1001 Inconsequential Flora & Fauna

[Set]

613. Amethystine threadsnakes These tiny snakes are barely bigger than fat nightcrawler earthworms, and have delicate silvery scales that shimmer with a blue-violet iridescence that is the result of an oil they secrete to keep themselves clean and free from infection. This oil can only be harvested by allowing the tiny serpents to writhe across the cloth or metal items to be treated, leaving the oil behind in their travels, and they do not like traveling across cold or unpleasant surfaces, leading those who use this oil as a dye to keep the surfaces they want 'oiled' warm and fragrant, and to keep a supply of the even smaller insects these miniscule snakes feed upon, preferably mealworms, available. These snakes are mostly blind, with only rudimentary eyespots, seem quite content, if kept warm and safe from larger predators (which is, most of them...), being able to produce a fair amount of these lovely iridescent oils for several years in captivity.

The oil dries out / wears off and loses its luster the more a garment or metal accoutrement is worn, quite attractively, as it flakes into a sparkly dust like that from a butterfly or moth's wings (sometimes called 'starfall' by the pretentious), and so requires frequent 're-oiling' from whatever serpent-keeping artisan provides this service (whose exact nature is a closely guarded secret, as some of their customers would not react well to the thought that their nicely shimmering outfits are being slimed by squirmy snakes!) to the wealthy Taldan nobles who enjoy having only the shiniest shimmering gowns and jewelry.

Like the short lived trend of wearing translucent armwear and hosiery of specially treated glass falcon skin, this too, will no doubt pass in time and be a footnote in Taldan fad-fashion.

[Freehold DM]

614. Echolickia- These mischievous candies are often sold as lollipops to well off brats looking to get into mischief. They allow one to perfectly mimic the voice of another for about 10 rounds(one minute), but only if that person licks or otherwise ingests part of the candy before the mimic does. Originally used for fun, they have since gone on to be used in all manner of chicanery, from light hearted pranks to incredibly involved attempts to catch an unfaithful lover to at least one comically unsuccessful regicide. In game terms, these candies grant a +10 bonus to disguise as a specific individual, but only for the purposes of sounding like them, and there are usually massive penalties to offset the bonus because these candies, while expensive, are still quite common, and the fact that one has to taste the candy first before giving it to another party for them to use often tips off any people in the vicinity that something is afoot.

[Pizza Lord]

615. Ectolickia
These flowering plants have vibrant, green stalks that contrasts with their pale gray, almost shroud-like petals. They tend to grow in small clusters of three to five in a small area and are safe to eat for most animals, though they'd need to be brewed into a tea or soup for most humanoids, like thistles. The plants don't technically seed or reproduce on the Material Plane, they are actually truly on the Ethereal, where their flowers appear as a beautiful midnight blue.

Ectolickia:

---------------------------------------------
When an ectolickia grows on the Ethereal Plane, if its coterminous location on the Material is earthy or suited for plants, a facsimile of it also grows there. Made from ectoplasm, it otherwise acts as a normal plant, absorbing nutrients and sunlight and sharing it with the 'host'. Killing or cutting the plant on the Material Plane does not harm the true plant unless a blade that can affect ethereal creatures or objects is used. If only the Material plant is cut, the true plant does not regrow a new ecto-simulacra. It only creates one per lifetime.

If this happens, the original plant loses a lot of its ability to harvest nutrients or sunlight, but it can continue to grow and thrive depending on those available in the Ethereal, most slowly wither and turn to dander or floating seeds. Similar seeds forming on the Material Plane never create new life or take root and those on the Ethereal Plane never really spread far due to the vagaries of that plane's weather, gravity, and winds, usually requiring a creature to latch on or move them. For this reason, most cluster of ectolickia tend to stay where they are.

The plant does have one quirk. When the Material Plane copy of it is killed, cut, or eaten, the true plant (if not also dead at at the time) spawns an ectoplasmic image of the creature that did it. This appears during the first night after it happens and the image tends to mill about in one place and generally do what was happening at the time. This is usually an animal that will appear to be grazing or sometimes a person just walking in the area, having trodden upon the plant, or maybe swinging a sickle or blade and cutting it. The ectoplasmic image is akin to an incorporeal creature and only has 8 hit points before dissipating. It does not react or attack anything, though most normal animals avoid them. They always appear ghostly or spectral. They only exist until sunlight touches them or 12 hours pass before they fade away.
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[Goth Guru]

Freehold DM wrote:

614. Echolickia- These mischievous candies are often sold as lollipops to well off brats looking to get into mischief. They allow one to perfectly mimic the voice of another for about 10 rounds(one minute), but only if that person licks or otherwise ingests part of the candy before the mimic does. Originally used for fun, they have since gone on to be used in all manner of chicanery, from light hearted pranks to incredibly involved attempts to catch an unfaithful lover to at least one comically unsuccessful regicide. In game terms, these candies grant a +10 bonus to disguise as a specific individual, but only for the purposes of sounding like them, and there are usually massive penalties to offset the bonus because these candies, while expensive, are still quite common, and the fact that one has to taste the candy first before giving it to another party for them to use often tips off any people in the vicinity that something is afoot.

It is made from a pseudo sugar plant that looks like a sugar cane above but like a sugar beet below. The sugar is very hard to identify as anything other than sweet.

