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{{Info flora
{{Info flora
|image = Shadow Weed.png
|image = Shadow Weed.png
|officialname    = Shadow Weed
|officialname    = Shadow Weed  
|image = Shadow Weed.png
|image = Shadow Weed.png
|commonname      = Dae Indil
|commonname      = Warped Bloom, Fes’ännar
|classification  = Flower
|classification  = [[Herb]]
|origins        = [[Drowda]]
|origins        = [[Drowda]]
|habitat        = Drowda; dark, magically-charged areas
|habitat        = [[Planar Essence]]-saturated areas
|commonuse      = Medicinal
|commonuse      = Culinary, Medicinal
|}}
|}}
Shadow Weed is one of the tainted plantlife found on the forbidden continent [[Drowda]]. It was initially a very fast spreading weed that was ignored by the Drowdar population until it was discovered to have medicinal properties. These properties were found to only work for [[Drowdar]] and [[Kathar]], while to any other race it was a poisonous plant. Thus, Shadow Weed remains relatively obscure to the world at large, but is commonly used in Drowda as well as [[Saivale]], the home of the Kathar.
The Shadow Weed was once a plant used to represent the [[Drovv]], and later a symbol of [[Altalar]] dominance over that distant [[Race]] when the [[Allorn Empire]] grew it in their gardens. Over centuries it was abandoned, becoming little more than a weed until the extreme magical energies of the [[Fifth Void Invasion]] altered it. It is now an agricultural crop of both the [[Kathar]] and the [[Sihndar]] and exists in two different, but not dissimilar, environments where it serves medicinal and culinary roles in those two different societies.


==History==
==History==
Shadow Weed may have once been a lily plant native to the arctic regions of the north. After the [[Cataclysm]] caused the continent of Drowda to be tainted with heavy magical energy, the plant became corrupted to its current form, a conspicuous purple bush that spread quickly among the black forests of the continent. The plant's flashy appearance caused it to be avoided by the Drowdar for fear of being poisonous, and in many cases, it was even cut back as it was considered a very aggressive weed. Inevitably, some Drows tried eating the plant as a last resort after being injured in battle and left out in the dangerous wild without supplies or provisions. Upon consumption, they felt their pains fade, and a sense of tranquility come over them, causing them to assume the plant had indeed fatally poisoned them and that they were at death's door.  
Shadow Weed likely began life as a species of flowering water flora native to Drovv lands. Attested to as “Drovv Water Blooms” when translated from [[Allorn Altalar]] records from the height of the Allorn Empire, the plant was sent across the Altalar lands as a unique visual flora of a conquered people. However, as the [[Void Cults]] grew in power, this symbol of domination over a foreign Race grew in significance in the lands these Cults dominated, which eventually became localized in [[Rokhara]]. However, even this proved a passing fad, and by the end of the Allorn Empire, the plant was growing wild and as common as a weed. This was also true in Drovv lands, as earlier symbology was discarded with time to focus on more martial imagery, as it seemed the Drovv could sense the danger the world was increasingly in. Thus when the Fifth Void Invasion took place, Shadow Weed was truly known as such, a weed not native to [[Daen]] and [[The Far West]] where it had taken root, and dismissed by those in its home territory.


It was not until these Drow woke from their state of tranquility that they realized they were healed. Soon, Shadow Weed began being used as a common Drowdar medicine. The plant was common enough on the island not to require cultivation and was freely harvested from the wild. Shadow Weed was reasonably unknown to any race other than Drowdar. In recent times, due to cultural mingling in trade centers such as [[Regalia]], the plant has come into limited contact with other races where, unlike the Drows, most of them found it quite repulsive and toxic. The [[Kathar]] Elves eventually discovered the plant in their earliest scouting missions in Aloria. They soon learned that they were the only other race that experienced the beneficial effects of this plant, and specimens were brought back to [[Saivale]] where they were cultivated for medicine, though this medicine is expensive and rarely used except on the upper class and those smart enough to steal it. The plant remains growing in Saivale but also Drowda to this day, with other regions rejecting the plant as infected by the [[Void]].
But the Invasion changed things for the species. For one, it grew in size, altering its color scheme while likely boosting nascent traits within the substance. Why the plant was not morphed into something like the [[Reaper]] is unknown, but what is certain is that the force that altered it was at play both in Drowda and in Rokhara, as the plant underwent the same changes in both locations. Following the [[Cataclysm]] which reshaped the world, it took time for the Shadow Weed to be noticed by the different societies suffering and undergoing their transformation into the modern Kathar and Sihndar known today. Who discovered which traits first is known, but among the Kathar, both are said to have been discovered by a follower of [[Lumeria, Sire of Want]] called Keshan’rahnor, while for the Sihndar it was a female member of the [[Tribe of Gladrin]] named Jass’mayner who learned the plant’s healing properties before her son, Torr’mayner, later discovered its culinary potential. Since that time, Shadow Weed has been cultivated in both regions for these varied uses, with some exchanged with outsiders for different supplies. However, it cannot be naturally grown in other areas of [[Aloria]] without specific transplantation and growth conditions being met, making it a rare plant to see in full beyond the [[Essence]]-soaked lands it hails from.


