Northern Flora

Claytona Monticola

Quick Facts:

Height: 2"

Width: 3"

Length: 3"

Fruit: Tiny purple berries

Poison:N/A

Native to: Northern Forest

Locations: Across Northern Idalos, has been introduced to some parts of the far Southern Idalos

Appearance: The Claytona is a very small, very rare plant that can be found in any cold region of the world. It blooms once a year for the season of Vhalar. It has thick rosette leaves with a slight fuzz to their leaves. The fuzz actually has a mild insecticide, and kills off many species of insect before they can eat the plant itself. When the plant blooms it grows a small flower in the centre of the plant that ranges from light purple to grey, depending on the acidity of the soil. If the flower is pollinated it will grow between one and three small purple berries. They are about the size of a very small blueberry, and are typically the same colour as the juice the blueberries leave behind. These berries are incredibly delicious, and are often considered a delicacy due to the difficulty involved in finding and collecting these berries. The plant is odd in that the leaves are not flexible. They are instead rather brittle and are composed of a crystalline structure. If they are broken, a sap is excreted that seals and repairs the crystal structure quickly.

Habitat: The Claytona grows anywhere where the temperature stays cool year round. It was originally from the north edge of the Northern Forest, however they have been spread around the world. They prefer more acidic soils, and the level acidity directly correlates to the taste of the berry. The more purple the flower, or the more acidic the soil is, the stronger the berry tastes. They prefer minimal rain, and thrive in climates that bury them in snow during the cold winter months.

Lifespan and Development: The plant begins as a tiny seed inside of the berry. The seed is too small to see with the naked eye and has a protective coating that allows it to survive the acidity of the stomach. When it is defecated, the seed will grow there. It takes three arcs for the plant to reach maturity, and another arc before it will begin producing flowers. They are pollinated by bees usually, and are often found in higher numbers around hives. The plant has no specified lifespan, but instead will continue to thrive as long as their habitat remains hospitable.

Uses: The berries are collected and eaten as a delicacy, but it is rare to find them in common markets. The sap has been rumoured to be of use for healing the Yludih, however due to their questionable nature it is near impossible to verify this story. It is said that the sap is smeared on their wounds, and forms a rudimentary cast for them as it heals the wound.

Abilities: The plants sap can be spread on the wounds of Yludih to vastly increase their healing speed. However due to the plants rare nature it is uncommon to find Yludih rich enough to buy the plants, let alone reveal themselves as Yludih. The sap hardens and binds to their crystals, seeping into the wound to create an effect similar to stitching while simultaneously stopping the bleeding and increasing the healing speed.

Credit: Vluharqih

Mummer's Root

Quick Facts: Hallucinogenic. Rare. Collector's Oddity.

Height: 2"-4"

Width: 3"-5"

Length: 2"

Native to: Rynmere

Locations: Endor, Burhan, Andaris.

Appearance: The Mummer's Root is a root pocked by strange, pulsating nodules containing a gelatinous, red substance called "Sanguis" for it's crimson, ichor-like consistency. It appears like a tree root, appearing often in isolated patches of rock or soil.

Habitat: The Mummer's Root often takes root in rocky outcroppings of soil, typically where stone is most prevalent.It grows best in dark and damp areas, typically in the depths of forests and foliage. In order to grow a Mummer's Root, the soil must be nutrient rich, and therefore it can also often grow in places where carcasses have been buried, such as graveyards where the bodies of the dead provide key nutrients for the growth of the plant.

Lifespan and Development: Life Span: 2 Arcs.

The Mummer's Root germinates in an interesting way; these gelatinous nodules pop, releasing blood red spores into the air. This is what leaves the stalk with this pock-marked appearance. Often, animals will inhale the spores and meet their end as it is poisonous to many species of wildlife such as deer, foxes or rabbits. Whilst inhaled spores in humanoids and large animals only causes hallucinations and severe sickness, it causes small animals to go into cardiac arrest and die. This germination cycle takes 2 trials to complete. Once Germination has been completed in either the ground or the carcass of the dead animal, a stalk will begin sprouting, piercing both fertile soil and the flesh of the dead animal until it reaches it's limited sunlight. Once the Mummer's Root sprouts from the soil or carcass, it will then bend as it grows, after 5 trials, the root itself will have planted itself twice in either the soil, or once inside the animals carcass and once in loamy, nutrient rich soil.

