Alraune
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Alraune resembles a giant flower, a humanoid figure in place of the pistil within the large petals and bracts. The Alraune's roots, centered on a larger oblong corm, extend outwards in grasping tendrils, digging into the surrounding dirt and rocks, anchoring them into their surroundings. A pair of large vines grow above the ground, below the main body of the plant. These vines, which can serve as prehensile limbs, are capable of surprisingly fast and dextrous movement, ensnaring prey or stabilizing the main body by wrapping around objects in the surroundings to provide stability.
Above the ground, the main body of the plant is a bowl-like structure, surrounded by wide spade-like bracts and vibrantly coloured petals, spreading outward evenly around the deep, pitcher-like interior filled with sap. These petals and bracts can be closed during times of cold, danger or rest, creating a tight budlike form that protects the interior with the tough underside of the bracts.
The pistil of the Alraune resembles a slender humanoid, similar in build to the Tuatha de Danaan, with two arms and legs, with five digits on their fingers and toes. They must spend the majority of their time within their flowers, and are only capable of leaving them for short durations. The Alraune pistil is capable of manipulating their vines and petals as if they were part of their body, even when outside of the main body of the flower itself.
Alraune have long, straight hairlike threads growing from their heads, resembling the hair of Bediz, but capable of passively processing foyson in the surrounding air. Alraune heads are capped with a small flower, often resembling a lilly or rose, usually off to a slight angle, theorized to be vital to the consumption of foyson when outside their primary body.
Genetics and Reproduction
Alraune most commonly come into being as a result of Hengoad Bleed, when an area is magically overtaken by fast growing vegetation. The explosion of unstable magical energy interacts with the spilled lifeblood of sapient creatures, most commonly executed Bediz. An Alraune prognitor must meet a violent end, spilling their lifeblood onto the ground as they die. When an Alraune form, this blood is pulled together and coagulates, first forming into a thin blisterlike firm before hardening into a tough, fibrous corm.
The timing between death and the formation of an Alraune is not known, in part due to the temporal instability of the Bleed. Alraune have been known to form years or even decades after the progenitor's death after the physical blood has dissipated, lingering foyson reconstitutuing to form the initial corm. Additionally, some Alraune have formed after the initial appearance of the Hengoad, when a creature is killed within the bleed to reform as an Alraune if the confitions are right.
While the above method is the most common by far, it is not the only one, although the following require an existing Alraune to occur. If an Alraune pistil is destroyed, but her flower remains, the remaining body might, through the use of its prehensile vines or enticement of its sweet nectar, capture or lure a new creature to serve as its host, transforming them into its new pistil-core. The captured creature is held within the bud, partially submerged in the sap as their clothing is dissolved and they are reformed. The host retains most of its memories, but also gains those of the prior core. Alraune often target the attackers who kill the original core in this method, as the creature will wither and die without its host.
Alternatively, a mutation in some Alraune allows for the creation a second pistil within the flower, most commonly drawn from two lifebloods linked together by some magical means, such as lovers, or in some cases enemies, killed in the same spot. Some Alraune are capable of creating a second pistil from a captured host, although this is exceptionally rare.
Growth Rate & Stages
The alraune corm spreads out into roots that anchor into the surrounding earth, while a stem and bud emerge from the ground. This bud swells and grows, shifitng from pale green to deeper shade of green before reaching full size, at which point the Alraune opens.
Ecology and Habitats
Alraune most commonly form at the sites of executions, but have also manifested on battlefields and sites of violent murders, requiring the twin sources of the spilled lifeblood and the manifestation of Hengoad Bleed. As a result, they are most commonly found in remote areas, long neglected as a result of their dark histories and unstable magical reality. Unlike mundane plants, Alraune do not require sunlight, instead drawing on Foyson, resulting in their rare appearances in underground or interior spaces.
Although it is not commonly attempted and dangerous for all involved, Alraune can be moved provided their roots remain intact, with access to nutrient-filled earth. They are not typically self-ambulatory without amble mechanical assistance, although the pistil may leave their blossom for short periods of time.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Alraune draw their sustenance from Foyson in the ground and the air, through their roots and the hairlike tendrils that grow from their heads, which glow when the substance is ingested. Typically found in areas of largescale slaughter, Alraune primarily ingest the nutrients of the dead and the soil, as well as creatures they can capture or lure with their vines and enticing nectar. Alraune sap, while sustaining the creature, can be adjusted to dissolve prey, such as birds, rabbits or mice, into consumable foyson. Alraune do not mind luring in creatures like Bediz and draining small amounts of foyson, such as glamour over a period of time, but most will not continue to the point of permanent harm or death. Hostile Alraune, such as those tainted by the void can and will take these interactions to destructive or lethal levels. Alraune Slaugh consume almost mindlessly, and should be approached with extreme caution.
Biological Cycle
Alraune react poorly to cold, retreating inside their protective petals and bracts as cool nights or the falling temperatures of Winterrule approach, reemerging when it is warmer.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Alraune, by way of their unique origin, are often solitary, although gardens of 5-10 individuals have been recorded in the past. As a result, there is little organization or formal social structure across Alraune culture as a whole.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Alraune nectar is one of the most potent alchemical substances in Alvez, with high amounts of foyson concentrated in tangible form. Alraune nectar is a powerful narcotic and painkiller, and is prized by midwives, especially Fae, to assist in childbirth. Doctors and barbers also use it for surgeries and recoveries, but its potency and rarity often requires it be significantly diluted.
