She of Many Names
- Intent: To create the first of a long line of submissions.
- Image Credit: Here, here, and here.
- Canon: Not Applicable.
- Permissions: Not Applicable.
- Links: Elzeri, Church of the Word.
- Name: Athelas.
- Origins: Valythor.
- Other Locations: Elenna Starhold, Tantalos Nebulae.
- Classification: Fruitful Tree.
- Average Growth Cycle: The Athelas fully reaches maturity when it reaches its hundredth year. At this age the tree's roots leave the safety of the soil they found nourishment to spread through a large area up to ten meters where thick shrubs and beautiful scarlet and black roses grow that was recognized as the galaxy's most beautiful flowers during the major galactical flowering contest of 0 ABY by Emperor Palpatine himself. The Athelas is able to live up to five thousand years if properly fed, withering away when it finally reaches its cycle, with its bark becoming whiter than clean bones, fancied for its value on crafting personal items.
- Viability: Unique in its exotic ways to feed. Much like any other tree, the Athelas has the need for water and compost, however, the tree needs much less sunlight than all trees of the elzeri homeworld, much like its strange characteristic of purifying the soil it is planted, forcing the small area where it flourishes to being treated by its roots, dispersing the impurities in the air, treating the land it inhabits, making it fruitful and green once again. Something considered most unusual for such a mature tree to do, still, the Athelas is best noted for its primary food source: organic blood. Feeding out of the blood of creatures caught in its roots, or from freshly cut bodies hang in its branches, or buries close to its bark on the fertile ground the Athelas thrived on making for itself.
- Description: Said that its frustum is as gray as a moonstone would, this shade is lost when the Athelas dies or a chunk if chopped from the three. With shining beautiful crimson leaves that grow from its branches, these flowers feel oily to the touch and rot away to a copper pattern with a putrid sweet scent. They are very valued for making tea, as the leaves release a strange mixture that is considered very smooth and calming for those aiming to have long sleeping hours after a hard day at work, the Athelas gives fruit every decade or so, but is said to give a special batch every thousand years.
- Average Height: Up to 50 meters.
- Average Length: Up to 6 meters.
- Color: Its bark is said to be of the shape as a moonstone would be, ever gray, much like its flowers are always of shining red tone.
- Nutritional Value: Aside from boiling its leaves to making tea, or the thousand-year-old fruit given by the Athelas, nothing on this tree has any nutritional value, and any attempt of consumption can lead a being to certain death.
- Toxicity: Toxins to those killed to feeding her fill these species' genome, and any attempt of consumption can lead a being to certain death even if consuming only small quantities of this tree.
- Other Effects: With shining beautiful crimson leaves that grow from its branches, these flowers feel oily to the touch and rot away to a copper pattern with a putrid sweet scent. They are very valued for making tea, as the leaves release a strange mixture that is considered very smooth and calming for those aiming to have long sleeping hours after a hard day at work, the Athelas gives fruit every once in a thousand years. Its leaves are also regarded as a very comforting powder when ground down so others can sniff on it, however, those are not recommended as they create a certain addiction to it.
- Distinctions: A very scrupulous plant on the environment to which it will pullulate, the Athelas's are surrounded with such myth that the Elzeri highly admonish its studies for their shameful part on its natural growth. An Athelas has to greedily feed great amounts of blood during its first, at least a full adult body a month needs to be gutted on top of its resting ground, where the blood will slowly reach its way through the soil, stirring the seed to make its way to the top. When not slothfully feed by any caretaker, the Athelas will lay dormant for many years below the ground, until it assumes an aggressive predatorial behavior with its seed sprouting into webs as they carve its way searching for smaller creatures to entwine in its webs crushing their bodies, absorbing its fluids so it may begin its slow process of nourishment and growth. Some xenoarborists throughout the major galaxy believe the species to being completely sentient, while others claim its connection with the neutral side of the Force. They are much discouraged by the Elzeri themselves to be planted on foreign planets, as their wild methods can result in massive ecological and sociological changes in the areas where they grow. The Athelas sucks away the resources of nearby plants, killing them as it replenishes itself on its never-ending quest for more food. Controlled specimens of this tree are usually referred to as 'housepets', while its wild savage counterparts are feared even by the Elzeri, for every once in a thousand years, the Athelas will break its roots free, famished, as it searches for any living creature to crush with its power, drinking their blood. Oddly to their kind, despite the fact of being able of growing on any kind of atmosphere that carries enough oxygen, never a member of its species has been found with any peculiarity of its own, such as a wide color palette for its foliage. Ever crimson, the Athelas is revered by the Elzeri as sacred mementos of their dead, gateways to contacting those that were gone.
