Flora of the Dark Tide
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| Item Type | Aquatic, Aberrant Flora |
| Rarity | Very Rare |
| Value | 1700 gp |
| Habitat | Sunless, deep freshwater lakes, or the lower abyssal layers of the ocean. |
| Alchemical Value | Highly prized as a stabilizing agent for chaos-infused ingredients, particularly those of the Aberrant or Temporal nature. |
Physical Description
The Nightbloom Lotus is a plant of unsettling beauty, combining the fragility of a blossom with the ominous depth of the abyss.
The Blossom and Petals
Size: A mature bloom is approximately the size of a human head, floating just beneath the surface of the water, or drifting freely in deep-sea caverns.
Coloration: The petals are a rich, velvety dark purple, bordering on absolute black. They absorb all ambient light, giving the flower a strange, two-dimensional quality, as if it were a cutout against the darkness.
Sheen: The surface of the petals is not smooth but possesses a slight, unnatural oily sheen. If a beam of light is shined upon it, the reflection appears slightly warped and elongated, as though the light itself is struggling to stay focused on the surface.
Opening: The petals remain tightly furled during any period of illumination (even dim light). They open fully only in pitch blackness or within areas saturated by ancient Aberrant or Abyssal magic.
The Inner Core (The Echo)
Luminescence: At the heart of the open bloom is the core feature: a spherical, dim violet light that constantly pulses and swells. This light is its only illumination.
Temporal Displacement: The light does not shine normally. It has an unsettling property: the core of the light appears to move, flicker, and pulse a fraction of a second after the bloom itself moves. It leaves a ghostly, violet afterimage—a temporal “echo”—in the space the core just vacated.
Sensory Effect: Staring at the core for too long can be disorienting. A creature staring at the light for more than a minute might feel a faint sense of déjà vu or momentarily mistake a memory for a current perception.
Stem and Habitat
Rhizome/Anchor: The plant is anchored by a thick, rope-like rhizome that is a deep, venous red color, often stretching dozens of feet to connect to the dark sediment or rock at the bottom of its lair.
Fluidity: In the water, the plant does not sway normally. Its movements are slow, deliberate, and almost heavy, as if the water around it were slightly denser or subject to a subtle time delay.
The Nightbloom Lotus is a beautiful, silent warning—a botanical manifestation of the temporal slippage and chaos that characterizes the abyss.
Harvesting the Nightbloom Lotus
The lotus is exceptionally difficult to harvest due to its perilous habitat and strange properties:
Temporal Stability & Decay: When the bloom is cut, its light begins to flicker violently. If not immediately preserved, the petals will rapidly decay into nothing, leaving behind only the temporal “echo” of their shape for a few minutes before vanishing completely. This decay makes selling single, unpreserved petals nearly impossible and highly risky for any serious alchemist.
Protectors: Due to its proximity to places where the linear flow of time breaks down, the lotus is often guarded, either by creatures warped by temporal energies or by denizens of the deep (such as Aboleths) who seek to protect the rare temporal pools where the lotus thrives.
Alchemical Preservation: The three required petals must be placed immediately into a vial of water that has been blessed or exposed to a strong stabilization agent, such as powdered Orichalcum, to prevent the temporal energies within from causing premature decay. Because of the necessity of this preservation method, the petals are almost always sold in their minimum effective dose (three petals) to guarantee their potency.
Petal Properties
The Nightbloom Lotus petals are essential to certain potions because they contain the deep-sea balance needed to temper highly chaotic ingredients:
Dampening Agent: The Nightbloom Lotus petals are highly resistant to the temporal chaos and corrupting influence found in Aberrant materials. When crushed into a paste, they act as an alchemical counter-anchor, preventing the volatile essence (like Aboleth Blood) from instantly destabilizing the other rare components.
Echo Focus: The subtle, time-delayed light effect of the petals is believed to be what allows the Elixir of Temporal Echoes to grant the drinker a momentary, physical “echo” that can rewrite a failed action. The petals harness the concept of “just-in-time” displacement.