Lanternkeeper's Gravewart Species in The Epoch of Black Glass | World Anvil

Lanternkeeper's Gravewart

It's said that in millenia past an Otonomoi man was set to watch over a lighthouse. He was paid a pittance and suffered long absences of companionship, yet he applied himself with vigor and made sure the oil was always full and the light always lit.   For years he did this, never relaxing in his duty, until he was old and grey. He may have struggled to climb the lighthouse stairs, but it was still his duty and he would not have it be said that he had failed.   One day a storm came, the kind that wipes out villages on the coast just as easily as ships on the sea, but he would not be dissuaded in his task. Up he climbed, feeling the whole of the lighthouse sway under the wind as he went, and when he reached the top he lit the flame as he always did. Then, a bolt of lightning arced down from the heavens and struck the top of the house while he was still within.   The man perished, and the lighthouse extinguished. A sad end, and sadder still that the purpose he had made his life around went unfulfilled. That is, until a passing god took pity on the man after hearing his tale from his passing soul. To act as a monument to the man and his dedication to the lives of others, that god reached down and touched the ruins of the lighthouse. From within, a colossal plant grew, its bulb rising to take the place of the top of the tower.   When the bulb bloomed, it blazed with light bright enough to guide ships away from the rocky shore. The god's gift was spectacular, and yet it was not yet complete. From there, the great lanternbulb released its seeds and the wind carried them far away as a way to spread the old man's dedication and kindness. That is why we have the Lanternkeepers Gravewart, or so the story goes.   Myth or not, Gravewart serves a very important purpose within our world.   Allowing the common man to strike it rich.   The plant only grows in very particular areas, that being above deposits of Glimglass. Find a patch of these flowers, and perhaps attempt to clear the field before someone else discovers it, and you will have a gilded ticket to a massive payday.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The plant consists of a singular stem, speckled with rumpled leaves, that grows up to two feet tall.   At the top of that stemp is an octahedral bulb that glows with the color of the Glimglass that the plant is growing above.
While the plant doesn't grow over every deposit of Glimglass, it's still common enough that some consider it a good chance at riches.
Scientific Name
laternius custos


Cover image: by Night Cafe Ai Art, modified by myself

Comments

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Aug 5, 2023 23:59 by Deleyna Marr

I love the way you merged the story with the plant!

Deleyna
Aug 7, 2023 05:43 by S.A. le Blanc

Why thank you, very much appreciated!

War is a beast of dichotomy, of equal parts glory and horror.
Aug 15, 2023 12:51

That is a great mythological story.