"Vlooper Berries" (c) 2008: MWC

Vlooper ["v-LOOP-er"] Berries appear as do Blackberries, growing much like crabgrass, & have unique properties.

The leaves are covered in a tar-like brown layer of pollen.
The pollen is easily dislodged & sticks to anything it comes in contact with.
If left undisturbed, it dries out & flakes off within 24 hours.
It can be manually removed through repeated scrubbing in hot water with a scrub stone.
Getting it out of your clothes takes repeated washings & beating against a firm rock.
It smells like a combination of tree bark & green, wet moss.
Not unpleasant, but distinctive to anyone who has ever smelled it before.
[Anyone attempting to Track by Scent gains a +20 bonus if in an area where the berries wouldn't normally be found.]

The leaves are bitter tasting, but non-poisonous.
If ground up into a paste & dried, it forms a bitter-but-nutritious trail ration.
Some have added nuts, other dried fruits, & herbs to it to alter the taste.
No-matter, since it almost always ends up tasting like wet bark.
Some have tried to brew drinks from the leaves, but it turns disgustingly bitter & unfit for consumption.
Farmers tend to till the leaves back into their fields as a fertilizer additive for extra soil nutrients.
Farmers often add the berries to their livestock's feed as it keeps the animals sedate.

The berries are small, aprox' the size of a large pea, & a deep, royal purple in colour.
Ripe berries are nearly black & covered in short, soft, purple hairs.
Unripe berries are a light purple & the hairs are nearly colourless.

If picked & eaten raw, Vlooper berries have a caffeine-like "kick" that causes a burst of energy.
[Treated as if a 1 Round "Haste" spell were cast upon the eater, but is NOT usable in combat.]
They are also a mild hallucinogenic.
For every berry eaten, there is a cumulative 1% chance of experiencing random hallucinations; usually of "glittery wings".
This effect lasts for 1d10 minutes times the number of berries eaten.
[Consider subject Dazed, Confused, and prone to bursts of maniacal laughter...]

If the raw berries are crushed into a paste & applied topically, it functions as an anesthetic.
The effect does nothing for the wound itself, nor does it slow poisons.
It DOES, however, stop any & all Pain effects.
[Light & Moderate wounds are numbed completely, Serious & Critical are dulled to an "inconvenient throbbing sensation".]
If the paste is combined with fresh milk (goat works best, but cattle will suffice) & imbibed, it functions as an emotional curative.
[All emotional effects due to fear, confusion, panic, etc, are stopped. Wounds are not healed, but the pain is gone.]
If the berries are brewed into a simple drink (tea, coffee, or mixed with other fruit juices), it forms a refreshing, "fruit punch" like drink that enervates & delivers a mild euphoria without the hallucinations of raw consumption.
[The effect lasts aprox' 1d10 minutes per 1 ounce consumed.]
If the berries are fermented into a complex drink (ale, beer, wine, champagne, etc) then it tastes like slightly-fruity "sparkling cider" and, while no longer hallucinogenic, is nearly 5x as alcoholic as even the most rot-gut, pure-booze, pirate-grog ever conceived.
It WILL get you VERY drunk, VERY fast.
[The effects are equivalent to 1 hour of "binge drinking" for every 1 ounce consumed.]

Vlooper berry tea is often called "Vlee"; Vlooper berry beer is called "Vleer"; ale is "Vlale"; wine is "Vline", etc.
They know you've had enough when you can no longer pronounce the name of your drink.
=D hehehehehe