Ceolwerac

Ceolwerac is a mold-like plant that grows in several thin, fuzzy tendrils. When exposed to sunlight, the thready tendrils of this plant start to weave together with one another into grass-like chutes. During this process, the plant begins to produce fine, powdery seeds that are light as the dust. In a dry environment, these seeds quickly take hold of any sudden gust of wind and fly adrift with the loose grains of sand. When they finally land, they attach themselves to any parched object, quickly deploying thin, thready roots to search for and glean any traces of moisture that may lie within. Once sufficient water is found, the plant will sprout out in tendrils towards the sun, weave together, and follow through with the process all over again.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Being very mold-like, this plant spreads rapidly and multiplies quickly. The spores can continue growth in dry areas, but cannot flourish in severely damp or terribly wet places. This is why Ceolwerac is not likely to begin taking root within the human body.

"On very rare occasions, a Ceolwerac may begin sprouting within an extremely dry nasal passage. The best means of ridding yourself of such growth is to fully submerge yourself in water. Allowing the water to momentarily flood your nose, the tendrils should dissolve and the seedlings should shut up and flow out as you allow the water to drain."
~Master Moriel

Growth Rate & Stages

As a seedling, it is hard to differentiate this plant from any grains of sand or dust. When Ceolwerac seedlings attempt to take root, it can resemble a minuscule jumping spider with stringy legs. As the roots take form and proper moisture is acquired, the threads strengthen and waver loosely in the wind. When the sun shines upon them, they weave together and give the appearance of super-thin blades of whitish gray-green grass.

Ecology and Habitats

The Ceolwerac can be seen covering the parched dead trunks of fallen trees, the sides of dry rocks, or even the cracked sun-baked sand.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Due to its extreme sensitivity to water, the Ceolwerac is found most often in desert habitats. This plant needs very little to survive. It feeds off of dry climate and dehydrated matter such as parched sand or dead, rotting tree bark. It does require water, however, but only a tiny bit. The tad it needs is gleaned from the dry matter around it. If the object it has taken root upon becomes completely dry, it will spread its thin, short, wispy, spiderweb-like roots around to locate more moisture. It will grow out, expand, and travel, consuming the very minute amounts of water found within every piece of matter it happens upon.
Any relatively large drop of moisture that directly makes contact with the tendrils causes the genetic structure of the plant to be compromised. This causes the plant to remain stagnant in moist environments and cease to grow. Its light and airy mold-like spores will fall off and become dust-like particle fragments. If flooded out with water, or rained upon, the stalks will unravel and practically dissolve into the liquid, becoming a gell-like mass until it is almost completely diluted. The tiny spore particles will remain as grains of dust or sand- minuscule pieces that become very hard and sharp as a defense mechanism to shut the water out.
When the water eventually evaporates, the little spores open up again and, feeding off of the sun and the dry matter around them, can quickly begin spreading and multiplying again.

Biological Cycle

As the seasons change, the Ceolwerac seeds remain. Nothing can truly completely destroy them. But, in its optimal conditions; dry heat, sun, barren dead trees, it can spread and cover the ground and any other parched matter it may find.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Ceolwerac seed powder is harvested, stored in vials, and sold in marketplaces all over Wynsumheord and its surrounding kingdoms to be used for various purposes. The voice-altering ability of these plants was accidentally discovered when people traveling through the desert accidentally inhaled some of the spores. After further research, the plants were proven to be useful in disguising the human voice. It also is something that children play around with for fun. Even still, the nature of these mold-like spores can be harmful when overused.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

This spore-bearing plant rapidly covers dry tree bark in arid climates. You can most often spot it in the Grotig Desert of Cloddendale

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Ceolwerac can detect the faintest hints of water in the driest places. This is how it survives and thrives in the desert.

The Ceolwerac is most commonly found in the Grotig Desert of Cloddendale where it grows natively.

Wynsumheord

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A bird's eye view of Wynsumheord and its four surrounding kingdoms.

Curious Effects
This strange, rapidly growing, grassy plant produces mold-like dust; several small, floating spores that are easy to inhale. These spores can have an affect on your vocal cords in a variety of ways.
The youngest form of the plant, when inhaled, causes your voice to become higher in pitch. This happens because the spores of this variety, when inhaled, attach themselves to your larynx and cause it to contract. This gives your voice a higher tone.
The more Ceolwerac ages, the deeper the spores will cause your voice to sound. The older spores, when inhaled, cling to your larynx and irritate it, causing it to inflame and expand. This gives your voice a lower-pitched tone.
Other variants cling to the adenoids of the nose causing you to have a nasally voice.
There are multiple varieties of this plant, but each and every one of those types dispenses mold-like spores. The miniature particles cling to your nasal passage and throat, most times easily cleared away by a violent cough or a blowing of the nose.
Inhaling too many of the spores, however, can lead to other problems such as trouble breathing or even asphyxiation. Even so, people continue to utilize a small amount of these spores when attempting to change the sound of their voice.
Certain people may be more sensitive to the spores than others. This may mean that a simple cough would not be enough to clear them away. Sometimes, one may require a drink or a gargling of water. Others are alleviated of the seedlings by breathing in warm steam that helps to lift the spores and carry them away out of the nasal passage.