[Set]

[Ooh, stuff with planar off-shoots, me likey!]

616. Shadowtop These high climbing vines reach high up any surface they can cling to, to 'top' any other vegetation, in their ruthless search for more sunlight. Dozens of yards below, buried in the soil, a scraggly tuber grows with the energy they have stolen from the various plants they have shouldered aside in their mindless pursuit, and this tuber extends it's shadow into the literal Plane of Shadow, where it appears as a fat tuber, more potato than carrot, nothing like the withered shadow of itself on Golarion. This vegetable is a staple on the Plane of Shadow, and its incredibly small and durable seeds are propagated far and wide through the waste of Shadow Plane residents. These seeds them push their sickly white tendrils back into Golarion, blindly seek out the tallest thing they can, and climb ever higher, seeking out the sun, so they can do it all over again.

These plants are distinctive, with the upper surface of their leaves such a dark shade of green that they are almost black, and have a pale flower, white or blue or green, that only opens at night, attracting moths and bats to sup at it's sickly-sweet nectar, with the faintest hint of corrupting flesh, which is the base of a popular perfume in Nidal.

Most common in Nidal (although pruned back from the proud towers of their greatest cities, and rarely seen by outsiders to the nation), the tuber in bitter and foul, unlike the earthy and 'meaty' flavor of the Plane of Shadow-'shadow' of itself, and used for little more than a spice meant to make overly sweet dishes and teas, less so. It is rumored to have medicinal properties, to prevent disease or infection, but there appears to be no substance to these rumors, although it remains popular as a home remedy because it stings like alcohol when applied to a wound, which, to a Kuthite, is a good thing.

The elite of Pangolais enjoy braised 'steaks' cut from the fat and succulent tubers grown in the Plane of Shadow, but they are limited in supply, and expensive to import from Shadow Pangolais, where they are a staple (usually the residents there will only trade them for ten times their weight in material planes foodstuffs, such as meat and wine, which, to them, are an equally rare and precious luxury).

Shadowcasters long ago studied and catalogued the plane-crossing abilities of this plant, and it is common knowledge among them, at least, that the most usual spells of shadow transport, such as Shadow Walk, were derived from studies into this unique ability. Such knowledge isn't generally known outside of Nidal, and they are not prone to sharing such things, so few arcanists are even aware this plant exists, let alone that some shadow magics owe their very existence to it's properties.

The seeming contradiction of this light-craving vine thriving in the oft-times poorly-lit nation of Nidal, and not in sunnier climes, remains a mystery. Kuthites claim it is because the vine was made to suffer, and cannot abide an easy life with no price for success, and while fitting their bleak mindset, it is possible that *too much light* is as damaging for Shadowtop as not enough?

[Goth Guru]

Or maybe these plants harbor light hating creatures such as vampires. Undead hating groups like the Van Helsing Society tend to rip them out and burn them whenever possible. Worse yet, an elixir made from the roots and blood can restore destroyed corporeal undead.

[Set]

Goth Guru wrote:

Or maybe these plants harbor light hating creatures such as vampires. Undead hating groups like the Van Helsing Society tend to rip them out and burn them whenever possible. Worse yet, an elixir made from the roots and blood can restore destroyed corporeal undead.

Or it could go in the other direction, and the sunlight is stored somehow in the tuber, chemically, and the tuber, when cut open, is faintly luminescent, which is a cute effect to humans, and deeply annoying to vampires (not harmful, just like looking at a mirror, disturbing and uncomfortable).

Or, best of all, there might be two varieties of tuber, and they grow from the same vine, and look alike until cut open, so a vampire never knows if they are going to get the tasty ones or the annoying ones!

[Set]

617. Dreamdancers Native to Varisia, and most commonly seen late at night in Varisian camps, long after everyone has gone to sleep, dreamdancers are fantastically colorful butterflies that glow with their own swirling pastel shades. The soft blues, green, violets and oranges seen on their wings begin to swirl and pulse softly as they alight on the faces of sleeping Varisians, feeding on their dreams. This feeding has no effect on the sleeping Varisians, although some report that nightmares become less real and frightening, when dreamdancers have been seen 'feeding' from them.

This is rare, as they can only be seen by someone who is themselves half awake, being invisible save for flitting firefly like motes of light, to those who are fully awake. They have no effective hit points, and are dispersed by a hand passing through their space, or a dreamer starting awake and moving suddenly, although it is uncertain if this destroys them, or simply dissipates them to reform later.

Varisian tradition maintains that they are A) native to the First World, and B) a gift sent by Desna, representing her watching over them in their dreams. Varisians do not speak of them to outsiders, as a Korvosan arcanist who has heard the legends, wants to 'study' one, as in, capture one, possibly dissect it, which they consider an offense against their goddess. And so they have manufactured several pranks to make this arcanist seem the fool to their fellows at the Academae, using illusions to make it seem that the arcanist had been snookered by a Varisian trickery, and that 'dreamdancers' do not actually exist. The arcanist lost much face with their peers, for chasing these 'illusory butterflies', and not harbors a seething hatred for Varisians. So, not the best of all possible results...

