And before anyone makes a cheeky “what do you need this for 🤨” comment, I’m a writer. I’m not going to murder anyone I promise, I just want to write a scene where one guy gets poisoned.

I need something that doesn’t require modern technology to extract/produce, and would make sense to be avaible in a place with a temperate to mediterranean climate. The slower, the better. Does a plant or something like that exist or do I need to make one up?

Update: I looked into death cap mushrooms and they might be just what I’m looking for! Long reaction time, and being dried doesn’t make them less toxic! (the scene takes place in midwinter so no fresh ones would be avaible) If anyone has more info on them, please do share.

  • philpo@feddit.org
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    11 hours ago

    You could go for Paracetamol/Acetaminophen. The lethal dose is quite low and in theory low enough someone could poison someone else with it. And once symptoms set in people’s livers are often beyond rescue and they die a very gruesome death unless we find a transplant organ in time.(And even then survival is not guaranteed)

    And it’s relatively save to use in writing as it is coated/mixed with enough bittering agent these days that it actually wouldn’t work that well to secretly posing someone.

    If you need something with a shorter timeframe Methanol is an option.

    And of course there’s always Dihydrogen monoxide-everyone who has even had one drop of it will die eventually but the time range depends on the dose. With very high doses people die in minutes,with medium doses (this is actually sometimes used by inmates to kill themselves) they die within a day, with lower dose after decades, but some die mere days after they ingested the mere last drop of it. Nasty stuff and very available.

  • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    7 days ago

    I’ve heard something about writers writing about guns – if you describe a specific gun they’ll come at you for being wrong, but if you say something like “a modified Kalashnikov” you’re conveying the image you want, and the nerds will do the work for you in figuring out how it could have been modified.

  • CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Depending on your setting and desired outcome for the poisoner, uraninite (aka pitchblende) might be an option. It has historical uses in glass making and pottery glazing, which could provide justification for why someone would have it.

    It contains Uranium, which is radioactive, but I don’t believe will bioaccumulate, but can build up on surfaces, tools, and clothing providing a source of long-term radiation exposure. In addition, it contains lead, which does bioaccumulate, providing a source of gradual long term poisoning as well as radium which also bioaccumulates and is radioactive, providing an additional source of longterm radiation exposure.

  • ornery_chemist@mander.xyz
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    7 days ago

    Arsenic is a classic murder poison. It’s been known since anciemt times, though possibly unsuited to your onset requirement. Acute poisoning by ingestion is generally within a few hours, but if your character sustains lower doses over time, you could probably draw out the timeline to whatever you wanted. It would be obvious that the character is unwell during this time, but the symptoms aren’t super specific and could be confused with e.g. food poisoning.

    Or just invent a mushroom like others said. The toxins are diverse enough that I doubt anyone would be too upset if you tuned it exactly to your timeline and desired symptoms.

  • kerrigan778@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Thallium was pretty famous for this until its mechanism of toxicity and antidotes were better understood. Slow acting, tasteless, odorless, colorless, symptoms weird and mimic other things. Used to be used for rat poison but the risk of accidental exposure was too high. Requires late 1800s technology.

  • Breezy@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Go ask chatgpt or something similar for old medical herbs used back in the day that might also posion you. I inspire to write a book one day, and ive found ai to be really informative. The best part is, even if they’re wrong its going in a fiction story(i hope) where it wouldn’t matter.

  • Hobo@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    In almost every case in fictional writing it’s better to make up a poison then use a real one. That way you don’t have someone picking it apart later. Also you can give it whatever properties you want/need. Now excuse me while I continue to work on my immunity to iocane powder.

    • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org
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      8 days ago

      They’re gonna pick it apart anyway. A reader criticized the historical accuracy of a fantasy novel my sister wrote.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        I’ve never seen anyone even think twice about the Tears of Lys or The Strangler. And after Milk of the Poppy, it’s established that we may expect some similarity to reality in this world.

        • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org
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          7 days ago

          Not even that, (in a medieval-fantsy setting) one criticized the use of archer for defense, another wanted for her to write the exact years the events happened… Another one asked why one nation had an italian-sounding name, while the bordering countries had foreign-like names, and different languages! (hello, ever been to Europe?) @monarch@lemm.ee (is this how I mention someone?)

          • monarch@lemm.ee
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            7 days ago

            that is indeed how you mention someone. Yeah being pedantic for the sale of it isn’t something I understand. Unless it impacts my ability to enjoy the story I couldn’t care less.

        • monarch@lemm.ee
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          7 days ago

          I have read some novels where their history straight up breaks if you think about it for too long. Not saying this happened in this case but I read a fantasy novel that had a history that implied that people existed in the wrong times. Like this person was said to have died in X year yet someone met someone who was born in X+100 years.

        • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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          7 days ago

          Mental illnesses are very clearly defined, for example in the ICD-10 puplished by the WHO. Pedantry is defnetly not listed in there.

          And yes, this was an attempt of humour.

      • HubertManne@piefed.social
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        8 days ago

        I knew a guy I was working summers with in college. Said he did not like roger rabbit because it was unrealistic.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Alcohol. Sometimes it takes 30 or 40 years to be effective. Not very good for murder, but wildly popular for suicide.

    • scarabic@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Yeah OP needs to define what “slow” means to them. You could say that a one-week delayed effect is slow. Or you could say that it’s only slow if it takes months of exposure.

  • bluGill@fedia.io
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    8 days ago

    As a writter you should get enough details wrong that someone trying to follow your recipie fails. Ideally they are also caught.

  • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
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    8 days ago

    What do you mean by slow? Time till symptoms? time till death? Hours? Days? Weeks?

    Raw castor beans contain ricin its a cool looking plant that gets big. My neighbor grew on once accidentally.

    symptoms commonly begin within two to four hours, but may be delayed by up to 36 hours.

    Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days; however, in most cases a full recovery can be made.

    Actually a lot of beans are toxic when raw, but not deadly. Raw lima beans are special though; they contain something that the human body breaks down into cyanide. No clue how long that takes or how many it would take to cause harm.

    Heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead) are known for building up over time with many exposures. Think mad hatter syndrome, etc. but exposures can also be acute if high enough. IIRC acute arsenic poisoning makes you vomit and diarrhea until you die of dehydration after days or weeks.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    8 days ago

    Yeah, in a historic setting, use something readers will recognize, as well. Arsenic, Mercury, that kind of thing. They’ve been used as a poison, and have accidentally poisoned, for so long that they’re tropes of their own. Both of those in specific were available in the region you’re using.

    Plus, they’re going to be really easy to describe the actions of, and don’t require medical knowledge to understand the effects of. Well, the stuff that’s going to be useful to show on page anyway, the stuff that happens inside organs might take a little.