Papaver Somniferum (solo)

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

Papaver Somniferum (solo)

Postby Brian Gregoric on February 6th, 2011, 10:52 am

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Papaver Somniferum
14th day of Winter, 510 AV

It was morning time, and Brian took an early start of the upcoming day. Though obscured, Riverfall once again succeeded to enthrall him. It was winter, but he was standing on top of the cliff, mesmerized by the healing power rain had over him. There was something about the rain that somehow always managed to make him levitate within his own slumberous mind. He never really understood it, but then again- he never really tried. It was unaccountable, and unusual, but it was something of his own, and a part of him he'd never give away.
The sky was dark grey, and it seemed closer to the ground than it had ever been before. The air was heavy, filled with large drops of water power and unclaimed words. Brian was standing still, yet running as fast as he could. Running from the past that had been sternly haunting him all those years. It was finally the time to stop running and confront the bloody scoundrel.
„Mother...“, he whispered. Nothing.
„Mother!“ Nothing.
„MOTHER!!!“
Falling down onto his knees, in the agonizing release of the repressed dolour, he heard it. And once again, for his own sake, he lifted his head and...He saw her.
„Brian...“
„Mother?“

It was one tense, over-emotional and taut moment.
„Why did you leave, you peace of ungrateful, slobbering ...?!“
„Wait...What?“
Oh, Brian expected everything, but that. All those years of apartness, and that was all there had been? An old, somber lady and her overwhelming manifestation of wrath?
„You heard me. You petchin' debauch!“
The shock was clearly visible on his face. He just stood there speechless.
„Mother?“

No response. And no mother. There was just him, standing on the cliff.
„What the...?“
He turned around, and tried to focus his sight and mind to objects around him. There was no one there. Not a soul.
„I don't understand. And look at me, now I am talking to myself. Lovely.“ The flakiness of the moment couln't prevent his ironical grin from appearing.

„It's this damn place! And this damn rain! Oh, smite me, Almighty!“
It could be considered a comical scene, if something wasn't really going on.
He turned around and started heading home, bewildered and befuddled. Then he saw it. Papaver Somniferum. It was elegantly sticking out of the wet-snow-covered grass. Attractive, yet somehow sinister. Brian read about it somewhere. It was a sort of plant whose opium induced halucinations. When a certain time would come, the plant would wake up and start producing the opium until the air completely fills with it's intoxicating fragrance. It was winter, and it was the time.
„Oh, snap...Well, at least I ain't going nuts.“
He put his hand over his mouth to minify the dosage of P.Somniferum's fragrance, and used the other hand to pick the plant up and take it home.
While he was pacing home, firmly clenching his botanical treasure in hands, everything around him started to spin and waggle. It was the vicinity of the opium that made his halucinations go even worse. By the time he got home, he saw innumerable simulacrums, motions and heard as many sounds and tones, but he didn't panic. He was aware of the harmful effect of the plant in his possesion.

Never was he as jovial to see his home but then. It was right there, and it looked normal. It was all he could have asked for. He entered, and started looking for a big, heavy book to have the plant compressed. When he got it over, he took a seat and some time to clear his head. He was becoming sleepy, and deciced to lay down and have a nap.

Brian didn't know how long had he slept, but he did know something woke him up. Voices.
„Return...Give...Back...“
„Who is it?!“
Silence. Brian repeated the question. Nothing.
„Return...Mother Nature's daughter.“
„What the ..Ooh.“ He understood it. Although he wasn't sure if it was the same hallucinogen effect he'd had to confront before, or something more, he knew he wanted it done and gone.
The voice spoke again.
„Give it back, Briaaaan...“ There was something ireful and huffish in the voice this time.
Brian's over-analyzing mind let him down that day, as he wasn't able to think rationally as usual. So there was just one option left – to subject to the voices. Or whatever that was.
He took the red beauty, Papaver Somniferum, and headed back to the cliff. His mind was still under the influence of the opium, so he smiled all the way, and didn't give anything at all a thought.
When he got to the cliff, he threw the plant from to top and watched it evanesce in the raging power of the waterfalls, with an absent, yet malevolent grin on his face.
„There! There is your sweet daughter, Mother!“

Walking home, he noticed how the air was lighter and sweeter, and how his power of analyzing was coming back. It was good to be back.
„Home, sweet home! Aaah...“ He sat down and opened a bottle of wine.
„Briaaaaaan....“
„Oh, bloody hell.“
Last edited by Brian Gregoric on February 13th, 2011, 12:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Brian Gregoric
What if I say I'm not like the others?
 
Posts: 25
Words: 13879
Joined roleplay: November 27th, 2010, 5:15 pm
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Papaver Somniferum (solo)

Postby Brian Gregoric on February 12th, 2011, 3:51 pm

Few moments after he had heard the voices again, Brian had an epiphany. He was aware of the fact that he was still under the influence of the opium, and that the voices, in fact, were not real. And they had never been. Walking all the way to the cliffs, and getting rid of the plant was, actually, needless.

Since he was sort of a botanist, and very well acquainted with actions and reactions of certain plants and flowers, he knew what he had to do in order to get his unadulterated mind back.