The dreams of babies and children, in particular, fascinate them, and a mother might drift between sleep and wake as her child slumbers in her arms, to faintly see one or more dreamdancers softly fanning their color-shifting wings on her baby's face. This is considered a blessing, by these people, although to speak of it is considered boastful and unwise, so is often kept secret. Rarely, at such times, individuals sleeping next to each other may awaken having shared a dream, in most cases unaware of each others presence in the dream, in others, unaware that the person they dream of is actually also dreaming of them at the same time. Young couples, or parents with young children, especially treasure these shared dreams, and will often commemorate such an occurrence with a tattoo of a dreamdancer, stylized as a butterfly with wings that resemble the panels of a stained-glass window in abstract pastel shades.

Varisians are no less prone to excessive consumption of strong drink than any other folk, and dreamdancers never seem to visit those who sleep the dreamless sleep of the heavily drunk. This is a source of some bitterness, with some inveterate drunks claiming that dreamdancers don't even exist (since they've obviously never seen one), and others perhaps even justifying their turn to strong drink *because* a dreamdancer has never seen fit to bless their sleep anyway.

[Set]

[naughty-adjacent!]

618. Courting Lily This ornate fluted lily has the unique mechanism of spurting its own pollen up into the air, a meter or more, in a scintillating display, as the pollen itself is a brilliant mix of colors. The individual specks of pollen are so tiny that they must be viewed through a magnifying glass to see their unique snowflake-like designs that often have spiky protrusions that cause them to 'snag' on the clothing or fur of creatures, and be taken for a ride, far from their parent plant. Originally said to be from the First World, this lily produces a single large flower at the end of a reed-like woody stem with segments like bamboo, and a single large leaf offset from the leaves above and below it, at each segment. The stem itself can grow up to a meter in height (and properly sized ones make decent arrow shafts, or wind chimes), and the flower is a brilliant white, with a sparkling multicolored stamen coated in its special pollen.

In addition to creating a novel sight, of the colorful sparkly expulsions of their pollen, and the days of drifting 'sparklies' thereafter, the pollen is mildly toxic, but only to insects and arthropods, causing them to behave erratically, and, quite commonly, to engage in mating displays, out of season, which can lead to many deaths among bugs too busy trying to 'dance' for a predator than evade it. The pollens effects are short-lived, and affect only the smallest of such insects, as even a full 'blast' discharge of pollen into the face of a monstrous insect will likely have no effect, due to the sheer mass of the creature.

Because of this nature, and the scintillating sight of the stamen in a lily that has not yet 'thrown' its pollen, courting lilies are the equivalent of giving someone a rose, among gnomish (and some 'forlorn' elven) communities, although the exact message is less 'I love you' and more 'wanna fool around?' (Which can lead to some amusing confusion when neighboring human communities pick up the tradition, unaware that this is not a profession of love, but an invitation to have sex.)

Giving someone a courting lily that *has* thrown its pollen, and is just a sagging white flower with a bare stamen, makes the giver subject to endless tiresome jokes about 'spent' flowers and 'what that means' about the giver.

[Set]

619. Redshirted Macaques. The females and older dominant males of this species have light brown fur, with a darker brown patch over their torso and shoulders, that resembles a shirt. Most troops have only a single dominant male, and a half-dozen to dozen females of various ages, while younger males are driven away by both dominant male *and* the various females, in most cases (although opportunistic mating has been known to happen with younger males when the dominant male is distracted or busy...).

Younger males, who have not yet established a pack, are easily recognized, as their 'shirt' is a bright red, instead of a dark brown, and they usually travel alone, even driving each other away, rather than travel in packs, which is an innate response to their coloration, which serves as a 'scarlet letter' in the canopy, and makes them frequent targets of predation by eagles, tree-dwelling snakes and even humanoids, who find their bright markings make for easy targets, which is, evolutionarily, the sad purposes of these 'red shirts.'

Evolution is not meant to help *you* survive, just your species. And the younger males are, sadly, extra bodies, not needed for the survival of the race. Those few that survive the hard years with a target on their back, prove to be the craftiest (or luckiest!) and pass those traits onto their own offspring, when their bright red markings finally fade to dull brown, and they become able to attract their own pack of mates.

Such is the sad tale of the redshirt.

[Why yes, I just red another John Scalzi novel, and you win absolutely zero quatloo if you can guess which one.] :)

[Set]

620. Thunder Toads / Barking Lizards. These tiny squat toad-like reptiles are covered with spiked keratin 'horns' and spikes, like some species of horned lizard (like the Australian Thorny Devil), and are found in both rocky and forested terrain, usually colored in shades of brown and gray in the former, and brown and dull green in the latter. Their most distinctive feature is the amazingly loud frog-like croak they produce, and the wide range of other sounds they can learn to make. Their thunderous 'bark' inflicts a single point of sonic damage to a single target, which must make a Fortitude save or be deafened for a minute. (On a critical success on the attack roll, or a 1 on the saving throw, the target may also be stunned for a round, so long as they are no more than one size class larger than the thunder toad itself.) They must wait 1d4 rounds before they can 'bark' again, and one can learn to tell when one is about to bark, as it's ears flatten and there is a faint whooshing noise as liquids flush from their ear, deafening them for the moment of the bark itself (the liquids flush back into the eardrum when the bark ends, this mechanism prevents them from deafening themselves!).

