CuriMetta

"Will it hurt?"
"Only as much as having roots growing inside you, and then having them forcefully removed."
"Is it the only option?"
"Apart from death? Yes."

-Lyciret medic and his patient.

Description

Pink and grey leaves are the key features of CuriMetta. Colored by metals they are processing. This makes them a fascinating source of hard-to-get metals.
The pink roots take the form of numerous strands, which quickly separate and spread when properly nurtured, up to several centimeters per day.
The entire CuriMetta reaches up to 30 cm in height, but its root network can be extremely large and vast. As long as some parts of the roots remain, the CuriMetta can grow them again. These roots allow CuriMetta to animate stone formation into Rocks.

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Use and properties

CuriMetta Roots are the only remedy known for Solid poisoning or poisoning via breathing the toxic air of Atociteras swamp.
The heavy metallic particles in the air accumulate inside the body, forming various metallic structures inside one's skin. These structures and objects can be harmless at first but can grow into a painful nuisance and can even block important veins or nerves leading to paralyzation or even death.
There are numerous Atocites which periodically cycle through the Atocitera's swamps. Resulting in various degrees of metal poisoning. As such, they often result to buying the roots to cure the afflicted.
The CuriMetta leaves contain a trace amount of metals, which kind the individual leaves contain can be found only as a result of various plant processions. As such, these easy-to-carry leaves can fetch a good price at Flowsmiths, who are able to extract the metals from the leaves or use the minuscule granules created when the leaves are processed by other means.

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If it would be as easy as you think it is, we would be gathering them ourselves.
But unless you can yack them out of living rock that is actively trying to kill you, we will have to resolve to trade for them.

-Lyciret Raider explaining the situation around CuriMetta Roots

Place of growth

To grow and prosper the CuriMetta needs metals that are toxic and lethal to any biological form of life. Because of this, the only place the CuriMetta can grow, are various body parts of stone, metal, and hybrid monsters.
These monsters gather the toxic metals, accumulating them inside their body. The CuriMetta can be considered symbiotic for biological organisms, where it purifies them of toxic metals. For stone and metal-based monsters, the CuriMetta is clearly parasitic, as it slowly takes away the metals which these monsters need to survive and erodes them in the process.
Another instance are the Rocks. Stone structures animated by root networks of a single plant or whole families of the same plant. These formations tend to seek new stones to add to their body, increasing their size while the plants animating it are constantly feeding on it, shrinking it in return.

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Lifecycle of the herb

The metallic leaves each contain a small spherical seed encased in a small shell of roots. As soon as the monster with the CuriMetta on it comes into contact with something else, the root shell breaks, and the released seed immediately attempts to root itself in its new host.
The rooting phase is highly aggressive, and could easily cause long-term damage. Hence why the seeds themselves are not used for curing.
When the seed is secured, the roots slow down their growth to stable few centimeters per day and the seed starts growing stonk and new leaves. The CuriMetta is asexual, and as such does not need anything to form new seeds, which are formed after just a day or two if the new host is rich in toxic metals.
After the leaves start forming, the roots slow down their growth and instead focus on extracting the metals. It is at this phase, that Raiders want to get the CuriMetta from the monsters so their medics can use it.

Type

Biomaterial