Red Blessing
"Just when I thought all was lost, Rowan grabbed my arm and pointed up at the cliffs. Through the blizzard we could just barely see the blazing orange of the blooms. Those flowers saved us. If it weren't for Rowan's sharp eyes, we'd both be lost to the ice."
Red Blessings are Glowflora that grow on the frozen cliffsides of the Bloodpeaks. They are named for the reddish light they emit while blooming, and the life-saving warmth they provide.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Red Blessing is a densely tufted plant. It forms hard mats or soft cushions of small, rigid, overlapping leaves. It grows in tough, rocky soil, sometimes directly on the sides of cliffs. The blooms of the Red Blessing are stalkless and have five lance-shaped petals that come in various hues of red and orange.
Red Blessings are Glowflora that get their Aura from the sun Aza. They use their Glow to protect them against the bitter cold Dusk years of the mountains.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Blessings survive via a combination of photosynthesis and Glowsynthesis. They get the miniscule amounts of water they need to survive from melted snow and dew drops. The soil they grow in is generally nutrient-poor, but the Blessings are stubborn and grow slowly, so they are able to make do.
Biological Cycle
During Dawn years, the plants absorb as much Aura as they can. Unlike most Glowflora, the Blessings are capable of storing their Glow for months before using it. This allows them to preserve the warm energy until Dusk comes.
Once the Dusk year begins, Red Blessings begin to slowly release their Glow internally. This keeps their more vulnerable organs from dropping below freezing. If they had a good Dawn year, then the Blessings will be able to survive the entire Dusk year with minimal recharging.
During the darkest part of the Dusk year, when the suns never make it over the mountain slopes, is when the Red Blessing blooms. Hundreds of tiny red flowers cover its moss-like surface, each of them glowing brightly against the cold. A large enough bloom of Red Blessings can be enough to melt the snow in a small radius around it.
This heat is a life-saver to animals and people that happen to be trapped in the mountains during Dusk. A decent sized pool of Blessings can radiate as much heat as a small campfire. Unlike a campfire, the Blessings will not falter, no matter how hard the wind blows.
Red Blessings bloom constantly for approximately three months during the Dusk year. They are an annual species and die after the suns return. They reproduce via underground root stalks, so even though several plants perish every year, each plant is so tightly intertwined that there is hardly a difference made in areas of particularly dense growth.
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