Thunder toads also produce a clicking, sometimes in their throat, or sometimes tap their clawed limbs on a tree or stone to make a clicking, that affords them with 10' blindsight, through a form of sonar, and they love nothing more than to feed on diminutive bats that they have blasted out of the with deafening barks. They get a +2 to their attack roll with their sonic bark on any target within their blindsight range, have dozens of inward pointing spiny teeth, and are both good climbers (10' climb speed) and prodigious leapers (+8 to jump checks). They share the blue dragon's Sound Imitation knack, and mimic all sorts of sounds as part of their courtship rituals, but are generally not smart enough to use them more creatively. Thunder Toad familiars, on the other hand, can be quite creative, and also speak one language their master speaks, like a raven.

Rarely, barking lizards in Gungnir Forest in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, particularly, will have dragon-like wings, a 30' fly speed and average maneuverability, but are rarely fast or graceful enough aerialists to take bats on the wing.

The oldest of these lizards grow to size small, and their sonic bellow inflicts 1d3 sonic damage, and always deafens (and the single target must always save or be stunned for 1 round). In the Gungnir Forest, winged specimens who grow to this size gain the drift property (like chickens, they must land at the end of a round, when flying) and reduce to clumsy maneuverability. Such 'elders' cannot be taken as familiars, save by someone with the Improved Familiar feat, of at least 7th level.

In the Hold of Belkzen, crafters of warbeasts have managed to breed or raise or magically mutate a Thunder Toad of huge size, that they use as a mobile seige weapon, producing powerful croaks that can blast foes off their feet (4d6 sonic plus stun, deafness *and* a combined bull rush / trip attack!). This beast has managed to kill it's primary tamer / handler by accident, as an enemy shaman blinded it, and it was trained to attack any creature that it could 'see' by blindsight, but not see visually, as a deterrent against invisible foes! So far there is only one such creature, and it's current location is unknown, even to it's creators...

[Goth Guru]

Rumors that an evil druid has cured it's eyesight and is killing anyone who enters the forest with a saw cannot be confirmed because no remains have been found.

[Kobold Catgirl]

621. Common carnivorous moss
In truth, this is more a genus than a single species, for there are more strains of carnivorous moss than there are of songbirds. The most well-known non-domesticated species, often just called carnivorous moss, is a semi-subterranean predator which primarily feeds on cave crickets and baby oozes, and occasionally eggs. Common carnivorous moss that has access to sunlight can grow as large as a jackrabbit, but when it spends all its life underground, it rarely gets bigger than an egg roll.

This species is usually edible, but has little flavor of its own, making it useful mainly for cooking down into soup stock. Its flavor is similar to cabbage, with a hint of umami thanks to its diet and a texture similar to broccoli.

It should be noted that depending on what the moss preys upon, it may contain toxins when caught. As such, as a rule, it is recommended to survey the surrounding flora and fauna before deciding to eat wild cave moss.

[Set]

[don't remember if I used this one in this thread, it's an old idea...[

622. Greyskin

This darklands lichen is usually found near lazurite deposits, and flourishes on negatively-charged necrotic tissue. I.E. undead. It causes a creeping blue-grey rash that stands out from the usual undead pallor, and is considered quite unsightly, among intelligent undead like ghouls and vampires, a sign of poor hygiene, poor standards or just poor 'self-care' (indicative of an undead who doesn't particularly care if they get destroyed, and doesn't much care if they take you with them, so, not great allies...).

It has no mechanical negative affects, despite the social opprobrium the afflicted face in cultures like Geb or Nemret Noktoria, other than a persistent itching and tendency of surrounding tissue to crack and flake, as if the host was afflicted with a nasty case of dandruff (as the lichen absorbs any liquids left in the undead, and ambient humidity, to survive).

It is contagious, and any sort of close contact with an infected undead can transfer it, and at random intervals, it releases spores that can also spread the affliction to other undead in the area. As a result, ghouls or vampires with any visible sight (or smell, which can be strong, likened to vinegar) of greyskin to be quarantined (or destroyed, in less forgiving areas. Tar-Baphon does not play.). Other corporeal undead, like zombies, wights or liches can also get greyskin infections, but ghouls and vampires seem much more prone to infection, perhaps being 'preferred hosts' due to their diets of flesh and blood.

The infection can be treated in two ways, the first only really available to ghouls, as it requires exposure of all infected surfaces to the light of the sun for several consecutive days (and usually the scouring with alcohol-fueled fire of their 'living' area and belongings and clothing, to get any spores that are lingering). The 'vampire-friendly' option requires soaking in weak alchemical acid solutions for days, and tends to cause livid red rashes that take weeks to clear up, as well as some debility.

There are regular surreal 'pilgrimages' of afflicted ghouls from Nemret Noktoria to the surface in the deep deserts of Osirion to 'sun-bathe' and be rid of the growth, which is pervasive in that lazurite-riddled city. It is believed that it is from them that the infestation currently plaguing the vampires of Geb can be traced, but it would be a diplomatic faux pas of the highest order to refer to the embassy from Nemret Noktoria as 'unhygenic' or 'poorly maintained.'

The most common undead solution to more mundane infestations, a blast of life-killing negative energy, obviously does not work for this particular lichen.