==Appearance==
==Appearance==
Shadow Weed is a bushy plant that can grow up to two feet tall with large leaves that can range from deep violet to fiery orange-purple. The leaves are spear-shaped with parallel veins and grow in quartets. The plant has small, thin tubers in the ground from which its roots sprout. Flower stalks grow out of the bush and can reach another foot higher. The flowers are diamond or shield-shaped and has the same texture as the leaves, though it is paler in color, ranging from pink to slight orange. Inside, the flower has an ashier gray color with a net of sticky, stringy stamen ending in black anthers where the pollen forms. Shadow Weed seeds are shiny black with spots of purple.
Shadow Weed is a slim plant that can grow up to two feet tall, extending up from small, thin tubers in the ground from which its roots sprout. Above this grows four spear-shaped leaves with parallel veins, with the plant’s central stalk growing out of this bush. This stalk is peppered with minor leaves barely an inch large at most and peeled stalk coating from the plant’s gradual growth into maturity. The pod, also sometimes called a “flower,” which grows at the top of the plant is peculiar, with a diamond or shield shape with the same texture and span of colors as the leaves, from pinks to purples to tainted oranges, along its thin membrane walls. The pod often remains closed, with a net of sticky, stringy fibres ending in the plant’s other well-known product: its seeds. Shadow Weed seeds, which can be harvested from the thin-walled pod with ease, are shiny and black with spots of purple.


==Uses and Abilities==
==Uses and Abilities==
Shadow Weed has medicinal effects on both Drowdar and Kathar. The tubers of the plant can be consumed to produce a regenerative effect much like the [[Ruby Flower]], but about twice as potent. Unlike the Ruby Flower though, Shadow Weed must be consumed to affect merely pressing it on the body or applying it as a paste will have little effect. The flowers can also be consumed to clear the lungs of dust, allergens, and other impurities. They also induce a mild state of relaxation and clarity of mind accompanied by slower breathing.
Shadow Weed has a pairing of uses much like other flora in Aloria, one in the sphere of healing and [[Alchemy]] and another in the culinary scene. Shadow Weed roots and their large leaves have uses in general healing practices, from natural remedies to alchemical creations to sometimes even wrapping an injury in the large leaves themselves. The culinary use for the plant, on the other hand, comes from its pod and seeds. The flower-like pod can be used to make a relaxing tea, capable of calming nerves, while the seeds can be ground up and are often used in recipes calling for poppy seeds or similar agricultural products.  
 
For other races, Shadow Weed is a toxic plant that causes sickness, with symptoms including nausea, severe dizziness, and headaches that persist for a couple of hours before slowly wearing off. The plant also produces monstrous nightmares and increased fear of darkness for a day or two afterward. A single bite of the tubers or flowers is enough to trigger these symptoms, any less will lower the severity of the symptoms, though they will still last as long.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*Shadow Weed will have a slightly sweet taste to Drowdar and Kathar, though to any other race it will taste moldy and rotten.
*Rumors persisted for years that the plant was toxic to non-Sihndar and Kathar, all after an [[Ailor]] got food poisoning from a meal with a Shadow Seed loaf involved, when it was instead the poorly prepared oysters. This myth has largely been squashed in the modern day.
*Only full-blooded Drowdar or Kathar will experience the benefits of Shadow Weed. [[Half-Elves]] who have non-Drowdar or non-Kathar parentage will not experience the benefits of Shadow Weed and will become poisoned just like any other race.
*Some claim there are varieties of the plant which exhibit heavy [[Exist]]-centric alterations in color and form within the most Essence-soaked areas of Drowda.
*The large-scale usage of Shadow Weed on Drowda has caused it to change from being an aggressive weed to having a very controlled population.
*Shadow Weed is especially unhealthy for [[Yanar]], and can be lethal if ingested in a large amount.
{{Flora}}
{{Flora}}
{{Accreditation
{{Accreditation
|Writers = Enkiduu
|Writers = HydraLana
|Artists = Betterer
|Artists = Betterer
|Processors = HydraLana
|Processors = FireFan96, MantaRey, BillyTheScruffy
}}
}}
[[category:Flora]] [[category:Herbs]]
[[category:Flora]] [[category:Herbs]] [[category:Drowda Flora]]

