Sila Plant

The Sila plant is one of supreme cultural and economic significance to the city of Ornea. The plant hangs from marsh trees and uses the threads to absorb water from the marsh below into its leaves. The threads cleanse the water to remove any impurities. Any excess water that is purified is drained down to the roots of the host plant, thus fostering its growth as well.
Sila farms have two main outputs - Sila thread, and purified water. The plants are placed on a mesh above still water, at a slight slant. Excess purified water seeps down the mesh into a collecting container, while the Sila plant is able to extend its threads through the mesh into the water below. Whenever the threads reach a certain length, the Sila farmer uses shears to collect them.
There is one additional, optional step. Because the threads absorb water, dyed water can be used to change their color. Most dyes will only color the bottom of the threads before being filtered out, but there are some chemicals which can bypass this process to create long, colorful threads.
Bundles of Sila threads are also used to clean all potable water in Ornea. It is common for Orneans to have devices in their home to collect rainwater and purify it with Sila threads.
Sila threads are fairly strong, soft, and pleasing to the eye. Naturally, they are used in almost all clothing in Ornea. There is one problem though - it has a tendency to get waterlogged. Because of this, Orneans are often found with umbrellas to shield their clothes from the rain. It’s not the end of the world, but it can make the clothes a little heavier and eventually dilute the colors.
Despite this shortcoming, Ornean architecture continues to be well-dressed in Sila threads. Columns are traditionally covered in spiraling bundles of threads. Tapestries cover walkways in big cities, letting light shine through while keeping the rain off people’s heads. This creates a very unique effect when the threads are colored - like a stained-glass window that stretches for any entire marketplace. The threads are also conveniently fireproof because of the water content, so catastrophic fires are virtually unheard of in Ornea.