Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

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Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« on: 03 September 2008, 21:26:23 »

Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine

Categorization Vines and Creepers

Basic Overview of the Plant

A tropical plant, the Flaming Star vine grows mainly in warm regions near coastal areas. The vine named for its vividly coloured and star-like flowers is very popular in the poorer regions of Varcopas, but can be found growing wild in most places where the weather suits it. An completely edible plant, the flowers are used to make a desert sauce known for its aphrodisiac properties and its slightly spicy leaves are popular seasoning for fish. The tear-inducing spicy tangled knots of the vine are used to produce Flaming Knots a popular candy confection among children around the world. The plant also produces a strangely shaped fruit called the Meldastar. The flower and leaves of the vine are also produce a rich vibrant red dye, which is incredibly expensive due to the large number of flowers it takes to make the dye.

Description

The Flaming Star, a creeping vine, will grow up almost everything and anything in its attempts to get the most light possible. At first a vibrant growing green, the vines of the plant will eventually turn brown as the vine grows newer tendrils during each growth cycle. The plant clings to its chosen support by means of tiny hairs that grow along the back of each vine. Although the plant will not take sustenance from its host, the vines will eventually damage any support on which it clings. Most notable is its damage to painted walls, stained trellis, and rocks over time. The damage is largely due to the twining habit of the plant that eventually causes even the sturdiest support to crack under the grip of its ever-tightening tendrils.

The Flaming Star vine is wandering in nature and tends to grow chaotically in every direction, often looping in and out of its own vine, and thus creating a knot of itself. Although chaotic, the Flaming Star vine has a sort of wild beauty about it that some gardeners desire despite the plants particular habit of knotting itself over its support so tightly that it cracks.

The vines’ preferred supports are trees, rocks, and upward-slopes of hillsides.

The main vine, which will turn a brown colour after its first growth, will send out new green tendrils every year to once again produce sword-shaped clusters of leaves and tiny descending tendrils that sprout into the vines well-known flowers. Individually, the leaves which are a deep verdant green, grow in contrast to the bright yellow green of the vine. Each leaf is triangular with rounded tips and is about five nailsbreadths long and two nailsbreadths wide.

The Flaming Star vine has two flowering stages. A fruit flower stage and a stage that occurs after the fruit sack begins to form.

The Fruit Flowers or Bursting Stars of the Flaming Star vine are arguably the more beautiful flower of the vine although the Flaming Stars of the second stage are beautiful in their own way. During the month of Turning Star when the plant begins to send out new tendrils from older vines and yellow-green bumps will form along with the vine. As the bump grows it starts barely bigger than the vine but growing in size as the vine grows until the protrusion is two nailsbreadths long.

Once the vines have thickened slightly within the month of Molten Ice, this bumps will open to reveal beautiful flowers. Growing quickly these flowers will reach up to two palmspans large within two or three days after opening. The Fruit Flowers, or Bursting Stars as they are sometimes called by the local populace, are similar in shape to the Flaming Star flowers that will appear later on the plant, but not in size or color. The Bursting Star flowers have four main petals and eight smaller overlapping petals. The main petals are wide, each a few nailsbreadths short of a half-a-palmspan, and overlap each other slightly. The main petals stick out like the four cardinal points of a star, one straight up, one straight down, and two to each side.

The main petals are spear-like in shape and are a vivid white color striped with two thick slightly curving orange or yellow lines which extend from the center to end slightly short of the end of the petal. The main petals are each a palmspan and two nailsbreadths long.

Overlappin these vividly stripped petals are eight needle-like petals, each a nailsbreadth wide and each two palmspans long. These smaller overlapping petals are always a vivid reddish-purple color although the intensity of the color varies from flower to flower. Each main petal is bordered by two of these longer purple petals, one on each side. The centers of the flowers are either yellow if the white petals are orange stripped or orange if the flower are yellow striped and dominated by two huge yellow pistons. It is not uncommon to see an equal amount of each type of flower growing on a single vine, although it is more usual to see a vine dominated by a larger number of one type or the other.

Within the month of Molten Ice these gigantic fruit flowers thrive on the vine, and due to their size can be pollinated by most any insect. The Flitter-Twitch Butterfly is the most well known pollinator, however the Malise and the Red Diamond Butterfly are also attracted to this brilliantly colored sweet-smelling flower.

After being successfully pollinated, the Bursting Stars will close up revealing their very thorny green undersides. Overtime, the Flaming Vines fruit will begin to develop within these sharply thorned sacks.

Unlike the second flowers Bursting Stars have a very vivid smell, almost similar to the combination of meldarapple and cinna.

After the Fruit Flowers have closed begin to form the Meldastar fruit of the Flaming Star vine, the second flower stage begins. Practitioners of life-magic, particular Brownies, believe that while this flower produces no seeds or fruits that the sugars created in the pollination processes help to provide the plant with the necessary energy to develop its fruit, send out new vines, and to extend its growth.

