Bloodweed has been the savior of many high-placed persons in Santharia, being a way to detect the lethal Krakenweed poison. Although not very commonly found, the plant is domesticated at several courts, so there won’t be a shortage of it.

Appearance. Bloodweed is a sweet-water plant, which consists of a whole bunch of approximately 30 to 50 strings floating from the main body of the plant. The main body is a sort of “knot” of 0.05 ped in diameter. From this “knot” there are also very long and strong roots growing into the shore. The strings are green and the roots also have a dark-green color. Bloodweed are usually found in colonies of approximately 10 to 25 plants close to each other.

The main food source is minerals, extracted from the water with special filters in the strings of the plant. Also, it can extract food from the soil with its roots. All the extracted minerals are then stored into the main “knot”, where the plante will transform the minerals into a liquid. This liquid is then distributed through the plant for feeding.

Territory. Only if the temperature is higher then 10° C, Bloodweed will be able to survive. Even when the temperature falls under 10° C for a short time, the liquid in its veins will start to freeze. The plant can however survive under hot conditions; the highest temperature in which Bloodweed was ever found was 38° C. This means Bloodweed is a common sight in (sub)tropical regions.

Usages. When harvested, the liquid from Bloodweed can be extracted. This extraction is used as a detector for the Krakenweed poison. When the extraction is brought into contact with Krakenweed poison, it will react and turn bloodred, which is why it’s called Bloodweed. Bloodweed is tasteless and has so far no recorded side-effects, so it can be used safely. Because of the way it reproduces itself, Bloodweed can be easily domesticated; you only have to intercept a floating knot and put it somewhere in good enough conditions and it will simply settle there.

Reproduction. Once in every 16 months, Bloodweed will release half of its strings. These strings, filled with food, will then float with the river until they are left at a new place. Because Bloodweed is found in colonies, most plants will release their strings at the same time. When one string hits another, it will hook up to it, thus resulting in enormous knots of strings floating in the water. When such a knot hits the ground, it will try to dig into it. When it has done that, the knot falls apart into various groups of strings, resulting in another colony.

History. After a series of poisonings that involved Krakenweed rocked the nobility, a certain duke commanded his alchemists to find something to detect the poison, because his motto was "better prevent than cure later on". And where other alchemists found a cure for the poison, he found a detector. Soon it was proven how clever the duke had been, because when another member of the nobility got poisoned it became clear how useless the cure was if it wasn’t given in less than a minute. This was very difficult, because a Krakenweed-poisoned person will start to move around spastically, which makes it hard to give him an antidote. So the duke’s way proved to be much more reliable, as he was able to detect poison before drinking or eating. After that had happened, more of the nobility wanted it and Bloodweed-extraction made its introduction into the world.