Flora of a Lotus Tree Might 10 (Herbam) (Spring)
It is well known to some that the date-plum tree which grows in Africa and Southern Europe matches closely the description of the mythical Lotus tree as described by Homer, but lacks the mystical properties attributed to that plant. This is because the Lotus trees encountered by Odysseus were in fact date-plum trees of virtue.
If the best fruits of a Lotus tree are collected they can be enriched by fermenting it into wine. This enriched wine grants the Major Virtue Greater Immunity (Deprivation) for a year, meaning that the person who drinks it will not require food, drink, or rest for the year – but without food and rest they will be unable to recover long-term fatigue levels. A single Lotus tree can only produce enough suitable fruit to make a single dose of this wine a year.
The other famous properties of the Lotus tree are caused by the Flora spirits who attend them. For reasons unknown these spirits try to trap those who eat the fruit of the tree, clouding their memories of their past and enticing them to remain and consume more of the fruit. Some magi believe this is a punishment against those who steal the fruit of their tree, while others believe the spirits or the tree gain something from the presence of people. A more fanciful suggestion is that they somehow “eat” the memories of the trapped people, but this is likely false. Whatever the case, the spirits are not intelligent enough to communicate the true answer.
These spirits are unusually good at penetrating magic resistance, so even magi should be wary of the pull of the Lotus tree.
The location of the island of the Lotophagi, and how it could contain so many trees of virtue as to sustain an entire population on them alone is as much a mystery to the order as to the mundane world. Some seekers believe it to lie in an undiscovered regio aligned strongly to Mentem somewhere in the Mediterranean, while others believe such an abundance of trees of virtue could only be true if the island were an insula within the magic realm and that there must be a portal somewhere that Odysseus passed through.
Characteristics: Cun -1, Per +2, Pre +1, Com +0, Str +0, Sta +3, Dex +0, Qik +1
Qualities and Inferiorities: Greater Power x2, Improved Abilities x4
Personality Traits: Spirit of the Lotus Tree +3*, Wants to trap people +3
Abilities: Concentration (Powers) 5, Penetration (Powers) 9
Description: Flora of Lotus trees appear to second sight as small humans lounging in or around their tree. They have a drowsy appearance and are usually seen with expressions of bliss and contentement.
Powers
Cloud the Memories of Home (PeMe) 0 Might Init -1
R: Touch D: Sun T: Individual
This power makes the target unable to call up memories into the imagination. Their memories remain intact but are blocked off from their other faculties. This makes any kind of thinking about things involving the past extremely difficult. Under the effect of this spell the target still has full cognitive ability to act based on things in their present surroundings, and even to plan for the future – only the past is hidden from them. They form memories as normal and will recall everything they did under the effect of this power.
(Base 15, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)
Eat of the Fruit and be Merry (CrMe) 3 Might Init +2
R: Voice D: Concentration T: Group
This power is functionally identical to the power Guide as described in RoP:M pg 39. The spirits use it to try and convince people to eat the fruit of the tree, or if they are already entrapped to make the enriched wine to sustain themselves without having to leave.#