Book of Valikorlia's Botany
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Contents |
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Flowers
Nevermelt Commonly known as a Ice Flower
It is always cold; infact, the entire plant seems to be made entirely of ice. It mimics the shape of a flower, however; and it does grow upwards, so long as it is watered.
Region Grown: Frost.
Seed: It takes the shape of a deep blue teardrop; however, it is as cold as ice.
Growth: It grows slowly, and will only grow when planted in snow or permafrost. It does require some water.
Maturity: It takes two months to grow to its full height (Which is about one foot off the ground) and then it will crack and crumble. It only blooms in the very dead of winter.
Extraction: It can be picked quite easily - just snap the stem.
Known Uses: Decoration, quickly cool water, maybe Practical Magic?
Vomitus This is the most disgusting flower i've ever dealt with!
It looks like a sun flower, but get within three yards of this flower and you'll be smelling the worst thing in your life. It's usually enough to make people throw-up on the spot. The stench actually comes from a person's imagination, the worst stench they can imagine..
Region Grown: Mourn Glade, Staghorn Forest, Laboo, Ganelon's Wood, bases of mountains
Seed: They actually reproduce by budding. The leaves are the new organism that'll grow on its own when they fall off and shape into the old flower. Each flower has three leaves.
Growth: A greenish stem with afew leaves until it blooms. When the leaves fall off from the stem it takes three days for it to fully grow again, and another seven to die.
Maturity (What it looks like): They grow up to eight inches in height, looking exactly like a sunflower but with orange pedals and a yellow center.
Extraction: Pull out of ground, cut from the stem.
Known Uses: Used to awaken people from there sleep. Can be ripped and shredded then crushed into a liquid, that's used for practical jokes like putting it on people's clothes. Could be used for Practical Magic/Alchemy to create something of a powerful stench.
Golden Poppy Such a rarity, it'd be sad if they were all picked.
It constantly glows light, dim or bright depending if this flower is by another like itself. If bees collect from this flower, the honey they make will be very sweet in taste.
Region Grown: Unknown
Seed: Flowers reproduce with the help of bees..
Growth: Unknown, probably like a natural Poppy flower.
Maturity (What it looks like): A poppy flower, but golden, and long petals. The glow essentially comes from the inside of the flower, and spreads out among the petals. The closer the flowers get to one another, the glow grows along the petals. Though the bad part is, the flowers can't tell you the altitude of the others. So you could have a fully glowing flower, with no others in sight! Which equals underground flowers.
Extraction: Pick it like you would any other flower.
Known Uses: Use it to know where your friends are slightly, if you get lost use it to find you way back to a friend or the field where they grew. Probably could be used in Practical Magic to track objects.
King Ephraim's Morn - Silverhorn Kingly? I'm kingly, but no one ever names stuff after me..
As a cluster of long, bell-like flowers, King Ephraim's is prized for it's beauty and rarity--It grows only during the first frost of the year, opening only once--at dawn-- for a few hours before it dies. As such, it is often used as a gift of betrothal between people. What makes the flower special is the sound that it produces when a wind blows into it. The tone is low and bassy, and otherwise harmless against people, though it is rumored that the plant's sound can repel undead creatures. As such, many familes plant King Ephraim's within graveyards to stave off plagues of undeath.
Region Grown: Laboo, Staghorn Forest, Selnic, Port Wolfe, Frost, any cold, heavily forested or mountainous area.
Growth: The largest recorded flower was about six inches long, with a diameter of two inches. They consistently grow to about one foot in height, with flowers being four inches long, with a diameter of one inch. There are no leaves on the plant, only a silvery flower and a dull, brown, thorny stem.
Maturity: King Ephraim's begins it's life as an airborne seed. It needs very little soil or nutrients to grow as it only blooms once within its lifetime, leaving it in a dormant state where it can pull whatever it needs from the soil over a long period of time. From the time it is planted, it takes a period of two weeks for the plant to root. Afterwards it begins to grow a tiny stalk that grows horizontally under the soil. As the colder months begin to roll in, flower pods begin to grow, and finally, when the first frost of the year hits the flower breaks out of the soil and the flowers bloom. It is not edible, consumption of the plant leads to an upset stomach, but it is quite fragrant, and while it has not been proven, the sound it produces may repel undead creatures.
