Fluer

Flower people.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Green Folk

• Alignment: Aetherial

• Energy: Hasken Fure

• Lifespan: 200 years

• Diet: Water, nutrients, sunlight

• Habitat: Varies by flower

Origins

In the spring of the world, some flowering plants gained consciousness and evolved into an anthropomorphic form.

Description

Fluers appear to be anthropomorphic flowers. They can resemble any flowering plant. The smallest of them are about 2’ tall, while the largest stand at 9’ in height, depending on the size of the plant they resemble. Some are more flower-like, appearing to be mobile flowers with faces amidst their petals and others appear to be humans with flower-like features, or somewhere in between.

Procreation

Fluers reproduce like flowers do, though they do not need insects or other intermediaries for pollination.

Metagenesis

Like most plants, fluers alternate forms between generations - a haploid sexual generation and a diploid asexual generation.

Powers

Fluers have the ability to speak to and understand flowering plants. They

Flowerlight

Every fluer has special powers based on the flower they resemble. Some common ones include

• Acanthus: the power to draw and spread ashar, healing others

• Alyssum: the power to know the exact time no matter what

• Amaranth: the power to create illusory selves.

• Amaryllis: the power to create empowering rainbows.

• Aster: the power to teleport short distances.

• Azalea: empathic senses.

• Baby’s breath: the power to protect children with a touch.

• Begonia: the power to understand any language.

• Belladonna: poisonous aromas.

• Bellflower: harmonic voices.

• Cactus: the power to survive without water.

• Camellia: the power to call the displaced souls of the dead.

• Carnation: empowerment via bravery.

• Cereus: empowerment under the full moons.

• Chamomile: the power to sense souls.

• Columbine: the power to sense the winds of fortune.

• Cherry blossom: the power to remember the wisdom of ancestors.

• Chrysanthemum: random miracles.

• Daffodil: the power to sense the start of big events.

• Dahlia: the power to intimidate and terrorize.

• Daisy: empowerment via humility.

• Dandelion: empowerment via journeying.

• Duckweed: command over wetlands.

• Fescue: entropic aura.

• Fleabane: the power to protect animals with a touch.

• Forget-me-knot: perfect memory.

• Foxglove: empowerment via the hunt.

• Gardenia: the power to repel attacks.

• Geranium: empowerment via adventure.

• Gladiolus: the power to predict possible results in experiments.

• Hellebore: infernal power.

• Hibiscus: shining aura.

• Holly: the power of winter or the power to read fates.

• Honeysuckle: the power to nourish.

• Hyacinth: the power to inspire.

• Hydrangea: the power to change colors.

• Iris: celestial power.

• Jasmine: the power to invoke justice.

• Jonquil: the power to accumulate energies.

• Laburnum: the power to influence others’ minds.

• Lavender: the power to spread joy with a smile.

• Lilac: the power to revive and restore.

• Lily: control over other plants.

• Lotus: the power to see souls and sense death.

• Madder: the power to control natural settings.

• Marigold: control over the earth and stone.

• Mistletoe: the power to surprise others magically.

• Morning glory: the power to give others hallucinations.

• Narcissus: the power to beautify oneself.

• Nettle: consuming power.

• Nightshade: power over shadows.

• Oleander: the power to drain energy.

• Orange blossom: the power to sense truth.

• Orchid: the power to generate nature.

• Pansy: power over metal.

• Peony: the power to sense metal.

• Peppermint: the power over winter.

• Pimpernel: the power to sense racial “purity”.

• Plum blossom: the power to open passages.

• Poppy: inebriating aura.

• Primrose: empowerment via resistance.

• Rhododendron: the power to create.

• Rose: the power of love.

• Rowan: control over weather.

• Rue: the power to steal objects at will.

• Saffron: the power to drain value from others.

• Snowdrop: power over winter.

• Sunflower: power over the sun.

• Sweet William: power to invoke local laws.

• Tiger-flower: power over fire.

• Tulip: power over the plains.

• Valerian: power to heal.

• Violet: aura of happiness.

• Water lily: power over water.

• Yarrow: power over stories.

And so on.

Insect Affinity

Fluers can attract specific insects with their aromas. Every individual has a different insect, native to where they are from, that they attract and can influence and communicate with.

Weaknesses

Brown aether kills them quickly.

