Spirit Orchid

Basic Information

Anatomy

Though only one species of plant can metamorphose into a spirit orchid, very little can be said about its physicality across the breadth of the category due to the extreme influence of the animus captured by the flower. The change that the plant undergoes is in fact so extreme, many examples can no longer accurately be described as plants anymore. The only feature guaranteed to appear in every spirit orchid after its change is the remains of the pod they inhabit while changing. Every individual orchid maintains that pod in some way, whether it be as a tortoise-like shell or split and metamorphosed into crab-like pincers, or any number of other new functions, it remains an incredibly durable and magically active component of the orchid, and is the primary reason they are so sought after.

Genetics and Reproduction

The spirit orchid has one of the oddest and least reliable reproduction methods of any known organism. Each flower on the plant waits until it makes contact with an animus, at which point it pulls a significant portion of the plant with it and undergoes a radical metamorphosis. Only after this change is it able to reproduce. Theoretically it's a very typical plant-like reproduction, but the incredible changes that the orchids undergo when bonding with an animus can quite frequently completely obviate that function, and though it's often replaced the chances of two mature spirit orchids with compatible methods interacting with one another are not excellent. This more than anything else accounts for their rarity.

Growth Rate & Stages

A spirit orchid that has taken root will grow to maturity and flower in approximately six months. From there, the plant will continue to grow and sprout more flowers at a much slower rate, usually doubling its size as of its first flower in roughly eighteen months. There is no known endpoint on growth apart from any changes from capturing an animus, but the rate continues to slow.

Behaviour

Though the captured animus informs a significant amount of a mature spirit orchid's behavior, the plant prevents the attention of mortals from having any further influence while exerting some itself. The longer a spirit orchid lives, the more aggressive and violent it becomes towards other beings. As this is universal across every known example, it must be a feature of the plant rather than the animus.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

When the precursor species to the spirit orchid grows, it has only one sense available to it, and it only functions at a range of zero: it can detect when it makes direct contact with an animus in order to trigger its primary function and capture it.