[Set]

After sleeping on 'greyskin' I hate the name, and will workshop something better with my alternate personalities.

But I like how it is usable for plot hooks.

Want to mess with Geb's diplomatic relations with Nemret Noktoria? Start some rumors that a new outbreak among Geb's vampires are the result of 'dirty' infected ghouls in the NN embassy.

Want to absolutely pants some high-ranking wight or vampire lieutenant of Tar-Baphon? Infect them with spores during a fight that he, of course, escapes, only to report to 'the boss' and get promptly fireballed into oblivion because Tar-Baphon goes *ballistic* if anyone infected with that dares to enter his presence and goes straight to 'kill it with fire!'

Plus the possibility of being out plundering ruins in Osirion's deep deserts and stumbling upon a dozen ghoul aristocrats from Nemret Noktoria nude sunbathing, to clean up a nasty skin infection... Awkward!

[Kobold Catgirl]

623. Skyberry Bush
This shrub-sized outcropping of algae grows from the stagnant waters deep underground, usually climbing up banks or encircling stalagmites for support. The algae processes helium from the ground to create buoyant ‘berries’, pale blue translucent bulbs each roughly the size of a child’s fist. These berries help it rise above the surface of the water to ease the distribution of its spores.

Skyberries are supposed to taste a little like apricots, but caramelize into a sweet-savory jam which deep gnomes are quite fond of. If prepared properly, the jam can be used to concoct an effect similar to the gentle landing spell.

[Pizza Lord]

Set wrote:

After sleeping on 'greyskin' I hate the name, and will workshop something better with my alternate personalities.

Blue Gravemold, Azure Crypt-lichen, Ghoul Blight, Sepulchre Blight, Filth Rot Fungus.

624. Goblin Rapeseed
Like its more common namesake, this plant grows about 1–1.5 meters in height and grows flowers and seeds, though they are a brownish hue rather than a vibrant yellow. A member of the mustard and cabbage family, its seeds can be used to make cooking oil or processed into a mustard. It's more brownish than yellow in both cases, but is safe to consume. For goblinoids, however, things cooked in the oil or garnished with the mustard tastes incredible. If goblins were inclined to farm, they'd probably choose this plant if their neighbors weren't inclined to just raid, pillage, and steal their crop.

While safe, foods including these products tend to cause slight gastric distress and flatulence in most humanoids. This is mostly just embarrassing, but goblinoids also love the smell of these emissions and such imbibers get a +1 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy and Bluff checks when dealing with them. Goblin rapeseed is a commodity most goblinoid communities will trade or negotiate for (unless they think they can rob or raid it

625. Bleeding Brainleaf
This vegetable resembles a pale gray broccoli or cauliflower, with a flowering head slightly resembling a pale-gray brain. It has numerous long, green leaves arcing around it, with a scarlet or crimson streak that runs down their center, giving the plant its name. It somewhat resembles a small intellect devour in appearance except for the coloration.

The flowering part of the plant is edible and tasty if prepared properly, though the leaves and root are inedible and mildly toxic in large quantities. If used as an ingredient in a potion that increases Constitution or Intelligence, it adds one minute to the duration (or 1 round if the duration would be less than one minute).

[Set]

626. Blood Rice Growing in the metal-tainted water around abandoned iron mines, this variety of rice tastes bitter and 'salty,' and would be considered inedible by most humanoids (although goblins, and less picky creatures, like rats and vermin, can live on it), but far more remarkable for how it sequesters the iron content of the red-stained waters (for which it is named) into it's outer hull, which thankfully splits open naturally, as it would be difficult indeed to pry the tiny husks open to extract the organic flesh within.

Found in only a few played-out iron mines along the lengths of the Menador and Mindspin mountain ranges (on both sides of each range, so in Varisia, Nirmathas, Molthune, Isger and Lastwall), and generally unknown to all but the goblin tribes that harvest them, meticulously cracking open the husks to eat the rice within, and saving the iron-rich husks to burn down (removing any organic components) and pound the resulting iron slag into their trademark dogslicers and horsechoppers.

In Isger, in particular, tribes of goblins perform this labor in particularly grueling conditions, turning over their collected iron ore to unforgiving hobgoblins who regard such labor as beneath their warrior's dignity, and suffer the goblins to continue to live in their territory (and protect them, and this valuable and secret source of iron, from other creatures or forces that could annihilate them) as their 'reward' for feeding the hobgoblin war machine the iron it needs to fuel it's expansion.

It is unclear whether or not blood rice is a natural, if terribly convenient..., adaptation, or has a long-forgotten magical or supernatural origin. If more people knew about it, the clergy of gods like Gorum or Droskar might even claim it as a gift of their respective gods to extract iron for weapons and armor from the water and soil around even 'played out' mines. It is certainly 'interesting' that the plant has managed to spread around such a large range, despite no connecting waterways, or significant presence away from the abandoned mines in these mountains.

Scholars of such things would be over the moon for a chance to try and cultivate a strain of blood rice that sequestered gold, mithril or adamantine from played out mines of those much more valuable metals... (The current strain only sequesters iron, and will fail to thrive in waters tainted by runoff from tin or copper mines, for instance.)

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Also sounds like a good source of iron for people with anemia, maybe when combined with something to make it more palatable.

