Crystal Violets
Crystal violets, also called glass violets or mage-glass violets are a type of flowering plant that grows from mage-glass. Scholars presume the plants have divine origins as any attempt to cultivate them, even in a medium of mage-glass, has thus far failed.
The plant seems fairly normal at first glance, green stem and leaves with a delicate flower in shades of purple or blue. But looking closer you see that the flower petals, while soft to the touch and somewhat pliable, seem to be made of mage-glass or crystal. This flower spent a decent amount of time as merely a curiosity, however, glass smiths have discovered that the flowers are the most lasting way to color mage-glass as they can be melted down with the piece being smithed and provide their strong colors to the entire work. This has made the flower extremely sought after, but as they cannot be cultivated they must be picked in the wild, this has given rise to a hobby/profession of mountaineers climbing the Narbe to gather them by hand.
Gathering the violets is dangerous of course, due to their precarious location and there are talks in Sky-Home about requiring a test of those who would forage them to certify they are skilled and knowledgeable to do so safely, though such a certification has not yet been implemented.
Picking the flowers is also not as easy as it would first appear, they take many traits from the mage-glass which presumably nourishes them, namely their strength. It is not possible to simply pull the plant up by the roots, so strongly are they anchored to their bed, and a normal knife will not cut the stem, only bend and crease it. A knife of finely honed mage-glass is the only way to harvest the flowers.
Foragers have begun to learn that the flower it's self grows back nicely if it is the only part removed from the plant, thus a clever collector will find an out of the way grouping of them and jealously guard it's location so they can return repeatedly to collect from the same plants.
The flowers themselves have become a symbol of wealth and are worn by many nobles. Most notably the ruling house of Sky-Home has taken them as their symbol, the Matriarch having a circlet and matching decorative bracers made of them to wear for matters of state.
The plant seems fairly normal at first glance, green stem and leaves with a delicate flower in shades of purple or blue. But looking closer you see that the flower petals, while soft to the touch and somewhat pliable, seem to be made of mage-glass or crystal. This flower spent a decent amount of time as merely a curiosity, however, glass smiths have discovered that the flowers are the most lasting way to color mage-glass as they can be melted down with the piece being smithed and provide their strong colors to the entire work. This has made the flower extremely sought after, but as they cannot be cultivated they must be picked in the wild, this has given rise to a hobby/profession of mountaineers climbing the Narbe to gather them by hand.
Gathering the violets is dangerous of course, due to their precarious location and there are talks in Sky-Home about requiring a test of those who would forage them to certify they are skilled and knowledgeable to do so safely, though such a certification has not yet been implemented.
Picking the flowers is also not as easy as it would first appear, they take many traits from the mage-glass which presumably nourishes them, namely their strength. It is not possible to simply pull the plant up by the roots, so strongly are they anchored to their bed, and a normal knife will not cut the stem, only bend and crease it. A knife of finely honed mage-glass is the only way to harvest the flowers.
Foragers have begun to learn that the flower it's self grows back nicely if it is the only part removed from the plant, thus a clever collector will find an out of the way grouping of them and jealously guard it's location so they can return repeatedly to collect from the same plants.
The flowers themselves have become a symbol of wealth and are worn by many nobles. Most notably the ruling house of Sky-Home has taken them as their symbol, the Matriarch having a circlet and matching decorative bracers made of them to wear for matters of state.
Basic Information
Ecology and Habitats
The crystal violets are extremely rare and only grow from the Narbe in places where there are high concentrations of mage-glass, usually this means straight from the cliff face but workers have found them deep in the mines as well.
Geographic Distribution
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments