleaf[]
- Availability: Common
- Locality: Coniferous Forest
- Season: Autumn
- Bound to a wound with a tight bandage, a poultice of spiderleaf heals a bleeding wound. In its raw form, spiderleaf is somewhat less effective.[2a]
Tarrabeth[]
- Availability: Common
- Locality: Mixed Forest
- Season: Summer
- Smeared on a wound, a poultice of tarrabeth sends the patient into a deep sleep lasting for 24 hours. Applied to a blade, or more commonly an arrow head, too little of the herb will be introduced to cause the deep sleep for which tarrabeth is known. However, those wounded by such a weapon will still find themselves becoming terribly tired. A single dose of tarrabeth can coat one weapon, or three arrows or bolts.[2a]
Trinkwort[]
- Other Nomenclatures: In the Moot trinkwort is known as sober-root, and the Elves call it as corrylliamid.
- Availability: Exotic
- Locality: Forest
- Season: Autumn
- Trinkwort is a bitter-tasting tuber that has the strange property of neutralising the effects of alcohol.[2a] [3a]
Valerian[]
- Availability: Common
- Locality: Mixed Forest
- Season: Spring
- Prepared as an infusion, a cup of valerian tea restores health to the drinker. The dose may be repeated once per day, but valerian has no effect on particularly critical wounds.[2a]
Vanera[]
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Hills
- Season: Spring
- Vanera is a stimulant which removes the need for rest. It is most commonly used for convalescence, where the patient cannot rest for some reason. For a few hours after the dose is taken, the person is treated as resting, but may undertake any kind of activity. If the person rests, the benefits of rest are doubled. When the dose wears off, the user suffers a splitting headache, which lasts for an hour.[2a]
Vigwort[]
- Other Nomenclatures: Vigwort is also known as fidget jumpweed and folia vitae.
- Availability: Scarce
- Locality: Grassland
- Season: Summer
- This herb is a mild stimulant, and a cup of vigwort tea increases a person's reaction speed for a few minutes. After this time, the patient can often be worse off than they were to start with.[2a] [3a]