These secondary flowers are called Falling Stars for their shape and growth patterns. The Falling Star flowers of the Flaming Star always grow upside down, their pistons and beautiful faces turned towards the ground rather than the sky, upon thin, long tendrils. The blooms of the vines look like tiny flaming stars that have fallen from the sky, thus its name. Each bloom is only two nailsbreadths wide, and consist of only five petals each only one nailsbreadth long.

The petals themselves are generally either a vivid bright blood red, a reddish orange, or dark orange in color. Each petal is set about two nailsbreadths from its neighbor, flaring out from the blooms narrow center to form one of the cardinal points of the star shaped flower. The narrow centers of the plant, which are barely a grain in size, are hair thin yellow pistons that hang down towards the ground. Each hair thin piston ends with a dark dull yellow grain sized stamen. The downward hanging blooms are attached to their thin tendrils by means of tiny green leaves that mimic the stars shape on its up most side.

The Falling Star flowers are completely odorless and will last until the first of the cool months, generally the month of Falling Leaf although this varies from area to area.

While the Falling Star flowers are striving to be pollinated in order to provide the necessary food supply to the vine, the vine is using the food supply provided by these flowers to produce its fruit. After successful pollination of the Bursting Star fruit flowers, the flowers will close up revealing their green thorny undersides and forming the spear shaped fruit sacks of the Flaming Star Vine. Little is known about how exactly the stages of development of the fruit as any study by opening the fruit sack during this development has resulted in the loss of the fruit sack and the fruit. Yet is mostly believed that the fruit begins to develop almost immediately and that will continue growing until the month of Rising Sun.

Between the months of Molten Ice and Rising Sun much can be seen going on the outside of the fruit sack. As the fruit develops within its safe sack, the fruit sack which begins about two palmspans in size will begin to wrinkle and shrink until the sack is slightly larger than the average meldarapple. Late in the month of Rising Sun or Burning Heavens, the sack will begin to harden and thorns around the sack will dull until no longer dangerous to touch. After this has occurred the fruit will detach from the vine, signaling harvesting time. Using a very sharp knife or claws, one can peel away the tough thorny fruit sack to reveal the strange fruit of the Flaming Star vine. The Meldastar fruit is similar in color and in some ways shape to the meldarapple, thus its name. If one would take the meldarapple and cover it with irregularly occurring twisting sharp spiraling orange protrusions, one would get a rough idea about how a Meldastar fruit looks like. The fruit is longer than a meldarapple do to the descending and spirally protrusions, but other than that it is the same size as the average meldarapple.

In the cooler months, the leaves of the plant will turn a reddish orange, the vines that have increased the plants growth for the year will turn brown, and the plant will shed both its leaves and flowers. The fluttering descent of the flame colored blooms and leaves reinforce the concept of falling stars and only serves to demonstrate the vines name every year.

As individual plants will knot and intertwine with each other it is almost impossible to tell the height or width of a single plant. However, it is commonly believed that a single plant of the Flaming Star Vine consist of one major vine which will send out tendrils as far away as five peds. The length or height of the a single height seems to be unlimited as most of its growth seems to be dedicated in the upward direction.

Territory

The Flaming Star vine doesn't have so much of a territory as a climate. The Flaming Star vine prefers warm and wet summers, dry and moderately cool winters, and grows almost exclusively near coastal areas. The Flaming Star vine can be found in areas such as Varcopas, the northern eastern part of the Ráhaz-Dáth near the Nirmenith mountain range along the coast of Nybelmar although mostly on the northern and southern sides of the continent, along the coast of the Santharian province of Mantharia and into the southern western coast of the Sanguia province of Santharia.

The plant prefers sandy soil, which is why the Flaming Star vine is mostly found in coastal areas.

Usages

The Flaming Star Vine is entirely edible from the sweet syrup produced from the Falling Star Flowers to the tangle vine knots used to produce Flaming Knots a popular candy.

Beginning with the leaves and the roots of the Flaming Star, these parts of the Vine are often used in salads or as a seasoning for fish dishes. The leaves of the Flaming Star have a sharp almost bitter taste that leave a slightly burning sensation on the tongue afterwards that creates the sensation of spiciness without heat. While leaves may be eaten when green, when the leaves turn red the taste of the leave is milder and is vastly more popular among natives. Leaves can either be added to a salad or placed under the skin of a fish to add flavor to a dish. Roots on the other hand have an extremely bitter almost watery taste that despite the bitter taste is popular especially to contrast a sweet fruit salad or a cheese. Roots are harvested when the plant is dormant as the roots loosen somewhat during this period and always thoroughly washed twice before use.

Many locals in the areas where the bloom grows believe that the Falling Star flowers are an aphrodisiac, increasing the sexual desire in women as well as men. In order to use this rumored power of the plant, the Falling Star blooms are cooked lightly in oil and sugar to produce a sugary sauce. This sauce is then poured over local berries. Couples are encouraged to feed the berries to each other so that the powers of the plant work properly. The properties are said to be increased if the sauce is used over the Flaming Star Vines own fruit, the Meldarstar.