[Pizza Lord]

When rereading all the old entries and all the comments on making everything 'Dire', I have been considering just throwing a word like 'murder' in front of everything, but maybe I'll do 'blood'.

627. Sarkorian Bloodberry
Mainly found in the fo-shrouded lands of Ustalav, this small berry bush has waxy-green, saw-toothed leaves. It grows deep-red berries in clusters of two. The berries are tasty when ripe, reminiscent of mulberries, but very juicy to the point of almost always running from the eater's mouth like blood capsules. They also leave stains and make for good dye material. They add a +1 circumstance bonus to bluffs or disguises involving being wounded, but anyone imbibing or using one tends to be attractive to insects or swarms for several hours afterwards.

If used in a magic item that summons or controls insects or swarms, it adds one round to the duration for every five, but increases the cost by 1 gp per caster level in materials.

628. Blood Bear
Similar in size to a black bear, this auburn-red ursine lives in forests and consists on an omnivorous diet. They can sometimes be mistaken for a normal, cinnamon-colored black bear. They avoid most humanoids unless protecting their young. Their claw attacks inflict bleed 1 for two rounds if not cured sooner (duration equals bear's Con modifier, minimum 1) and have a mild poison that causes affected creatures to go into a form of rage.

All bears cubs, not only blood bear cubs, are immune to blood bear venom, but this fades as they mature. If blood bear venom is used in the creation of an item that casts rage, the recipients receive an additional +1 morale bonus to melee attacks and a –1 penalty to ranged attacks and AC for the first two rounds.

Blood bear venom:

-------------------------------------
Price 100 gp type poison (injury) save DC 14 (10 + 1/2 HD + Con mod) frequency 1/round for 2 rounds cure 1 save.
Effect Attack nearest blood bear at +2 morale bonus to attack for melee, –2 to ranged attacks, –1 AC, and actions requiring concentration require a concentration check.
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629. Bloodstone Threadsnakes
Similar to amethystine threadsnakes (#613), these tiny serpents typically have deep-green scales with red speckles. They also leave a coating behind, but it's a more brittle coating that flakes far more easily and is only good for coating hard, unflexing surfaces like wood, stone, or metal. The coating is the same color and texture as a bloodstone mineral. In one day, one bloodstone threadsnake can coat a pebble or sling stone. Without actual guidance, mostly they just leave green streaks in random patterns on things. Unscrupulous people try and pass off ordinary stones as bloodstones to the untrained, though the coating flakes off in a day or two unless the object is kept unhandled.

630. Blood Mouse
These mice are almost indistinguishable from ordinary mice and can even live and coexist among them at times. They have slightly redder tongues, so most people can't identify them without close examination. When killed, they tend to burst into a small, harmless spray of blood and tiny bones. This is startling to most creatures, but hungry predators will still eat the remains. In inhabited areas, people tend to use less lethal mousetraps to avoid having to clean up messes, but cat owners often have to deal with it as their pets catch and kill them around the house.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Pizza Lord wrote:

630. Blood Mouse

These mice are almost indistinguishable from ordinary mice and can even live and coexist among them at times. They have slightly redder tongues, so most people can't identify them without close examination. When killed, they tend to burst into a small, harmless spray of blood and tiny bones. This is startling to most creatures, but hungry predators will still eat the remains. In inhabited areas, people tend to use less lethal mousetraps to avoid having to clean up messes, but cat owners often have to deal with it as their pets catch and kill them around the house.

I can imagine cats being wary of mice if they keep encountering and killing this kind.

[Pizza Lord]

SilvercatMoonpaw wrote:

I can imagine cats being wary of mice if they keep encountering and killing this kind.

Cats are stoopid, though. Stupid... stupid, smug things.

631. Bloodsilver Mooncat
This breed of elven cat are noted for their silver-hued fur, sometimes streaked with platinum. They are the size of a large housecat and typically friendly enough if treated well or raised in a household. Wild bloodsilver mooncats tend to avoid people unless food is left out and they may become less cautious.

They get part of their name from their coloration, and another part from the fact that blood acts as a catnip to them. After killing prey, or being around a bleeding creature, they tend to rub their faces and whiskers into it and drool for several minutes (unless threatened). This doesn't apply to bloodsilver mooncat blood. The other part off their name seems linked to the moon.

While capable of purring, bloodsilver mooncats only do so during the time of the full moon (days and nights), when content or happy or near blood. While as cunning as any feline predator in the wild, domesticated cats become very stupid. So very stupid. Fortunately, only during the full moon. They seem to become like idiotic kittens, asking for cuddles and such, but constantly getting stuck in boxes, falling off shelves, missing jumps, pouncing on blood mice (#630) even if trained or constantly around them, and getting stuck half-way up curtains or halfway into a mouse or rabbit hole like Winnie the Pooh. They also seem to forget they have tails, and can be seen spinning in circles like a dog. Even the ones that don't have tails, and they seem completely baffled when they somehow manage to catch them.

Other felines treat them as any other cat, but turtles (including dragon turtles and kappa) that see one get a +5 enhancement bonus to land speed once per day for one minute. No one knows why. If bloodsilver mooncat blood is used to make a scroll or potion of cat's grace, the user takes one less bleed damage (hit point loss) from bleed effects but has a –2 penalty to Wisdom checks for the duration.

