Magic recipe

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

This is the recipe that accompanied the letter:

In a silver chalice, combine a scant handful each of angelica, germander, fumitory, and dragon's heart. Add enough fresh water to make it liquid, but not so much that it can be seen through.

As the full moon rises, place in the chalice up to three pearls of exceptional size and quality. Stir the chalice three times from right to left with the horn of a unicorn, all the while chanting these words:

Pearl and silver, dragon's heart,
Unicorn's horn for healing art.
Powers of Phthenoth I implore
To infuse their power evermore.

After the ritual is complete, the pearls may glow faintly if all has gone exceptionally well.

Each pearl will provide a ward against disease to the one who carries it, as long as it receives no scratch or mark. It can also be swallowed as a potent cure for every wound and ailment.

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OOC requirements:

Craft Wondrous Item
Cure Critical Wounds
Lesser Restoration
Remove Disease

A pearl of the required quality will cost at least 1200 gp.

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Three of the herbs are from real life:

Fumitory: A member of the poppy family. Believed to have great powers and therefore something witches were known to collect. The name comes from the French fumiterre, meaing smoke of earth. Legend says the plant does not come from seeds but from vapors at the center of the earth. the smoke of this plant is known for it's magical properties of purification and protection.

Germander: a member of the mint family. It is associated with the oak and so has similar protective properties. It has a reputation for curing gout, for example. It was also popular in medieval times in "strewing" -- casting fragrant herbs on the floor to mask unpleasant odors.

Angelica: Known for centuries in Scandinavia for protection against almost every disease, for purifying the blood and as a remedy for poisons. The plant is associated with pagan festivals in early summer. As an amulet, all parts of the plant are believed to be useful in neutralizing spells and enchantments.

Dragon's heart is a fictional herb. It has a dark red flower that never fully opens, and red spots on its leaves that look like drops of blood. It is a rare herb, very difficult to cultivate. It is used by druids as an potent ingredient with associations of power and healing.

Comments

[cellio]

Very nicely done. And handing us an actual piece of paper rather than saying "you find this recipe" was nice. (Ditto the letter.)

Last night I recognized the first three as real (though I didn't know what fumitory was -- just that I'd heard of it), and this had a probably-unintended consequence: I looked at it, saw "herbs", and handed it to the druid's player without reading the rest. (I was also being a slow reader and feared I might be slowing the game down.) Oops.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's a collaborative project :-)

I've also pointed out that we could just convince a live unicorn to help us out...Liandra would be troubled by the other option...though I suppose we could scour every market we visit. ;-)

[cellio]

Ok, so that's at least three of us who noticed that it didn't say the horn couldn't be attached to the unicorn. :-) (Dani and I had that conversation on the way home from the game.)

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Yup. And our kindly DM has said that a live unicorn will work...I think he has, at least. So that part will be a job for "animal friendship" and/or "speak with animals."