Poison

From Mizahar Lore

Revision as of 11:38, 13 August 2009

Poison is the skill of creating or using poisons from plants, animals or a number of other sources both natural and beyond. Poisons, their use and effects are all a part of a large chain of various events that come together for a final and often fatal result. The wonder involved in poisons lies within each step of this chain where story and adventure takes place. There are effectively seven different links in this poisonous chain.

The Language When working with poisons one must understand the language involved in the art. Below is a list of different terms related to poisons as well as a brief description.

Antidote Antidotes may be tailored to specific poison families or poisons of a particular strength. An antidote differs from antitoxin, which merely helps combat the effects of a poison. | Contact A method of delivery that results in exposure when the target touches or is touched by the poison. A creature is exposed to contact poison if a poisoned item strikes the creature. A contact poison can take any form. Creatures without permeable skin are not susceptible to contact-delivered poisons. | Delivery Method The method by which the target is exposed to a poison. There are four types of delivery methods: injury, ingestion, inhalation, or contact. Poisons can be crafted in different ways to have different methods of delivery; however, a particular dose of poison on hand must only have one delivery method. | Dose A measurement of a single, functional unit of poison. The size of a dose depends on the type and nature of the poison. It may be one tablet, dram, ounce, nugget, pinch, etc. Generally, a dose of poison is a rather small amount. Element Each phase of a poison's damage may be composed of one or more elements. These are discrete components of damage. For example, in a poison that deals damage to one's physical health and agility as its initial damage, the health is one element of damage while the agility is another. | Existing Poison A poison that currently exists, even if the particular character does not know how to craft it. For example, though someone may not know how to extract a poison from a black lotus, there are people in the realm who do, it is bought and sold on the black market, and it would not shock an experienced assassin to come across it in the course of his endeavors. | Ingestion A method of delivery that results in exposure when the poison is metabolized by the target's digestion process. Typically, a poison can only be delivered by ingestion if it can be swallowed. Ingestion poisons are usually solids or liquids. Creatures that do not have digestive systems are not susceptible to ingestion-delivered poisons. | Inhalation A method of delivery that results in exposure when the target inhales the poison. Accordingly, a poison can only be delivered by inhalation if it is itself gaseous, can be delivered by aeration, or gives off toxic fumes. Not all gaseous poisons are inhalation poisons; such a poison could also be a contact poison. A creature that holds its breath can avoid exposure to inhalation-delivered poisons. Creatures that do not breathe are not susceptible to inhalation-delivered poisons. | Initial Damage The damage that a poison deals immediately upon exposure. | Injury A method of delivery that results in exposure when the poison is introduced into the target's bloodstream or related anatomical system. Generally this is accomplished by attacking the target with a poisoned weapon. Accordingly, an injury poison must be capable of being applied to a weapon. Any attack that causes damage is considered to expose the defender to the poison. Creatures without discernible anatomies are not susceptible to injury-delivered poisons. | Intended Poison The poison that the poisoncrafteris trying to create. Once created, it becomes poison on hand. | Known Poison A poison that a particular person knows how to craft.

Magical Poison A poison that is infused with magical energy in some way. The term, magical poison, includes two types of poisons: magically imbued poisons and magically modified poisons. | Magically Imbued Poison A poison that operates as a method of delivering a magical effect. In lieu of dealing typical poison-like damage, a magically imbued poison subjects the target to a particular magical effect. For example, someone skilled in both poisont and magecraft may be able to brew a poison that arouses a strong emotion in the target. | Magically Modified Poison A standard, nonmagical poison that has been altered by means of magic. For example, a dose of large scorpion poison may be enhanced to increase its toxicity. | Natural State Each poison has a natural state of solid, liquid, or gas. Some poisons may take different states during different stages of their use. For example, a lump of toxic mineral (solid) may give off poisonous fumes (gas) when dropped in water. A poison's natural state has an effect on how the poison is stored, applied, and delivered. The method of delivery will also have some bearing on the poison's natural state. | New Poison A poison that has never been crafted before, i.e., is not an existing poison. A skilled poisoner might be able to distill the bile from an giant sea-snake, where none before were successful. | Phase Each period of time that the target is susceptible to being affected by the poison. Many poisons have two phases of damage: initial and secondary with the first affect listed being the initial and the second being, well, secondary. | Poison Family A group of poisons of varying strengths and qualities that originate from a particular source material. For example, araneida, aquatic, and hedge root are all poison families. Poisons of the same family generally deal the same type of damage with varying degrees of strength. Often, the amount or duration of the damage increase as the size of the source material increases. For example, gargantuan spider poison deals the same type of damage as large spider poison but deals more of it. Some poisons are so unique that they do not belong to any poison family. | Poison on Hand A specific dose of poison that has already been created. | Potency The power of the damage dealt by the poison. |

