#drow poisons

[thehousepatron]

More Drow Poisons and Their Effects

Part 1 of this post: https://www.tumblr.com/thehousepatron/759600770624684032/some-drow-poisons-and-their-effects

Jal wun Jivvin (“All in Fun”)

Compared to some of the other poisons used by drow, this is no more than a gentle warning. It is not directly fatal, though the poisoned one might wish it were otherwise. It could become lethal if the poisoner is able to strike while his victim is weakened. The poison is brewed from the venom pouch of the rakhyrr, a blind species of underground toad. The victim is plagued by intense nausea, vomiting, fever, chills and malaise. A neutralize poison spell will take care of it immediately, limiting its usefulness against the priestesses of Menzoberranzan.

(This could be anything mildly poisonous, in all honesty, so I have nothing really to compare it to, save perhaps this funky little guy. This is a cane toad. Since this is the mildest poison on the list - alongside Khaless (“Trust”), I can easily imagine that this is the sort of poison drow introduce their kids to first, and when the children poison one another, it’s “All in Fun”.)

Rathrae Dos (“Behind You”)

This is a poison greatly favored by Matron Mothers for use in their torture chambers. Brewed from the venom of the ghostyk, a strange insectoid creature that resembles a praying mantis, it attacks the central nervous system, rendering its victim completely incapable of movement, though fully capable of feeling pain. Why it should be so prized by the drow should be obvious. Note that this is a biological, not magical or terror-induced effect: elves are fully susceptible.

(This is a neurotoxin, so it falls under that category. Since no praying mantises are venomous, I’m resorting to plants again. From the description, this would be an ascending paralytic - meaning that you are very aware of what is going on when you’ve been paralysed by this poison… and what fits that description? Poison Hemlock. Dosage would be weird; enough to make you ill and paralysed, but not necessarily enough to kill you, unless the House Matron decides to let you die from respiratory paralysis.)

Haszak (“Mind Flayer”)

This is not strictly speaking a poison, but a very potent alchemical creation. Using a certain nerve cluster in the brain of an illithid, the potion is magical in nature. It's cost reflects both the rarity of its active ingredient and its unusually long duration. It is an effective, if expensive, toxin to use against a spellcaster, as it acts in almost all respects as the feeblemind spell. It does have an interesting variation, though: rather than reduce the victim to a state of retardation, it causes hallucinations and paranoid delusions for its entire duration, punctuated only by interludes of catatonia. This is a potion dearly loved by the sadistic drow.

(I can’t really compare this to any poison in my repertoire, but if the drow were a bit meaner and made this a proper poison, the only toxin I could think of relating to illithids would be tetrodotoxin, the nasty compound employed by the Blue Ringed Octopus. Alternatively, if it were a mushroom - seems similar to the Tongue of Madness I would compare it to either the hallucinogenic and toxic effects of the Fly Agaric or the less harmful Psilocybin.)

And so concludes the lesson 💅🕷️🕸️

[thehousepatron]

Some Drow Poisons and Their Effects

The link is here: http://www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/poison.htm

Velkyn Ogglin (“Invisible Foe”)

This rare poison is taken from the toxin sacs of the uncommon *dakhree* fish that swims in certain Underdark lakes. The brewer must remove the sacs with gloves on his hands if he wishes to avoid being poisoned himself. The sacs are located all over the fish's six-inch body, and are tiny, requiring a steady hand and delicacy to remove effectively, hence the rarity. The dakhree fish hunts by rubbing against its prey, releasing the toxin onto its victim. On most fish, the effect is instantaneous, though humanoids take longer. At the time of onset, the poison causes the victim to convulse as the potent substance attacks his nervous system. The victim begins grand mal seizures and suffers spinal damage, his back arching and twisting violently as his body jerks involuntarily.

(This poison is probably (definitely) based on ‘Nux Vomica’, more colloquially known as ‘Strychnine’.)

Khaless (“Trust”)

This is the famous sleep-poison of the drow, used on their crossbow bolts to immobilize an enemy so that he can be killed at leisure. The active ingredient comes from the spores of the oloth'arr mushroom. While the mushroom itself is fairly common, harvesting the spores is not an effortless chore. Still, it is common enough to be almost trademark. The poison attacks the central nervous system, causing the victim to fall asleep.

(Probably based on Opium Poppies)

Belbol d’Elghinn (“Gift of Death”)

This powerful poison, greatly prized by drow nobles for assasination, is also known as Elash Elghinn, "Silent Death", after the venomous water serpent of the same name. The venom takes effect immediatelty, causing damage to the victim's blood vessels and causing dramatic and extensive hemorrhaging. Within minutes, the victim will gush blood from his mouth, eyes, nose and ears. He will have time to develop bruises all over his body before he mercifully dies. Drow find death caused by this venom to be particularly entertaining. However, there are certain individuals who seem to be immune to Belbol d'Elghinn, and upon whom it has no effect at all. However, when it does work it causes a spectacular (if regrettably short) show.

(Definitely based on Boomslang venom. Also the practice of taking self-administered and non-lethal doses of poisons to build immunity is called Mithridatism.)

Orbb’st Ssrin (“Spider’s Kiss”)

This poison is brewed from venoms of five different spiders. As all spiders are sacred to Lolth, the venoms must be carefully harvested without killing the spiders. All of the spiders used are huge in size, allowing for more easy harvest of the venom. The collected venoms are then dried to a powder and added to a strongly-flavored food or drink, as it does have a slight sour taste. The poison causes chills, fever and prostration for several hours, and, if not halted by a neutralize poison spell, does permanent damage to the body's immune system. This makes the victim more susceptible to disease and poison in the future

(Gonna guess and say a combo of bites from a Brown Recluse, Noble False Widow, Hobo Spider (and two other non lethal but painful types). I haven’t included the Black Widow in the list or the Funnel Web because their bites would be much worse than just causing sepsis.)

Golhyrr del’Ilharess (“Trap of the Matron”)

This poison is the flesh of the rare krashyll mushroom. Successful administering of this poison to one's enemies is seen as quite a victory of cuel'a'cul (the drow ritual of slowly, over time, destroying one's enemy while remaining blameless). It must be given in six stages, its poison slowly building in the body, in doses no more than a two tendays apart. Since drow are a suspicious race, it is easy to see why success with this poison is greatly admired, worthy of the twisted, centuries-long plots of the Matron Mothers. It's name also suggests that it requires the power and subtlety of a Matron Mother to use effectively. After administering the sixth dose, death will strike its victim in half an hour, causing the throat to suddenly close up in massive anaphylactic shock. The victim dies of asphyxiation within minutes.

(The two best known cumulative poisons are mercury and lead. Others are PCBs (which can accumulate in fish fat and skin) and dioxins (which can be formed from burning wood, oil, fuel etc and can infect meat).)

Part 2 Coming Soon