Nullweed

Nullweed is an extinct species of plant native to Raldmar. It has long, solid black leaves that grow in bunches much like onions, but without the bulb. It once grew near coastal waterways throughout the southern continent of Raldmar. The plant is capable of nullifying magic, and if oil from the leaves is concentrated, it can even break enchantments. Nullweed saw heavy use in the early wars between the nations of Ithamar and Raldmar, and due to its destructive potential, accords were signed at the conclusion of the wars in which Nullweed use was banned. Among the incident's attributed to Nullweed, the most famous is the fall of the great ship Ongal, a massive transport vessel which crashed into a highly populated city when its engines were crippled by nullweed. The attack killed tens of thousands, between the city and the ship, and both planets vowed never to use nullweed for war again. In the following years, fields of nullweed across the entire southern continent burned, and the plant has since been eradicated completely. The extinction was completed at the hands of mortals.
A few remaining samples still exist, mostly in the storage caches of a number of research institutions. Plans have been made to destroy all remaining samples, lest someone steal one and try to start growing nullweed all over again, but so far all such efforts have failed before reaching completion. The most successful such attempt did manage to collect more than half of the remaining nullweed stockpiles before running into a problem. That collection is stored in a vault at an unknown location on Ithamar. Of the other samples, at least two are currently undergoing active research at various research institutions, one is on display in a museum, and three are in private collections.

EXTINCT