Tidegrave Bloom

Description:

Tidegrave Bloom is a tenacious shore-flower known for its quiet resilience and subtle beauty. Found along brackish sands and stony lakebanks alike, it blooms where tide and freshwater meet, thriving in cold winds and salted mist. Though its stem is brittle and bowed, the flower endures even the fiercest gales, earning reverence from fisherfolk and shieldmaidens alike. Tidegrave is sought after for its bracing qualities—it is a plant of recovery, grit, and hard-won peace. Often planted on graves, especially of those lost to the waves, it is said to call their strength back into the land.

Structure & Growth:

• Blooms singly or in small constellations along rocky beaches, drift-laden inlets, and windswept lake cliffs


• Stems are thin but wiry, growing low and curved like hooks into the wind


• Petals are broad and softly layered, with faint ridges like water rings on sand


• Takes root in both saline and freshwater soils, favoring areas that flood and dry with the seasons

Color & Petals:

• Petals are pale and cool-toned, with tide-mark veins of green, blue, or grey depending on the water source


• Center is warm gold flecked with iron-red, said to symbolize courage amid sorrow


• When bruised, the flower bleeds a thin sap that darkens on skin like old ink


• Petals curl inward during storms or cold nights, then reopen to the morning sun

Scent & Reaction:

• Carries a crisp, salt-sweet fragrance—like snow on stone and crushed mint


• Petals brewed into tea restore warmth, clarity, and resolve after illness or grief


• The dried flower, when worn in a charm, is said to guard against despair and weariness


• If burned, the petals produce a clean white smoke that sharpens memory and speech

Folklore:

“Where Tidegrave grows, the soul has not broken. It is said these flowers bloom where the gods have watched a mortal endure pain with grace. Warriors returning from loss are often anointed with Tidegrave tea, while widows steep it in mead to bless the names of the drowned. Some claim it first grew from the footstep of Rán’s daughter, left on shore after she wept for a man she could not keep. Its petals are gathered in silence by those who mourn—and worn in braid or cloak by those who choose to continue.”