The Meldastar fruit is similar in color and in some ways shape to the meldarapple, thus its name. If one would take the meldarapple and cover it with irregularly occurring twisting sharp spiraling orange protrusions, one would get a rough idea about how a Meldastar fruit looks like. The Meldastar has a curious taste that is also not easily described that is similar in some ways to the meldarapple.

The Meldastar must be first carefully peeled by removing with a sharp knife the orange spirally protrusions that surround the fruit setting them aside and peeling the rest of the skin revealing a slightly yellowish white firm flesh. Each orange 'thorn' as the protrusions are called are then carefully peeled to reveal their hard slightly orange in color white flesh. The skin of the Meldastar while edible is extremely waxy and most be thoroughly boiled or baked before the skin can be rendered edible. To avoid this hard work most cooks will just remove the skin for compost rather than bothering with a long baking process. Cutting the main fruit will reveal the center of the fruit will reveal a harden stem core that is not edible and most be removed. Slicing the fruit to whatever thickness is desired, and washing the fruit, the Meldastar fruit is now ready to be eaten. Placing it on your tongue, you would be first confronted with an extremely sour and tart that makes one scrunch their face, after you continue to suck on the fruit the sour taste is soon replaced with a sweet still slightly acidic tart taste similar to but not exactly a meldarapple.

The 'thorns' of the flesh are more intense then the fruit itself, but the extremely sour tart taste of the thorn is more quickly replaced with a extremely sweet taste then it does for the main flesh. The Meldastar has a variety of uses. It can be baked as a pie, it can be coated in honey and preserved as a winter treat, it can be used in a salad, and can even be used baked with fish. In fact everyway you can use a Meldapple, you can also use a Meldastar save for the making of Jellies or jams. The fruit looses its intense taste through long baking or boiling process thus prohibiting the use of the fruit for Jellies or long-baked pies or dishes.

Until recently the fruit was believed to have no seeds. However a Brownie scholar using a magnifying glass has recently discovered hundreds of small black seeds that surround this core. Planting these seeds however, it was discovered that only one out of a hundred these seeds successfully bloomed into a vine confirming the theory that the Flaming Star Vine is mostly self-reproducing.

The knotted vines of the Flaming Star Vine also has some use. If one was to cut open a vine of the Flaming Star one would reveal a red extremely sticky syrup that if tasted is extremely burning, almost spicy, sweet taste. Discovering children cutting the vines to suck at this syrup gave a Manthria an idea and after much experimenting he came up with a creation he soon dubbed Flaming Knots. Flaming knots are produced by cutting a extremely knotted section of a Flaming Star vine away before the leaves turn red. Cuttings are usually taken from a extremely thick section or from the end of the plant in order to prevent to much damage to the plant itself. Cutting these massive knotted sections into individual knots usually no bigger than a child's palm, the cut ends are quickly sealed with an edible wax to prevent too much of the syrup from leaking from the vine. Because the syrup of the plant is thick, the cutters have a few moments to seal the individual knots before the syrup begins to slowly drizzle from the ends. Taking these individual knots back to the kitchen, these knots are placed in almost boiling water and cooked for about two hours or more. A confectioner knows the knots are ready when he can remove one of the wax seals and placing a testing finger to the narrow inside of the plant. The syrup once thick and sticky will slowly thicken to almost waxy consistency when the knot is finished thickening. Knots can either be boiled in sugar and cinna along with water to make Burning Flaming Knots or boiled in just plain water to produce just a regular knot.

The candies can then be sold to children with the skin and wax still on. Children then peel the skin and wax away either all at once or a little section at a time to reveal the waxy slightly sticky 'rope' as the syrup is then called. Candies are popular with children because of the slightly spicy almost burning sweet taste that causes their peers to dare them to eat the spicy candy. Mothers on the other hand are happy with the fact that the candies keep their children’s hands and faces from becoming too sticky, and also the fact that untangled a Flaming Knot can take hours for a fussy child to unwind. Flaming Knots can be self-produce but are seldom every made by anyone but professionals as the water most be constantly kept at near boiling and never be allowed to reach full boil something which is hard to produce over a wood fire.

The Falling Star flowers and fallen leaves of the vine can also transformed in a rich vibrant reddish orange powder. The red dye produce from this powder is extremely vibrant, rich, and it takes surprisingly little of the powder produced from the Flaming Star Vine to stain a garment a pleasing red color. There is one side-effect however. The red dye produces from the Falling Star flowers is extremely prone to fading and will fade to orange or even yellow after repeated washings.