Revision as of 01:53, 3 December 2021

Shadow Weed
Shadow Weed.png
Flora
Official Name Shadow Weed
Common Name Warped Bloom, Fes’ännar
Classification Herb
Common Use Culinary, Medicinal
Origins Drowda
Habitat Planar Essence-saturated areas

The Shadow Weed was once a plant used to represent the Drovv, and later a symbol of Altalar dominance over that distant Race when the Allorn Empire grew it in their gardens. Over centuries it was abandoned, becoming little more than a weed until the extreme magical energies of the Fifth Void Invasion altered it. It is now an agricultural crop of both the Kathar and the Sihndar and exists in two different, but not dissimilar, environments where it serves medicinal and culinary roles in those two different societies.

History

Shadow Weed likely began life as a species of flowering water flora native to Drovv lands. Attested to as “Drovv Water Blooms” when translated from Allorn Altalar records from the height of the Allorn Empire, the plant was sent across the Altalar lands as a unique visual flora of a conquered people. However, as the Void Cults grew in power, this symbol of domination over a foreign Race grew in significance in the lands these Cults dominated, which eventually became localized in Rokhara. However, even this proved a passing fad, and by the end of the Allorn Empire, the plant was growing wild and as common as a weed. This was also true in Drovv lands, as earlier symbology was discarded with time to focus on more martial imagery, as it seemed the Drovv could sense the danger the world was increasingly in. Thus when the Fifth Void Invasion took place, Shadow Weed was truly known as such, a weed not native to Daen and The Far West where it had taken root, and dismissed by those in its home territory.

But the Invasion changed things for the species. For one, it grew in size, altering its color scheme while likely boosting nascent traits within the substance. Why the plant was not morphed into something like the Reaper is unknown, but what is certain is that the force that altered it was at play both in Drowda and in Rokhara, as the plant underwent the same changes in both locations. Following the Cataclysm which reshaped the world, it took time for the Shadow Weed to be noticed by the different societies suffering and undergoing their transformation into the modern Kathar and Sihndar known today. Who discovered which traits first is known, but among the Kathar, both are said to have been discovered by a follower of Lumeria, Sire of Want called Keshan’rahnor, while for the Sihndar it was a female member of the Tribe of Gladrin named Jass’mayner who learned the plant’s healing properties before her son, Torr’mayner, later discovered its culinary potential. Since that time, Shadow Weed has been cultivated in both regions for these varied uses, with some exchanged with outsiders for different supplies. However, it cannot be naturally grown in other areas of Aloria without specific transplantation and growth conditions being met, making it a rare plant to see in full beyond the Essence-soaked lands it hails from.

Appearance

Shadow Weed is a slim plant that can grow up to two feet tall, extending up from small, thin tubers in the ground from which its roots sprout. Above this grows four spear-shaped leaves with parallel veins, with the plant’s central stalk growing out of this bush. This stalk is peppered with minor leaves barely an inch large at most and peeled stalk coating from the plant’s gradual growth into maturity. The pod, also sometimes called a “flower,” which grows at the top of the plant is peculiar, with a diamond or shield shape with the same texture and span of colors as the leaves, from pinks to purples to tainted oranges, along its thin membrane walls. The pod often remains closed, with a net of sticky, stringy fibres ending in the plant’s other well-known product: its seeds. Shadow Weed seeds, which can be harvested from the thin-walled pod with ease, are shiny and black with spots of purple.

Uses and Abilities

Shadow Weed has a pairing of uses much like other flora in Aloria, one in the sphere of healing and Alchemy and another in the culinary scene. Shadow Weed roots and their large leaves have uses in general healing practices, from natural remedies to alchemical creations to sometimes even wrapping an injury in the large leaves themselves. The culinary use for the plant, on the other hand, comes from its pod and seeds. The flower-like pod can be used to make a relaxing tea, capable of calming nerves, while the seeds can be ground up and are often used in recipes calling for poppy seeds or similar agricultural products.

Trivia

  • Rumors persisted for years that the plant was toxic to non-Sihndar and Kathar, all after an Ailor got food poisoning from a meal with a Shadow Seed loaf involved, when it was instead the poorly prepared oysters. This myth has largely been squashed in the modern day.
  • Some claim there are varieties of the plant which exhibit heavy Exist-centric alterations in color and form within the most Essence-soaked areas of Drowda.

Accreditation
Writers HydraLana
Artists Betterer
Processors FireFan96, MantaRey, BillyTheScruffy
Last Editor HydraLana on 12/3/2021.

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