Deep within the jagged mountain passes of Larmore, there exists a special flower with the ability to recover what has almost been lost. While the name of the scientist who discovered this plant has been lost to time, his or her contribution to modern alchemy cannot be put into words. Recovery of these flowers is difficult for all but the most experienced of mountaineers.
Description
Watchroot is a white flower attached to a green and red stem/leaf system. The flowers are long tubes that, from the side, appear to grow in haphazard patterns. However, when viewed headlong, the tubes tend to have the appearance of an analog clock face. The leaves of the watchroot are primarily green with bright red midribs. These red midribs hold a potent toxin that is lethal to humans.
Watchroot grows in small tufts between and under rocks in the Larmore Mountain region. Very few of the attempts to transplant this biological to different climates have been successful. Cultivation requires great care. It's understood that the leaves of the plant require almost complete shade throughout the whole of the day while the flowers require moderate levels of sunlight in order to thrive. Thus this plant is most often found growing between two adjacent rocks.
While pound-for-pound the whole flowers are just as effective, alchemists usually carry watchroot powder. Because powdered watchroot is made from the flowers and not the leaves, the watchroot carried by most alchemists is non-toxic (albeit bitter).
Trait: Deimmolation
Through an unknown process, watchroot reverses the effects of fire.
- Object to be deimmolated must be currently burning with a visible flame. Burned targets without a flame cannot be salvaged. A new flame cannot be introduced.
- Apply the flowers (not the leaves) or their powdered form directly to the burning flame. For our purposes, I will henceforth use the word "powder" to refer to both flowers or their powdered form.
- The burning flame will appear to flicker or rage as before, however the flame will reconstruct the burning object using the ashes it just created instead of continuing to burn the object.
- A reconstructing flame will grow or shrink in size as it rebuilds larger or smaller parts of the item respectively.
- A reconstructing flame can jump to other objects, causing them to burn like normal unless that object is also covered in powder -- in which case the flame will simply extinguish while using up some of the powder.
- A reconstructing flame can be extinguished by hand -- ending the process and conserving the remainder of the powder.
- If the alchemist does not use enough powder, the object will reconstruct MOST of itself and then begin to burn again as before.
- If the alchemist uses exactly enough powder, the object will completely reconstruct and the flame will extinguish.
- If the alchemist uses MORE than enough powder, the object will reconstruct, flame will extinguish, and the unused powder can be retrieved.
- Deimmolation normally takes about 30 seconds, but is near instantaneous on targets doused in accelerant. This time frame is universal regardless of the size of the fire.
- The reconstruction begins wherever the flame is at the time the powder is applied. For example, if a flame began on the front cover of a diary and was burning down to the back cover, the watchroot would restore the back pages of the diary first and then continue forward to the front cover.
- The flame and the ashes of the object must be near each other in order for the effect to function. If watchroot is applied to the flames of a part of the object that has somehow fallen away from the rest of it's ashes, only the smaller part of the object that fell away will be recovered.
- 1 flower - recover a scroll.
- 2 flowers - recover most one-handed wooden weapons or one book.
- 3 flowers - recover one log in a campfire.
- 2 cups of powder - reverse the immolation of a large adult male human (see below).
- 8 cups of powder - reverse a cottage fire.
- Powder can be dispersed via air for effect on a larger area. In this way, one cup of watchroot powder can be used to stall a building fire for several minutes until help arrives.
- Works only on materials that were once living (wood, cloth, pitch, wax, creatures, pelts, skins, leather, etc.)
- Watchroot is NOT a flame retardant. It will burn like other flowers.
- Does not work on unending flames nor its targets.
- Does not work on smoldering coals.
- Does not work on metal.
- Does not work on smelted ores or rocks.
- Does not work on heat transfer, such as food that was boiled or roasted
- Does not work when dissolved in water.
- The writing on documents temporarily reversed (because the alchemist does not have enough flowers to finish the job) is as it was before and thus readable before it burns again.
- Magical targets rescued in this fashion lose their magical abilities but retain their text (if any).
- Laminated or otherwise protected targets rescued in this fashion lose their lamination or other protection.
- If a document was originally sealed with wax, the wax seal will also reconstruct perfectly intact.
- If ashes scatter by wind or water, the recovered document will be brittle and contain small holes or missing letters.
- Humans and animals killed by fire can be restored to perfect condition (even from death) with enough watchroot provided the original flame is still burning. However, failure to use enough powder would cause the target to burn (and, if not extinguished, possibly die) again. The target would remember the pain from the first burning and experience the same pain during the reconstruction. If dead at the time of application, the target would have a blank spot in their memory during the time they were deceased. Scattered ashes would result in incomplete creatures and possible bleeding problems or amputations.
- Living creatures killed by other means and then set on fire will still be dead after deimmolation.
- A single target made of multiple materials will recover only those materials effected by watchroot. Thus recovery of a mace with metal spikes would result only in a wooden club.
- Multiple targets in the same ash pile will ALL reconstruct as expected provided the alchemist uses enough powder. If not enough powder is used, all objects will be partially constructed and then burn again.
- Even a tiny amount of watchroot powder will kill a fire elemental.
- Watchroot is an irritant to dragons.
Got a question about how watchroot would effect a torch? Does it upset you that anything could irritate a dragon? Rage at me in the comments below. Also, feel free to change anything you see here and share this post with your friends on Twitter and Facebook so we can help other DMs build great campaigns.