The Puckberry Bane
Despite recent scientific advances in the world of Alven, there are still fear and superstitions attached to certain ailments. One of them is linked to a beautiful low shrub common throughout the northern region of Alven: the Puckberry.
Touching or ingesting any part of the plant is meant to transport you to The Feywild. and it is said that once a person has traveled there and back, they will never be the same again.
The Puckberry is named after the tricksy imp of the same name. According to the legends, Puck is wont to materialize in this plane to trick mortals into tasting and touching the beautiful flowers and berries of the plant as they pass by it in the forest.
Puck then brings the mind of the afflicted back to the Feywild. This he does at the behest of the Queens of the realm who, in turn, will do as they please with the trapped souls.
The plant itself is very beautiful in appearance: no higher than a meter and a half, it sports lustrous evergreen dark blue metallic leaves.
The foliage makes a soft tinkling sound in the wind.
The shrub flowers nearly all year round - it is one of the earliest spring-flowering shrubs in the harsh boreal forests of the north.
The flowers themselves are huge and breathtaking: the inflorescences take the shape of brilliant white, sweet-smelling saucers that cluster at the end of its drooping branches.
In Foggham and throughout the Dark Months of the year, the flowers transform slowly into juicy, fleshy, brilliant red berries. According to the unfortunates who have tasted the fruits, the berries have an excellent flavor: a heady mix of sweet and zesty savors.
Distribution
The Puckberry grows in great quantity in certain parts of the northern forests of Farden and Cauldfell. It likes a sunny clearing below the dark pines.
The places where the Puckberry grows in abundance are said to hide passages and tunnels to the Feywild. Many stories abound of pixies and fairies cavorting in summer within the saucer-like flowers.
Despite their terrible beauty, villagers and woodsmen alike shun the glades where the shrubs grow and teach their children from a very early age not to go near the treacherous plants.
Adult clansmen are rarely affected by the condition as they know how to keep away from the nefarious influence of the plant.
However, curious children will be prone to touch the plants if they are left without supervision in the woods, and can become afflicted by the condition commonly called 'The Bane'.
Often a child or teenager will be found 'asleep' beside a Puckberry. Traditional healing herbs or religious rituals will have no effect in waking them up.
The only thing that parents and families can do is take the child home and wait for them to come back to this world and consciousness.
In some instances, the child will never wake up and will be forever 'playing page' in the court of the Summer or Winter Queen. Most of the time, the child will wake up and return to live a near-normal life.
The condition is likely to leave a few sequels:
For the first year after falling ill, the affected person will feel distant and listless and have difficulties concentrating on learning tasks.
Folks talk about the 'Fey Ladies' trying to bring their servant back to their realm. Sometimes, it seems they succeed as patients continue to suffer narcoleptic bouts - The afflicted can be found fast asleep at any time of the day.
In the years to come, these episodes occur less and less, but, it is said you can always tell a person who has been struck by the Bane. It is noticeable in the vagueness of their stare and how their eyes wander away sometimes in the middle of a conversation.
They often seem away somewhere else - maybe back to the enchanted land they visited so many years ago and they cannot forget.
Another much-feared development of the Puckberry Bane, and one that is hushed down among the northern clansmen, is the possible development of strange abilities in the sufferers.
Magic abilities are usually the preserve of the Chieftain's families as they are passed down from one generation to another and are in the main very rare.
These abilities are monitored and sanctioned by the Thane and The Archive . They are needed to power the clan's weapon:the Rod of Power .
The power rods are the lynchpin of the country's class system and wild magic has no place in Alven society anymore.
For a clansman's child to develop a magical potential is not always a boon, especially if these abilities are thought to have been granted by the Feys.
However, The Sanctuary and the Archive are always on the lookout for 'talented' people, and a gifted son or daughter with the right connections can be sponsored by the clan Chieftain, get an education and enter one of the Orders' schools.
For unsponsored and uneducated magic wielders who operate outside the confines of an Order, life is more difficult. They and their family are likely to live in fear of discovery for the rest of their lives.
Twenty years ago, Arcanists Gustall Bloodtail and Eagor Drovart, both of Clan Ravenscraig published experiments that identified the Puckberry as containing a powerful psychotropic drug that affects the mind of the sufferers in yet unexplained ways.
The link to the Feywild has been dismissed as Old Wves' tales. However, the Arcanists were in no doubt about the dangers of the substance present in all parts of the plant.
The story of Gustall's death was reported in gory details in the fashionable Gazettes of Alven. It was much talked about throughout the land and brought the Puckberry to the attention of the cosmopolitan cities of Alven.
It was not long before this relatively unknown plant of the northern fringes acquired a certain mystique and was reputedly used in some well-known assassination attempts in the capital. I do not think we have heard the last of the Puckberry yet.
