09-29-2007, 11:02 PM
By Eltrin Sofir
Alchemist and Scholar of The Arcane University
The wilds of Elsweyr are a formidable place to travellers, and especially so in the deep forests of the south. Mile upon mile of inhospitable, unwelcoming terrain, its dangers enhanced by the looming shadows of strange predators in the confines of the jungle. Yet it was during my travels through these areas that I first heard of the mysterious Sertwith Root.
En route to Senchal vie the Tenmar Forest, I happened upon a Khajiti woman sitting by the side of the road. Since the road had been long and my legs were exhausted, I decided to rest for a while with her. Conversation as stiff at first, but eventually, after learning of my interest in the native flora of Elsweyr, conversation drifted towards the rare and wonderful ingredients of the forest. And then she mentioned the Sertwith Root.
'Very rare it is. Magicks great. Can cure violent fever, but may leave Madgod's marks on you, yes. Bald one not find it, no. No bald ones go there, for they all lost and silly. I show you, follow, prey.'
So she led me to a grove, and showed me a seemingly normal tree, just like any other I had seen.... except this one... this one seemed to draw energy from the air itself, and there was almost a charge in the air around us. using one of her slender claws, she dug out a hole under the trees, and motioned me to watch as she effortlessly plucked a long root from the tree's depths. Handing it to me, I instantly felt that this was no normal root.
Proper examination ensued in the University, and I have deduced the following from the plant. One, that in certain cases it is able to cure diseases, but often at a cost to the consumer's intelligence or sanity. Yet its most remarkable attribute must be that when it is combined with an acidic mixture. It creates a poison so deadly that to even inhale its toxic perfumes can kill. I have lost several key test goblins from these experiments, but in one case, I was very puzzled.
I had been training a certain goblin to use magic to resist even the most noxious poisons - the end product of which was a goblin who was living on chokeberrys and nightshade. After losing several well fed and healthy specimens to this Sertwith drug, I concluded that in order to test the ability of resistance to the drug, I would feed it the acidic Sertwith Mixture. What happened next, astounds me to this day.
After taking the drug, the goblin wripped open his iron cage, and nearly punched through my magical shield surrounding his cage. He would have escaped were it not for a quick fireball from my apprentice Trevik Sintyre. Although more studies must certainly be carried out, I can only assertain that this is a root stranger than any I have yet witnessed.
Alchemist and Scholar of The Arcane University
The wilds of Elsweyr are a formidable place to travellers, and especially so in the deep forests of the south. Mile upon mile of inhospitable, unwelcoming terrain, its dangers enhanced by the looming shadows of strange predators in the confines of the jungle. Yet it was during my travels through these areas that I first heard of the mysterious Sertwith Root.
En route to Senchal vie the Tenmar Forest, I happened upon a Khajiti woman sitting by the side of the road. Since the road had been long and my legs were exhausted, I decided to rest for a while with her. Conversation as stiff at first, but eventually, after learning of my interest in the native flora of Elsweyr, conversation drifted towards the rare and wonderful ingredients of the forest. And then she mentioned the Sertwith Root.
'Very rare it is. Magicks great. Can cure violent fever, but may leave Madgod's marks on you, yes. Bald one not find it, no. No bald ones go there, for they all lost and silly. I show you, follow, prey.'
So she led me to a grove, and showed me a seemingly normal tree, just like any other I had seen.... except this one... this one seemed to draw energy from the air itself, and there was almost a charge in the air around us. using one of her slender claws, she dug out a hole under the trees, and motioned me to watch as she effortlessly plucked a long root from the tree's depths. Handing it to me, I instantly felt that this was no normal root.
Proper examination ensued in the University, and I have deduced the following from the plant. One, that in certain cases it is able to cure diseases, but often at a cost to the consumer's intelligence or sanity. Yet its most remarkable attribute must be that when it is combined with an acidic mixture. It creates a poison so deadly that to even inhale its toxic perfumes can kill. I have lost several key test goblins from these experiments, but in one case, I was very puzzled.
I had been training a certain goblin to use magic to resist even the most noxious poisons - the end product of which was a goblin who was living on chokeberrys and nightshade. After losing several well fed and healthy specimens to this Sertwith drug, I concluded that in order to test the ability of resistance to the drug, I would feed it the acidic Sertwith Mixture. What happened next, astounds me to this day.
After taking the drug, the goblin wripped open his iron cage, and nearly punched through my magical shield surrounding his cage. He would have escaped were it not for a quick fireball from my apprentice Trevik Sintyre. Although more studies must certainly be carried out, I can only assertain that this is a root stranger than any I have yet witnessed.
hmmm - maybe the criminal elements will be 'interested' in this? Or maybe it is a trap ... is there adungeon coming on here?