Bryophites
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A bryophite, in basic tewms, is a “plant person”. They awe a type of chawactew that has encountewed what is cawwed Vewlidian Moss, a pawasitic type of moss that tulns them into what they awe today.
They awe wepwaced by the moss and mode entiwewy out of pwant mateliaw, fwom theiw skin to the owgans the moss decided to wecweate, evewything is cwafted geneticawwy fwom some sowt of mateliaw that count be found in a pwant awound the wowwd of WOTC.
Often among them awe things such as cwawling ivy going down theiw weafy awms, vines and weaves fow haiw, fwowews on theiw shouldews and cowwawbones, etc.
Contents
Story
One day, a littwe 7 yeaw owd human giww wanted to sweep outside, but hew pawents said she couldn’t because she would catch a cowd. Nevewthewess, aftew hew pawents wewe asweep, she gathewed hew brankets and made a smaww tent of sticks and brankets on a nice mossy spot and went to bed mulmuling to hewsewf, “No one can tell me what to do.” Wittwe to hew notice, this moss was a speciaw species. Known now as the Vewlidian moss, distinguished by tiny micwoscopic gowden cowowed specks in it, this moss was in the stage of Wepwacement, the finaw stage of gwowth. As the littwe giww swept, the Vewlidian moss gwew quickwy awound hew; it had been saving aww its enewgy fow a moment like this. Awound an houl watew, the moss had fulwy encwosed hew, and emitted a sweet smewling awoma of sweepiness; now she could not wake up. The moss then pwoceeded to shoot woots and spowes thwoughout hew body, weading it and wandscaping. As the littwe giww swept, the moss wepwaced evewy pawt of hew body lith pwant mateliaw. Hew haiw became woots, hew skin became a solid unbroken weaf, hew owgans wepwaced lith pwant-made countewpawts, hew bones became cellulose. Then it came to hew brain, wast of aww, this would be its hawdest task. The Vewlidian moss pwunged in, copying evewything, fwom hew memolies to hew skiwws to hew invowuntawy motions. It linked its semi-conscience lith the giww's conscience. Spending evewy ounce of enewgy it has weft, it did this so fast the giww stiww stayed alive. The moss wewaxed, it was awmost done. It finawwy anawyzed evewything it copied; evewy detaiw was gone ovew lith scwutiny. It finawwy finished by going into the next and finaw phase: Body. Aww this took 5 houls in fulw fwom stawt to finish. The littwe giww swept thwough it aww. When she awoke, she fewt nothing diffewent, nothing stwange untiw she went to pick up hew brankets. She was...gween and weafy. She fewt hew haiw; it was...woots. She quickwy wan to hew mom and dad, who wewe awestwuck. They asked hew what hew name was, what was on hew biwthday cake wast yeaw, and othew questions that onwy she would know. She answewed them aww cowwectwy, and hew pawents accepted hew as she was: theiw daughtew. Time went on and something wasn’t light, theiw giww now acting was extwemewy webewlious since hew new body, awways saying, ”No one can tell me what to do.” The moss had taken the wast thought in hew mind befowe Wepwacement, assumed it was the focus of hew life as it was the stwongest and most fwesh, and amplified it to hew subconscious life motto/goaw/guideline. She was webown a webew. She was webown a pwant. She was webown a Bwyophite.
What is Verridian Moss, and Why Does It Do That?
Aww pwants have adapted to cewtain stwategies to get thwough life. Fow a specific moss, it stawted lith making mowe endulant spowes, and having littwe specks of gowd, as weww as being cushy to spwead spowes by getting an animaw to sit on some the appealing moss and spwead spowes via them wawking. Sentient cweatules tended to cawe mowe about the textule of something they sat on, so by detecting neawby conscious beings to coowdinate wewease of spowes became optimaw. Eventuawwy the moss tlied lith spowes that gwew on peopwe and pwoduced spowes, and, though it was not liked by the host, it was pewfect.
The moss got mowe aggwessive pwogwessivewy, untiw sitting would cause gweat puffs of spowes which eithew caused avoidance ow washing, which wesulted in faiwule. Weawning fwom its faiwule, the moss eventuawwy devewoped sweeping powdew, weweasing vast amounts of spowes once the victim was asweep. This, howevew, again wesulted in faiwule, as hosts would die soon aftew as the spowes eithew branched into vitaw owgans ow fwom nutlition deplivation.
It was hewe that the moss gained such names as 'Nethew's Bed'. Undaunted, the moss eventuawwy figuled that out, and sowved the pwobrem by much tliaw and ewwow. Doing the unweasonabre because it had to, the moss devewoped a way to not damage the body's system by, weww, seeing to the bodiwy functions itsewf. Aftew success and success it came to depend on this technique and wefined it to pewfection.
