Soulbulb
Soulbulbs are rare, bioluminescent fungal plants found primarily in necrotic swamps, cursed groves, and ley-tainted forests such as those in the Withered Wilds or Thornveil Dominion. Revered by necromancers, spiritwalkers, and alchemists, these fungi are both beautiful and unsettling—each bulb pulses faintly with stolen memories and fragmented souls, illuminating the dark with ghostly hues of blue, violet, or green.
Soulbulbs are living memorials—plants that do not merely feed on death, but remember it. To those who understand their use, they are a treasure. To others, they are yet another reason to fear the forests that never forget.
Basic Information
Anatomy
- Bulb Structure: The Soulbulb’s central structure resembles a translucent sac, slightly larger than a human fist, embedded in clusters along rotting logs, buried bones, or fungal trees.
- Vein-like Roots: Beneath the surface, fibrous roots spread out like veins, attaching to decaying organic matter, drawing lifeforce residue from it.
- Glow & Movement: The bulbs pulse rhythmically, like a slow heartbeat. Some say they twitch or lean subtly toward living creatures, drawn to warmth and soul-energy.
Ecology and Habitats
- Growth Environment: Thrive in areas rich in death and magical decay, especially near battlefields, ancient graves, or leyline scars.
- Symbiosis with Rot Spirits: In some regions, Soulbulbs are tended or cultivated by Rot Spirits, who see them as sacred repositories of the cycle of death and renewal.
- Predatory Adaptation: While not carnivorous, Soulbulbs emit spores that induce hallucinations or draw animals near, accelerating their death and feeding the plant.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
- Soul Remnants: Each bulb stores echoes of the dead, not full souls but imprints—emotions, memories, spiritual residue. The older the bulb, the deeper the imprint.
- Distillation Use: When properly harvested and distilled, Soulbulbs yield Soulglow Essence, a rare reagent used in:
- Resurrection rituals
- Soul-binding and necromantic enchantments
- Potions of clairvoyance or memory
- Spell Fuel: Some arcane casters crush Soulbulbs into powders to fuel high-cost spirit magic or enhance divination.
Harvesting & Handling
- Must be collected at night, ideally during a new moon, when their glow is strongest.
- Touching one with bare skin may cause brief emotional flashbacks or ghostly voices—some harvesters wear soul-filtering gloves.
- Improper storage can result in spiritual contamination or phantom infestations, where echoes of the dead haunt the living.
Civilization and Culture
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
- Withered Elves: Treat them as ancestral lights, often planting them near graves or incorporating them into funeral rites. Some believe the bulbs sing in whispers when passed by kin.
- Thornveil Cults: Harvest them to brew memory elixirs or extract emotion-laden ichor used in dread rites and battlefield auguries.
- Flame Creed Heretics: Consider Soulbulbs a blasphemous inversion of firelight—cold glows of stolen life rather than burning truth.
Geographic Distribution
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