Most dyers who know of this fading process will use it to their advantage. Transforming this seeming disadvantage into a huge profit. By tying certain parts of the garment with scrap cloth or twin and the dipping the still wet dyed cloth in water, re-wrapped and rinsing once more, can create elaborate multi-colored garments that are not unpleasing to the eye. The Flaming Star Dye is pricey however as the amount of flowers and leaves it takes to produce even a small amount of powder is ineradicably. For example to produce a small heap of powder about half a palm full (the amount necessary to dye about five garments an extremely rich color) it would take the equivalent of two hebs of flowers and leaves.

Priest and Priestess of Etherus also burn the flowers as any offering to the god of excess and lust believing that the plant itself is a creation of Etherus. Followers of Etherus along the shore lines have also been known to use the flowers for its properties as a aphrodisiac.

Reproduction

From the months of Turning Star to of Passing Cloud, the Flaming Star plant sends out new tendrils out from the old, dead vines, seeking to increase its growth every year. As the vines grow out of their old sources, leaves small at first begin to grow in their sword-like clusters. The Flaming Star has two blooming stages, a fruit flower stage and a secondary blooming stage.

The Fruit Flowers or Bursting Stars of the Flaming Star vine are arguable the more beautiful flower of the vine although the Flaming Stars of the second stage are beautiful in their own way. During the month of Turning Star the plant begins to send out new tendrils from older roots, and yellow-green bumps will form along with the vine as it grows starting barely bigger than the vine but growing in size as the vine grows until the protrusion is two nailsbreadths large. Once the tendrils have thicken slightly within the month of Molten Ice, this bumps will open to reveal beautiful flowers. Growing quickly these flowers will reach up to two palmspans large within two or three days after opening. Within the month of Molten Ice these gigantic fruit flowers thrive on the vine, and due to their size can be pollinated by most any insect or bird. After being successfully pollinated, the Bursting Stars will close up revealing their very thorny green undersides. Overtime, the Flaming Vines fruit will begin to develop within these sharply thorned sacks.

After the fruit sacks have formed shortly before the month of Changing Winds, the second blooming stage will begin and will continue to bloom until the first cool month. The Falling Star flowers of the Flaming Star vine are used by the vine to provide a food source in order to produce its fruit. As the Falling Stars are repeatedly pollinated, the will produce more flowers increasing their numbers. Each of these flowers will produce a sticky syrup in their center. Most of the syrup is used as a food source by the vine itself, but some is kept in the flowers to encourage pollination and reproduction of the tiny flowers.

Late in the month of Rising Sun or Burning Heavens, the fruit sack will begin to harden and thorns around the sack will dull until no longer dangerous to touch. After this has occurred the fruit will detach from the vine, signaling harvesting time. Using a very sharp knife or claws, one can peel away the tough thorny fruit sack to reveal the strange fruit of the Flaming Star vine. The Meldastar fruit is similar in color and in some ways shape to the meldarapple, thus its name. If one would take the Meldapple and cover it with irregularly occurring twisting sharp spiraling orange protrusions, one would get a rough idea about how a Meldastar fruit looks like. The fruit is longer than a meldarapple do to the descending and spirally protrusions, but other than that it is the same size as the average meldarapple.

Because the seeds are so tiny that only a brownie with a magnifying glass can see them, they are generally believed to be non-existent. Seeds are not a successful means of reproducing the plant however as the seeds have little chance of making it though an animal's digestive system and even if they did only one out a hundred will successfully produce another plant. Meldastar fruits when not eaten by people are eaten by different types of plant-eaters that vary depending on the region where the Flaming Star vine is found.

The Falling Star flower does not produce seeds or fruit but it is generally confirmed among Brownies that the flower provides essential juices to the plant that helps the plant formate its fruit, form new vines, and to produce more flowers.

The plant will continue to grow new vines, new leaves, new flower tendrils, and new flowers even after the fruit has fallen of until the first cool month, generally the month of Fallen Leaf at it varies throughout the areas the plant grows. When the weather turns cool, the leaves will turn a vivid orange- red and the plant will shed both its leaves and blooms. The vine will continue to grow however, albeit at a slightly reduced growth rate, until the month of Passing Cloud. Over the winter, the year vines will turn brown and the plant will be dormant until the next growth season starting in Turning Star.

The Flaming Star vine is self-reproducing. The vines will send out tendrils when they touch suitable soil, separating from the old vine and start a new flaming star vine. It is also known that if you cut a brown section of the Flaming Star vine and place it in moist wet sandy soil, it will begin to produce new growth as if it were never dead. The Bursting Star flowers can be pollinated by most insects, but the Falling Star flowers of the second stage are almost exclusively pollinated by various types of midges.

Myth/Lore/Origin

Tangled Vine A Poem from the Manthria Providence of Santharia

I dream I am the tangled vine,
whenever our fingers intertwine.
You knot me with your fingers,
wherever they over my body linger.
Yet my secret knots I would unwind,
for a single touch of your lips to mine.

Ah that passionate kiss!
What sweet madness is this!