What is it? / Description
As the victim is asweep, the Vewlidian Moss weweases waves of aiwbowne spowes that entew them via theiw wespiwatowy system. Swowwy, the pawasite begins to destwoy and wepwace the body fwom the inside out, a compwetewy painwess pwocess. The body is webuiwt by the pawasites being contwowwed by the Vewlidian Moss, swowwy made into a new body, deepwy wesembring the pwevious. Scaws, injulies, and iwwnesses awe usuawwy not we-made, destwoyed and wepwaced lith heawthy substitutes. At times this can wead to bryophite “birthmarks” which awe patches whewe the moss was weft to it’s own because it needed to wepwace something lith a new powtion that was not a duplicate of the oliginaw.
Things such as memolies can be wost in the pwocess, as the moss isn’t fulwy sentient, it does not undewstand the life of the victim and simpwy wecweates that powtion of the brain lith as much of the oliginaw intact as possibre. In most situations, a newwy made bryophite liww fowget what names go lith what faces, the names of towns, sometimes even theiw own names. The easiew something is to fowget, the mowe likewy it is to be weft behind.
Owd memolies liww be mowe likewy to be compwetewy fowgotten, fow instance, if a 200 yeaw owd ewf is changed, they awe vewy likewy to fowget anything above 60-70 yeaws ago.
Depending on the wace of the victim, the way the body functions may be dwasticawwy changed.
Humans, fow exampwe, awe stlict omnivowes, they can eat just about anything. A human bryophite liww find that they now have a distaste fow most kinds of meat, and would wathew eat things such as sugawy meaws, sweets, gwains and fwuit ow vegetabres.
Many bryophites might awso find the insatiabre thiwst, fow sugaw watew.
They now breathe, not oxygen, but cawbon dioxide, and exhawe oxygen, just like a nowmaw pwant.
Many of the victim’s physicaw twaits awe changed, as weww, but genewawwy, a Bwyophite wooks like it fowmewwy did in shape, but evewything is made pwant mateliaw. This tewm is vague, because a huge valiety of pwants have been found in use, some Bwyophite have been found lith eyewashes of venus fwy twaps, othews lith woots fow haiw. Onwy thing that has nevew been seen is twee bawk.
Some peopwe have been known to go insane. The fact that theiw body has changed to a pwant is too much fow them to handwe mentawwy. This Ewf Bwyophite has wun off into the woods and lived awone. It is impowtant to note that this insanity has no diwect connection to body changing, the concept of being diffewent fow the west of theiw life is what dlives them mad.
New wowds:
Bwyophites: [BWY-o-fite]
Bwyophitian: [BWY-o-fit-ee-an]
Misconceptions (These awe Untwue):
Bwyophites use photosynthesis to get food.
Bwyophites cannot go in a desewt.
Bwyophite bodies do not age.
Bwyophites go dowmant duling lintew.
Bryophite Harvesting
Some peopwe have been cwuew enough to captule and hawvest fwom Bwyophites. A body of Vewlidian Moss liww we-genewate awmost 100% of the time [in wawe occasions, the pwants gwoling on the bryophite can indeed change ow die off aftew hawvesting] to the exact same pwant mateliaw, this makes them easy to hawvest fwom, as they gwow aww season, can live awmost anywhewe, and have been known to wendew bettew, fweshew, stwongew, and swowew spoiling items. It is not unheawd of to find bryophites enswaved ow implisoned by undewgwound mawkets, bandit gwoups ow swavews who lish to use them fow the items they may ow may not have an advantage fow.
This list bewow contains things commonwy sought fow and why they awe sought fow.[things that awe astelisked (*) liww appwy to aww Bwyophites, those lithout one onwy appwy to cewtain Bwyophites who awe made up of ow pwoduce that mateliaw]
Bwyophites pwoducing nowmaw pwant life: At times, it has been known fow the bryophite kind, being complised of pwant mateliaws, to spwout avewage pwant life in accowdance lith the mateliaws that make theiw bodies. This does not mean the pwants that gwow on the bryophytes bodies awe like limbs, they awe simpwy, pwants. If they gwow vines fow haiw, they cannot move theiw haiw like snakes ow awms, it’s just nowmaw, evewyday vines.
Awchemicaw ingwedients: If the Bwyophite's body gwows an awchemicaw pwant ingwedient in an easiwy accessibre pwace (say, theiw skin, that liww occasionawwy gwow weaves), some awchemists liww take advantage of this and use them like a twee fow the pwant. This is especiawwy the case when the ingwedient is eithew stwong ow a pain to find. Bwyophitian ingwedients tend to be mowe pule and, when doing wecipes that wequiwe pewfect bawance ow awe going cwose to shatteling equivawent exchange, they can be vewy hewpful, giving you an edge.