Secondary Damage The subsequent damage dealt by a poison. Generally, a poison deals its secondary damage one minute after exposure unless otherwise noted. | Signature Poison A poison that is tailored to a specific and unique target, i.e., a particular person. It is the product of extensive toxicological research and study of the target. Normally, the purpose of such a dark endeavor is nothing less than the assassination of the target. | Single-Phase Poison A poison that lacks either initial or secondary damage, i.e., has only one phase. | Toxicity The ability of the poison to affect the target as measured by the amount, type and duration of the damage and efects. | Venom Poison produced naturally by a plant or animal and used by that organism. Many poisons can be crafted from the organs of animals, but that does not make them venoms. For example, the poison a scorpion delivers with its stinger is venom, but poison that may be crafted from a scorpion's liver is not. A venomous creature is one that has a poisonous natural attack or defense mechanism.

The Crafting of Known Poisons

The most common use of the skill is the creation of known poisons. The poisoner gathers the tools and ingredients necessary and attempts to craft a dose or doses of poison with which he or she is already familiar with. As the poisoner progresses in skill they may learn how to craft poisons from additional poison families and with greater toxicity.

Learning Additional Poisons

A poisoner may also learn how to craft a poison by examining a dose of poison on hand. This requires the identification, appraisal and overall breaking down of the poison and thus learning the ingredients and how much or many are needed to compose the poison on hand. The poisoner must still possess the skill level required to craft that particular type of poison. If they did not know how to craft from that particular poison family and have the skill level required to do so, they learn how to create related poisons within that family. Note that the particular dose of poison studied is used up in the process. Generally, learning a poison in this manner also requires mizas to be spent in the amount equal to the price of a particular dose of the poison.

Tools and Ingredients: To craft a poison, a poisoner needs a level working surface, some containers (beakers, test tubes, mixing bowls, etc.), specialized implements (precise knives, tweezers, a glass rod, mortar and pestle, etc.) and a heat source. Aside from the heat source, most of these tools can be acquired in an alchemists appraisal kit and an identification kit. Keep in mind that not all of these tools are required for every type of poison to be created. No respectable poisoner would undertake the art of poison without this equipment. Given the nature of their art, most poison laboratories are housed in secluded areas where they are hidden from those who would cause the poisoner trouble.

The poisoner must have the necessary ingredients on hand for the particular poison he is trying to create. In addition to the specific ingredients, some more general ones are used frequently such as binding agents, thickeners, desiccant, powders, etc. The cost of these items is considered in the cost of the poison to be crafted.

Method of Delivery: One must consider the method of delivery for the poison. Ingestion is usually the easiest delivery method and the fasted followed by injury. Inhalation and contact poisons are a bit more difficult and easier to defend against by comparison.

Toxicity and Duration: The more toxic a poison, the more difficult it is to craft. Thus the greater damage and more potent the effects, the higher level of skill the poisoner must have in order to craft it. Also, the greater the number of effects and longer duration requires greater skill in order to craft such a poison.

Crafting New Poisons

Where the crafting of existing poisons is largely science, the crafting of new poisons is an art. Developing a unique poison to serve a specific end, while a difficult skill to master, can be quite rewarding and can make a poisoner more efficient in dealing damage, destruction and death.

