Unshackled Gift

[{Category:Magic]]

Overview

These preparations originate with the Druj [[orc|orcs] (or perhaps with the orcs of the Great Forest depending on who one asks). Along with the Double-sided Knife and The Last Resort, theese recipes were originally captured from the Druj during the liberation of Reikos, when the herbal text of the Buruk Tepel of the Stone Toad clan fell into Imperial hands. Originally hidden behind a complex cipher, the book was eventually decoded by Imperial scholars and the recipes within revealed.

In Autumn 382YE, the recipes that comprise the Unshackled Gift were distributed to Imperial apothecaries by order of the Imperial Senate. along with several other new potion recipes. Known as the Bonds of the Bridge among the Druj, the potions were also apparently part of the herbal lore of the Great Forest orcs - who know them as the Dance of the Leaves, and shared the recipes with the Highborn and Navarr as thanks for their assistance establishing themselves in Therunin.

These preparations are unique among potions known to Imperial apothecaries in that they are effective only when consumed by orcs. Humans who try to use one of these preparations merely become ill. The Druj claim that they serve to help the orc who uses them to make a closer connection with their ancestors, and by engaging in a subconscious communion with these spirits the living orc gains great physical or spiritual strength. The potions have not been in use long enough for proper experimentation to have taken place, but it seems at least circumstantially that the four potions do indeed heighten awareness of the ancestral voices that all orcs hear.

These are some of the most powerful preparations of the Buruk Tepel. They are closely part of the Arts of the Abyss, but we count them among the Arts of War because they are primarily of use to those who fight for the people.

Unlike the Eternal Struggle, the Bonds of the Bridge should not be squandered. They are weapons that hone the will of the warrior, but most importantly they connect the warrior to their ancestors. There is risk here, of course, for the ancestors cannot be predicted. Yet, without exception, a warrior who hears the ancestors more clearly fights more keenly. There are some Buruk Tepel who believe that the precise potion used influences which ancestor is heard. They perform experiments. They try to talk about their findings, but there seems to be little value in this waste of herbs and communion with the ancestors.

The only useful thing they have discovered is something that should have been obvious. These potions are of no value to the human vermin – indeed, they seem simply to make those who are not of the people vomit. It is not possible to administer a lethal dose of these potions to a healthy human, however – or at least the lethal dose is greater than any sane Buruk Tepel would be prepared to waste on a mere human.

Stone Toad herbal excerpt