"The Mandrakes" by Clark Ashton Smith

quotidian: ordinary or everyday; daily

swain: a country youth, or a young lover or suitor

homunculus: a very small human or humanoid creature

simulacrum: an image or representation of someone or something. I was caught completely by surprise that this word apparently has two accepted pronunciations. I did not use the pronunciation I would normally use, I went with the other one because that turned out to be the pronunciation given by my physical paper and ink dictionary published in 1984. I feel like anything that predates widespread adoption of the Internet is likely a more trustworthy guide than anything I find on the Internet :-P

recreant: cowardly; unfaithful to a belief

raddled: broken-down

spate: in this context, a sudden flood in a river, especially one caused by heavy rains or melting snow

oracular: hard to interpret; enigmatic

termagant: a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman

The picture used is by Rembert Dodoens, 1583. Stirpium historiae pemptades sex sive libri XXX. Antverpiæ, ex officina Christophori Plantini. (scanned from Reprint 1979, Uitgeverij de Forel, Nieuwendijk (Netherlands).

To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/213/the-mandrakes

In the module X2, the PCs can meet Gilles Grenier as a random encounter in Averoigne. He can make potions for the PC, but there's a good chance the potion has a harmful effect :)