Herbalism
Ability
You have studied plants with an eye to using healing herbs as well as cooking herbs. You believe that herbs are far and away better than pharmaceuticals, since they are purer and less likely to be tampered with. In fact, you tend to distrust anything made by Big Pharma, even to the extent of making your own aspirin from scratch whenever possible. You enjoy using herbs in food preparation as well and are known for your particularly tasty dishes. Perhaps you even “spike” your soufflés and casseroles with certain herbs that provide extra nutrients or enhance immune systems. You know how to grow herbs, harvest and prepare them, and may even have your own herbal business. You know how to make soaps, dyes, lotions, and other products using natural products. The systems use of herbs is in the hands of the Storyteller. Suggestions include: slightly improved healing times (with regular administrations of poultices and/or teas and elixirs), calming and soothing, stimulant effects, etc. Herbs, when used properly, can help heal wounds and illnesses and mitigate symptoms without the adverse side effects and addictions that often come with the use of modern pharmaceuticals. Kinfolk far removed from urban areas and without health insurance find Herbalism to be a vital means for maintaining a healthy community.
• Student: You are able to make some basic herbal mixtures and can identify most standard herbs.
•• College: You can identify, plant, grow and harvest just about any herb, with the exception of extremely exotic or rare herbs. You can make most herbal concoctions and treat some wounds and illnesses.
••• Master: You are a doctor of herbs. You may have an advanced degree in botany or in herbal studies, or you may have acquired your knowledge through an apprenticeship and years of study. You can diagnose many types of illnesses and prescribe herbal cures for them, and treat most wounds with herbal poultices and such.
•••• Doctor: You may have a doctorate in botany, herbal medicine, or some other advanced study relating to herbs, or you may have outstripped your own teacher and are now passing your knowledge along to students. You can make complex herbal cures and treat any wound with confidence. You also make a mean ratatouille!
••••• Scholar: You could put your herbal knowledge into a book; perhaps you’ve already done so. If you wanted to, you could teach at a university level. You may have lectured on herbs or even acted as a consultant to several medical boards or herbal institutions. “Herb” might as well be your first name.
Possessed by
Kinfolk, Children of Gaia, holistic healers, herbologists, grandmothers
Specialties
Medicinal Herbs, Growth and Preservation, Herbal Healing, Potions, Household Products, Poisons