631. Bloodhoney Vine
This variant of honeyvine (#7) is almost identical to its cousin, including flower coloration. Unlike the other, when it's ready for pollination, the flowers turn to a wet, slick blood or rusty color and the nectar they drip is nearly identical to blood in scent and texture. It doesn't attract hummingbirds or bees, though other insects and small predators, especially bloodsilver mooncats (#631), come into contact and spread the pollen and small seeds.

Rumors that it attracts vampires and other blood-drinking undead are false. Undead get no nourishment or sustenance from such bloodhoney, though other creatures might, but only if normal pollen or honey would. It doesn't help mosquito females lay eggs, for instance, though they are attracted to the smell, and can make the vicinity more dangerous. Other than bloodsilver mooncats, who react to it, it doesn't trigger or cause most other blood reactions, such as bloodlust in sharks, though their keen scent detects it as such and it can interfere with such senses if scattered around the area, similar to a cloud or fog confusing vision.

If specially-treated bloodhoney vine bloodhoney is used as a material component in a magic item or spell (10gp or 10 gp per charge) that summons a plant or insects, those creatures inflict bleed 1 on a creature the first time they damage it during the encounter but the duration is reduced by one round (minimum 1 round).

[Set]

632. Brass Cats Named somewhat confusingly 'brass cats,' these gray and white big cats are a breed of snow leopard that was native to northern Varisia, many centuries ago, but were entirely extinct until only recently, when the breed was re-introduced from a most unlikely source.

Named not for their coloration, but for their entirely brazen natures, utterly uninterested in, and unconcerned by, the Thassilonians who built a city in 'their' mountains, they wandered through Xin-Shalast studiously ignoring any human or giant who did not threaten them, eating only their traditional prey, which included large rodents, that thrived in the budding city, and any of the milk or meat-goats that were not securely fenced off and kept safe from them. Thassilonian children would often dare each other to touch one, which would draw, at worst, a snarl or hiss of warning from the otherwise imperturbable animals.

With the fall of Thassilon, the constriction of their easy hunting grounds, and the eventual rise of other peoples, who would hunt them for their furs, the fearless 'brass cats' died out entirely too soon to develop a healthy fear of man. And so they became the worst sort of 'inconsequential,' only a historical note, sometimes being dismissed as servitor creatures, or charmed and enslaved by the Thassilonians, and not a fearless creature that had made it's own home among humans on it's own terms, just far larger than a rat or pigeon.

And then, a selection of Thassilonians returned to Xin-Shalast, and with them, a population of brass cats, so that the newly-repopulated city is once again prowled by sleek predators who do not regard humans as prey, nor fear them in the slightest.

Visitors to modern-day Xin-Shalast might be somewhat off-put to see what looks like a white tiger or cloud leopard stalking through the market, or eating a large rodent (or rogue goat) in the middle of the street, blithely ignoring, and being just as blithely ignored by, the unconcerned locals.

[Because they kept farmers goats off the streets, and, far more importantly, kept the population of large vermin low enough to make expensive-to-ship-north grain supplies safe, it was actually a law to leave the cats alone, and someone could be fined into ruination for the crime of wearing brass cat fur, the worst of all punishments in this wealth-obsessed kingdom!]

[Set]

633. Witch Crows The crows of Irrisen had grown acclimated to a 'land of eternal winter,' and developed several arctic adaptations, more common to the snowy owls or ptarmigans of more arctic climes. A thicker undercoat of feathers, with an oily secretion to keep their skin and feathers from drying out in the cold, extending down almost to their claws, unlike the bare legs of crows from more comfortable climes, and an inner eyelid to protect from snowblindness, as well as dark skin right around the eyes, and darker less glossy feathers in a thin line around the eyes, nothing so thick as the 'mask' of a raccoon, but more like kohl around the eyes of an Osirioni courtier, provide them with a +2 Fortitude save versus environmental cold, a +2 to saves to avoid snowblindness, and their experience and instincts afford them a +4 to Survival checks to mitigate the effects of environmental cold from severe weather. These adaptations do mean they also have a -2 penalty to Fortitude saves against environmental heat, and the 'land of eternal winter' no longer being quite so 'eternal' does not please them.

Witch crows are loathed by the Ulfen natives of Irrisen, who were not allowed to hunt or kill them, despite their annoying habits of stealing food or breaking into the upper areas of homes in search of warmth in the coldest parts of the evening (which inevitably left the home open to the elements through whatever shutter or window they broke to get in, making the home colder to the actual residents!). The winter witches prized witch crows as familiars, but not just any witch crow, for while the majority were the standard black feathered crows common to other lands, but a percentage of them had mottled white patches, and the rarest, and most prized, were solid white, save for the dark black lines limning their eyes, and while most had brownish-yellow eyes, the eyes of some grew increasingly blue as they aged, with the most prized having brilliant ice-blue eyes. A white feathered witch crow with ice-blue eyes would be worth a queen's ransom to the witch who could claim it as her familiar, and yet also a target for jealous rival witches, or even a witch who already had such a rare beauty, and did not want her rare prize 'cheapened' by her sisters having one as well.

Winter witches. Not nice people. That's where I was going with that.