Extraction: It may be pulled right from the soil, though the thorns are quite sharp.
Known uses: King Ephraim's is used as decoration for graves or homes, or in the place of engagement rings as a symbol of betrothal.
Herbs
Violet Grin Troubled? Well then, have some of this!
A variant of the Hensen plant line. When planted underground and tended to, the Hensen plant grows vibrant, bioluminescent leaves that can be very poisonous if ingested. However, correctly treated, Violet Grin can be dusted and removed of its powerful poisons, where it then dulls the senses greatly when ingested in the form of a tea or pipe packing. The dust if collected is used for a powerful poison known as 'Last Smile.' It can be wetted down made for injection or used to taint arrow tips and katars, or can be put into people's food as well coated onto spices! There's the occasional pour it into your drink while you're not looking too. Violet Grin abuse was seen during the last great war in Suiriku, and there exists heavy fines for those found to have it in their posession. Violet Grin's products are very addictive, and withdrawals are long and showing.
Poison's Effect - Heavy paralysis of the upper body, starting from the fingers and moving up the arms. Stiffening of muscles creates a walking stutter that is comically known to induce a zombielike gait in movement.
Roots
Elder Kongen Tired? Well this will wake that body of yours up!
A variant of the Hensen plant line. When planted in a high altitude location below the snow line, a Hensen plant sheds all its leaves and stalks and grows into a winding root. The root, whilst bitter, is used in a variety of medicines. It is especially known for making a very thin, bitter drink, which awakens the body.
Weeds
Fire Weed A weed that looks like a flower!
Unfathomably hot, eating a whole weed can cause your throat to swell and close. It resembles a completely red rose that smells very strongly of pepper.
Region Grown: Larneborn
Seed: Resembles a grass seed
Growth: Grows well in almost any conditions, so long as it has sunlight and occasional watering.
Maturity: Takes about five days for it to grow.
Extraction: Gather the petals.
Bog Rot Dangerous, but needed to dye your clothes!
Bog rot leaves and bulk are poisonous, but the inner pulp can be pressed and drained, leaving behind a deep red ink. This is used as the primary 'red' dye for clothing design.
Region Grown: Thick marsh, specifically Bogsdeep.
Seed: Five outer leaves give way to large 'core' seed, much like avocado.
Growth: two months.
Maturity (What it looks like): Bulbous, dark green weed with red, weepy holes pierced throughout its thick leaves.
Extraction: Dug up, picked, etc.
Poison's Effect - Minor Ailment
Ley Bell The mana eating plant! Magic beware!
Dull yellow bell with odd, vibrant blue patterns resembling runic marked across its long stem and green leaves. The downward facing bell gives the appearance of a visible vacuum of blue energies, flowing inwards into its opening and into its seed cluster.
Region Grown: Greendale, Ignis Fatuus, Anywhere that spells are constantly cast or runic is in heavy use.
Seed: A cluster resembling a tightly wound pine cone kept inside a huge walnut, the inner seeds bulging from within.
Growth: Ley Bells grow from seed, germination, and finally bloom within the span of three weeks. After blooming, the Ley Bell consumes nearby mana latent in the area at an alarming rate, imbuing its seed cluster with the energies. This ends with the final maturation of the plant, which results in the seed cluster within exploding violently, killing the original plant and moving new seeds to grow within the area. This process takes another week.
Extraction: Picked.
Known Uses: None. Ley Bell is essentially a weed, and a dangerous one at that. Decorative uses once picked and seeds are removed, as the vacuum of energy continues to no harmful effect. The seed cluster, if removed from a nearly mature plant, bursts once into a vibrant flash of light if struck, releasing the mana stored within.
Legend: They say that a mage could use that mana stored within the seed, empowering there spells maybe.
Bladegrass I wonder if this could slit my throat if I wasn't careful.
Properties: A long and strudy strand of grass, with fine, razor sharp, edges down the sides. The blades have the ability to slice through most fleshy objects with relative ease, if one were to stride against it the wrong way. Upon its edge lays a sticky dew, which is known to cause quite the sting within an induced laceration across the skin.
