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 Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:14 am
|DEADLY SNAKE FLOWER|
THE 100 PACES WITCH Snake Scale / Deadly NightshadeBubble, bubble,
toil and trouble...
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:20 am
|DEADLY NIGHTSHADE|
THE OIL Atropa Belladona |
commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The foliage and berries are extremely toxic, containing tropane alkaloids. These toxins include scopolamine and hyoscyamine which cause a bizarre delirium and hallucinations, and are also used as pharmaceutical anticholinergics. The drug atropine is derived from the plant.
It has a long history of use as a medicine, cosmetic, and poison. Before the Middle Ages, it was used as an anesthetic for surgery, the ancient Romans used it as a poison (the wife of Emperor Augustus and the wife of Claudius both used it to murder contemporaries) and predating this it was used to make poison tipped arrows.
The bell-shaped flowers are tyrian purple with green tinges and faintly scented. The fruits are berries, which are green ripening to a shiny black, and approximately 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter. The berries are sweet and are consumed by animals that disperse the seeds in their droppings, even though the seeds contain toxic alkaloids. There is a pale yellow flowering form called Atropa belladonna var. lutea with pale yellow fruit.
Atropa belladona is rarely used in gardens, but when grown it is usually for its large upright habit and showy berries. It is naturalized in parts of North America, where it is often found in shady, moist locations with limestone-rich soils. It is considered a weed species in parts of the world.
Belladonna is one of the most toxic plants found in the Western hemisphere. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. The berries pose the greatest danger to children because they look attractive and have a somewhat sweet taste. The consumption of two to five berries by children and ten to twenty berries by adults can be lethal. The root of the plant is generally the most toxic part, though this can vary from one specimen to another. Ingestion of a single leaf of the plant can be fatal to an adult.]
The active agents in Belladonna, atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and hyoscyamine, have anticholinergic properties. The symptoms of belladonna poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, flushing, dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, and convulsions. In 2009, atropa belladonna that was mistaken for blueberries with six berries ingested by an adult woman was documented to result in severe anticholinergic syndrome. The plant's deadly symptoms are caused by atropine's disruption of the parasympathetic nervous system's ability to regulate non-volitional/subconscious activities such as sweating, breathing, and heart rate. The antidote for belladonna poisoning is physostigmine or pilocarpine, the same as for atropine.
Atropa belladonna is also toxic to many domestic animals, causing narcosis and paralysis. However, cattle and rabbits eat the plant seemingly without suffering harmful effects. In humans its anticholinergic properties will cause the disruption of cognitive capacities like memory and learning.
Atropa belladonna has been used in traditional treatments for centuries for an assortment of conditions including headache, menstrual symptoms, peptic ulcer disease, histaminic reaction, inflammation, and motion sickness.Bubble, bubble,
toil and trouble...
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:36 am
|SNAKE SCALE|
THE ESSENCECalliophis bivirgatus |
or the Blue Malaysian Coral Snake is a venomous elapid snake found in Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
It is a medium-sized coral snake with a slender body. Adults are usually 140 centimetres (5 ft) in length, though larger specimens have been captured. The color is indigo or deep blue with light blue or white stripes along each side of the body. The head, venter, and tail are usually bright red. It has a blunt snout with a pair of small eyes on the sides of the head.
It is most active at night. Like the Banded Krait, it is a timid snake during daytime and tends to avoid confrontation. However, it becomes more alert after nightfall. People are usually bitten at night when they pass by or tread on the snake unaware.
Like the Coral Snake in the New World, it defends itself by displaying its brightly colored body. It also turns upside down to show its red belly to warn predators, hiding its head under coils of its own body and raising its tail to mimic a head to confuse predators.
It feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, including their own kind. They occasionally consume lizards, frogs and birds.
The venom is very potent and has caused deaths. Like other elapidae, its venom is primarily neurotoxic. The bite initially has few or even no symptoms. However, after several minutes, the victim may feel numbness near the wound and lip. Soon, the victim may feel difficulty in breathing. Death is a result of respiratory failure. Some call it "the 100 paces" snake because that is as far as any man could walk after being bitten.Bubble, bubble,
toil and trouble...
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:05 pm
AGA
THE FLOWER SNAKE name | Aga
gender | female
essence | Snake Scale
oil | Deadly Nightshade
eyes | Greyish purple whites, with striking yellow eyes and slitted pupils. (I'd also settle for pure black eyes to go more with the essence)
hair | Long silky black. Held back by a bright blue headband, tied into a very loose ponytail with a bright blue ribbon. The tuft on the end of her tail is a violent, striking red-orange. He hair should get MUCH longer and be held together with a long, criss-crossing ribbon in her teen and elder stage.
skin | The same slightly muted purple of the Deadly Nightshade's petals, fading down to deep purlple before becoming the glossy black of the Nightshade's berries on her tail and feet.
-markings | Bright blue stripes traveling up both sides of her body, including the outside of her arms and legs. Striking red-orange around her eyes, trailing all the way back to her ears, where it transitions smoothly into bright blue. A blue ring in the middle of her forehead, and a blue dot at the tips of both her eyebrows, fading back down the lengths of them. (I would also be fine changing all of her markings to the shiny black of the Nightshade berry, keeping the same pattern, only turning the stripes into spirals as they reach her hips, shoulders and ankles)
wings | Preferably would be green and leaf-like, however purple and resembling the Nightshade's petals, or just purple and generic Luxia batwings would be fine.
other | I would love for her to have a long purple Nightshade petal growing from each hip (starting at her teen stage) somewhat resembling the same shape and style as Lorellei's leaves on her hips. (the long ones that seem to start from her chest and sweep out nicely over her hips)
[Artistic liberty is given on ALL her details. If you think something would look better, go for it <3]
clothes | If she ever reaches the Elder stage, the only real clothes I would want would be witch clothes. Complete artistic freedom here, as I don't want to lean too much into the Halloween Luxia's territory.
personality | Tantalisingly sweet with her words and actions, Aga is very tricky and playful at heart. Probably has attracted the soul of someone who practiced black magic in a past life; though it seems she is more interested in 'fun' then evil. Even though her actions can be dangerous, she always finds the humor in it. Terribly tactless when it comes to normal human interaction.Bubble, bubble,
toil and trouble...
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:06 pm
aaaand last one for now. Comments and crits are love <3 [funding currently at 2mil, pure.]
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