In the corner of his dark, half-round kitchen was a small, ancient-looking wooden box, where Brian kept utilizable flowers, weeds, and herbs. He opened the box and took four blades of Hilamunus Gregorinum, a plant he had discovered and named it after himself. Then he walked to the old, rusty potion-shelf and took a little bottle of Lanatha, also known as "liquid Earth" (not an official term, but Brian never really cared as long as he knew what he was talking about).

After collecting all of the necessary ingredients, it was time for him to originate the cure, for his own sake.
He put a medium-size metal kettle onto the furnace, and added the ingredients. He was supposed to mix it and keep an eye on the whole process for twenty-seven chimes.

After exactly eighteen chimes, Brian became unbearably sleepy, and trying to ignore it, he passed out.
He woke up after god nows how much time, and rushed up to check the kettle.
He knew how the potion would behave after twenty-seven chimes of gurgitation , but had no idea of what happens after..Fifty-nine chimes!
He had to make another one, for not feeling happy to be a guinea pig.

"Briaaaaan... Briaaaan, weeee seeee the holeeee, haaaa haaaa..."
He was seriously going mad, and decided to take a risk and end his ridiculous misery.
"Okay..."
He took a sip. It tasted like... Like garlic. With a touch of vanilla.. Not pretty.
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Brian Gregoric
What if I say I'm not like the others?
 
Posts: 25
Words: 13879
Joined roleplay: November 27th, 2010, 5:15 pm
Race: Human
Character sheet

Papaver Somniferum (solo)

Postby Brian Gregoric on February 13th, 2011, 12:06 am

Here's the thing - fifty-nine chimes of potion gurgitation doesn't void the hallucinogen effect. It actually intensifies it. Brian , of course, didn't know that, for he had never been a professional botanist or a herbalist. But hey, there's always time to learn from personal mishaps.

For a few moments after he had taken a sip of garlic-vanilla-something, nothing was happening. No voices. There was nothing unusual, except...
"What's the giant bird doing on my bed?!"
There was no one to answer the ridiculous, yet diverting question. Although, it was understandable...What was the petchin' thing doing on his bed?
He took a few steps backwards, with his hands madly shaking and his jaw widespread.

"Baby, did you forget to take your meds?"
"Oh, the voices again...No, bastards, I didn't forget to take them, I forgot to MAKE them!!!"

He was furious at the voices. As if it hadn't been ridiculous enough, he was actually squabbling with them. The rational, analyzing, self-collected Brian had been long gone.

So, there they were. Brian and the voices. Oh, and the giant bird on the bed. Though Brian knew he was hallucinating, he couldn't just let it go. He knew the bird wasn't there, but still it was kinda there, for he couldn't lay down onto his own bed, HIS OWN BED, because...
"The stupid bird is still here!"
He didn't know whether he could touch it or not, but not even then was he enough of a lunatic to try it out.

So, there he was, standing in the corner of his own room, of his own house, prevented from resting in his own bed now occupied by the giant, sub-real bird, waiting for everything to end, or at least to die. At that moment, the second option seemed more possible. And easier.

Many bells have passed, and he eventually curled down on the ground and fell into a real, deep sleep, the first one in that bygone day.
As it turned out, that was everything he needed. Not some Gregorinum or Lanatha stuff. Just a nap, a bit of time, and the reactions to the opium were blown away.
He was back. He still remembered the bird and the voices, and that condemned Papaver Somniferum, the one thing he will never even think of getting near to. Not even by a long shot.
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Brian Gregoric
What if I say I'm not like the others?
 
Posts: 25
Words: 13879
Joined roleplay: November 27th, 2010, 5:15 pm
Race: Human
Character sheet

Papaver Somniferum (solo)

Postby Baku on February 20th, 2011, 1:18 am

Image


Thou has written, and thou has completed, so I award thee the following....

Brian: +1 Rhetoric, +2 Botany, +1 Herbalism,

Lore: The Contention of a Cold Winter Rain, Wrestling With Delusions, Papaver Somniferum, Voices That Don’t Go Away, Hilamunus Gregorinum, Lanatha, Trying to Brew Clarity, Bitter Tastes, How Failure and Lack of Knowledge Makes Things Worse, Tripping Out Big Time, Simpler Solutions Proving to be More Effective, The Risk of Some Plants, Vowing to Steer Clear of Certain Plants

Additional Notes: An interesting twist in what’s to be discovered in the lands that are hazardous other than just monsters and evil men. I commend you on your different approach. As a side note, however, expect withdraw symptoms from the initial exposure to Papaver Somniferum for a short time. Shakes, dry mouth, difficulty sleeping, but nothing extreme. As well, despite wanting to never go near the plant again, such plants carry with them a certain addiction factor. Since this was just Brian’s first time, he won’t be completely hooked, but considering the amount of exposure and the other concoction he brewed intensifying the effects, it will be enough to give him an “itch” of sorts for it. You’ll discover your mind every now and then drifting back towards the Papaver and wanting to harvest it again slightly every now and then, especially in times of emotional stress. Such desires can be resisted if Brian takes a moment to simply resist, however. Expect the withdraw symptoms to last at least 7 days, and the addiction to last half the winter season before it’s finally kicked if Brian doesn’t partake accidentally or voluntarily again.
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~Not all dreams, are meant to be had.

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Baku
Dream Eater
 
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