Azano Plant

Azano is a bluish-green plant native to the Cyranatic Islands. The plant is highly illegal across most of Aquitilla due to its' dangerous mind-altering tendencies and use as a particularly lethal poison.

The plants grow in stalks and can reach over 5 meters tall in the wild. The stems are mostly hollow inside and contain a lethal poison, capable of killing an adult human in only a few short minutes. The leaves contain a much more diluted form of the poison and are frequently sold on the black market as hallucinogens. After the first few months, the plant sprouts begin growing small poisonous thorns all over the stems, often causing painful stings or even death for anyone that touches them. For this reason, most Azano crops are harvested before they reach more then a meter tall.

Native plants
Located in the tropical Cyranatic Islands, the Azano plant grows abundently in most forest areas, usually in large groups at least a kilometer inland. Most animals on the islands have learned to stay away from the plants, although several smaller animals have developed an immunity to the poison, often hiding in them to escape from predators. The native tribes on the islands also seem to have developed an immunity to the plant's poison, often using it to hunt with, and strangely, even using the plant leaves in their cuisine with no ill effects.

Trafficking
The Azano plant needs a warm, tropical climate to grow. It sometimes gets hidden among other plants on large plantations in warmer climates, or in greenhouses in colder climates. If left unharvested too long, the plants will grow poisonous thorns and become too dangerous to harvest correctly. The usual solution to this is to just burn the whole area to the ground rather then just let the plants spread across the entire continent.

Azano leaves are usually in high demand in cities all over Aquitilla. Eating the leaves usually results in frequent mood swings, often causing violent outbursts. As many as 95% of all homocides are directly caused by Azano leaves. {ciatation needed} The poison itself is in a much lower demand, but is sometimes sold in bulk to assassins, mercenaries, or even as bribes to certain corrupt governments.

Prof. Cerial Greensmith