Northern meadowbell

The northern meadowbell is a species of flowering plant native to The North. It is a vigorous perennial with small bell-shaped flowers that are found in bright hues of blue and scarlet.
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Distribution

Northern meadowbells can survive in cool weather on very little rainfall and this hardiness allows the plant to thrive in inhospitable subarctic regions. It prefers dry soil and -- true to its name -- can usually be found in most grasslands and meadows in the North. Colonies of northern meadowbells are extremely vigorous with a high capacity for reproduction and can cover large areas rather quickly.
The northern meadowbell is extremely prominent in the region known as the Blasted Steppe. It is among the few plant species that can survive in that arid and cold land, and it has supplanted most other flowering plants there.

Cultural significance

The northern meadowbell is sacred to the Dalantai people of the Blasted Steppe. Their numerous nomadic tribes roam the plains in search of gatherable resources and use the presence of northern meadowbells to identify suitable places to camp. The Dalantai believe that northern meadowbells -- which they call lady's tears -- are the first plants to arrive on nourished soil and are then followed by other plants such as berries. They also believe that norther meadowbells make the land around them more fertile than would otherwise be possible.
To pick or trample meadowbells without good reason is a heinous crime in Dalantai societies. The sacred flowers can be grazed on by domesticated animals, especially horses which the nomads hold equally sacred, but the plants are not eaten by humans nor are they used for decoration or herbal medicine.

Messages from the gods

Dalantai shamans, seers and wisewomen also use the flower as a source of omens. The northern meadowbell has the strange ability of turning its petals from blue to red and this is seen as an omen of war. Whenever a field of northern meadowbells turns red, either the great gods of the Golden Triad are urging the Dalantai to war or blood has been spilled in great amounts somewhere in plains of the Blasted Steppe. Conversely, the prominence of blue-colored flowers is seen as an omen of peace.

Sacred paints

The northern meadowbell is critical to the Dalantai tradition of body painting. The flowers are used by the shamands and seers of the nomad tribes to create red and blue body paints. The creation of these paints is a deeply religious ceremony from picking of the flowers to the extraction of the dye all the way to the ritualistic application of the paint on the associated people.
Before going to battle, the faces, torsos and arms of warriors are painted red with a paint made from the petals of northern meadowbells that have turned red. To go into battle without such markings is considered an affront to the gods and thus a doomed prospect.
Blue-colored northern meadowbells are used to produce a blue dye which is used for communal events and celebrations such as marriage ceremonies, funerals, birthdays and the like.

OTHER NAMES
blue meadowbell, lady's tear
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Morphology
Perennial flower. Produces 3-9 linear leaves at its base. An upright inflorescence of 2-6 flowers grows from a stem at the top of the stalk. Flowers have 5 tepals that curve at the tips producing a wide bell-shape. Tepals are bright azure in color.
Average height
10 cm on average.
Special characteristics
Flowers are normally blue but can change to a deep scarlet color by an unknown mechanism. This change is fast and it happens almost always to an entire field of flowers at once -- usually overnight.
ECOLOGY
Origin or ancestry
Designed by mortal spellcaster
Distribution
The North
Blasted Steppe (notably)
Habitats
Prefers dry environments

Origin

The northern meadowbell is a plant species created magically by a powerful spellcaster known as Cyril of Tyre. He was a dwarven druid of legendary fame that lived some 1,500-2,000 years ago and travelled across the entirety of the Heartlands and even beyond. Cyril was fascinated by the barren state of the Blasted Steppe, which he attributed to divine punishment like most scholars of today, and was interested in finding a way to make the region fertile again. Cyril designed and created the northern meadowbell using ritual magics of great power and with the guidance and blessings of Silvanus the God of Plants. Although his creation survives in the North to this day, Cyril himself met an untimely end at the hands of the nomad barbarians indigenous to the Blasted Steppe.