Some flora:
1)The plant that Pulp comes from.
2) Rotwood (or something) A type of heavy, parasitic, decomposing vine that grows on dead wood and eats it, collapses structures made out of wood under it's weight/by eating them slowly. Wooden structures need regular maintenance from it.
3) Sunsbreath, Synasol, Baroque Blooms, all various types of wild flowers
4) Sunberthan Magnolias, exactly what they sound like, with durable, tough leaves useful for waterproofing, and flowers that can produce an oil useful for safeguarding against Rotwood and other pests. Sometimes grow in the city.
5) Grandmother Oaks/Miner's Fruit Tree/Wellsap; ancient trees that anchor down entire forest ecosystems, they grow fat and squat, and more downward than they do upward (look like gnarled olive trees). Their roots will grow deep into underground deposits of minerals, nutrients, and into underground springs. These roots will then siphon these nutrients into larger, taller, nearby trees like large redwoods and share these with them, in exchange for the redwoods or other large tree doing valuable photosynthesis on their behalf. These white barked trees are sparsely leaved because of this, but sense other trees do their photosynthesis for the, they don't need to worry. Their sap, and the syrup made from it, are especially high in nutrients and has medicinal value when applied topically or ingested. They get their name of "Miner's Fruit Tree", despite not producing any actual fruit, for the bitter sweet root bulbs miners will sometimes find growing deep underground. These can be sucked on or made into tea, with similar properties as the sap. These trees are rare, and few in far between, usually there only is one in thirty or more square miles. Occasionally, if one follows the roots of such a tree, they will find it is merged with, and identical to, another tree many miles away.
5) (Caiyha's) Spite; a type of mistletoe that grows on the Grandmother Oaks occasionally, and is even rarer than they are. Produces something similar to potent soul-mist that attracts ghosts, and also a deathly toxic, bright fruit that tastes sweet like an apple or pear, have an especially pleasant fragrance, and takes several minutes before symptoms develop. Because of this, Spite blooms will often be surrounded by ghosts they themselves made. Possibly this is a further form of self-defense. Because of their semi-parasitic relationships to Grandmother Oaks, a grove containing a Grandmother Oak should be approached with caution as it can often be haunted. Too much Spite on a Grandmother Oak is evidence it's ecosystem is in danger, and is failing. The Spite does not cause the destruction, however, and is merely an opportunist that blooms in excess when the ecosystem is already damaged.
Fuana
1) Miner's Beetles; iridescent burrowing bugs that hurt most crops, except the magnolias they help pollinate. Can be crushed to make blue-black inks and dyes
2) South Syliran Bee; produces copious amounts of honey, used in mead and the Simpering Seacow's Sunberth shanties, but they are aggressive and can sting multiple times.
3) South Woods Hopper; a green grashopper that's relatively harmless, unless their are drought conditions in the Summers, then they meatmorphose into swarming locusts, dangerous for crops. Can be used to produce green dyes in their grasshopper state, but the chemical that turns the yellow with they turn to locusts is smelly and unpleasant to work with.
4) Canary Cave Cardinal; Once used by miners as indicators of poison gas leaks, these lovely yellow songbirds have escaped from captivity and now act in a fashion similar to bats, hunting in swarms at night via echolocation, and living in the mouths of caves or abandoned mines in large communities. Wild Djed and exposure to gas leaks has mutated them to be immune to the poison gas that they once indicated was present only with their deaths. Now, when a gas leak is nearby and they are exposed to it, they shift hue from yellow to red (hence the name) and stop singing their lovely songs, they also become slightly more aggressive. Farmers have a love hate relationship, as they eat the other crop pests, but for some crops, especially grains, they are themselves opportunist pests. They prefer to hunt insects, however.
3) Steeplejack: Similar to a mockingbird in appearance song reproducing abilities, it prefers high places, and nesting in shipyards and construction sites, and will often replicate the sounds of banging hammers or cutting saws in order to scare away predators and competition, although, they can also reproduce other bird songs. Often killed, and occasionally eaten, for their annoying noise production. Carpenters, masons, and shipwrights, however, can be a superstitious lot, and see a Steeplejack nest as a sign that construction is going smoothly and will be completed on time with out incident (perhaps because Steeplejacks are choosey in their nest locations and only choose the most active construction sites). This superstition doesn't deter the workers poaching a few eggs here and there, though. The Steeplejacks don't seem to care much, and often are prepared for this eventuality by having multiple nests with one or two eggs each, spread over an area.
4) Southern Cave (Mine) Bear; Giant bears that have commandeered old mining tunnels as haunts, and have likewise adapted to prolonged periods of dwelling underground. The have builds more like polar bears than grizzlies, and tend to be dark brown to black, with the occasional red.
5) Great Dire Deer; these things are just plain messed up. They're as large as moose, sometimes larger, and have jagged twisty antlers. They're strict herbivores, but kill other large animals, rather than rutting, for mating displays. They'll gore creatures repeatedly with their antlers, but won't kill them. When the creature cries out in pain, the Dire Deer will belt it's own mating call. The call will attract a doe, and the buck will then slaughter the hapless creature in front of her, trample it, and roll in it's entrails. They of course, never actually eat the thing, just kill it. They sometimes even get the drop on Southern Mine Bears. The two species have something of a rivalry. You'll find Great Dire Deer remains in a Mine Bear's stomach, and you'll find broken bear bones, trampled by the hooves of Great Dire Deer throughout the Southern Forrest.