The Creation Process To create a new poison, the poisoner must first delineate the parameters of the poison. The poisoner identifies the poison he wants to invent, including all of the the source material, brewing process, and names. Once the poison is fully defined, the process for creating the first dose of a new poison is the same for creating an existing poison with the following exceptions.

Cost: The cost of crafting a dose of new poison is equal to double what it would otherwise cost using the rules for existing poisons.

Amount: The poisoner may only make one dose of a new poison. Any additional gold mizas worth that are created are wasted.

Subsequent Creation: By definition, once the new poison has been created, it is no longer a new poison. It becomes an existing poison and, for the poisoner, a known poison. Like other known poisons, its creation process is thus easier.

Signature Poisons

The pinnacle of poison is the creation of a signature poison, a solitary dose carefully tailored to snuff out the life of an unsuspecting and unfortunate target. The process is a lengthy one; indeed, it can take a score of years to succeed at the task. But the effect of the poison is as thorough as the dedication required to craft it. Only the vagaries of chance, the power of a prophecy, or a similar force of nature can thwart its vile goal.

Study: Creating a signature poison requires great amounts of study to be done on the particular target. This translates into each month of research, at least 25% of the poisoner's time must be spent carefully observing the target; such as sleeping quarters, friends, relatives, the target's garbage, etc. This does not need to be a consecutive amount of time and may be broken up into different periods throughout the month. If the poisoner fails to do this every month of the required amount of time, they lose an entire season of research. Generally speaking, the level of poison to be created for a signature poison equals the level in number of years. Thus a level 1, novice level poison would take one year of research to tailor it to a specific target. However, the more skill one has, the less time it may take. For example, a level 1 signature poison, crafted by a Master Poisoner, would take 1/4 the amount of time or 3 months. A level 2 poison would take a Master Poisoner 1/2 the amount of time or 6 months, etc.

Crafting: Crafting the signature poison takes one day for each month of research put into the poison and the must have some part of the targets person such as a lock of hair or drop of blood. The cost of a signature poison is four times that of equivalent poisons however its success against the specified target is almost 100% except in the case of divine intervention.

Antidotes

An antidote is effective against any poison of the same type of equal or lesser strength is made from similar ingredients as the poison albeit using a different process. Antidotes usually cost as much as the poison itself.

There are such things as natural antidotes. A natural antidote is a naturally occurring substance that acts as an antidote against one or more types of poison. By definition, natural antidotes are not created, they are collected. Once identified, actually collecting a natural antidote is usually not a difficult or involved procedure although they are not usually available for the more complex poisons with greater toxicity and potency.

Harvesting Materials

Much of the material that forms the basis of a poison can be harvested from nature. If a poisoner kills a giant scorpion, he might be able to drain the fluid from the creature's glands to brew some essence of scorpion gland. Doing so, carries an element of risk but rewards the skilled harvester by eliminating the cost and difficulty of obtaining raw materials on the black market.

Harvesting Process: Harvesting materials from creatures or even the environment can be tricky. If a source is damaged too much it may be impossible to harvest useful materials from it. Generally the poisoner must have some knowledge, either through lore or through other skills, of a particular source in order to harvest from it. Otherwise they take a serious risk of exposing themselves to the toxic substances within the raw materials and becoming affected by poisonous properties of the materials regardless of the normal method of delivery.

Doses Available For Harvest Based On Source Size:

Tiny or Smaller Source - 1 dose Small Source - 2 doses Medium Source - 4 doses Large Source - 7 doses Huge or Larger Source - 11 doses

Shelf Life

A dose of poison sealed in its container, will retain is toxicity for some time, but it won't last forever. Until they are applied or smeared on a weapon, placed in someone's food, etc., they will last for several years or more, depending on the nature of the poison. However, once applied, they begin to decay more rapidly. The rate of decay varies from poison to poison. As a general rule, a poison will retain its toxicity for a number of months equal to three times its level. Thus a level 2 poison would retain its potency for roughly six months after application.