Uses: The nodules of the Mummer's Root can be used in poultices, oils and elixirs of different kinds, depending on how the Sanguis is extracted. Poisons can also be created using the pollen of the Mummer's Root, as well as the seeds, creating a poisonous hallucinogenic which can leave a man ill and hallucinating for at least five trials if treated, or at least ten trials if not treated. Once the hallucinogen wears off, the mild poison will set in and make the target violently ill for three trials.

Abilities: The Sanguis liquid within the Mummer's Root can either be potent medically when used in poultices, teas or edible medicines, whilst it can also be a potent hallucinogenic poison due to the toxic nature of it's seeds and pollen.

Credit: Fethryn

Tear Bower Mushroom

Credit: Vluharqih

Quick Facts:

Height: 8-12"

Width: 2-4"

Length: 2-4"

Native to: Forests of Northern Idalos

Locations: North-Western to Some Parts of Central Idalos (Only West Continent)

Appearance: The small mushroom is rarely overlooked in the forest, its pale blue colour making it nearly glow in the darker recesses. It has a long, thin stem topped by a steeply angled cap. The whole mushroom is blue, but the cap has a slight gradient towards the base, darkening to nearly a navy. If the cap is removed, the underside is even darker, nearly black, and ribbed.

Habitat: The Tear Bower mushroom originally grew in the northern forests, and some believe it originally only grew on the slopes of the Heart of the World. It requires both cold winters and hot summers in order to germinate, and recently has been seen further south than ever seen before. It prefers to grow on dead animals, and often its spores take root in the fur of various species. If those animals die, some reaction occurs with the spore, and it begins to grow. The mushroom itself will grow, and then die each arc, and will continue to continue this cycle until its root system is destroyed.

Lifespan and Development: The spores of the plant take root in the fur of various animals. Due to this, they do not attach themselves to reptiles, birds or fish. If the animal dies, the spore begins to grow, and feasts upon the dead flesh. Most of its initial energy is spent growing an intricate root system, or mycellium, and by the time the first hints of a mushroom appear, the mycellium can reach up to a mile away. Any given mycellium can spawn up to two dozen mushrooms per arc, all possessing the traits of the animal it originally grew from. The hot summer seasons allow the mushrooms to flourish, and during the course of the Hot Cycle, the plant grows to its entirety, releases the spores, and begins to die by the end of Saun. The mycellium goes into hibernation until the following Ashan, when it reawakens, and grows another set of mushrooms. The spores that are caught in the fur of the animals can attach themselves to the individual fibres during the Cold Cycle. There is a chemical reaction that occurs, and the two bond together, the spore awaiting its chance. If the animal fails to die by about the end of Cylus, the spore looses its energy, and becomes useless.

Uses: The cap is used for making several medicines, and the stalk can be collected and ground up into a spice, creating a very nutty flavour. There has been some recent discoveries into animal-specific mushrooms. Depending on the original host species, it appears that there may be some long-term usage benefits. This is likely due to the very slow release of the mushroom into the body.

Abilities: The cap of the mushroom can be used in making several sleeping draughts, however it typically takes a long time to be absorbed into the body. The cap must be dried and ground in order to make this, but the grinding process sparks the reaction, and it loses its power within bits if not ingested. Powders are wholly ineffective, and poultices are typically not absorbed fast enough. The cap itself slows the heart rate, and clouds the brain, and the sleep it induces cannot be broken until the remainder of the mushroom has worked its way out of the system.

The entire mushroom, eaten raw and whole, is an effective solution to prevent many stomach aches, however due to the long absorption time, it is rarely useful once the pain has begun, making this effect unknown to many accomplished herbalists.

As noted above, recently several prominent researchers have discovered that the animal that the spores attach to can drastically change its effect. The benefits they have discovered have all been preventative rather than recuperative. At the moment, they have discovered that the fur of carnivores has a tendency to increase the aggression of those who take it regularly, and can act as a small steroid. They have also found that a mushroom growing on a deer, that subjects who regularly take it have an increased sensitivity to sound, and are slightly more nimble.

However, in order to gain these effects, all researchers have agreed that it requires a minimum of two Cycles in order to see the benefits. This can pose an issue, as the mushroom must be taken daily, and as such it is incredibly expensive to do.

Just the handful needed for a sleep draught will often go for 15-20 gn; the single whole plant for the stomach remedy costing 3-5gn, due to the extremely short shelf-life. To truly benefit from a long-term regimen of ingestion for the animal-related benefits, one should expect to pay 500-600 gn over a two-cycle span.