I dream that stars of heaven fall,
whenever your lips hold mine as thrall.
Lover's bed, our knotted hair,
will hold the stars captive there.
The stars will not heed night's call,
for a kiss, in my hair they will stall.

Ah that passionate kiss!
What sweet madness is this!


« Last Edit: 14 December 2009, 19:18:19 by Miraran Tehuriden »	Logged

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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #1 on: 03 September 2008, 22:49:20 »

Ok, Gwai'ayia, this isn't exactly an Uri, as I'm not sufficiently tutored in magical things to say yay or nay as to its abilities. However, I'll give it the once over for spelling etc.
All my suggestions/corrections in GREEN. (I'm an Orc, what else did you expect!)

Flaming Star Vine,

Categorization Vines and Creepers

Basic Overview of the Plant

A tropical plant, the Flaming Star vine grows mainly in warm regions near coastal areas. The vine named for its vividly coloured (We try to use English spellings in the Dream) and star-like flowers is very popular in the poorer regions of Varcopas, but can be found growing wild in most places where the weather suits it. Thought useless until recently, alchemists discovered a use that is hardly surprising given its appearance. The flower of the vine is believed to have some uses as a concentrator in fire magics, and it is also now know to produce a (delete the 'a') small reddish flecks which explode from it when it is burned. The flower is also believed to be an aphrodisiac.

Description

The Flaming Star, a creeping vine, will grow up almost everything and anything in its attempts to get the most light possible. At first a vibrant growing green, the vines of the plant will eventually turn brown as the vine grows newer tendrils during each growth cycle. The plant clings to its chosen support by means of tiny hairs that grow along the back of each vine. Although the plant will not taken (take) substance (sustenance?) from its host, the vines will eventually damage any support onto which it clings. Most notable is its damage to painted walls, stained trellis, and rocks over time. The damage is large due to the twining habit of the plant that eventually causes even the sturdiest support to crack under the grip of its ever-tightening tendrils.

The Flaming Star vine is wandering in nature and tends to grow chaotically in every given direction, often looping in and out of its own vine, and thus creating a knot of itself. Although chaotic, the Flaming Star vine has a sort of wild beauty about it that some gardeners desire despite the plants particular habit of knotting itself over its support so tightly that it cracks.

The vines preferred support is standing dead wood, rocks, and upward-slopes of hillsides. Given the plants destructive nature, perhaps dead wood wouldn't be the best choice of support?

The main vine, which will turn a brown colour after its first growth, will send out new green tendrils every year to once again to (delete second 'to') produce sword-shaped clusters of leaves and tiny descending tendrils that sprout into the vines well-known flowers. The leaves themselves grow in sword-shaped clusters. Repeating! Individually the leaves are a deep verdant grow in contrast to the bright yellow green of the vine. A deep, verdant what? Each leaf is roundly triangular Perhaps change this to 'triangular with rounded tips? or corners? and is about five nailsbreadths long and two nailsbreadths wide.

The flowers of the Flaming Star always grow upside down, their pistons (Is this the right word?) and beautiful faces turned towards the ground rather than the sky, upon thin, long tendrils. The blooms of the vines look like tiny flaming stars that have fallen from the sky, thus its name. Each bloom is only two nailsbreadths wide, and consist of only five petals each only one nailsbreadth long. The petals themselves are generally either a vivid bright blood red, a reddish orange, or dark orange in color. The petals are thin and pointed being only a grain wide and one nailsbreadth long. (Width has changed from previous line, and this is repetition anyway!) Each petal is set about two nailsbreadths from its neighbor, flaring out from the blooms narrow center to form one of the cardinal points of the star shaped flower. The narrow centers of the plant, which are barely a grain in size, are hair thin yellow pistons? that hang down towards the ground. Each hair thin piston? ends with a dark dull yellow grain sized stamen. The downward hanging blooms are attached to their thin tendrils by means of by (delete the second 'by') tiny green leaves that mimic the stars shape on its uppermost side.

The flowers are completely odourless.

In the fall (Check whether we have a 'fall' in Santharia) the leaves of the plant will turn a reddish orange, the vines that have increased the plants growth for the year will turn brown, and the plant will shed both its leaves and flowers. The fluttering descent of the flame colored blooms and leaves only reinforces the concept of falling stars and only (Will sound better without the 'only') serves to demonstrate the vines name every year. Nice touch!
There is no mention of the plants height.
Territory

The Flaming Star vine doesn’t have so much of a territory as a climate. Very well put! The Flaming Star vine prefers warm and wet summers, dry and moderately cool winters, and grows almost exclusively near coastal areas. The Flaming Star vine can be found in areas such as Varcopas, the northeastern part of the Ráhaz-Dáth near the Nirmenith Mountain range, along the coasts of [color]Nybelmar[/color] although mostly on the northern and southern sides of the continent, along the coast of the Santharian province of Mantharia, and into the southernwestern coast of the Sanguia province of Santharia.

The plant prefers sandy soil, which is why the Flaming Star vine is mostly found in coastal areas.

