As white and as delicate as a snowflake, Hrymsbane was once one of the most coveted of herbs. It grew high upon the mountain slopes, perched on cliffs of stone, waving in the frigid wind, the fragile petals shimmering in the warmthless light of the winter sun. I could not tell you how many expeditions, apothecaries, and desperate family members have been lost in the vain pursuit of Hrymsbane over the ages. But I can tell you that numerous corpses litter the mountainside and that many of them were put there by this one little flower.
These days we know better, but in those days any elder or physician worth their salt insisted that Hrymsbane, and Hrymsbane alone, could remedy some of the ills that winter brought. If a child caught a hacking cough, they would say that Hrymsbane tea would clear it up in minutes, though Barig's Thumb would do well enough over a couple of days. If you spent too long out in the cold and caught frost bite, they would say that an unguent of Hrymsbane would not only warm your extremities, but also restore your flesh. If, walking in the snowed-in woods you would get Llyngan's Blinding, they would say that all you need to do is drip Hrymsbane juice into your eyes to fix them in seconds.
Is it really so strange, then, that people pursued this little herb to the near-exclusion of everything else?— An Apothecary reflecting on the Hrymsbane Craze
A small flower that blossoms only in the heart of winter along
Winter's Wall in the southern reaches of
IldRenn, Hrymsbane was once sought out for its allegedly miraculous healing properties. Even though modern studies with regard to the efficacy of remedies created from Hrymsbane have conclusively proven that few, if any, of its alleged properties have any scientific merit, there are still traditionalists that swear on the curative properties of the plant.
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