Back on my bullshit

....it's not just A potion, it's The potion that serves as base for all of the more complex potions available

 

also, re: toxin purging

there is a similar potion specifically for instantly purging alcohol too

 

So Geralt is just. Tripping mildly every time he takes a complicated potion? That's great. (Actually frankly I could see it, sub-hallucinogenic doses of common psychedelics are being investigated for clinical usage usually in mood, focus, relief of fear or anxiety, and relief of chronic pain, so it's not that bad of an idea for a base of what's essentially magical performance enhancing drugs.l

 

the non-complicated ones are made on a base of any decently strong alcohol so he gets to be either mildly drunk or mildly tripping. the in-game mechanic to keep you from just Chugging All The Potions Always is actually called Toxicity, a third bar to go with hp and mana "endurance" that you need to keep as low as possible or start piling on debuffs; each potion has a toxicity rating that adds to the bar, and if you get above a certain threshold your screen starts blurring, geralt's reaction time slows, dodge and parry rates drop sharply, and you lose a chunk of health. and if the tox bar fills all the way up you die of dumb bitch poisoning

 

I was. gonna go through and poke all the alchemy ingredients for real-world bases
and then I accidentally copied a wiki link over the post I spent like half an hour on
rip

 

anyway from memory and without ref links for the plants bc I am Too Lazy to go find all of them again

Spoiler: plants

sewant mushroom: fantasy, Generic Green Glowing Mushroom
crowseye: real, common name for several toxic plants (most containing steroidal saponins) native to central europe used in herbal medicine
white myrtle petals: white myrtle is real but it is not the white myrtle modelled in game
green mold: real...? Mold Real, I'm not gonna try to figure out which species of Generic Damp Slimy Mess this is
celandine: real, native to central europe
Berbercane fruit: squinty. no exact 1:1 name, but possibly related to (european) barberry
hellebore petals: real, in-game models even match central european hellebores
fool's parsley leaves: handwiggles. real plant exists but not in the conditions it grows in in-game.
balisse fruit: fantasy, Magic Fruit
beggartick blossoms: more handwiggles; 'beggartick' is a common name used for a wholeass genus, and no single plant has all the characteristics of the in-game one.
Feainnewedd: fantasy, Magic Flower

Spoiler: monster mats, pared down for IRL Lack Of Monsters

Echinops rootstock: echinops is actually the scientific name of a thistle, not the vaguely sarracenia-inspired carnivorous plant monster, but they can in fact be cultivated from rootstock
Archespore juice (?? juice????): another vaguely sarracenia-inspired plant monster, so this might be pitcher plant fluid????
ginatz's acid (from drowners and drowned dead): drowning can induce acidosis but so can a lot of other things, I got nothin
Beast fangs and liver: these are both specifically from dog-type enemies (hellhounds, mutated dogs, etc), but I have... no clue why that would be significant
cadaverine: real! why geralt wants to chug it, though...

Spoiler: misc

Calcium Equum: barn/horse lime is a thing, but... it's just fucking powdered lime...
white vinegar: yes that vinegar
lunar shards: moon pieces??? moon pieces???? it's not meteorite steel, that's a different thing. moon pieces.
wine stone: garnet, possibly?
powdered pearl: a real thing really used in medieval european (and asian tbf) medicine
naezan salts: okay technically I miscategorized this one bc it was plot loot not A Thing I Killed Loot, apparently it comes from vampires
quicksilver: geralt's gonna drink mercury
ducal water (holy water?): holy water, aqua vitae, I don't fuckin' know
Optima Mater: fantasy
sulfur: yes that sulfur
Fifth Essence: LOVE fantasy, possibly related to the fifth magical element which is just Straight Up Magic/Spirit
Albar's Crystals: another monster loot I didn't know was monster loot..... this one from necrophages, specifically those that primarily feed on blood (but are not vampires, vampires want live blood)
phosphorus: yes that phosphorus

 

Canine liver is closer to human liver in structure and function than any other mammal aside from primates and I think pigs? I don't know why that would be relevant but There It Is.

 

djsjbdksiwy

 

considers: Elvhen in its proper form including nonverbal sensory impressions transmitted magically as one might in the Fade in modern times

 

self spa Wednesday is lounging in the bath discussing space names for kittens

 

lunar and solar (eclipses) are already named, we are looking for pair-names to go with comet
(so far: halley, asteroid)

 

I still think they should be pulsar and quasar but comet is already named :p

 

Probably shouldn't be happy about a tropical storm rolling in this far north, but also: for my birthday "weekend" I have now had both hot sunny weather and warm cozy rain

 

when you find the irl inspiration for something that's just explained as "for some reason" on the wiki
do I want to make a wikia acc just to edit this in....
(Fantasy Drug can be left at the vodyanoi altars in w1, which will result in a small crafting mat spawning in exchange overnight; the czech/balkan iteration of the mythological figure, vodnik, will occasionally help out fishermen who give him/them tobacco)

 

i mean a *lot* of mythological figures in slavic folklore have this kind of thing going on tbh. You leave a gift, if you're not getting eaten for being an insulting jackass with said gift they may trade you something useful in return. And drugs and shit are always a good gift

 

yeah basically, the in-game vodyanoi just mostly accept plant-based alchemy ingredients (that are native to their swamp), while ignoring all man-made foods and goods (including alcohol)... except fantasy crack fisstech. most accepted offerings just plain vanish (unacceptable offerings just sit in the altar "storage" box), with about a 35% return rate of Random Alchemy Ingredient... but fisstech has nearly a double return rate and more consistently provides high-quality ingredients
Fish God Wants Drug

 

i mean who wouldn't in that world :P

 

Do you happen to know if the tobacco offering was cured or uncured traditionally? I ask because uncured tobacco is actually a deliriant which would make the parallel even stronger

 

the only source wikipedia gives is in russian so uh I'll get back to you on that lmao

 

with the caveat that this is google translate, FUCK YOU WATERLORD STOP HOGGING THE FISH seems very quintessentially russian
still no reference as to cured vs uncured tobacco but given time period it would probably have been imported via England, which implies cured to me?