|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
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.
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.
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.
|
|
[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?
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 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!
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
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.
|
|
[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.
|
|
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.] :)