The Shading
Manifestation
When the Shading occurs, leaves and verdant plants turn grey. The plants and flowers remain, but they all turn grey. Eventually they wilt and fall, but the several weeks before they do the world turns to a greyscale.
It can cause things to look hazy and make distances more difficult to judge. The horizon may also look grey and hazy.
Plants affected also lose any properties they had previously, and fruit and vegetables on the affected plants turn to dust if something touches them too hard, and they are no longer good to eat.
The Shading affects plant-based entity which is exposed to natural light at the time it occurs. This includes foods already picked which are stored in sunlight, or stored in places which are accessible to natural light. For example, vegetables stored in a wooden shed may not be safe from impacts of The Shading, but those stored underground would be.
Localization
The Shading can occur anywhere on the continent, but it most commonly happens on the East side of Vellikka, along the Lanips Mountains as far south as Kolesta.
Reason
Every 25 years, there is a solar event which impacts any living thing which photosynthesises in order to survive. The sun has an erruption of gasses, which build up over years and eventually cumlinates in a minor solar event. The burst spreads out from the sun and impacts whichever area of the planet is facing it at the time.Cultural Reception
The Vellich are very superstitious about the Shading. The impact of it causes the loss of a year's worth of good fruit and vegetables for the areas affected, which can be devastating for the communities nearby, but the future two years worth of yield tends to be twice as plentiful and are often larger then before. However, getting through that year can be rough. In order to avoid the negative impacts, most settlements' Providers work to ensure that they have enough food storage for over a year.Related Articles
| Professions | Providers, Gatherer's Holdings |
|---|---|
| Locations | Kolesta, Lanips Mountains, Vellikka |
Type
Natural
Interesting. Does the Shading only affect fruits and veggies still on the tree/vine or are food stores affected as well? If the latter, man that is scary!
Great question. It affects anything which is in the sunlight when the solar event occurs. So food stored in a wooden building might be ok, but only if there is no natural light. Food stored underground is safer.