Water Hemlock

Water Hemlock is a poisonous herb. The stem is hollow and sectioned off like bamboo. Its flowers are small, white, and grow in umbrella-shaped groups. The roots may have hollow air chambers that, when cut, may produce droplets of yellow oil.

Water hemlock grows in wet or moist areas like swamps, wet meadows, stream banks, ditches, and rice paddies. It is native to the central areas of the Eastern Blessed Isle, south of the Imperial River.

Water Hemlock is highly poisonous, inducing intense siezures and death within the hour for mortals and most livestock if it is ingested. Skin contact is far less toxic, but still known to have limited effect.

The rice paddies which coat the Blessed Isle are an ideal environment for Water Hemlock, a dangerous proposition for peasants who must work them... the Scarlet Prefecture faces the most difficulty, with prefectures just south of it also struggling with the plant. The easy availability of the poison has not made it popular for use in intentional poisoning, due to the easily-identifiable siezures, but the Magistrates and Thousand Scales nevertheless engage in frequent Hemlock Suppression Campaigns... it is a common sight in the early Earth season to see Black Helms, archons, and local Imperial Legion garrisons travelling the fields with torches, hatchets, and thick leather gloves to assist local peasants in purges.