Deshir Gelai strode along the coast of Turnathat, seeking a site where she could make efficient use of her limited power, until she came upon a small river flowing across a rocky shore into the sea. She adjusted the terrain a bit to make the area more varied - a little stretch of wooded swampland shading the edge of a tiny meadow; a dry, rocky hill rising beside them. And then Deshir brought forth a variety of plants, each designed to thrive in different conditions (even seaweed, placed just off the coast), but all bearing the same healing magic.
Once her garden was ready, Deshir went to her followers and told them about the herbs of life, encouraging them to spread seeds to suitable areas and teach others of the herbs' healing power.
Minor Intervention: The Garden of Life
Deshir creates a wild coastal garden, giving it as many stable habitats as she can reasonably fit into a minor intervention's space. In each of these habitats she includes a different plant imbued with life magic. Although widely varied in form and appearance, the herbs of life can be identified by the dim violet glow that gathers around them in the dark - the plants themselves do not glow, but seem to be faintly illuminated by some unseen light source. Deshir also gives each of them a strong, distinct flavor, so they can be used for seasoning food. She thinks all of them are delicious; others may or may not agree.
To describe the capabilities of the herbs' magic, I'll use their potential effects on a human subject.
Healing
If consumed by someone who is sick or injured, a single leaf or berry can strengthen their immune system and accelerate their healing - allowing days of recovery within a few hours. Eating a small handful enhances healing capabilities to allow full recovery from conditions that are beyond natural healing, such as regrowing a severed hand. It also fights off the effects of poison. However, recovering from a severe injury still requires lengthy treatment.
Transformation
If consumed by someone who is in good health, the herbs of life can push their body towards the state that they want, or feel that they ought to be in. Major changes require focused intent, but even subconscious feelings can cause minor adjustments. The subject doesn't need a keen understanding of their own biology; they just need to know what they want their body to be like.
Working with the body's natural ability to change is quick and easy; much like healing minor injuries, a small dose can condense days of directed modification into hours. This would include effects such as making someone more or less muscular and tanning or lightening skin.
Pushing or changing the natural processes of the body is slower, and usually requires a stronger wish to change. Such changes will usually happen at around double the rate they would if occurring naturally. They would include effects such as making a full-grown adult get taller, adjusting hormone balance to shift body shape, or drastically altering hair color.
Working outside the body's natural processes to reach a normal state for the species requires a larger dose to initiate the change. This would include effects like making someone shorter, altering their skeletal proportions, or drastically changing their eye color.
Going slightly beyond the normal characteristics of the species requires considerable determination and a larger dose throughout the process. This would include effects such as growing a tail or redistributing pigmentation to have striped or spotted skin. For a human to produce pigments that are only naturally formed by other animals would require a very strong desire to change color; letting a human create pigment that is normally made by plants, or grow something like a second pair of arms, is beyond what healing herbs can accomplish on their own.
Protection
If consumed by someone who is fully satisfied with their physical condition (or at least, has no problems that the healing herbs can address), the life magic will ward off minor injuries and illnesses as long as it lasts. If unused, the protection remains active for three or four days, but blocking harm quickly uses it up. Under normal circumstances, people can only maintain a small quantity of this protective magic, so eating more herbs of life will merely replenish it. They will prevent a small slice or two, but can't save someone from a volley of arrows or an axe to the chest. This is a lot better than no protection at all, though, and may reduce an otherwise fatal injury to a wound that can be survived long enough to get another dose of healing herbs.
Minor Blessing
Deshir blesses the Garden of Life, spinning some extra power around it to protect the herbs and help them spread.
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Topic: God Kings: Crystalizedmire edition (Read 2188 times)