Jenny Green (maladous alertus)
The nutritious fruit of this plant is not unlike a star fruit, with fleshy spindles sticking out in all directions. The leaves, on the other hand, are highly dangerous and have driven many a hungry traveller mad!
The Jenny Green, or Maladous alertus, is a small ground-hugging plant with lush fruits and medium-sized leaves of dark green. It is often hard to tell when the fruit of the Jenny Green is ripe, as it remains a light, speckled green (hence the name); if closely observed, a slight paling of the skin will be apparent. These fruits are often compared to star fruit or hedgehogs, because of the fleshy needles that protrude in all directions; these are sharper than they look. They are something of a defence mechanism and can give an unwary hand a rather nasty scratch. However, when the tough skin is peeled or cut away it will reveal a layer of firm, juicy, reddish-purple flesh and, in the centre, a large black seed. The flesh is deliciously tropical in taste, though there is not much of it in a fruit and several of the spiky pods will have to be collected to gather enough Jenny fruit flesh to quench even a small appetite.
The leaves are long and of medium width, coloured a deep green, and slightly rough. They share the appetizing scent of the fruit. The leaves of the Jenny Plant contain a chemical - somewhat akin to caffeine - which keeps a brain buzzing in such a way that sleep is impossible. If they are swallowed whole, as birds sometimes do to prepare for long flights, the consumer will simply find himself slightly more alert than usual and his brain working at a slightly faster pace (they taste rather like slightly sweeter and weaker versions of the fruit). But if they are chewed, breaking through the outer skin to the juices inside, they have a much more concentrated effect: they increase significantly the mental capacities of the consumer, but make it hard to concentrate on any one task; if it is the first time he has chewed them, they will give him a 'high' similar to a caffeine or nicotine buzz; and they will prevent him entirely from going to sleep.
Also like nicotine or caffeine, the Jenny Plant leaves are highly addictive. They can be swallowed whole without notable ill effect; but the consumer will be hooked from the first chew. If a PC stops chewing the Jenny leaves, he will become sluggish and sleepy, and feel slow and stupid. The more they are chewed, the lower the 'high' becomes, prompting greater levels of chewing to retain that first rush. For as long as a PC chews them, he will not sleep a wink, however tired he becomes; he simply will not be able to lie down and rest. This will lead first to irritableness, then to delusions, then to outright paranoia, until the chewer is finally driven entirely insane from lack of sleep. This process, depending on the mental state beforehand, can take from weeks to a matter of days.
If the Jenny leaves are not chewed for a few days, all ill-effects will gradually disappear.
Magical Properties:
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? Responses (12)
Very well done. Two thumbs.
Now for a bit of advertising, In version 2.0, there will be a 'lifeform' category so we will have a place to store these. So now they are split between items and a few lifeform threads.
For Plants
http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1694
For Animals
http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2071
For Insects
http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=509
For various lifeforms
http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=459
And we have a few threads for intelligent species and a few non humans around (as well as world posts)
sounds like the cocoa plant, but with a nicely done fantasy spin away from all of that nasty real world cocaine and crack vibe.
4/5
Brilliant - give that man a sugar lump (or a Jenny Green leaf if he prefers)
I like the addictive properties, makes for all sorts of problems for the users - I would make the weaning off process a little more unpleasant though (but maybe that's just the evil GM in me showing through)
BTW - I liked the bit about birds swallowing the leaves before a long flight - that's the sort of detail that makes a game world 'real'
This is definitely going to appear in my next game
5/5
Thanks! ^_^ I got the idea years ago, thinking that it might be some sort of curse (imagine not being able to sleep for weeks on end!). I got some of the effects from an experiment a while back where volunteers were deprived of sleep for days and days, and the effects on them were monitored. They got tired (predictably), then delusional, and I think the presumption was that they would eventually have gone mad. When they at last were allowed to sleep, they were dead to the world for something like 24 hours, then they were all right again.
The 'wearing off process' can be as easy or as torturous as you like: that's just an idea of how it might go. It would depend on a PC's metabolism anyway.
( P.S. I'm of the female persuasion. :D )
Huh? Why did you point out that you were female?
Well, anyway...
4/5.
*cringe* Sorry, it was the 'give that man a sugar lump (or a Jenny Green leaf if he prefers)'. I guess so many people on the Internet have mistaken me for a boy that I sometimes expect people to.
Err - sorry about that AgentTwiggy - I guess I just just kind of assumed
* feeling very embarrassed *
Nah, don't worry about it. :D
Don't take drugs,kids!
Excellent little herb!
I'd like to see more uses and maybe a bit of ecology and story line. For instance, could we have a pipe weed out of it or an antidote to a sleeping sickness? Where does it grow?
The potential here for plot hooks is great.
Perhaps a village is being attacked by a very powerful enchantress or illusionist; when you fall asleep, everyone becomes her slave until they wake up. The players must stay awake at any price, and the guy with herb lore knows a way. Just keep chewing.
Oh, and what are the uses of that big, black seed?