Usages

Until recently, the only use the Flaming Star vine was believed to possess was the use of its beauty. However, recent tests by an alchemist (Does he/she have a name?) who was testing the plant to see if local rumors were true, (What rumours?) show that the plant does indeed have some uses.

According to the alchemist, when the flower of the Flaming Star is ground up into a fine orangish or reddish powder and tossed into a fire the result is a small display of miniature fireworks in the shape of reddish sparkles that dance above the flames. Due to this discovery, some dabblers in the art of fireworks have begun to use the powder in their fireworks (I think you should delete this bit as there are too many 'fireworks' in the paragraph! to see if it will produce the same effect.

The flowers of the plant have always been believed to have some use, if only on a local or personal level. For years, Fire Mage Students at Xanth have bought the harvested flowers and used them as a concentrator by letting the blooms fall out of their hands as they recite a spell.

Many locals in the areas where the bloom grows believe the plant is an aphrodisiac, increasing the sexual desire in women as well as men. In order to use this rumored power of the plant, the blooms are cooked lightly in oil and sugar to produce a sugary sauce. This sauce is then poured over local berries. Couples are encouraged to feed the berries to each other so that the powers of the plant work properly. Whether or not this has any effect as any aphrodisiac or as a concentrator for magics has never been confirmed. Yet these powers have never been denied either, so the rumors may prove true.
I would suggest that as long as the couple involved in the use of the sauce-coated berries find some success in the events which follow, then that is all that matters!

Reproduction

From the months of Turning Star to Passing Cloud, the Flaming Star plant sends out new tendrils from the old, dead vines, seeking to increase its growth every year. As the vines grow out of their old sources, leaves, small at first, begin to grow in their sword-like clusters. In the month of Changing Winds when the growth reaches a climax, buds begin to form and within a week begin to bloom. The plant will continue to grow new vines, new leaves, and new flower tendrils until the month of Passing Cloud, when the leaves will turn a vivid orangish red and the plant will shed both its leaves and blooms.

The Flaming Star vine is believed to be self-reproducing as no insects, no matter how tiny, could possibly pollinate the flower, that humankind at least knows of.I'd suggest changing this to "or at least none which has been discovered as yet") As a result, not much is known about how the Flaming Star reproduces. Research has shown that whenever a tendril reaches soil, the vine will begin to develop roots, thus producing another plant. It is also known that if you cut a brown section of the Flaming Star vine and place it in moist wet sandy soil, it will begin to produce new growth as if it were never dead. Then surely this is how the plant reproduces?

Well, there you are. As a plant specialist myself, I enjoyed reading this entry. It's well thought out, well presented, and has an excellent variety of 'possible' uses. Well done!


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #2 on: 04 September 2008, 12:24:46 »

I'm probably not sufficiently tutored enough to give the magic things a go ahead but I can give some comments. Oh, and I'll look at the alchemy as well.

Basic Overview of the Plant
A tropical plant, the Flaming Star vine grows mainly in warm regions near costal areas. The vine named for its vividly colored and star like flowers is very popular in the poorer regions of Varcopas, but can be find growing wild in most places where the weather suits it. Thought useless until recently, alchemist discovered a use that is hardly surprising given its appearance. The flower of the vine is believed to have some uses as a concentrator(Reagent may be the word you are looking for.) in many fire magic spells (These are only suggestions, but I think it works better. This way, there isn’t a chance of someone think it can be used for all spells, when there usually specific reagents for certain spells.) is also now know to produce a small reddish flecks to explode from it when it is burned. The flower is also believed to be an aphrodisiac.

Usages
Until recently, the only use the Flaming Star vine was believed to possesses was the use of its beauty. However recent test by an alchemist (Try naming him. There might be one listed here that you could use, or on the main site, or if there isn’t, feel free to make one.) who was testing the plant to see if local rumors were true, show that the plant does indeed have some usuage.

According to the alchemist, when the flower of the Flaming Star is ground up into a fine orangish or reddish powder and tossed into a fire the result is a small display of miniature fireworks in the shape of reddish sparkles that dance above the flames. Due to this discovery, some dabblers in the art of fireworks have begun to use the powder in their fireworks to see if it will produce the same effect. (Now I can’t really say if this is okay for alchemy as Judy is still developing it, but just a suggestion, maybe it should be dried first. I don’t know, it just seems like the right thing to do, and then you could add special methods of drying and everything, if you want to.)

The flowers of the plant have always believed to have some use, if only a local or personal level. For years, Fire Mage Students at Xanth(Ximax?) have bought the harvested flowers and used them as a concentrator(Reagent) by letting the blooms fall out of their hands as they recite a spell. (All I am going to say is just suggested. First off, I think it would be best if you stated an example for this reagent. One spell that comes to mind is Sparkling Stream. You’d probably have to ask Mira, as he wrote it, and it would probably be best if it was use when it is in powder form, but it could work. Have a look at a few of the spells and see what you can come up with. Next, I wouldn’t say how mages use the reagent. Depending on the spell they may use it however they want. What you need to remember is a reagent is just a tool to help the student focus their will, it isn’t always needed.)

