Concoctions

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 1, and begin reading.

The purpose of this journal is to provide a study guide in order to familiarize you with the art of concoctions and the herbal lore of Aetolia. You will need to be familiar with the contents of this journal in order to be promoted out of novicehood.

Contents


An Introduction to Concoctions - Page 2
Laws and Guidelines of Concoctions - Page 3
Basic Herb Lore - Page 4
Harvesting - Page 5
Herbs and Where To Find Them - Page 6
The Various Effects of Herbs - Page 7
On Elixirs and Salves - Page 8
Overharvesting - Page 9

Also, be sure to read the book "Divine Temples, where NOT to harvest" in our library, HELP LAWS DUIRAN and the journal in Eleusis for additional information. You will be required to know this information before you gain the ability to do Concoctions.

Acknowledgement

This book is an edited version of "Concoctions" written by the following Truro Digby


First edited by Jaakobah.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 2, and begin reading.

An Introduction to Concoctions
After graduating from novicehood, you will gain the privilege of using the concoctions skill. HELP CONCOCTIONS and AB CONCOCTIONS ability, will show you a description along with what is needed to create an elixir or salve.

Concoctions is the art of harvesting herbs from the wilds, and applying them for a wide variety of purposes. Herbs can be used for healing of afflictions, to assist in learning, to give oneself deathsight, to restore lost health and mana, and many other purposes. Their uses can be applied in their raw natural form, or they can be turned into potent elixirs and salves through the concoctionist's art. It is a great ability, but with such ability comes great responsibility. Amidst the pages of this text one can learn what they need to know in order to effectively utilize herbs.

As a novice you will not be required to know all the afflictions and what cures them, however it is greatly suggested that you do so fairly promptly. Knowing what cures and prevents certain afflictions can easily be a life and death matter throughout your journeys.

Very few implements are required in order to perform the concoctionist's art. A cache is necessary to store harvested herbs and keep them fresh.
A cache can be acquired by touching the statue of Tad Vlar that stands north of the Green Lake, off the Prelatorian highway. To put a herb in your cache, "inc # (herbname)", to get herbs out again, "outc # (herbname)". Your cache can hold up to 2000 of each kind of herb at one time (and can also store inks and commodities). A pot is needed in order to brew elixirs and mix salves in, and vials are needed to store the results. A drying cloth may be used to preserve herbs mainly for use in pipes, but will severely reduce the dried ingredients' effectiveness when used for making a concoction.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 3, and begin reading.

Laws and Guidelines of Concoctions
The laws relating to concoctions are actually quite simple, but their importance is profound. There are penalties to be incurred for the breaking of these laws, so always make certain to adhere strictly to them.

#1. You will only be able to learn up to "mana" in concoctions if you are GR1 - Green Thumb or a Young Tree. Once you obtain GR2 - Cultivator and are a Great Tree you may learn up to "health". Upon reaching GR3 - Gatherer of Mistletoe and acquiring full Druid status you may learn as high as you wish.

#2. Never harvest from another Druid's grove! Make sure to use your perceive skill in Groves in order to determine if a forestal location has been imprinted by another Druid before harvesting any plants from that location. Keep in mind that some Druids also have their groves in the jungle.

#3. Never overharvest! Herbs can be harvested down to a minimum number of remaining plants, which is 5 for both perennials and annuals (perennial and annual herbs will be covered on the next page). To determine how many plants are in a location, use the command "plants" to give you a list of all types and numbers remaining in that location.
Always use this command before you start harvesting an area! If you find an overharvested location, you should report it, which shall be covered later in this text.

#4. Never harvest from a Divine Temple, City or the Heartwood of Duiran.
You aren't allowed to harvest there, without the express permission of that God, Goddess, or city administration. Remember to use SURVEY, as some Divine Temples are located in their own areas. HELP LAWS DUIRAN and the book on temple locations found in our library should all be read. If you are unsure ask over GNT and don't harvest until you ARE sure.

Remember -- do not break these important laws!
Concoctions is a privilege granted to us by nature. It should be appreciated and NOT treated as merely a business venture. As such, the Druids have a pricing guide which provides guidelines for minimum herb prices. These recommended values are meant to impress upon others the innate value of Nature's Gifts. Remember the goals of a Druid are to prevent over-use and waste in every aspect of nature. There is usually a copy of a current pricing guide to be found in the realm's advertisements (ADS).

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 4, and begin reading.

Basic Herb Lore

Herbs are to be found in all of the wild places of Aetolia. Different sorts of herbs are found in different locations, which will be coveredon page 6. To utilize most herbs in their raw forms, simply "eat (herbname)".

There are two categories which herbs fall under, either annuals, or perennials. Annuals only grow once per year, and perennials grow throughout the year.

Annual herbs are- Kola, Elm, Myrrh, Ash, Sileris, Pear, Hawthorn, and Bayberry.

