On Nightshade
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: On Nightshade
Author: Raedyn
The following will cover moral, practical, and ethical issues involving Nightshade and it's many uses. The following is for educational purposes only, and is not a guide on the use of Nightshade.
Nightshade is alone in the world of medicinal herbs. It is one of the only known herbs to have medicinal purposes while still acting as a powerful poison if prepared right. This in itself does not make Nightshade singular, but what does is the fact that it can also be smoked like tobacco. No other poisonous leaf has this characteristic, which creates a specifically difficult moral dilemma.
Nightshade can be dried, boiled, crushed, powdered, liquified, etc..
In dried form, it is most potent. Dried Nightshade stem is the most poisonous of any of the preparations. Drying the plant amplifies the effects considerably, as well as altering the effects of the stem. The stem itself becomes much less poisonous, and is the part that can be rolled and smoked when dried.
When smoked, the specially prepared Nightshade produces a relaxation and carefreeness in the consumer, making it a popular herb to some.
This also brings about certain laws regarding the usage of Nightshade in certain governed areas.
Also when dried, the leaves can be powdered to produce a powerful sedative. Only one sprinkle of this sedative will cause a person to sleep for anywhere between ten to twelve hours, though in some rare cases it lasted longer.
The Nightshade, when boiled, creates a nightshade-tea that works in stages. It starts, after consumption, to produce similar effects as smoked Nightshade stem. But as time progresses, the drinker will become drowsy and relaxed, eventually falling into a deep, coma-like sleep. The effets will wear off in anywhere from six to eight hours.
The berries of a nightshade plant are infact where the poisonous bits come from. The juices of the berries are drawn from the meat of the fruit by liquifying through grinding, smashing, or otherwise pulverizing the berries and extracting the juices. When tasted, the juices are very sweet, but very poisonous.
When this concentrated form of the poison (just the berry juice) is mixed with a mixture of boiled nightshade leaves, the common poison used to coat weapons is produced. This poison varies in strength dependant on how diluted the pure poison has become and how well the poison was prepared.
So, as you can see, Nightshade is indeed a diverse plant and alone in the plant-universe in that it's many uses can be construed as positive or negative, depending on how one sees it. Unlike other medicinal herbs, it's usage is not clean cut, so it is suggested that only an experienced physician attempt to use it for it's medicinal purposes. It is strongly advised against to smoke Nightshade stem, as it has been known to have adverse effects after long-term use.
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