As many locals in the areas where the bloom grows believe the plant is aphrodisiac, increasing the sexual desire in women as well as men. In order to use this rumored power of the plant, the blooms are cooked lightly in oil and sugar to produce a sugary sauce. This sauce is then poured over local berries. Couples are encouraged to feed the berries to each other so that the powers of the plant work properly. Whether or not the power has any power as any aphrodisiac or as a concentrator(Reagent) for magic have never been confirmed. Yet these powers have never been denied either, so the rumors may prove true. (Like the idea.)

This is quite a good idea Gwai'ayia. I hope my suggestions help, and hopefully someone more experience with magic and alchemy can help you out. Good luck.

Mannix


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #3 on: 04 September 2008, 20:28:56 »

Thanks for your help. This plant is very much in the development stage, to be honest the myth (which I'm still perfecting) and a flower in RL were the basis of this plant before I could think of any use for it.

As is, I'm still exploring possible uses base on what I can find around the site, and the ideas in the entry right now are very much simple ideas or suggestions that I have thought of so far. Therefore, the uses of the plant are totally erasable and malable at this point.

I'll work on editing this entry as soon as I've finished the myth section to my sastisfaction.

Alternative ideas for this plant are welcome, however, if you could think of a better use for this plant than I have done.


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #4 on: 04 September 2008, 22:05:32 »

How about a dye? A food colourant? A charm believed by the countryfolk to reduce fever? A wreath given to girls at their first *festival X* in *region Y*? A Myrmex repellant? An ingredient for a herbal infusion? A high place for Mirjah to breed in?

Whew, i feel just like Bard Judith on one of her (many!) moments of random inspiration


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #5 on: 10 September 2008, 23:03:54 »

First and foremost, thanks to those who made comments during the 'early' stages of this plant. Suggestions have been taken, changes have been made, and the whole entry ran at least once through spell check.

As a resutl, I declare this thing ready for comments, critics, editings, and suggests! All sorts of fire-blazing, destructive unhelpful critizism welcome!

And in the words of a college student being bored to death by her professors not challenging her creatively, On To The Next Project!

Added a lot, lot, lot later:

*stroke of genius*

Reworking plant with some new ideas and a picture Judy has been showing around.


« Last Edit: 07 October 2008, 18:51:25 by Gwai'ayia Quillouf »	Logged

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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #6 on: 06 October 2008, 20:52:18 »

Completly reworked. Please comment!


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #7 on: 07 October 2008, 02:40:35 »

Love this! Must go dress and eat breakfast, but will gladly comment in detail later - I see all kinds of creative little touches that I want to praise.

One question - what picture?


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #8 on: 10 October 2008, 21:53:59 »

This one actually:

Click here.

I thought it looked really cool and from there I just spun off a bunch of creative ideas.


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #9 on: 05 November 2008, 16:25:16 »

Hey Gwai, just though this plant looked lonely over here, so I'm going to have a look through and see if I can see anything to comment on!

Quote from: Gwai'ayia Quillouf on 03 September 2008, 21:26:23

.

The main petals are spear-like in shape and are a vivid white color striped with two thick slightly curving orange or yellow lines extending <--- "which extend"? from the center to end slightly short of the end of the petal. The main petals are each a palmspan and 2 nailsbreadths long. Overlaping <-- overlapping these vividly stripped petals are eight needle-like petals, each a nailsbreadth wide and each 2 palmpsans long. These smaller overlapping petals are always a vivid redish-purple color although the intensity of the color varies from flower to flower. Each main petal is bordered by two of these longer purple petals, one on each side. The centers of the flowers are either yellow if the white petals are orange stripped or orange if the flower are yellow striped and dominated by two huge yellow pistons. It is not uncommon to see an equal amount of each type of flower growing on a single vine, although it is more usual to see a vine dominated by a larger number of one type or the other. Within the month of Molten Ice these giantic <-- gigantic fruit flowers thrive on the vine, and due to their size can be pollinated by most any insict <-- insect or bird. Are there any in particular which are attracted to them? Don't pass up the chance to link your entry to others! After being successifully polinated, <--- successfully pollinated the Bursting Stars will close up revealing their very thorny green undersides. Overtime, the Flaming Vines fruit will begin to develop within these sharply thorned sacks ~~sacks~~.

Unlike the second flowers Bursting Stars have a very vivid smell, almost similiar <-- similar to the combination of Meldrapple and Cinna. Nice detail! I can't think of many entries where we get an idea of how the flower smells as well as how it looks.