When this dilution occurs with salt water, the resulting mixture is Alraune's Tears, a potent recreational narcotic that is used by the wealthy throughout Alvez.
Despite no evidence proving this, there are numerous legends associating parts of the Alraune, most commonly the roots, with aphrodisiac effects, creating a black market exchange for real and imitation parts. As damaging the roots, hair, or crown of the Alraune is damaging, or potentially fatal, they will often react with hostility against potential hunters.
Facial characteristics
Alraune facial characteristics are similar, at a quick glance, to those of the Tuatha de Danaan, with handsome features and a pair of sharply pointed ears that stick out horizontally 10-15 cm.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Found almost exclusively within Hengoad Bleed, Alraune can be found throughout Kornôgel, the Fortunate Isles and even Alkebulan. They are most commonly found in wild and magically active regions, such as Brekilien, the Forest of the Erlking and the Sea of Wine, but have appeared within smaller Hengoad instances elsewhere. It is believed that the largest Alraune population is within the Kingdom of Arle. Gargoul travelers describe whole villages of Alraune in the Realm of the Erlking, but this information is suspect.
Most Alraune are found in fairly remote areas, but some have been relocated, with or without their consent, to more relatively more populated areas.
Average Intelligence
Alraune are created from the Lifeblood of slain entities and share a unique connection to their progenitors. On the most basic level, they will often share language and baseline social skills. This unique and remarkable connection of memories may extend further, with some Alraune retaining distinct personal memories, or even entire personalities from these past lives, leading many to consider the Alraune a form of transmigration of Anaon. This theory is complicated by two features.
First, in the event of mass death at the effected site, Alraune may possess memories drawn from multiple entities killed at the location, rather than a singular individual. This is especially apparent in the case of the double-pistiled entities, but can be observed in other cases to a lesser extent.
Additionally, the innocence of the progenitor, (or at least a self-believed sense of justification), often leads to the stronger manifestation of memories, including to the point of full personalities. All Alraune maintain a level of intelligence similar to that of the average Bediz, but become closer to the progenitor if more memories and personality traits remain intact.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Alraune possess all the senses of Bediz, but in slightly limited forms. The sweet smell of their sap dulls their sense of taste and smell, while their senses of sight and hearing are typically slightly below average. They have highly sensitive tactile sensations, however, and are able to detect vibrations in the ground and subtle changes in air pressure and temperature, allowing them to react to changes in their environment accordingly.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Alraune are not created spontaneously, but instead are drawn from the lifeblood of the slain, often retaining their memories and some semblance to their physical forms. While Bediz are the most common progenitors of Alraune, they have been traced to all manner of sapient creatures, including Tuatha de Danaan, Korrigan and even Fomorians.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Naming among the Alraune typically draws, in varying degrees, from the name of their progenitor, often altered by personal choice or gaps in memory. Alraune do not have a uniform naming convention across the species.
Courtship Ideals
Alraune crave contact, both for the social interactions and they passive foyson of living creatures, and will lure visitors into their blossoms for more intimate meetings. Alraune are tactile creatures, and prefer physical contact where possible. Those who meet with them may find themselves wandering out of the forest in a daze, unware of how much time has passed and with only vague, narcotic-hazed memories of their time within.
Relationship Ideals
Alraune often will hold their "lovers" for longer periods, becoming possessive of them and keeping them in a drug-filled daze. In some cases, however, a true relationship will bloom with full consent of both parties, with the pair living together in the Alraune's grove. With enough time, these often, but not always, results in the non-alraune partner becoming alraune themselves.
Common Dress Code
The Alraune do not usually wear clothing, but may have leaves that they modify to serve this purpose.
History
The first Alraune emerged in the first century after the Tear, appearing in the East as the Erlking rode out from his forest, appearing in large numbers across the bloodstained battlefields of Arle and Eastern Neustria. In the centuries since, Alraune appear in Hengoad Bleed in small numbers, with the largest Western "bloom" found in the Brekilien after Konstanza's War.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The Kornikaned, the self-proclaimed defenders of the Forests, often claim the Alraune as allies, defending them from attackers or assisting in driving small game towards them, in exchange for Alraune nectar. This also extends to unwary travelers.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Conservation Status
The unique conditions that create Alraune, combined with their often remote habitats and sedentary nature, results in their numbers being quite low throughout Alvez. Their numbers are further threatened by hunters and rogue herbalists, seeking to exploit them for resources, real or imagined, often resulting in the death or serious harm for the Alraune.
Average Height
2 Meters (Petals Open) - 2.5 Meters (Bracts closed)
Average Length
2.44 meter Diameter (Petals Open) - 1.5 meter diameter (Bracts closed)
Average Physique
The pistil of the Alraune resemble slender female forms, although in rare cases, they may manifest as more androgynous and lacking the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. Darker leaf-like growths, sometimes resembling clothing, cover parts of their bodies, most commonly the wrists and chest. Slender vines travel up their arms and legs.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Alraune are vibrantly coloured creatures. Their core pistil is typically a pale mint green accented by dark green leaves and vines crossing their bodies. Their hair, typically ranges from light pinks to deep reds, glowing as they intake nutrients in the form of foyson. The sap of Alraune is ranges from a amber gold to a wine red, while their petals can be any number of hues, with deep reds, lilly whites, light purples and blues.
Geographic Distribution
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