Wang Mian’s Plum Tree

Origin
Wang Mian was a court painter and poet to the Yuan Dynasty, specializing in painting scenes of plums blossoms and bamboo to accompany his poems. He originally intended to rise from a farmer’s son to government official or military advisor, but was pathetically incapable for both. His later attempt to impress Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang as a military aficionado was brief and fruitless.

Effects
Smelling the blossoms makes the user into a veritable authority on a subject or miserable washout, forever. The user will become more creative, intelligent or adaptable depending on the specific subject. Selection seems to be based on what currently intrigues a person, although who is helped and hindered seems more random. The changes are not immediately known to the user until they happen to do that altered activity. Can be used multiple times but will affect something different every attempt. All changes are permanent, even after neutralization.