Nine Herbs Charm

From OtanWiki
Nine Herbs Charm
NineHerbsCharm.jpg
An Excerpt from the Nine Herbs Charm
Author Anonymous
Language Old Otani, Old Ælfish
Genre Spellbook
Known Copies One
Format Loose Pages
Year Written Before Erasure
Magical Very likely
Religion Related to Wodenism
Pages/Scrolls 4 (estimated)


Ancient lore from the book of Lacnunga speaks of a Nine Herbs Charm. Pieces of an ancient poem somehow survived the Great Erasure. The poem has become known to the clerics of the Temple of Woden, who are embarking upon a great deal of research to discover the veracity of the poems implied claim: that the charm may be a powerful ward against creatures as mighty as a great dragon.

The poem reads:

"A worm came creeping, he tore a man in two, then Woden took nine Glory-Twigs, then struck the adder, that it flew apart into nine bits ... Woden established the nine herbs and sent them into the seven worlds, for the poor and the rich, a remedy for all, it stands against pain, it fights against poison, it avails against three and against thirty, against foe's hand and against noble scheming, against enchantment of vile creatures."

Ingredients[edit]

To the best of anyone's knowledge the incantation in the script must be read over an item of some sort combined with the nine necessary herbs. Whether the herbs are to be mixed, cooked, or simply placed near in a magic circle is not known. Neither is the precise recipe known though it has been determined that Stinging nettles are definitely one of the ingredients. This ingredient fits well with the 'protection' nature of the spell due to the self-protecting nature of the nettles.

  1. Stinging nettles
  2. Gum-gum Tree
  3. Wegbrade (plantain)
  4. Mægde (mayweed)
  5. Unknown
  6. Unknown
  7. Unknown
  8. Unknown
  9. Unknown

Speculation and Rumour[edit]

Rod of Power subjugates Wyrms

It is possible that other factions not related to the Temple of Woden may be searching for the secrets of this mighty charm. There is further speculation that the charm may have yield more than a few possible outcomes from pendants to magic circles to magical wands and staves. In one illustration, a cleric holding a rod of some sort seems to have dominion over two reptilian beasts, one can only assume the are dragon wyrmlings.

Whether these spells use dragons as a very powerful example of the protections or if the protections are specific to dragons is a topic for much conjecture.

Player Notes[edit]

Panamon Cree made a copy and is keeping the copy in a separate scroll case than the original.