Nations

The original fluer nation was in Burev in Ranu, called the Tsvete. They resemble lilacs, both white and violet. There are many, many other nations, almost all of them small communities in larger countries, each one resembling a different kind of flower. The most famous of these are the following:

• Badhinjaniaat: the nightshade nation in Mahad.

• Bándearg: the rose nation in Lyrilla.

• Houx: the holly nation in Galdun in Jesenya.

• Ifuru: the hibiscus nation in Taggarus.

• Latica: the lily nation in Murja in central Ranu.

• Nieswurz: the hellebore nation in Jesenya.

• Nóinín: the daisy nation in Lyrilla.

• Panqara: the orchid nation in eastern Palhur.

• Pyaalee: the lotus nation in subcontinental Dabusen.

• Trudunt: the dandelion nation in Gyrah.

• Wâpikwaniy: the yarrow nation in western Palhur.

Culture

The Tsvete nation of fluers dwells in the lilac fields of Burev where they create wondrous communities of buildings made of colorful plants, great wooden frames, and fountains and pools. While the nation is largely integrated into Burevi society and subject to the feudal state there - they often work as peasants serving the Burevi lords, almost none of whom are fluers - they keep their own customs and have some autonomy. Because their communities are so beautiful to behold, they have become a tourist attraction for the rich to ogle them.

Originally, fluers were self-governing communities led by a circle of elders, but under the Burevi feudal state - the independent kingdom that split from Omaev - they are an oppressed nation subject to the various powerful nobles and their militaries. However, because their kingdoms are segregated, they have maintained much of the old culture. They still have their elders, and they still honor Proletna Deva, the Spring Maiden and perform the rituals of rebirth every year.

Fluer children are raised by the community, when possible, or their direct families if necessary. In the fluer community, they are allowed to grow for their entire childhoods, only taught and trained through stories and play, and when they come of age at 20, they take up tutelage under someone in the community who will teach them a craft or other role. In feudal society, sometimes, they are integrated into the kingdom’s customs, and therefore sent to religious schools that indoctrinate them with the Burevi state religion, forced to take up servitude in a noble house or work as peasants.

As adults, they tend fields and cultivate flowering regions either for themselves or their lords. As they are fluers with an affinity and connection to lilacs, they grow to be a little under average human height, and therefore, they are sometimes recruited to the military. However, they have a reputation as terrible soldiers (possibly due to civil resistance in the past).

Without the Burevi oppressing them, they live in their communal cultures and protect the flowers and plants of their homelands, honoring the spring. Fluer culture focuses on the cycles and seasons, holding festivals to protect from inclement weather, and creating works that honor Proletna Deva. They speak of “eternal spring” as relief from the oppression they experience and often perform rituals to call for it, most of them involving dancing, music, and works of art. They cultivate mundane flowers in their natural states, tending fields and forests and encouraging blossoms and blooms. They keep insects as pets.

National Cultures

• Badhinjaniaat: the nightshade nation in Mahad is also an oppressed one, often forced to tend gardens for the rich and powerful. They are

• Bándearg: the rose nation in Lyrilla are an honored nation known for their powerful magicks.

• Houx: the holly nation in Galdun in Jesenya are respected socially but oppressed economically. They are often exploited for their connection to holly flowers, which are said to be able to predictg the future.

• Ifuru: the hibiscus nation in western Taggarus live free and cultivate floral wonders in the wilderness, living at one with nature, and creating shining fountains and pools.

• Latica: the lily nation in Murja in central Ranu embrace both flowering plants and all others, and though they are oppressed by the feudal state there, they have mastered hiding from them to live in secret in the forests and fields.

• Nieswurz: the hellebore nation in Jesenya have embraced the oppressive structure of the empire they live in, using demonological arts to create fell-flowers and carve out a place for themselves.

• Nóinín: the daisy nation in Lyrilla are sister nation to the Bándearg. They consider themselves a warrior-nation devoted to fighting for a just and fair world.

• Panqara: the orchid nation in eastern Palhur dwell in secret in deep wilderness, living communal lives and honoring Mother Shem.

• Pyaalee: the lotus nation in subcontinental Dabusen is devoted to Svayan Mrtyu (Death Herself).

• Trudunt: the dandelion nation in Gyrah live nomadically in the skies and fit in with any country they fly through.

• Wâpikwaniy: the yarrow nation in southern Palhur are part of the Ayisiniwak nation, being protectors of plants and flowers for their communities.

