History
The Balm is a panacea to all who use it, one of the legacies of the Mad One. Made by the Wild Elves who live in the mountains to the north of the Desert of Divine Despair. Made out of plants that grow on the southern slopes of the mountain fed to a goat who eats nothing else, and only drinks the water that flows through the madlands, that's later killed and its blood is mixed with breast milk and boiled. It is named after the first explorer to bring any back to civilization.
Magic/Cursed Properties
The Balm is truly a panacea, even going so far as to extend lives with prolonged use. However, prolonged use will deteriorate the mind faster than any desease. For the users the strength that is given to them while it runs through their veins is taken away from them for days or even weeks afterwards. The feeling that they get while under its influence is extremely addictive, they often crave the feeling of control that i gives them within 3 or 4 uses. Eventually though the Madness sets in. They lose the restraints that keep them functioning in a civilized, or even herd manner, acting upon any little thought that may cross their mind, guilt and selflessness slowly leeching away from their mind. In the madness they are greedy and destructive, and will go to any lengths to any more of the balm.
Effects
- Cures excessively large amounts of damage, and will cure any disease or cancer that may be affecting them.
- Adds a fair amount of strength and health
- The world seems clearer, they know exactly what they want and how to get it.
- Every use will add years onto their life, slowing their aging, and sometimes even turning back the clock to when they were in their prime.
- After 3-4 uses in a lifetime they will become addicted, they take a fair penalty when not under its influence and if given the opportunity will kill to get more.
- 10-12 uses They stop being able to think straight, they will find that their thoughts wander to how their going to get their next fix, they also don't need to eat or drink as much. Being able to go for about a week without water and a month without any meals. Their physical body is also starting to mutate into something Orcish, no longer being human they are often treated badly at the hands of the more 'civilized' races.
- 14-16 uses No longer truly mortal anymore, they have grown in stature and only vaguely resemble the person they once were. They are truly insane, KNOWING beyond a shadow of a doubt that EVERYONE has some of the balm that they seek and that they don't want to give it up, so they must be forced to hand it over. Many gradually make their ways back to the madlands at this point, somehow knowing that the stuff they seek runs in its purest form there, and most will live for many millennia drinking from the streams there and attacking anything that moves, and many things that don't, only dying at the hands of their kin or hunters if they stray up the slopes of the northern mountains.
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? Responses (8)
OK - in of itself a fun little balm with plenty of potential for creating plot complications - kudos for that
One big question though - Why do the Wild Elves made this stuff?
After all it's quite difficult to make (how do you ensure that your goat eats only the right plants and nothing else), and it takes a long time (goats can live for several years). So what do the elves get in return?
Pretty good but downgraded it a little because it's hard to see why it would be made?
So - 3/5
Well, by itself I think this is really a brilliant post. The difficulty of creating the mixture, along with the aforementioned maladies from excess or even moderate use definately outweight the massive bonuses granted by the potion.
On the other hand, as a quest item, it isn't very Shardy, and I may be wrong here but I think that the shards would be metallic in nature. But, being the weapons of the gods, I think that distinction would be up to SnO
Magical heroin...but it has it's plus side at first.
No, I don't really think of it as one of the shards of the Storm, it is more a 'remenant' of the Blades of the Mad One. When hey shattered they kinda disintigrated and evaporated, forming the Desert/Madlands. The rest of the potion is to slow, if not stop the madness that sets in after drinking the water that flows through the lands.
I had this idea flying around the back of my mind for a while but couldn't ever think of a way to make it make sense, when I reread the Shards of he Storm/Desert of Divine Despair threads I kinda figured out what I was missing.
Why do the Wild Elves made this stuff? Because they're elves, they have a rather low breeding rate and when one of their hunters gets gored on the hunt they need a way to heal him without having to drag one of their healers around with them all the time. They know the side effects of drinking from the waters that flow through the madlands and as such only use them sparingly, and even then only in a diluted form.
This is extremely good, imnsho. It's a creative use not of the shards, but rather, of the concentrated wrongness that is the Desert of Divine Despair. Remember, this is a place where not one, but two Gods laid on the edge of death.
It may not be in line with the quest, but I can't be complimentary enough to the creative use of the story surrounding the quest.
Great Job on this one.
Both the value and curse are extreme. Use in moderation for sure :)
Aces