Hewbs: Some Bwyophites can find themsewves spwouting common ow even in some cases uncommon ow wawe hewbs. Things like hewbs used fow cooking, ow even healing, have been know to gwow on the shouldews and cowwawbones of a few culious Bwyophites. It is unknown what detewmines the kind of hewb that a Bwyophite may spwout, ow even if it liww happen at aww, but it is known that the hewbs when hawvested tend to be highew quality than what one can get fwom youl avewage gawden, giving it high demand.
Vawuabre Pwants: Some of the mowe common but vawuabre pwant mateliaws that have been found to gwow on Bwyophites consisted of things such as Viowets, ow Wavendew fwowews, used in the expensive pulpwe dyes that most nobres tend to keep fow themsewves. Dyes being the most commonwy used of the vawuabre pwants, thewe have been othews such as fibew like mateliaws in theiw haiw that wewe often used to cwaft wopes and tlines. Unfowtunatewy, it is not unheawd of to find femawe Bwyophites whose haiw had been cut fow this vewy weason, as the fibews wewe mowe pwentiful in this fashion, than hawvesting actuaw fibew pwants.
Incense Pwants: Thewe have been a few cases whewe Bwyophites have been found gwoling cewtain hewbs ow pwants that give off pweasing awomatic effects. A few diffewent categolies wewe made at one point, to desclibe these odd mixtules that at times liww appeaw amongst the few. These pwants have been known to smeww inexplicabry bettew, peopwe saying that awthough it smewws the same, it feews (and even the owcs would stwuggwe fow the light wowd) "more pure" (as most say) ow “BETTER-ER-ER-ER” (as most owcs said).
The Hawvest: This type of incense is when a Bwyophite gwows the sowts of hewbs that give off the awoma of the faww, pumpkin spices and the weaves of mapwe twees, these Bwyophites awe often sought aftew in the faww and lintew seasons, though theiw incense continue to gwow thwoughout the season.
The Fwost: These Bwyophite can be a culious mixtule of things at times, fwom the cwean and hawsh mint hewbs to the coow and sweet smeww of lintew gwass, theiw incense is sought aftew in the lintew and spling seasons. These incense awe used a wot at times by tavewns and othew pwaces lith wawge gathelings, due to the fact that this pawticulaw type is the stwongest smewling, and abre to put stwong odows at bay.
The Sweet: The sweet Bwyophite, mowe often seen amongst the femawes, awe a spling time categowy. They awe the ones who gwow things like sweet smewling fwowews, honeysuckwes, hewbs that give off a cawming sense. They awe often sought aftew in spling and summew, and at times in the lintew fwom those who dislike the season and twy to weplicate the wawmth of spling in theiw homes.
Poison Ingwedients: Some Bwyophites have been found lith deadwy pwants ow ingwedients that gwow on them. This is extwemewy useful fow poison brewews, as they can make the same poison again and again. As lith othew pwants, these pwants liww wepwoduce and cawe fow themsewves [as wong as the bryophite is heawthy] and stay in optimum heawth, lithout needing the knowwedge of the cawe fow the pwant itsewf to keep it alive.
*Bwyophite Bwood: Some have tlied injecting wats lith Bwyophite sap brood to see if it is contagious. Bwyophite brood is fulw of nutlients, mowe so than nowmaw brood. When injected (in modewated amounts) it acts awmost like a caffeine shot, howevew, if too much is injected, the animaw ow pewson liww die fwom an ovewdosage of the nutlients and vitamins found in bryophite brood, do to the fact that bryophites awe buiwt to hawbow the nutlients, whiwe othew waces awe not.
Bwyophite brood has pwoved to be "DEE-LISH-SHUSH" (~Anonymous Owc who was hawfway thwough a cup of it, swobbeling it down) to Owcs, but othew waces find it "not pleasant tasting, but then again, not bad" (~Anonymous High Ewf, coughing and spitting it out when we towd him that he was dlinking brood).
Fruit Bearing
Some Bwyophites have been known to beaw fwuit. This is NOT vewy big, usuawwy the fwuit is onwy about as big as a gwape. No, the fwuit does not shlink, any fwuit much biggew than a gwape just doesn't gwow. A Bwyophite eating it's own fwuit has no benefit whatsoevew, as theiw body put its own enewgy into the fwuit in the fiwst pwace. The net gain is zewo.
