Jolt

Basic Information

Anatomy

Bulb

An arrow-shaped cap filled with very small quantities of an unknowable chemical or venom inside and tiny hairs on the outside.

Stem

A stalky and succulent feature supporting the bulb above the ground.

Roots

A colony's root systems, numbering in scores of individuals, reaches one foot under loose earth.

Biological Traits

Teotl

The plant gets is name from the jotting sensation one gets when walking on or by patches of jolt. The tips and hairs on the bulb emit its discharges, resembling miniature lightning, to discourage predatory or passing species from trampling.

Venom

The center of the jolt's bulb contains a chamber of vicious toxin. Under the chamber is a coil of fiber shaped in a cone that forces the venom through the bulb tip when something lands on it.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Carnivorous

In spite of its adaptation to salt, its home soil is often nutrient deficit due to that same displacement from salt. As a consequence, jolt colonies are somewhat predatory. When their roots sense an approaching animal, they release strong discharges in a collaborative chain reaction that causes muscle spasms that trip the unwary passerby.
Afterward, their victim would scape or impale a part of themselves on the bulbs and die nearby from the venom. Typically small animals are susceptible to this predation like rain toads, worms, certain flies and wild birds.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Arrow/Spear Heads

The bulbs' tips can be sharpened through fire to become a dangerous projectile. And when lashed to a shaft of wood would grant a lethal reach to archers, pelters and spearmen.

Anti-Invasion

Alive or dead, those who can recognize the treat of a field of jolts would be persuaded from entering. As such, many enemy groups have taken advantage of jolt to defend strategic positions.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Brine Marshes

Jolts are salt resistant plants that have eked out an existence near the mashes' salt water pools or on particularly dry salty ground. They generally live in patches of colonies scattered throughout the soft bogy ground. But tinged worker trains also plant them on the edges of their walking paths and hanging off coven windows in separate pots.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Pressure Receptors

A jolts' root system is composed of a wide mesh of hair-like fibers protruding from a singe dense prod. The underground mesh extends a hand's length from the main plant and intersects with the root meshes of five other jolts. When the surrounding soil is compressed by animal movement, the entire colony reacts and targets the approaching intruder.

Lifespan

2 months

Average Height

1 foot

Average Physique

Rod-like main structure covered in fuzz

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Ranging between dark blue to light purple

Geographic Distribution

• Brine Marshes

Related Ethnicities

• Taulli
• Tinged