Region Grown: Wetlands and Lakes (Bog's Deep, Laboo, Staghorn Forest, West Forest, Valdyr)
Growth: Found mostly within bodies of water, this plant's seeds burrow deep into thick mud and thrives on a contstant supply of hydration, eventually growing up to 6 ft tall, and 2-3 inches wide!
Maturity: A long green stalk of grass, thick in width and yet thin as a blade. Along the side are tiny blade croppings, which rival the fine craft of some of Kharlia's most experienced smithees. As one moves down towards the stalk of the strand, they'll find the blade thickens out into a circular shape, layered with a white exterior -- which is considered to be delicious and edible (Right out of the ground!) for its sugary sweet taste.
Extraction: Pluck one right out of the mud -- but wear gloves! Bladegrass can slice deep into unprotected flesh. Some have even reported that, with some rare strains of bladegrass, that their steel gauntlets have been torn to shreds across the palms!
Known uses: The stalk's sweetness is known to be a common food additive in many of Kharlia's more sugary dishes. Sliced and diced to become a simple sweet spice. The blades have been known to be dried out and used for wooden swords and the like. Some blacksmiths have even gone as far as to make molds of the grass for their blades, attempting to capture the natural fineness and quality for their own craft. The dew's stinging properties have been used in combination with weapons for the obvious effect.
Trees
Destined Oak Fate guides special adventurers to this tree
Properties: An Oak tree of massive proportions
Region Grown: Anywhere in the world.
Seed: Unknown, Destined Oaks seemingly grow from normal oak seeds at random.
Growth: A Destined Oak grows to about five times the size of a normal Oak tree, and from thereon lives indefinitely. However, at one point in its lifetime, a Destined Oak will come to bear a single fruit upon its branches that mimics its massive size, and, upon being plucked, withers the tree away in a storm of wind and flames. The fruit appears fifty to one hundred and fifty years after the tree has matured, and can be anything from a lemon to a kiwi.
Extraction: Picked.
Known Uses: Fruit picked from a Destined Oak is self regenerative and often the pinnacle of flavor. Also I guess it could be use for some damn good lumber!
Legend: Those that lay claim to a destined fruit are said to lead long, encompassing lives that spread far and wide through history and song, such that they were already destined to find one before coming of age.
Crawling Fortune Tree Glad I have this in the book, or i'd probably be screwed.
This 'tree' is little a plant at all, but given the reports on its existence and continued desire to have it documented, it will be included in this collection.
Region Grown: N/A, The tree itself seems to wander the known world at random, sometimes crawling out from ocean shores to make way to a new continent. Often sets itself among normal trees in a forest.
Seed: N/A
Growth: Research shows that the so called 'fortune' trees were all crafted years ago as an elaborate ruse intended to spark rumors that would get travelers and so-called 'adventurers' to go out and hunt for a roaming tree that bore gems on its branches for foliage. Those that discovered them had been fooled, the bright red leaves being the work of, at the time, simple creation magics that any apprentice magician was capable of conjuring, the trees themselves simply the works of an estranged artist and spell caster.
Maturity (What it looks like): The 'Crawling Fortune Tree', as it is now known, is much like any tree- A thick trunk gives way to splintered branches which bear leaves. This deviates immediately in that both the leaves are crimson shards similar to glass and the roots do not dwell underground, but rather sprawl the tree about as it were a spider.
Extraction: The leaves of the tree can be pruned and removed by simply giving the trunk a good whack, although this is generally a bad idea as the leaf shards are often razor sharp and many do not think to be out from underneath their fall.
Known Uses: It has long been theorized that the tree itself was created to punish those seeking easy routes through life by taking up treasure hunting, designed by a researcher who thought better of those that would live off the works of the past rather than build their own future.
Ironically, the methods used to create the gemmed leaves that it bears are now lost. The gems have become treasured for jewelry and magic research alike, and many researches hope to learn much of old magics by testing on them.
Bushes
Summer Kinomi The berries on these bushes are so sweet!
A variant of the Hensen plant line. When planted in a temperate forest with decent tree cover, the Hensen plant grows into a very hardy bush. Upon the bush grows a hanging berry used often in wine creation, and that wine is the topic of the summer festivals on Suiriku. The berries are fully edible, sweet, and their juices stain anything they touch a bright red. These berries are most comparable to a hybrid between the Cherry and Grape.
