Maliha Tamarisk
Beautiful and harsh like the unforgiving sands she is so fond of, Maliha Tamarisk is something to behold from afar. Her scaled leaves are unlike any other, tricking the eye into thinking her a pine stranded in the seas of sand. Yet no matter how dry or desolate or how lonesome the place she roots herself to she is always abundant in two things: water and salt. Don't be tempted by her waters if you invoke her fury! They are as salty and sickening as her rimy leaves. But how can we ever hold it against her? Any who have witnessed the departure of her seedlings on a summer evening will tell you, it is a sight like none other!
Racial Magic
☀️Rithaldis' Skin
☀️
Able to excrete ionizong radiation or photons so intense, it superheats the surrounding gases into plasma, seemingly sweating radioactive plasma.
Ithisda's Charge
Can store up water inside their bodies including from magical attacks. They can convert this to energy, transfer the water or energy to another or re-release the water like an aura at will.
Found in the coastal zones of the Shamsi Desert, Arabiyyah Desert and Arya, the tamarisk is a twiggy tree that grows well in salty desert soil and seashores. It has dry, scale-like leaves and an extensive root system, pulling water from impressive distances and reaching several meters into the sand. It is perhaps most famous for the rimy salt its leaves seem to sweat and for its tendency to douse aggressors in salty, radioactive water!
This tree's racial magic allows it to generate radioactive rime to protect itself. When activated, its leaves will appear coated in a white hot grime, the radiant energy infused into the salt it is known to excrete. Despite the danger, it's also rather beautiful and locals who plant these trees in their villages will often gather to witness them release their airborne seeds in the summer. Countless gleaming seed bulbs, brilliant and ethereal like miniature suns, take to the air and are released into the desert. Its second racial magic allows it to store water inside of its roots and trunk, able to absorb this endlessly for later use. It can either convert this to energy or even utilize it like an Aura Physical Manifestation, summoning water from Ithisda's Plane.
by Lee Stepp
Basic Information
Anatomy
by Lee Stepp
These are evergreen trees which form dense thickets with a spreading crown. Its leaves are tiny scales arranged alternatinglty across fine branchlets and overlapping each other, resembling coniferous leaves. These leaves also exude salt, forming a crusted layer which drips onto the ground.
Original Ancestor
Athel Tamarisk
Lifespan
Height
Coloration
Biological Traits
by Lee Stepp
Even outside of magic, these trees have many adaptions to its environment. Most notable of these are the special glands in its leaves which excrete salt to rid itself of excess. It also excretes irradiated calcium into this concentrated salt solution, the basic substance absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and creating a layer of lime on the leaves. This doesn't easily wash off and imparts a light glow. As it drips to the ground, it discourages other plants from germinating in the soil around it too. The second most notable adaption are the tamarisk's deep roots, pairing well with it's ability to store water. These roots can reach to great depths of many meters into sandy soil, extracting water from a large area of soil. The roots spread both horizontally and vertically.
Genetics and Reproduction
by Lee Stepp
Maliha Tamarisk reproduce sexually by seed which are then dispersed by wind, flood and animals. It may sometimes spread by suckering and rooting of buried stem segments that have broken off. The small flowers are pink to white, blooming densely and covering the fine brances in the summer. Their petals are about 2mm long.
Each flower can produce thousands of tiny seeds in small pods with tufts of hair for wind dispersal. Seeds are released all at once on windy evenings, an eye catching spectacle as the tree imparts radiant energy into each bulb to protect it—countless tiny suns appear to scatter into the night! There are still many local species with resistances which will readily eat these. Seeds require extended periods of soil saturation for establishment. The fresh seeds germinate easily when they fall on wet soil, but if they do not reach a suitable place they lose their viability within a few weeks.
Ecology and Habitats
by Lee Stepp
Tamarisk usually grow in saline soils, making Arya and the desert coasts of Shamsi Desert and Arabiyyan Desert ideal for them. They grow in streams, waterways, bottom lands, banks, and drainage washes of water bodies, moist rangelands and pastures. Their salt tolerance comes from evolutionary developments, not racial magic.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
by Lee Stepp
Tamarisk trees are used ornamentally, as windbreaks and as shade trees. The wood is also useful for carpentry, bows made from their wood and ibex horns are extremely powerful. Tamarisk are also useful as fire barriers, naturally releasing a watery aura in response to fire. Even dry, their wood is difficult to burn as it's ash content is 30%-40% as well as because of the salt on its leaves. It will regrow after fire unless it's crown root is destroyed.
Thanks to its height and the shade it provides, capable of living without irrigation in harsh desert environments, this tree is often cultivated in the yards of homes in Arabiyy villages. There are even those who cultivate a substance called manna from the maliha tamarisk. Certain aphids with Ithisda's Touch are able to extract water from the tree without triggering it's defenses, secreting a sweet edible substance which imparts concentrated, drinkable water. Desert travelers have been known to survive off of manna. It is extremely hydrating and a natural sweetener.
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