| abstract | - Horticulturists may scoff that these cuttings involve removal from a living creature, but most enchanter would contend that briar hearts (for example) are plants given a strange and primitive life within a host; in this case, a particularly dense thicket of briars is harvested, always by a Hagraven, and the biggest buds shaped into rudimentary organs for their patchwork Reachmen. As it takes a particular quality of violence to overcome these monsters of the Reach, briar hearts (pulled out of the corpse while it if still warm) can be expensive purchases. We are happy to buy any that become available. Creep Clusters are also valued by herbalists throughout Tamriel, and of the three cuttings the Master is most interested in, they are certainly the easiest to harvest. Comb the rocks of any reasonably damp environment, especially sulfur ponds and certain beaches, and you may stumble iron these ruddy orange roots, tinged with brown. Often mistaken as a weed, as they grow copiously and can choke more delicate plants with their mass of tangled tendrils. The nature beast of the woods called spriggan holds on to its taproot with great care; it is also a heart of sorts, imbued with a particularly potent forest- magic. When cut from the bark of a recently deceased spriggan, the taproot can be kept (out of the sun) for months and still have potency. However, certain recent taproot samples have been found to be rotten, implying some pox may be affecting the spriggan. We can hope this does not take hold like the Knahaten flu.
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