Fruit
Aporanna What a queer fruit...
A apple that is a orange on the inside, and a banana at the core.
Region Grown: Unknown, usually is warped with Xel energy though onceinto human hands, anywhere a -vine- can grow.
Seed: Originally a apple that is morphed by being touched by Xel beings. The seeds are long and straight like usual, but the inside is orange rather then white and green.
Growth: Mutatious growh on the inside, occurs instantly when touched by a Xel being.
Maturity (What it looks like): A apple, outside depedning on what type of apple it was before.
Extraction: Pluck from the vine, becareful though to not get pricked! Pricked leads to temporary insanity and praising of Xel.
Known Uses: Eating, has a unique taste that some people could come to enjoy. Fruit juice too, anyone? Though there could be more then just a tastey bite.
Legend: The apples turned into this directly from Xel being or Xel's energy is said to have a forever color changing outer coat, it doesn't go bad, and Xel's energy lingers inside the aporanna. Now whether that is bad or not, no one knows.
Vegetable
Misc.
Syren's Tears A blessing upon Kharlia from a Goddess!
Has healing properties similar to that of aloe. Good for burns or staunching wounds to help heal it wherever applied. It can also be used as a textile product allowing it to be spun into flax for clothing; it could be tenderized and then spun for clothing. Herbalists and those who use balms would find it rather useful to grind into powder or peel off into strips.
Region Grown: Anywhere with enough sun, generally grows as a weed in sunny places that get rained enough, mainly tropical. Usually appears in other people's garden even if they don’t want them to so they are usually pulled and discarded because they aren’t the best to look at until after it rains. Hospitals and wards would be a great place to find these growing.
Seed: after rains it puffs out like a Dandelion Clock and the seeds are blown away, they retract when dry so it does not grow in a drought.
Growth: about a 4 days to a month, can be picked at any time but dies immediately after a month. it is worthless if dead.
Maturity: A tall slender green at 4 days, for the next days it grows in size to about half the size of a watermellon. its a big roundish fruit and the seeds cover the skin, when it rains it looks like a giant ball of fluff, when its not it has a bluish green hue.
Extraction: it could be pulled and peeled at anytime for the sap within, the longer in the ground the larger it grows however the faster the effects will run out if not used. Even if extracted before the month is over, the sap will lose its healing effect so it has no preservation qualities.
Rock Coral Coral Men is what it is usually called, because it looks like men!
Properties: The coral itself doesn't have many uses; however, it can be used as sandpaper, because its so bloody rough.
Region Grown: Underwater - near Laboo.
Seed: Its coral.
Growth: It grows slowly.
Maturity (What it looks like): It takes the shape of a humanoid creature; thought to be made by Syren's whim, there are entire gardens of Coral Men on the bottom of the ocean floor.
Extraction: You can just break it.
Known Uses: Not many. Its possible for you to break it and use the innards as ingredients in practical magic, however... Among sea life, it's usually used for housing among small sea creatures, though from time to time there is the occasional nasty fish in there.
Droz Ro Heh heh, good defensive uses too..
A mushroom that looking like the average old mushroom but it has a bluish hue and a blue top.. It grows on any dead botany life, growing slowly. Using spores it spreads its life, and the spores can put anything not made of plant life to asleep as a defense.
Region Grown: Bogs Deep mostly and Mournglade.
Seed: It uses spores to spread its existance, parasidical to plants, and a toxin enough to put a person to sleep.
Growth: Once a spore touches a host to grow from, it slowly roots itself over the surface, and from there within several days it starts to grow. The more it grows, it starts to grow roots, trying to live longer and sucking up more nutrients. The stem slowly rising and the top spreading out as it does. It lives aslong as there is life to feed off from, and continously grows none stop, just at a slow rate..
Maturity (What it looks like): [[1]]
Extraction: Pull from the ground if small, don't crush the top, or cut it down with a appropiate blade depending on the size.
Known Uses: Used by kidnappers to put there victims to sleep, which lasts for two hours. Assassins that don't want to kill anyone else besides there target can slip spores into a drink, or hold a cloth with the spores coating a side against the person's mouth and nose.