Recent changes to Irrisen have seen the climate less hospital to the arctic adapted animals *and* the local laws no longer value their lives above that of the local humans, who resolutely despise them, and so, being fairly intelligent animals, they have begun migrating into the further north, where they engage in such thuggish behaviors as raiding seagull colonies, devouring their eggs and claiming their roosting sites for their own.

Witch crows. Not, strictly speaking, evil, but also not nice creatures.

Witch crows do not mimic human speech. Some joke that they 'find it beneath them,' acting more like aloof cats than curious birds, and as familiars, they grant their 'master' their arctic adaptations (bonus to save vs environmental cold, and to survival checks to mitigate the effects of environmental cold).

[Pizza Lord]

634. Blood-frill Caiman
Found in the the waterways of the Mwangi Jungle and occasionally at the coastline of the Sodden Lands, this Medium-sized reptilian predator resembles most caiman or crocodiles in form. It has a distinctive, raised crimson ridge along its back and smaller fin-like frills at the knee of each leg. While normally only about three inches high, older specimens can have frills as large as a six or eight inches. When not trying to be stealthy, they are normally very visible floating on the surface, but even so, they can resemble a log or submerged branch with red fungus or leaves, so care should be taken.

They are highly aggressive to creatures of their size or smaller swimming in their waters, though they only tend to attack upward, sometimes ignoring those who swim beneath them if not bothered. Some do like to rest on the muddy bottom, however.

Their claws and teeth are used in native adornments and they are occasionally hunted for food if easier prey is not found.

If blood-frill caiman eyes are used as a material component in a spell or magic item that causes bleeding (1 gp or +1 gp per charge worth), the bleed effect lasts one additional round after it would normally stop unless the tending creature beat the Heal DC by 5 or more. If no Heal check was made, such as from a healing spell or effect, a caster level check is made against the spell's DC. The additional round is bleed 1, regardless of the amount or type of bleed the spell caused.

Blood-frill Caiman:

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Use stats for a Medium alligator, but its tail slap causes bleed 1 and instead of Sprint it has:
Blood Roll (Ex): When performing a death roll, the blood-frill caiman's sharp frills on its legs and back cut the grappled target. The creature makes an additional grapple check and, if successful, deals an additional 1d4 +2 (1/2 Str) damage and bleed 1 to the grappled target.
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635. Blood-draught Spider
This small, scarlet arachnid is similar to a scarlet spider in appearance, though slightly darker purple than red. These spiders are actually harmless, they possess webbing and very mild poison, but it's only useful against the tiniest of insects that they hunt and consume. They spin small webs if left to their devices and are good at cutting down on insects. They tend to be lone creatures unless young or with a mate, in which case there could be three to four or a pair, respectively.

A blood-draught spider that becomes a familiar functions as a scarlet spider but does not have poison. Instead, eight times per day, if its master is bleeding (either a bleed effect or dying), it can attempt to stabilize them using its webbing (it has no web attack). It makes a Heal check at its own modifier (usually +0) or its master's. If it fails, it can try again next round and it receives a +1 bonus for each use of webbing used trying to close that wound. The familiar only does this for its master, even if ordered, charmed, or otherwise commanded somehow.

[Set]

Wow, I really like that Blood-draught Spider! I'd read that spider webbing is naturally sterile (and webs with spiders in them are obsessively cleaned by their occupants) and had anti-coagulant properties, which made them good impromptu bandages in the wild, but never considered applying that to a game critter!

The caiman is interesting as well, for both the cool visual (which makes them feel a little bit more 'dinosaur-y' in a cool way), and the use of the sharp edged frill. I'd imagine that dwarf blood-frilled caiman (or some sort of iguana-sized variation) might also make a popular pet or familiar option, not for any particular utility, but just because they look distinctive!

It's fun to modify creatures that have, generally speaking, not really deviated much from a standard template for millenia, like crocodiles, sharks or turtles. Evolution for them in the real world seems to have stalled, as if it's found a 'good enough' level to remain static, so it's fun to drag them back into evolution's arms race and ponder how they might adapt to a fantastic world full of new challenges to their currently 'successful' build.

[Set]

636. Blind Burrowers a truly unattractive sight, these naked mole rats are native to Numeria, and are the size of black bears. Naked, pale, blind rat-like black bears with enormous front teeth for burrowing and nasty sausage-like bodies, that live in warrens below the ground, and, usually just insistently nudge intruders out of their warrens when they sniff them out. (Although they will converge in a frenzy if one is attacked in their warren, so, uh, don't do that! Also might be a bit nibbly if you happen to be a plant person and taste like a crunchy root vegetable...) They get around primarily by weak blindsense, and a keen sense of smell, although they also have a good enough sense of hearing the ululating cry when one of them is attacked and all come running to drive off the intruder to their warrens.

Kellids loathe them because of the danger their tunnels pose to horses running across the plains, and how they are utterly useless. Meat, inedibly gross. Skin? Thin and parchenty and no good for leather. Just useless creatures, good only to provide fodder for bulettes, which are *another* thing Kellids don't want under their feet!

Some foreign big words folk say that burrowers exist in other lands, but are small enough to fit in your hand, and that it must be something to do with the Starmount tainting the local life or something, but who cares, really? They exist. And so we have to deal with them. Does it matter where they came from?