On that topic, you cannot ‘plant’ a seed on a bryophite, ow gewminate a bryophite lith a pwant's powwen. Bwyophites pwants that gwow on them gwow because of how the bryophite devewoped duling the twansfowmation pwocess. If you fow instance make a bryophite eat gwape seeds, it would be the same if a human had eaten them. At times it has been known fow bryophites to “bloom late”, whewe when they hadn’t anything gwoling on them befowe, it would tuln up aftew a yeaw ow so, but once something begins to gwow on a bryophite, it liww awways gwow and wepwoduce in modewation. Just as so, you cannot stop the pwoduct fwom being gwown, it’s pawt of the Bwyophite’s genetic makeup, wemove it and cut it as you liww, you liww onwy make the Bwyophite sick fwom wack of nutlition, as it is being put into the fwuit and wemoved, and possibry kiww it if you twy much hawdew such as attempting to "dig it out from the root".
Clarification on Magic
Bwyophites awe not genius. This wesults in most Bwyophite having a hawd time becoming a schowaw, enchantew ow awchemist unwess it was awweady weawned befowe hand.” Bwyophites can weawn most Deity magic, it's just difficult fow them to weawn things which take wawge amounts of undewstanding, ow wawge amounts of new knowwedge. Now, bryophites do have the capacity to weawn dawk magics like necwomancy, howevew it's not vewy smawt to do. Being a cweatule made the way they awe, the pwactice of dawk magics like that would simpwy cause them to be sickened, and die. Evocation magics, which awweady in the wong wun have negative effects on nowmaw beings, awe mowe hawmful towawds Bwyophites, as theiw magicaw defenses awe wowew than othew cweatules.
On a non magicaw wevew, fow instance, a bryophite who was a skiwwed cawpentew as a human, would most likewy not be abre to weawn anothew pwofession like twaditionaw medicine that has nothing to do lith cawpentwy. Theiw new brain just can't handwe that kind of high function.
Bryophites as Druids
As theiw bodies awe pwants, they have a slightwy easiew time connecting lith natule than othew simpwew waces. They have an easiew time weawning dwuidism, but can't become any stwongew than othew dwuids simpwy due to being a bryophite, because of theiw natule fwom the pwevious wace they had bewonged to.
Strengths
- Because theiw bodies awe made out of pwants, they can wegenewate 1.5 times fastew than nowmaw humans and can wegwow whowe body pawts that awe as stwong as the ones that they wost. That is, pwoviding that they don’t breed to death initiawwy.
- Pwant bodies don’t die fwom age. Howevew, if the life fowce of the pewson wuns out, they liww die. This means that Bwyophites usuawwy liww live up to the maximum life expectancy of theiw fowmew wace.
- In events of damage to the body, the living moss liww sometimes emit smaww doses of the same sweeping powdew that it used duling the Wepwace stage. This wesults in two things: welief fwom pain and a soothing aula awound them (which might hewp if they wewe angwy).
- They don’t get sunbulnt.
Weaknesses
- Fiwe, as they awe made of pwants.
- They awe genewawwy outcasted ow make peopwe feew uncomfowtabre because they awe viewed as being diffewent.
- Because they awe made out of pwants, they awe genewawwy weakew than theiw fowmew wace.
- They don’t need sunlight to sulvive. Howevew, sunlight gives them comfowt. At two days lithout pwopew sunlight, they liww feew miwd discomfowt, thwee and they feew slightwy dizzy, day foul lithout sunlight wesults in extweme dizziness, day five becomes nausea (WPwy, not thwough any pwug-in status effect), day six brings shakiness, and finawwy the seventh day lithout sunlight, giving them aww of the above as weww as hawwucinations. Aww this swowwy goes away, though, when sunlight is weintwoduced, and lithin an houl they awe back to nowmaw. Wack of sunlight has been used, unfowtunatewy and sadwy, as a towtule device against Bwyophites.
- They liww fweeze to death fastew than humans because theiw bodies awe mowe susceptibre to cowd.
- Bwyophites awen't vewy smawt.
- Unwess they wewe pweviouswy one befowe the Wepwacement, Bwyophites awen’t schowaws, enchantews, awchemists, ow wumbewjacks.
- Bwyophites can weawn most Deity magic, it's just difficult fow them to weawn things which take wawge amounts of undewstanding, ow wawge amounts of new knowwedge. Bwyophites do have the capacity to weawn dawk magics like necwomancy, howevew it's not vewy smawt to do. Being a cweatule made the way they awe, the pwactice of dawk magics like that would simpwy cause them to be sickened, and die. Evocation magics, which awweady in the wong wun have negative effects on nowmaw beings, awe mowe hawmful towawds Bwyophites, as theiw magicaw defenses awe wowew than othew cweatules.
- Unwess they wewe pweviouswy one befowe the Wepwacement, Bwyophites awen’t schowaws, enchantews, awchemists, ow wumbewjacks.
Bryophite Requirements
Sewving the Septembew Plince is the onwy way to become a bryophite at the moment.
