Lotann Flower

the Akorn

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Lotann Flower

« on: 23 October 2002, 09:27:00 »

Lotann Flower:

The Lotann flower, or the “blondladdie, “the smoke-inna-sphere”, “beggars kafe”, “beggars salad” or the “springweed” is a common weed/flower plant, which was restricted to the Sarvonian continent, but in the latest years they have spread through most of Sorren.
The petals are just like a blond bushy head, pointing to all directions. The emerald green, sawtooth shaped leaves are nearly as long as the stalk itself. The long and thin roots dig deep to get the stuffs that are necessary to flowers. They dig so deep and are so though that it is really hard to pull the entire flower out of the soil.

Description:
The average stalk-length on a Lotann flower is about two palmspans, and it is a bit less than a nailsbreadth thick. It is stiff, and bends a bit under pressure, but breaks after something stronger than a gale. The stalk is also filled up by a sticky white sap, which smells faintly of new-cut grass and mint.
The leaves are emerald green, sawtooth shaped, and nearly as long as the stalk. They are generally two to three nailsbreadth broad, and as the stalks opposite, quite bendy, so you need to concentrate to break them. They are thin, and you can see the pinkness of your skin if you hold your finger under them (if you got pink skin). It is usually only three leaves, placed at the bottom of the stalk pointing up, right where the roots start.

The blossom is circular, and covered in small yellow petals. It falls off easily under pressure, but you need enough strength that if you hold the stalk, then place you thumb under the blossom, and press up, the blossom will pop off, and land maybe a ped-and-a-half away.

The roots are gray, covered in a thin layer of “hairs”, and can reach a length of nearly a ped.
They are strong and tough, and they grow very fast, cracking stones if necessary.

The Lotann flower is capable of living under extreme conditions, they have been found in the Rahaz-dath, in the Icecaps, and even worse, they have been found capable of growing and prosper among cobblestones in busy towns. The only reason the flower can survive is the strong roots, which quickly catch hold, and quickly find’s the soil and the life-giving water.

In the late winter, they shed the stalk, entering something like a hibernating mode.
So when the spring comes, and they awaken from their sleep, the stalk starts growing. On the old flowers, the stalk is fully-grown in a couple of days, and on the newer ones it takes about a week. Then the yellow blossom and the leaves start growing, and the flower is complete.
When the late spring comes, the male flowers spread their pollen trough attracting bugs and insects with their sweet nectar.
In late summer, the petals start to turn gray, and eventually in the beginning of autumn, the blossom is turned into a gray sphere. The pedals have then lost most of their shape; turning into a stiff, gray thread, with a seed in one end, and a lot of smaller gray threads in the other, shaping it like a kind of mushroom, or a T. The additional threads function as a sail, and at the slightest breeze, the wind carries them away to create lots of new flowers.

Nobody knows for sure how long a Lotann flower can live, but it is estimated about 3-5 years.

Territory:
The Lotann flower is found trough all of Sorren where there are sunlight in parts of the year. They can live nearly everywhere, and usually does.

Usages:
It is possible to eat the leaves, as they are nourishing and give a feeling of fullness. They taste a bit bitter when picked in the spring, but they’ll taste even worse later. Some less prosperous merchants buy early picked leaves from peasants so they can sell them as ship rations, as they keep fresh for about 3-4 months. Peasants generally eat them during famines, or add them to their supper to keep down the rations in bad times.
The root when dried is suitable as a coffee substitute, but it’s not a very convincing coffee tough, as it smells weird and taste faintly soil.
They are also used in the Ormelin.

Reproduction:
They generally reproduce during the late spring, but the seeds are not ready for flight until late summer - the border of autumn.

Myth/lore/origin:
It is said among peasants who recently worked their backs off keeping them away from their fields that they will “outlive humanity”.

Children sometimes play a game called “pop goes her head!”, where they pop off a lotann’s blossom, aiming at a person, and if it hit, it is said bad luck will follow you for the remainder of the day.
Children usually think it’s funny to blow the seeds at unsuspecting by-passers.

Edited by: the Akorn at: 11/21/02 10:30:01 pm


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Bard Judith

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #1 on: 26 October 2002, 17:26:00 »

Goodie goodie - I LIKE dandelions!

