Page 1/4 A Letter to a Master in Laslan Dear Master, I was wondering how your health is these days and if you received the fifty dried mandrake roots and ten barrels of Temitran sap I sent you last time. I must confess those are not my only reasons for writing, but rather to inform you of a rather noteworthy event that may be of interest to you. I've been traveling through Stonegard lately, trying to discover new medicines. But what I've mostly found is the people here have lived in poverty for so long that they often don't have access to proper medicine and resort to unreliable folk remedies. As a pharmacist, it saddens me that I couldn't do anything to stop this practice. As you have always said, physical pain does not discriminate, so why should only the weak and poor suffer? Anyway, in my search I heard rumors of a miracle herb circulating on the black market in Stonegard that promised to improve skin and cure baldness when simply ingested. Most likely, it's just a grass root with no benefits or, even worse, poison. Page 2/4 Decades ago, when aristocrats slathered on cosmetics containing mercury and pearls to improve their skin, who knew what would happen to them later? With the help of the Resistance Office, I scoured the rumored black market with a few guards. Luckily, we found the dealer and confiscated all the so-called elixirs he was carrying. Many had already been sold, and there wasn't much left. But we quickly analyzed the ones we secured, to warn people if they'd already spread. Most of them were ridiculous combinations of ingredients, like armadillo feces and cobra skin, which were being sold as cures. But surprisingly, one had real medicinal value. It was a Blood Mushroom, which, when dried, was as hard as tree bark. The black market huckster claimed that if you steeped it in water and drank it, it was a veritable panacea. Page 3/4 I didn't believe him, but I put it in water anyway. It turned the water red like blood. I analyzed the water and was surprised to learn that it had analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. It also dilated the blood vessels. I wouldn't say it's a panacea, but it definitely improves blood flow (which is always good), restores color to your face, and helps prevent high blood pressure and heart disease. The problem is how to get it. I found out that the blood mushroom is a special mushroom that only grows in sandworm lairs, which means one has to risk their life for it. Naturally, not many people are so desperate to improve their blood pressure at the cost of their head, so it seems that only a few merchants will attempt to procure this product. Page 4/4 This ingredient could do people a lot of good, but not only is it hard to come by, it's apparently illegal... I don't know what to do. So I decided to take up my pen, wondering if my old Master might have some words of wisdom for his lost apprentice. For now, I'm going to travel to the sandworm lair to find out about the blood mushroom myself. If I can meet a messenger on the way and mail this letter to you, perhaps I'll have received your reply by the time I return. Take care and stay healthy. Your foolish apprentice, Renos
