For the ingredient in Dragon Age: Origins, see Deathroot (Origins).

For the crafting resource in Dragon Age II, see Deathroot (Dragon Age II).

For the herb in Dragon Age: Inquisition, see Deathroot (Inquisition).

Deathroot has been used in magic and potion making for centuries. It is a fragile-looking plant with a thin stalk and purple flowers, which fruits once a year developing bright red fleshy pods that cause disorientation and dizziness if ingested.^[1]

Information

Deathroot is rather harmless on its own, but the extract from its leaves can act as a deadly poison at a high concentration. The Chasind used the less-concentrated extract to induce hallucinations.^[2]

There are two varieties. The more common "Arcanist Deathroot" was first found by Archon Hadrianus when he discovered it growing on several dead slaves. The other, "Lunatic's Deathroot", is most closely associated with the story of the courtesan Melusine, who sought revenge on a powerful magister and his family. She harvested the plant, baked it into small pies for the magister's banquet, and presented them to the magister at a banquet. All the guests were seized by terrifying hallucinations after eating the pies and tore each other to pieces.

—An excerpt from The Botanical Compendium, by Ines Arancia, botanist

Codex entries

Deathroot

Waterlogged Diary

Trivia

• Dalish children learn short rhymes about plants and their characteristics, which are meant to help with identification of foraged goods. The rhyme about deathroot goes like this: "Loose-leafed and tall with a high purple stall: Deathroot, to make minds frail."^[3]
• Qunari make one of the types of vitaar (face paint) out of deathroot; though it would be deadly to anyone else, it's said that Qunari unique physiology allows them to not only neutralizes deathroot's poisonous effect, but also causes hardening of the flesh and provides other protections.^[4]
• The Last Court mentions that deathroot is typically seen as nothing but a poison, however, with correct preparation it could be used to cleanse a well that had been tainted and smelled horribly by the "foulness of the earth". A well in Serault had caused an outbreak of disease which came with fever and diarrhea—and in the worst cases it had also killed the sufferer. To clear the well, the local physician suggested collecting deathroot with gloved hands and preparing it in a specific way to begin the well's purification process.^[5]
• Deathroot's pods look like "bloated fingertips".^[5]

See also

Drugs and alcohol

Fauna and flora

References