Oh, er, I mean, I LIKE Lotanns!

Let's see: it's a bit short, to begin with, Akorn, so perhaps you could insert a few more details about the plant.

For example, why shouldn't the leaves be nourishing? Almost all spring greens are, particularly dandelions. Mind you, they don't have much in the way of taste, being rather bitter if not picked quite young, but they are healthy and sustaining. Perhaps some enterprising Santharian merchant could specialize in gathering Lotann leaves in the early spring and baling them for sailors' use on long sea voyages to prevent scurvy, for example? Also, the root (though hard to get out and thin) can be dried and used as a 'coffee' substitute, like chicory, though not as convincing.

I like how you've added in the children's game of 'pop goes her head!' but certainly you could also add in the time-telling and parachuting fun of blowing on the dry seeds with their delicate T of wings - and perhaps that detail should be moved to Myth/Lore/Origins to help flesh that section out.

Other ideas: Maybe this plant, with its distinctive appearance and widespread territory, has more than one name or a number of nicknames - for example, "Blondladdie", "Smoke-in-a-sphere", "Beggar's Kafe", "Beggar's Sallet", "Springweed" might all be possibilities. Plant names often come from their description or usage, or other unique features. Although the name "Lotann" is pretty and fairly easy, we have a lot of plant names which are not particularly memorable and easily confused, so that they do not get used or even recognized by players and designers.

Any other details you'd like to add to make this darling little plant ready for update? Please let me know, now that I'm back on the job

Regards from the Bard


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"Give me a land of boughs in leaf / a land of trees that stand; / where trees are fallen there is grief; / I love no leafless land." --A.E. Housman

the Akorn

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #2 on: 30 October 2002, 04:28:00 »

aaah, Its good to have you back on job!
I plan to update it again soon if I'll get time before Thursday.

"Self-proclaimed squirrel"


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Bard Judith

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #3 on: 01 November 2002, 13:57:00 »

Great, Akorn...

Please also check carefully for typos that occur frequently, for example:

'through' NOT 'tough' or 'though'!

'petals' NOT 'pedals'

Spellcheckers won't catch this sort of thing as the mis-spelt words are also actual English words... they can't figure out context.

Looking forwards to seeing this finished,

Bard


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #4 on: 01 November 2002, 20:02:00 »

Ok, let me know if the version is final, so that we can prepare it for this week's entry

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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #5 on: 22 November 2002, 08:12:00 »

I see you're back, Akorn, so I'd like to bring this entry up again, as it is still not integrated yet. Though I had the final corrections from you, there were some additional comments after this point, so I don't know if the entry here is the final or not, and if you still have something to add. Maybe if you can find some time to take a look at the entry again, this would be nice

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World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...


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the Akorn

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #6 on: 22 November 2002, 10:06:00 »

I've already starting to think about it, but I've got loads of homework to catch up with, so the only thing I can tell is: later.

"Self-proclaimed squirrel"


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the Akorn

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #7 on: 22 November 2002, 10:32:00 »

Actually, I edited this slightly. But I probably missed something. Always does.

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Bard Judith

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #8 on: 22 November 2002, 18:37:00 »

OK, Akorn, tell you what...

It looks like it has enough detail to me, but there are still the typos. No biggie, I can look it over tomorrow (Friday) and give it that final polish so that Art or his assistants can have it for the update this weekend!

You should never count on being able to catch your own typos anyhow - any writer will tell you that you just can't see them because you know just HOW the sentence ought to look.....

So - if that's everything you want to add, I'll catch those pesky through/trough errors and make it Art-ready!

Regards from the nit-picky bard,
Judith


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"Give me a land of boughs in leaf / a land of trees that stand; / where trees are fallen there is grief; / I love no leafless land." --A.E. Housman

the Akorn

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #9 on: 23 November 2002, 04:59:00 »

ok, its better than if I were doing it.

"Self-proclaimed squirrel"


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: Lotann Flower

« Reply #10 on: 25 November 2002, 09:48:00 »

Ok, seems Judith is busy these days, and as there are mainly only typos and some sentences to correct, so that they don't look awkward, I guess I can do that as well. I'll take the entry and prepare it, okeydokey

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