Mandagora

Sand Dune Mandagora, more locally known as onionhead Mandagora. A curious parasitic plant creature with an inflatable balloon head and a deadly whilseting screech. They are found hiding in caves or burried down in the sandy soils of the Auri Desert. To the people of the Eastern Blue they are worth more than gold, but only their little leafs on top of their heads as they produce the life giving substance called Azure. However these funny balloon head rascals do not make the process of hunting them easy.

General Biology

Anatomy

Mandagora are known for their big balloon onion shaped heads with a small tuft of yellow leaves at the top of their heads. This balloon head can take in air which helps it stand upright when it moves. It can then deflate to hide itself and bury it's body down into the ground. If they feel threatened they open small holes that let out a terrifying ear-numbing death whistling to give them time to run away and hide. They have a beet-like torso that extends to two little root legs with smaller extendible root hooks that are used to dig into the soil, the roots of other bigger plants or to give some nasty rashes while kicking if it finds itself trapped.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

When their heads filter through air they can smell and feel the moisture of the area as well as pick up on signs of wind patterns so they can bury themselves long before a sandstorm arrives, so it functions both as a way to smell and hear. They also have a small water filled bladder at the base of their heads that let them orientate themselves and keep balance. A dried out Mandagora will wobble around or try to stay put as they lose their balance organ. Their rooty body can feel touch to some extent through fine fibers.

Genetics and Reproduction

Once a year during the wet season Mandagoras head leaves turn slightly pink and produce a little flower with seeds on the top of their heads which emits a smell other Mandagoras can follow from miles away. They find a good healthy bush or cactus and play "mole games" around it while exchanging pores to fertilize the flowers. Digging and burrowing down so that they lose their seeds near the host plant so that when the seeds sprout they can feed off nutrients and water from it.

Extended

Ecology and Habitats

Mandagoras are only found in the Auri Desert on the main continent of the Avium Wastes right on the border to the thunder plains. This area used to be filled with rivers and sand banks right next to an ocean but that all changed when the world split and turned into sky islands. Now the dry rivers are but depressions and caverns in the cliffs and the salty sands have turned the area into a desert/plains area. There are still rough grasses and bushes that have survived the change while other plants like certain kinds of cacti have moved in. Species of Mandagoras used to live in these salty soils living off nutrients of other plants who did the filtration process for them. It's unknown how many species were lost during the breaking of the world or if there used to be other kinds of Mandagoras but this variant seem adapted enough to the desert climate by hiding away from the hot sun by hiding down in the sand or in a cavern and then steal water and nutrients from the other plants, or sometimes even bury down in a corpse to suck up the nutrients if they can get away with it.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Leafs at the top of the Mandagoras heads are made to create Azure tea. A tea that gives a distinct turquoise colour and a salty sweet aroma like salty caramel. When prepared right it has magical properties such as heightening senses, healing capabilities, rejuvenation and can even give psychic abilities to those who regularly consume a lot of Azure. The leaves must be plucked from a living, healthy Mandagora. A task easier said than done considering it can run, hide and fight back. Azure is one of the most expensive and sought after exclusive products. Rich families showing off their wealthy will have clothes dyed in Azure and a hint of blue in their eyes. Wealthy pregnant women are given Azure to make sure their children grow healthy and may even grant the baby supernatural abilities that stay with them through their lives. Azure in large amounts is however addictive and children born with a lot of Azure in them go mad if they don't get a regular dosage of Azure. Though there are other plants known to have healing or other magical properties there are no other known ways to extend your life and rejuvenate you quite like Azure does.

Scientific Name

Salt Dune Mandagora

Lifespan

5 years

Average Height

30 cm

Average Weight

1.2 kg