Sprig of wolfsbane
A sprig of wolfsbane is a type of comestible that appears in NetHack. It is veggy and considered vegan.
Generation
Priests and Priestesses start each game with 1-2 sprigs of wolfsbane.[1] Tourists may start with sprigs of wolfsbane among their initial food items.[2] Orcish heroes that are not Wizards may start with sprigs of wolfsbane among their extra food.[3][4]
Sprigs of wolfsbane are rare and make up 7⁄1000 (0.7%) of all randomly-generated comestibles. General stores, delicatessens and health food stores can sell sprigs of wolfsbane.
Description
Eating a sprig of wolfsbane takes 1 action, and finishing the meal cures lycanthropy.[5]
History
The sprig of wolfsbane first appears in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
Wolfsbane is one of many names for a flowering plant of the genus Aconitum: Also known as aconite, monkshood and leopard's bane among other names, the genus consists of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, such as the wolfsbane (Aconitum vulparia) and the northern wolfsbane (Aconitum lycoctonum); these plants are chiefly native to the mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere in North America, Europe and Asia.
The name comes from the Greek ἀκόνιτον, which may derive from either akon ("dart" or "javelin", the tips of which were poisoned with the plant's juices), or from akonae because of the rocky ground on which the plant was thought to grow. The northern wolfsbane uses the Greek name lycoctonum, which translates literally to "wolf's bane" and is thought to indicate that its juice was a poison used in arrows or baits for killing wolves—possibly related to this is the use of the plant to cure lycanthropy or ward off werewolves and vampires, a trope partly established by the 1931 classic horror film Dracula where Van Helsing instructs a nurse in its use to protect Mina from Count Dracula. This partly explains its functions in NetHack.
Unlike wolfsbane in NetHack, most Aconitum species are extremely poisonous and must be handled very carefully[6]—some Old World bumblebeed and the caterpillars of several moth species have been observed to feed on the plant. The toxicity of wolfsbane has been understood from ancient times, based on how frequently aconitum and wolfsbanes are represented as such in literature dating from classical times and beyond. Aconite was described in Greek and Roman folk medicine by Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and Pliny the Elder, and folk medicinal use of Aconitum species is still practiced in areas such as parts of Slovenia. Several species of Aconitum have been used as arrow poisons for hunting purposes by various indigenous cultures such as the Bropka, Ainu and Aleuts.
Encyclopedia entry
1. Any of various, usually poisonous perennial herbs of the genus Aconitum, having tuberous roots, palmately lobed leaves, blue or white flowers with large hoodlike upper sepals, and an aggregate of follicles. 2. The dried leaves and roots of some of these plants, which yield a poisonous alkaloid that was formerly used medicinally. In both senses also called monkshood.