Poison Families

Poisons can be categorized by family. A poison family represents a group of poisons that share a similar source material. As a result of this shared origin, poisons from the same family often share similar characteristics. Poison families are used in determining the poisons a particular poisoner knows and can be used in relation to others. The entries below give the general properties of poisons from that family as well as the more common family types.

Aquatic Favored by water-based poisoners, these poisons are made from aquatic plants and creatures. | Araneida This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of spiders along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. Most spider poisons negatively affect physical strength. | Arboreal This family is comprised of toxins made from trees, generally fruit trees or conifers. Such poisons are characterized by their grassy odors. Additionally, tree poisons are hardier than other types of poison; they retain their toxicity for a number of months equal four times their level instead of three. | Bestial Well-known among rangers and other hunters, these poisons are made from all manner of beasts; usually mammals. | Chilopoda This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of centipedes along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. Most centipede poisons negatively affect physical agility and overall speed of movement. | Fungus Poisons in this family are brewed from mildews, molds, mushrooms, and many others. Most fungus poisons have low potency but high toxicity. | Hedge Root The family name is something of a misnomer as it includes roots from non-hedge plants as well. The poisons in this family are not as powerful as the poisons in other families. However, it is the largest of the poison families. | Hymenoptera This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of bees, hornets, wasps, and the like, along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. They are noted for the rapidity of their exposure times. Most hymenoptera poisons cause damage to physical speed and agility. | Lotus This family includes all toxins created from the exotic lotus flowers. They can have very disparate effects but are characterized by high potency. Lotus poisons have no natural antidotes. | Lumbricida This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of worms along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. Most worm poisons cause negative effects to physical strength. | Mineral Poisons in this family are processed from naturally occurring rocks and minerals. Their qualities are as varied as their source material. Due to the relatively lower amount of refining required to create them, mineral poisons are somewhat easier to craft than others. | Moss Crafted from mosses, which are usually dried and turned into powder, poisons of this family are marked by their strong odors. | Non-Ferrous Metal This family is dominated by ingestion poisons that frequently affect the digestive system. Most poisons in this family cause negative affects to physical health or nausea. | Ooze Poisons from this family are brewed from the remnants of jellies, oozes, and slimes most often found in subterranean environments. Harvesting raw materials from oozes is a relatively easy matter compared to other types. | Scorpionida This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of scorpions along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. Most scorpion poisons cause negative effects to physical strength. | Serpente This family includes poisons brewed from typical species of snakes along with those discovered among the more monstrous versions. Most snake poisons cause negative effects to physical health. | Undead Poisons in this family are crafted from the remains of undead creatures. Even incorporeal undead creatures leave a faint residue upon their destruction. Undead poisons most often cause negative effects to physical health but effects can vary. | Vine This family is comprised of poisons brewed from vines, both mundane and monstrous. Poisons in the vine family are generally safer to handle than those of other families.

Prerequisites and Related Skills

Anyone with the right desire and overall mindset can become a poisoner however it is not a skill for everyone. In many cultures, among many races and throughout many regions, the use of poison is considered taboo, criminal and forbidden. A poisoner runs the risk of getting arrested, hunted or outright executed for practicing their art. In addition to the common stigma associated with poisons, one must possess and/or develop a wide array of skills in order to further perfect the art of poisoning. For example, in order for one to make poisons from the Hedge Root family, they would have to have knowledge of lore related to Hedge Roots or at least a novice level in the herbalism skill. If one were to want to craft a poison from the Serpente family, they would need some lore involving serpents/snakes or perhaps have at least a novice level in the Animal Husbandry skill with a focus on snakes. The general rule is that to make a poison from a certain family of poisons, one needs a lore or a skill related to that lore in order to do so.

As a final note, be sure to look at the existing poisons found in the Price List [1] for examples of what a poison actually looks like; including format and details.

Skill Progression