All other herbs are perennials.

Remember, the minimum all herbs can be harvested down to is five per room. See page 9 for information regarding overharvesting.

If the herbs of an area are gone for some reason (because of a fire, for example), they can be replanted with the planting skill in Concoctions.
There is not a need to replant more than five perennials or one annual in a room which needs replanting, they will grow back on their own. An herb must be very newly harvested to be replanted.

Some elixirs and salves require the use of non-herbal components, such as the venom sac of a rattlesnake, the feather of an eagle or the skin from a sidewinder. These creatures need to be hunted, and the component harvested from them. Diamond dust is also a non-herbal component for several concoctions, and may be purchased from several shops.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 5, and begin reading.

Harvesting

Harvesting herbs is quite simple, just "harvest (herbname)" while in a location which produces that sort of herb. Check "plants" to make sure you do not overharvest. Don't forget to "perceive" the when in a forest or jungle to make certain that it is not another Druid's grove, and "survey" to make sure it's not a Divine Temple, city or the Heartwood of Duiran. A book on divine temple locations is in the east wing library under the 'Novice Reference' section.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 6, and begin reading.

Herbs and Where to Find Them

All locations of a certain terrain type produce the same sorts of herbs.
Any forest area will grow the same herbs, any desert area will grow the same herbs, and so on.

Forest - In the forests, you will find Myrrh, Ginseng, Ginger, Lobelia, Echinacea (called Purple Coneflower), and Elm.

Hills - Hawthorn and Bayberry grow in the hills.

Mountains - Mountainous regions produce Valerian.

Plains - In the plains one will find Goldenseal and Lady's Slipper.

Jungle - Kola, Skullcap, and Kuzu can be found in the jungle.

Desert - Prickly Pear and Cactus weed grow in the desert.

Swamp - The swamps are home to Ash, Cohosh, and Bellwort.

Water - The Kelp plant grows in the water.

Caves - Within caves one can find Bloodroot and Moss.

Valleys - The Sileris berry grows within valleys.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 7, and begin reading.

The Various Effects of Herbs

Herbs can perform a variety of functions, from healing afflictions to assisting in learning. For an overview of these, see "help healinglist" and "help cures". Not all herbs are eaten - sileris berry, for instance, is applied ("apply sileris"), and valerian is smoked in a pipe ("put valerian in pipe", "light pipe with tinderbox", "smoke pipe"). Some herbs are used in a variety of ways, such as skullcap, which can be smoked to produce an aura of weapons rebounding, or eaten to form a link with the Underking and bestow the deathsight. Other herbs such as Kuzu, Ginger and Lady's Slipper are currently only useful in elixirs and salves.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 8, and begin reading.

On Elixirs and Salves

Elixirs and salves are a potent blend of herbs, used for restoring health and mana, mending broken limbs, and many other functions. For an overview of elixirs and salves and what they do, see "help healinglist".

To use an elixir, you "sip" it, for example, "sip health". To use a salve, you "apply" it, for example, "apply mending".

To create elixirs and salves, you mix them in a pot. To put an herb in a pot to be brewed, use "inpot (herbname) pot". Make sure you get the ingredients correct, otherwise, your elixir or salve will certainly fail. To brew the elixir, "drop pot" and "boil pot for (elixir/salvename)". Then, you can pick up your pot, and "fill vial from pot"- the vial must be empty of course. More than one elixir or salve can be created at the same time, up to five batches at once - provided the necessary ingredients for each one are in the pot. HELP CONCOCTIONS for a full list of pot related commands.

There are three factors that determine whether or not you are successful at your concoction. First is the freshness of the ingredients. If you use them within an hour of harvesting them, you will have the best chance, after that, your chance is reduced. After 3/4 of a day, the ingredients, if they come from a plant, will disintegrate. Non-organic ingredients are useful forever and their effectiveness does not decrease with time. The second factor is your skill level, and the third is the particular concoction you are trying to make. Note that dried herbs are currently practically useless for use in concoctions.

You open a personal journal entitled, "Concoctions" to the bookmark, on page 9, and begin reading.

Overharvesting

If you find a room that has been overharvested, report it to the Secretary of Nature. To find out who that is read project 243, HELP PROJECTS. Send them a message including the name of the area, what room, what herb has been overharvested, how many have been overharvested, and the name of the overharvester. You should also include if the room was replanted, and if applicable anyone who assisted you in replanting. This message should also be sent to the Duiran Benandanti of Leaves.

To find the name use "lastharvest" in concoctions, if you are unable to lastharvest, ask on GNT, and someone will near certainly come and to help determine the culprit.

Should you be the one who overharvested, make sure that you report yourself to the Secretary of Nature and find out what fines you will need to pay, and to whom you must pay it. At the time of this was update the fines were located in DC 532.