- Olvar, the Reminiscence of the Dead - This decade-long fruit of the Athelas is very prized by the Elzeri species. Known for its properties when mixed with other substances, the Olvar is said to absorb the qualities of the soil where the tree grows rendering a vivid fresh blood red tone, with a squish sensation passing through this berry as it grows up to perfectly fit on a human's open palm, while is said by those that ate it that its taste is delicious; claimed to be the grandfather of all of the strawberry flavored fruit in the galaxy. Olvar when ingested by sentient beings can bring about unusual responses to the organic body due to its long life feeding upon organic sentient blood, absorbing the midi-chlorians on each of its cells to nourish herself, passing a piece of what was absorbed through her fruits. Toxic effects of olvar's consumption can be of sharpening a Force User's passive attributes, strengthening their connection with the Force for a scanty period of time, and bring about vivid strong personal hallucinations. Making this tree's offspring ridiculously sought by Force Order from the greater galaxy, not only for their allegedly magical features but due to the massive increase of a non-force users intellectual capacities prompting tremendous sensibility of their physical senses, along with assisting their bodies in the production of massive levels of adrenaline and the rammish sensation of fathomless euphoria for what can seem to be hours.
- Seregon, the Seeds of Rebirth - One of the rarest substances found in the known galaxy, growing on very specific circumstances every once in a thousand years, and even the Elzeri do not give any certainty that it may actually grow, still, their ways to produce them keep the same for ages. For a Seregon to bloom, an enormous amount of blood needs to be fed to the Athelas for nine days along with a pray for each of its deities, the Astrals in their infinite wisdom, weigh down the sincerity of one's pray and decide if the Athelas shall bloom the Seregon, and while some claim it this to be false, the Seregon shall bloom on the day of an eclipse, gleaming in the shadows of night, waiting for nine days on the dark before rotting away. People that consume a Seregon have been fabled to transform into monstrous creatures, arms turned to scissors, legs to tentacles, heads to abnormal mouths full of teeth. When so boldly tried, this delicate pale fruit excrements vapors and liquid that taste and smell of blood. After being consumed, the person will experience a suffocating feeling of its own body boiling up, this blazing sensation usually continues for half an hour until the consumer passes out in fever. In a state of utmost delusion, the person will experience an inordinate ridiculous amount of mental pain in whatever hallucination it may be having, as its external body may suffer monstrous sporadic deformities. Even the Elzeri do not understand the effects of the Seregon properly and refuse any external offer of having them analyzed by others, with any attempt of doing it so without their permission being punished with death, or evoking an act of decades-long revenge from them. Their consumption is not recommended and forbidden even to the members of their own species, but they dare not hunting down to punish those that break their own rule, as they believe this person was been reborn according to the design of the Astrals. However, those that dare eat the Seregon are forever shunned by the Church, for their fates belong not with their kin as Destiny itself decided they would be given a new path to follow.
- Unknown Sporadic Changes - It is downright impossible to predict what sort of genetic anomalies will be caused by the consumption of Seregon. As much as a person can evolve to bear wings and fangs, they can also appear with fins, hoofs, and even be rendered foolishly into a pile of exposed organs and broken physical mass.
- Don't be a Foodie - Addiction due to the consumption of Olvar proved to be new horror for junkies. Addiction to this fruit can lead to certain death, much as eating more than two Seregons can lead a person to deform their bodies beyond recognition.
- A Destroyer of Environments - In its pursuit for achieving maturity, the Athelas will spread its roots and webs through a five-meter-wide area through all its surroundings, an area that may double over the course of a decade. Draining the soil's natural resources to itself, by covering its dangerous appetite with a blanket of tiny red foliage, as it kills nearby plants caught in its hunger, much like any animal unlucky enough to be caught by its crushing embrace,
- Hell of a Gardener's Bill - Due to its hunger, constant purging and trimming may prove necessary to keep this plant at bay, thus preventing it from taking over hundreds of kilometers as it seeks nourishment. The use of fire is considered a cruel act even by the Elzeri standards, as the Athelas may burn faster than most trees in the galaxy, making itself 'heard' with horrendous shrieking sounds that resemble howlings of pain. Preferably, the Athelas should be purged through the use of proper acidic agents meant to diminish wild plants such as this one, or sometimes attacked with cryogenic agents by digging its roots from the depths of the earth, freezing and shattering them to pieces with a sledgehammer.