6) Baroque Squid; small, ink producing polyps that range in size from a finger to a large man's hand. Locals like them pickled and fried, or stewed in their own iodine heavy ink, which is also sometimes produced for writing (although this isn't often, the only "men of letters" in Sunberth are merchants). Despite the evidence to the contrary, local fisherman have a legend that if these creatures are over fished, the lack of competition will cause some kind of megasquid to grow large and fill in the gaps, and so they're very careful about over hunting.
7) Snareless Hare; Clever hares that will often trigger traps on purpose in order to avoid stepping on them latter, on accident (hence the name "Snareless Hares") They're known to use tools (like sticks) occasionally, like ravens or crows would, to get at food. They're sneaky, clever, not as jumpy as regular hares, mildly omnivorous, are less fatty, quicker,and are even known to climb up trees and buildings to get at left around produce (carrots are their favorite). They will work in groups from from as small as three to as large as about seven in order to raid houses or granaries with open windows or doors. They're even sometimes known to follow their predator, the fox, into chicken coups. As the farmer chases after the fox with the hen in his mouth, Snareless Hares are inside, breaking eggs and lapping up the golden yokes.
 Handymen/Masquerades; Basically large racoons, with predominately black fur, gray gloves, and white masks as opposed to the black of their smaller cousins. Called handymen because of their little hand-like paws and their useful natures. Farmers will sometimes keep them around, along with cats, or dogs, which they seem to get along with fine (mostly they ignore each other, although a Handyman will occasionally have to put those hands on a dog, or get in a swipe fight with a cat). They aren't kept in the house but the farmer will feed them and won't shoo them away from their land. The reason is that while the cat keeps away rats, and a dog keeps away intruders, a Handyman will keep away other handymen (not handyladies though) and more importantly; snakes. Handymen go out of their way to find snakes and eat their young, and kill the adults if they can, especially the poisonous kind. Possibly because Handymen and snakes compete for burrows, and the Handyman doesn't want the snake coming back eating it's babies when it gets bigger. Handymen adults tend to be resistant, if not immune, to most snake venoms that would be deadly to a man, but they're still occasionally killed by the snakes.
9) Rock lobster; a crustacean found around Baroque Bay with carapaces that somehow adapt to the color and texture of whatever the surrounding stones are, whether that be rough white pumice or smooth black stones. Tasty once you get through it's shell.
10) Wolvenskein; Large, with large heads, and fur so thin and sparse they're almost naked. They have massive fangs specialized for hunting other Canids whether those are domestic, strays, or wild dogs, or even the occasional lone wolf. Oh, and humans, and their cattle. Hides range from pale, to yellowish, to reddish to dark brown, and hair can likewise be a range of colors from blonde, to red, to black, that doesn't necessarily correspond with hide color. They have a bright range of eye colors similar to humans, in blues, greens and browns, and they always seem to be smiling when they pant. These traits cause some suspicion that the wolvenskein are actually mages who've shapeshifted into bestial forms and couldn't shift back though there is no indication that this is anything other than superstition from the distrustful population of Sunberth. Luckily Wolvenskeins do not play well with packs, and are always alone, unless mating (females are larger, by the way) , or defending territory for competition.
11) (Night) Howl; The Night Howl is almost the polar opposite of the wolvenskein as it is the ultimate dog's dog. Although, like the wolvenskein they also always seem to be grinning, though the look more like coyotes. They seem to interbred easily with wolves, strays, or the occasional domestic if they can get their paws on them, and the offspring is either a Night Howl, or it isn't. However, these hybrids tend to have some traits of the non-Night Howl parent, and a Wolf-Night Howl will prefer the wild, and a Dog-Night Howl will prefer the streets. Either way, Night Howls are gregarious and capable of fitting in with either group as the need arises. Despite this, they don't seem to occupy a solid spot in any niche and shift between worlds as the seasons go. They aren't apex hunters like wolves, they're only decent scavengers like strays, and while they occasionally might let a human offer to pet them, they may turn around and tackle that human the next minute, to run off with that person's lunch, so they certainly aren't pets either. They avoid direction confrontations, even with a pack behind them, and the only thing they seem to actively quarrel with is Wolvenskein, which they seem attuned to in some way, and can smell them from miles. When they do, they'll let out that eponymous bellowing howl, and set all the nearby dogs and wolves on alert. If the local house dogs seem eager to get away from their owners, it's probably the magnetic scent of a Night Howl that is making them eager for freedom. Night Howls can often be found as the natural leaders of packs of street dogs, or the ones leading a pack of wolves to a shepherds flock which they already scouted ahead of time. Humans are ambivalent to them because of this, and will kill them readily, only to regret it later when a wolvenskein appears on their land, unannounced.
Well, there is some flora and fauna. |
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