Esoterica

Fluers are beings of hasken fure, the aether of flowering plants and spring. They are its most potent wielders. They are also commonly wielders of prasinofos, parfum de marais, livadi, tykva vlast, ma’dhahabi, the bright, kazaddarean, tmakikan, dumaqu, radiance, euphoria, stagma, kutsegula, ayase, poioumenon, dream energy, emotional resonance, euphotonia, Elysian essence, liberation power, and flux.

For nommic energies, their tough exteriors are resonant with Raesian energy, while the liquid chlorophyll in them counts as blood. Their nectar is similar to pheromones as a humor.

Religion

Most fluer nations honor all of the aetherial Divines and Mother Shem, but they worship Proletna Deva, the Spring Maiden, who brings the new year and new blooms. She is spring incarnate, the reborn, and with her comes renewal. They worship her as a community, usually led by witches, priestesses, shamans, or druids.

Gender

Fluers’ genders are based on that of plants, and therefore, complicated. In their own communities, this results in genders that do not map to human or animal genders and are therefore translated using the pronouns xe/xir, vee/vir, they/them, and fae/faer. In other mortal cultures, they are usually forced into binary gender models and conform to them awkwardly.

Economy

Fluers come from communal cultures, but are often living as oppressed nations. In Burev, they are subject to a feudal kingdom.

Military

Among fluer communities, they rarely engage in warfare, preferring stealth and magic to protect themselves. Though some are conscripted to other militaries, their cultural preference for peace usually makes them poor soldiers. What few warriors exist in their own communities use their command of flowering plants and their influence over insects to wield the environment against enemies.

Language

The language of the original fluer nation is based on Bulgarian.

Trade

Fluer communities cultivate and trade flowers, teas and tinctures, herbs, and other plant-based goods.

Occupations

Common occupations include

• Bilkar: an herbalist and healer.

• Botskane: bizseregs, riders of small mounts who protect fluer communities.

• Bulka: a fluer who works as a sex worker in an oppressed community.

• Gorski: a ranger of the flowering fields.

• Kapchitsa: those who create potions, tinctures, and other concoctions out of nectar, perfumes, and so on.

• Oprashitel: fluers who send messages by sending pollen into the air.

• Otshelnik: a cloistered sister who worships the spring.

• Pazach na Ptitsi: keepers of hummingbirds.

• Pevets: wandering musicians among the fluers of Burev.

• Prerodena: a transgender fluer who represents the renewal of spring at festivals, a very powerful tahawal variation of a vernalist.

• Prichastie: druids of the flowering woods.

• Sklonen: those who tend and cultivate the flowers.

• Smesitel: a mixer of flower teas.

• Stareĭshina: elders among the fluers.

• Tants’orka: those who dance at the spring festivals.

• Trŭboprovod: a shaman among the fluers.

• Tsvetarka: the flowergirls, maiden witches, among the fluers of Burev, who embody the return of spring. Adult versions - vernalists - are called tsvetemaĭkas. Vernal crones are called tsvetnakoronas.

• Tsŭfti: flower-weavers.

• Voivode: a fluer who has betrayed their community to become a noble in the ruling class.

• Vŭznikvane: a fool, a pojava, a wandering jester and clown who wears and uses flowers.

• Vŭztorzhen: those filled with the renewal of spring, beatificers who honor the Spring Maiden.

• Zhritsa: priestesses of the spring.

Outside View

Fluers are often infantalized or exotified by their oppressors, used as tourist attractions, or exploited for their magical powers. In some places, they have model minority status, as they attempt to fit in and use their powers to appease their oppressors, waiting for the eternal spring.

Notables

• Snezhanka, Fluer Manifest, Lilac Seed, Aeonian

Estimated Populations

• Badhinjaniaat: 20,000

• Bándearg: 10,000

• Houx: 6,000

• Ifuru: 12,000

• Latica: 8,000

• Nieswurz: 5,000

• Nóinín: 10,000

• Panqara: 10,000

• Pyaalee: 50,000

• Trudunt: 50,000

• Tsvete: 30,000

• Wâpikwaniy: 9,000

• Other: 100,000

Sample Stats

Sample stats assume an average 4’ height:

PRO 8
ATH 9
STR 6
AWA 9
WIL 8
PRS 11
STH 9