Woundhearth

Description:

Woundhearth is a hardy, heat-born vine known for blooming where the world is driest and cruelest—shorelines salted by storm and deserts burned bare by sun. It draws warmth from stone and light from sky, bleeding crimson-gold when cut and humming faintly with heat. Treasured by healers and wanderers, Woundhearth is a salve in root and blossom both—mending flesh, drawing out venom, and restoring breath to the sun-struck and storm-lost.

Structure & Growth:

• Creeps low and wide across dry sand, sunlit shale, or bleached driftwood near water’s edge


• Roots anchor shallowly but broadly, drawing moisture from dew, fog, or brine-mist


• Thin, ash-green vines twine protectively around rocks, warming to the touch by midmorning


• Blossoms emerge with the heat—scarlet-centered and gold-tipped, like glowing coals

Color & Sap:

• Petals shine with firelight tones—amber, rust, sun-gold—and fade to dull copper when plucked


• Leaves are silvery underneath, flickering like fish-scale when the wind shifts


• Its sap is warm, red-orange, and thickens when exposed to air


• Applied directly, the sap draws out heat, venom, and deep-seated rot from wounds

Scent & Reaction:

• Fresh petals carry a scent of warm stone, windblown sage, and faint citrus


• When bruised or burned, the plant releases a sharp, cleansing tang like iron and smoke


• Healers use steam from Woundhearth decoctions to purge fever, soothe cracked lungs, and calm sun-frenzy


• Overuse can cause sweating, heart-hammering warmth, and light-headedness

Folklore:

"The warmth that waits beneath the wound. Some say Woundhearth grew first where the gods bled in battle beneath a desert sun, and that its roots remember their pain. Desert clans wrap its threads around blade hilts to keep the hand steady, and salt-priests burn its petals at sea to call healing winds. In rites of recovery, a single blossom is placed over the heart, said to carry the pain out through the breath. It is whispered that if planted with the blood of the saved, Woundhearth will bloom again—even in salt and ash."