Scientific Name

Ceol Waercia

Lifespan

These plants can thrive for millennia in suitable conditions, and thrive wherever dry. Even when submerged in water, the seed epores become grainy particles that retain shape until proper conditions are found.

Average Height

The Ceolwerac can grow then, fuzzy tendrils anywhere from one to five inches sprouting upwards, but, when it comes to distance, it can cover vast areas, carrying on for miles if the conditions are right.

Average Weight

Ceolwerac is a very lightweight plant-- lighter than a feather. it is hard to measure, for it weighs close to nothing. The seeds are like dust, and the tendrils are wispy and fragile.

Average Length

The Ceolwerac can sprout to cover any area; from the size of your palm to several square miles as long as the conditions are dry enough.

Geographic Distribution

• Cloddendale
• Grotig Desert
• Grotig Pyrre

Gardening

Such a plant is extremely hard to grow in outdoor gardens, but, it is possible to allow the Ceolwerac to flourish indoors. Even still, controlled breeding and harvesting of the Ceolwerac is a complex process. One must ensure the plant shelter from the rain, while still allowing it to retain heat from the sun. In addition, the enclosed area must not at all be too humid. The moisture droplets in the air will quickly quench out the tendrils. Growing Ceolwerac in cold climates does not usually work, either. The chill of the air will stunt the growth of the plant, freezing all the tiny water droplets within each tendril and root. The only known successful farming of Ceolwerac is orchestrated by the elusive inhabitants of Grotig Pyrre.

Value

Though very common all over the deserts of Cloddendale, merchants collect the Ceolwerac's seed powder and, traveling all around Wynsumheord, sell the dust for a considerable amount. Many do agree to pay this fee due to the fact that the compound has been sourced from a rare land. This curious plant matter is a popular item in the marketplace for esoteric and novelty purposes alike.

~An Excerpt from~

~Syndri's Guide to the Botanical Curiosities of Wynsumehord~

When I consider the Ceolwerac, a few words come to mind; resilient, minuscule, and deceptive.
Resilient, for, though it may be quenched by water, it quickly bounces back and grows rapidly when returned to its proper conditions.
Minuscule due to its small form and even smaller seedlings. If one knew not for what they searched, certainly the spores of the Ceolwerac would never be found. Perhaps even the tendrils of said plant could hide amongst the dead grasses and never be found out.
Deceptive... ah... indeed deceptive. And not because of its various forms. This plant is associated with deception because of its strange properties and the effect they have on human vocal cords...
The most memorable encounter I've had with this plant yet was quite a terrible event that turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. My brother Magnar and I had just rescued Princess Valonia of Syperragg from Beytnawic Tower and had traveled all the way back through Wynsumheord to return her unto her father King Daker.
This tale is quite lengthy, and not at all plant-related, so.... let us say... after a very bodacious demand from the king, an obnoxious stunt from my brother...and a few choice words from me... Magnar and I found ourselves locked away in the Syperragg dungeon to be executed the next morning. Naturally, Magnar blamed me for the predicament, but if it weren't for his absurd suggestion, I wouldn't have had a reason for my outburst. He insisted that he only ever suggested I take the princess' hand because she seemed to take a great liking to me. Personally, I did not reciprocate the sentiment, and her fondness appeared to me as lust. Besides, there was no reason for him not to take her hand himself if he thought her so grand-- well, except for the fact that his mind was consumed by that young nymph at the river whom he encountered only thrice and would most likely never again.
Nevertheless, there we were. Sitting in the damp and musky cells awaiting our very deaths. That was until the door creaked open. In glided a heavily cloaked figure wielding a scythe. The executioner? Nonsense! It was the wee hours of night and noon surely was a long time away. The angry man boomed in a loud, gruff voice for me to come hither. I figured it did no good to resist-- after all, my resisting was what got us there in the first place. So, disregarding my brother's pleas, I allowed the darkly clad man to guide me away. I was still tethered to a ball and chain, but he loaded me into a carriage beside him and we strode off. Whenever I asked what was happening, he tried to respond, but his voice was cracking and changing. Then, he began coughing. These violent coughs cleared all the Ceolwerac away, and I could immediately tell that this was no man at all. It was Princess Valonia herself. She explained how she'd inhaled the Ceolwerac powder to disguise her voice, and provided the real prison guards drinks spiked with Slumaberry sap. I thought her very clever to rescue us out of the dungeon from the clutches of her cruel father's punishments as did we rescue her from King Adjorran of Nurvenheath. But, then, I realized that she hadn't rescued us.... she'd only rescued me.
Pretty soon, I found out that even I was not being rescued at all. She intended to... use me... for some very scandalous purpose and return me to be executed; a punishment for not accepting her hand, I surmised.
What happened next? Well, that is a story for another time. The Ceolwerac has taken its bow and will not appear again in this anecdote, therefore, it is proven unnecessary to continue such an unrelated tale in this vast glossary of plant knowledge.

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All art created by Syndri WordiGirl.

Computer-generated imagescrafted in Flowscape.

Syndri voiced by Jeremy Long.