Touching or ingesting any part of the plant is meant to transport you to The Feywild. and it is said that once a person has traveled there and back, they will never be the same again.
The Plant and Lore
The Puckberry is named after the tricksy imp of the same name. According to the legends, Puck is wont to materialize in this plane to trick mortals into tasting and touching the beautiful flowers and berries of the plant as they pass by it in the forest.
Puck then brings the mind of the afflicted back to the Feywild. This he does at the behest of the Queens of the realm who, in turn, will do as they please with the trapped souls.
Leaves
The plant itself is very beautiful in appearance: no higher than a meter and a half, it sports lustrous evergreen dark blue metallic leaves.
The foliage makes a soft tinkling sound in the wind.
Flower
The shrub flowers nearly all year round - it is one of the earliest spring-flowering shrubs in the harsh boreal forests of the north.
The flowers themselves are huge and breathtaking: the inflorescences take the shape of brilliant white, sweet-smelling saucers that cluster at the end of its drooping branches.
Fruit
In Foggham and throughout the Dark Months of the year, the flowers transform slowly into juicy, fleshy, brilliant red berries. According to the unfortunates who have tasted the fruits, the berries have an excellent flavor: a heady mix of sweet and zesty savors.
Distribution
The Puckberry grows in great quantity in certain parts of the northern forests of Farden and Cauldfell. It likes a sunny clearing below the dark pines.
The places where the Puckberry grows in abundance are said to hide passages and tunnels to the Feywild. Many stories abound of pixies and fairies cavorting in summer within the saucer-like flowers.
Despite their terrible beauty, villagers and woodsmen alike shun the glades where the shrubs grow and teach their children from a very early age not to go near the treacherous plants.
Symptoms
Adult clansmen are rarely affected by the condition as they know how to keep away from the nefarious influence of the plant.
However, curious children will be prone to touch the plants if they are left without supervision in the woods, and can become afflicted by the condition commonly called 'The Bane'.
Often a child or teenager will be found 'asleep' beside a Puckberry. Traditional healing herbs or religious rituals will have no effect in waking them up.
The only thing that parents and families can do is take the child home and wait for them to come back to this world and consciousness.
In some instances, the child will never wake up and will be forever 'playing page' in the court of the Summer or Winter Queen. Most of the time, the child will wake up and return to live a near-normal life.
Sequels
The condition is likely to leave a few sequels:
Folks talk about the 'Fey Ladies' trying to bring their servant back to their realm. Sometimes, it seems they succeed as patients continue to suffer narcoleptic bouts - The afflicted can be found fast asleep at any time of the day.
They often seem away somewhere else - maybe back to the enchanted land they visited so many years ago and they cannot forget.
Magic abilities are usually the preserve of the Chieftain's families as they are passed down from one generation to another and are in the main very rare.
These abilities are monitored and sanctioned by the Thane and The Archive . They are needed to power the clan's weapon:the Rod of Power .
The power rods are the lynchpin of the country's class system and wild magic has no place in Alven society anymore.
For a clansman's child to develop a magical potential is not always a boon, especially if these abilities are thought to have been granted by the Feys.
However, The Sanctuary and the Archive are always on the lookout for 'talented' people, and a gifted son or daughter with the right connections can be sponsored by the clan Chieftain, get an education and enter one of the Orders' schools.
For unsponsored and uneducated magic wielders who operate outside the confines of an Order, life is more difficult. They and their family are likely to live in fear of discovery for the rest of their lives.
Scientific and Arcane Advances
Twenty years ago, Arcanists Gustall Bloodtail and Eagor Drovart, both of Clan Ravenscraig published experiments that identified the Puckberry as containing a powerful psychotropic drug that affects the mind of the sufferers in yet unexplained ways.
The link to the Feywild has been dismissed as Old Wves' tales. However, the Arcanists were in no doubt about the dangers of the substance present in all parts of the plant.
As if to prove their point, Gustall passed away shortly after his work was published after he experimented with the plant himself. He never woke up one morning.
Cultural Developments
The story of Gustall's death was reported in gory details in the fashionable Gazettes of Alven. It was much talked about throughout the land and brought the Puckberry to the attention of the cosmopolitan cities of Alven.
It was not long before this relatively unknown plant of the northern fringes acquired a certain mystique and was reputedly used in some well-known assassination attempts in the capital. I do not think we have heard the last of the Puckberry yet.
Type
Neurological
This is very interesting. It makes me wonder how many people accidentally touched them back before their effects were known and got trapped in the feywild. Wonderful job :)
Yes, that the thing. You could dismiss or believe the tales - I left it very open-ended on purpose. Glad it worked. Thanks for reading and commenting.