The Tale of the Athelas began in tragedy. The Death of the Old Gods claims this merit, sometimes recalled as the Uprising of the Enslaved, or the Downfall of the Infinite. A naturally magical species, the Star Children of Valythor were famed throughout the stars, it was perhaps this abundance of members with sensitive potential that brought the attention of the Infinite Empire, scourge of the galaxy, and conquerors of Rakata Prime. Many attributes could be said about the elzeri, but they were not conquerors, at first, they welcomed the Rakatans as friends and the Rakatans showed them technology used by them for traveling through the stars and how to harness the Force to achieve more than they ever dreamed. The elzeri foolishly believed in the Rakatans and gave them many freedoms on their land only to soon find themselves betrayed, as the Infinite Empire launched an invasion against their planet, killing their kings and enslaving its people. Their pride was brought humble by the shame of slavery, they were alone, and it wasn't for at least two thousand years of slavery and depredations that the elzeri rose once again. Beginning as a fainted chant of hope spread between them, an ancient prayer, crying out for better days and honoring the Ancient Gods.
Shadows fall, and hope has fled
Steel your heart, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
The shepherds are lost, and their home is far
Keep to the stars, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
Bare your blade, and raise it high
Stand your ground, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
- Written By Trevor Morris for the Dragon Age Inquisition Soundtrack
Steel your heart, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
The shepherds are lost, and their home is far
Keep to the stars, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
Bare your blade, and raise it high
Stand your ground, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come
- Written By Trevor Morris for the Dragon Age Inquisition Soundtrack
According to the Scrolls of the Word, it is claimed that it was only when this prayer was spoken by every single enslaved tongue in Valythor that the Old Gods answered their call. The stars ablaze themselves in fire and might as the Astrals came to free them through warfare, a struggle that took the full might of the Infinite Empire to be fought. A war that lasted for a century. This ‘revolt’ sparked many more in the thousand planets controlled by the rakatans, and it was only when Ramuh the Great, leader of the Old Gods perished that a deadly plague spread across the rakatan lines, believed by some to be the fuse that started what would be the downfall of their Infinite Empire. Some say that it was the blood of the god Ramuh that started this plague, others say that it was a curse cast by the elzeri against their slave masters.
Free, but broken. The elzeri once again were alone, their cities were in ruins, their gods were mostly dead, and the three that remained were exhausted from the battling. Still, with their dying breath the Old Gods thanked their children for having found faith once again, they said that the end of the Infinite Empire was just the beginning of a new chapter of their lives and another calamity was on their heels as the Outer Ones would find them and bring destruction to the Creché again.
“To whom we shall turn? Without your light we shall be lost.”, the leader of the elzeri asked.
“To the stars, children.”, the Old Gods said, “Endure your woes. From Atar we came, to Atar we will return. Part of the land we shall become and from our ashes; New Gods will arise. Watch for the nine angels and the nine demons, beware of the celestial fire and you shall tame the stars. For you are my children and you will never be alone.”
Legend says that the Old Gods perished soon after, their spirits joined the Living Force as their bodies joined the land, coming into shape in three living monuments in the elzeri planet. A tree, a mountain, and a lake. Those three, Balrion, Meraxes, and Viranax, became holy sites for their species; with its tree germinating fruit that brought about the creation of the Athelas.
From the boughs of Balrion the Red came the seeds of the Athelas. The whispering of words was heard as red berries were picked for the very first time by Gil-Galad the Starry Prophet, who noted how Balrion spoke with a tone of both warning and temptation.
"Blood is paid only with blood. As death demands its toe. The power of rebirth lies in the broken ruins of the Old Gods, to be guarded with heed, as it waits for a chosen bearer or to none.", some claim of its connection with an ancient prophecy left by Gil-Galad who speaks of a day when the Sleeping Crown will claim the power of Rebirth and use its seeds to bring about a new breed.
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