Bitterleaf

Introduction
Bitterleaf is a small, roughly-haired, bitter-tasting plant with greyish-green leaves that grows in drier areas of the swamp. It flowers with small white flowers and is difficult to find, especially during the rainy season, especially as it prefers shady places and grows very low to the ground, often among leaf litter. It is valued for its hallucinogenic properties.

Uses
As a hallucinagen, bitterleaf can be eaten whole, avoiding the flowers (which are toxic) to induce visions that some say are sacred. For many years, bitterleaf was considered a holy plant, and was only eaten by Legendary Kimeti, but as the Legendary Kimeti died out, its use extended to anyone looking for a spiritual awakening.

Bitterleaf is also an effective coagulant applied to an open wound, although it comes as the cost of slight nausea, light-headedness, and even mild hallucinations.

Hallucinations
A bitterleaf trip is violent, requiring large amounts of bitterleaf, which induces nausea even in small amounts. Large amounts induce vomiting and other illnesses, along with intense, blinding headaches and a tingling and weakness in the limbs that often results in a temporary inability to walk at more than a slow, unsteady stumble. Some Kimeti have broken their knees and ankles while attempting to travel while in the throes of a bitterleaf high.

Hallucinations brought on bitterleaf ingestion are vivid and typically of a sacred or religious nature. The hallucinations are visual, auditory, tactile, and sometimes olfactory, and very convincing. Usual motifs for a bitterleaf trip are visions of strange landscapes (plains, deserts, icelands, etc.) that would be unfamiliar to a Kimeti, indicating the supernatural quality of the plant, and hearing the voices of animals or even plants. Intricate spirals and patterns of lines sometimes appear to the affected Kimeti, scrawled over trees, stones, or even the Kimeti's own body or the bodies of those around him.

Bitterleaf trips typically last around four hours, after which the Kimeti descends into a faint or even comatose state, in which he will remain for between six and twelve hours. Weakness and prolonged headache and illness will follow a bitterleaf trip for up to eight days, although the duration is typically closer to two or three.