After the Fruit Flowers have closed to begin forming <--they begin to form? the Meldastar fruit of the Flaming Star vine, the second flower stage vine. These secondary flowers are called Falling Stars for their shape and growth patterns. The Falling Star flowers of the Flaming Star always grow upside down, their pistons and beautiful faces turned towards the ground rather than the sky, upon thin, long tendrils. The blooms of the vines look like tiny flaming stars that have fallen from the sky, thus its name. Each bloom is only two nailsbreadths wide, and consist of only five petals each only one nailsbreadth long. The petals themselves are generally either a vivid bright blood red, a reddish orange, or dark orange in color. Each petal is set about two nailsbreadths from its neighbor, flaring out from the blooms narrow center to form one of the cardinal points of the star shaped flower. The narrow centers of the plant, which are barely a grain in size, are hair thin yellow pistons that hang down towards the ground. Each hair thin piston ends with a dark dull yellow grain sized stamen. The downward hanging blooms are attached to their thin tendrils by means of tiny green leaves that mimic the stars shape on its up most side.

The Falling Star flowers are completely odourless and will last until the first of the cool months, generally the month of Falling Leaf although this varies from area to area.

While the Falling Star flowers are striving to be pollinated in order to provide the necessary food supply to the vine, the vine is using the food supply provided by these flowers to produce its fruit. After succesiful <-- successful pollination of the Bursting Star fruit flowers, the flowers will close up revealing their green thorny undersides and forming the spear shapped <-- shaped fruit sacks of the Flaming Star Vine. Little is known about how exactly the stages of development of the fruit as any study by opening the fruit sack during this development has resulted in the loss of the fruit sack and the fruit. So the plant has two types of fruit? Yet it is mostly believed that the fruit begins to devlop <-- devlope almost immediatly <-- immediately and that it will continue growing until the month of Rising Sun. Betwen <-- between the months of Molten Ice and Rising Sun much can be seen going on the outside of the fruit sack. As the fruit develops withing <-- within its safe sack, the fruit sack which begins about 2 palmspans in size will begin to wrinkle and shrink until the sack is slightly larger than the average malapple. Late in the month of Rising Sun or Burning Heavens, the sack will begin to harden and thorns around the sack will dull until no longer dangerous to touch. After this has occured <--occurred the fruit will detach from the vine, signalling havesting <-- harvesting time. Using a very sharp knife or claws, one can peel away the tough thorny fruit sack to reveal the strange fruit of the Flaming Star vine. The Meldastar fruit is similiar <-- similar in color and in some ways shape to the Meldapple, thus its name. If one would take the Meldapple and cover it with irragilarly <-- erratically/irregularly occuring <-- occurring twisting sharp spiralling orange protresions <-- protrusions, one would get a rough idea about how a Meldastar fruit looks like. The fruit is longer than a Meldapple do to the descending and spirally protresions, <-- protrusions but other than that it is the same size as the average Meldapple.

In the cooler months, the leaves of the plant will turn a reddish orange, the vines that have increased the plants growth for the year will turn brown, and the plant will shed both its leaves and flowers. The fluttering descent of the flame colored blooms and leaves reinforce the concept of falling stars and only serves to demonstrate the vines name every year.

As individual plants will knot and intertwine with each other it is almost impossible to tell the height or width of a single plant. However, it is commonly believed that a single plant of the Flaming Star Vine consist of one major vine which will send out tendrils as far away as 5 peds. The length or height of the a single height seems to be unlimited as most of its growth seems to be dedicated in the upward direction.

Erm, I'm a bit confused - there are two different flowers....but only one fruit? Or is it two different stages of the first flower? Or two different fruits?

Ok, I'm going to go have lunch and then do the translation I've been putting off - be back later or maybe tomorrow


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #10 on: 19 November 2008, 02:12:29 »

I think you have a great entry here. There are a few grammatical errors, but it looks like Rookie has done a great job of pointing them out. Otherwise, you have used words to paint a very beautiful picture of a plant. Surely, it won't be long before you're approved.

Mifer


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #11 on: 01 December 2008, 20:55:18 »

Please see Gwai'ayia Dev. Schedule...there is an important annocument there.


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #12 on: 09 February 2009, 21:45:41 »

I'm back and working on corrections. Will have them done ASAP.

I've done a primary spell-check that should take care of most of the corrections needed here.

And yes Brownie, there are two different flowers that the Flaming Vine produces. First a fruit flower that spreads it seeds, and then a secondary flower that provides the plant with the energy neccesary to grow and produce more flowers.


« Last Edit: 13 February 2009, 20:44:59 by Gwai'ayia Quillouf »	Logged

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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #13 on: 13 February 2009, 22:00:20 »

All suggested corrections have been made, and awaiting more suggestions/corrections!


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Re: Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers

« Reply #14 on: 13 February 2009, 23:12:21 »

Whilst you are waiting, Gwai'ayia, perhaps you could go through some of the longer paragraphs and break them up a little?
It would make them easier, and more attractive, to read.


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Flaming Star Vine, Flaming Tangle Vine, Vines and Creepers