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 Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2024 7:23 pm
Quote: Firework Flowers (13) : A rare and unique breed of flowers that blossom into long, stiff-stamened, spherical orbs like those of the blossoming Powder-Puff flowers are on full display in Destiny City. A unique hybrid of several species, these plants were being engineered at a small landscaping company. While they were only meant to exist in their private greenhouse as they continued development, a simple accident resulted in thousands of seeds spreading across Destiny City. Thankfully, the Firework Flower is a beautiful, albeit temporary addition. The stems grow rapidly and look like tall blades of grass until the week before the flower blooms; the bulb is hardy and opens overnight to reveal the beautiful firework flower, which can be found in almost any color. However, unlike normal Powder-Puff flowers, when these flowers are jostled they explode in a burst of colors. Whether it is a simple touch or a strong breeze, these ‘Firework Flowers’ seem to burn up from the center of the flower outwards. It creates a beautiful display of light–especially at night. Scientists describe it as a harmless chemical reaction and encourage everyone to appreciate the flowers while they are here. The dust from an explosion can carry on the wind and will glow for a few hours after the reaction. The explosion cannot harm anyone and poses no danger to anyone. Usually, when Naeria was out looking for new species, she had to go away from the city, often deep out into the woods or other surrounding biomes. Today, though, she only had to go a short way down the street from the Vanguard house before she saw a strange flower that she had never seen before growing up in a spare patch of grass. Sometimes there were garden flowers that were new to her. Plants were not something that she studied extensively, but there was something about this one that seemed different, and when she reached out to touch it, it seemed very different, because when she reached out to touch it, it started to fizzle and burn out from the center in a shower of sparks. Being out of the house, but on the street, Naeria was in her glamour, and that meant that she couldn't easily use her ComTech. Instead, she scrambled to take her Earth phone out of the pocket of her leggings, and to snap a picture, but by that point the bloom had already burned off, just leaving a trail of sparks. Naeria glanced around to see if anyone else had seen what she'd seen.
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2024 8:03 pm
Lysanna was not one to beat around bushes, or however that Terran expression went, when it came to strange phenomenon. Her gaze had been drawn to a trail of dust that was glowing in the air on her way back to the residence that had been purchased for the use of the Vanguard. Reaching up with her right hand the Velencian, glamoured for her outing, tried to at least catch a few of the tiny particles on the breeze before she gave what could have sounded like an amused giggle before pulling her hand back down to the side. What she hadn't expected to see once her gaze fell back to the level of the street was someone just simply staring down at what appeared to be a patch of unusual foliage.
Upon drawing closer Lysanna drew back for a moment to take in the appearance of who it was that was studying the flowers so intently before she make a small noise. She didn't want to startle the other member of the Vanguard before she stopped to stare down at the strange plants herself, "these are new. I don't recall them being here before. Any ideas on the origin," and here she paused. Being so close to the home they all shared it could be easy enough to forget that other humans could be watching or listening before she cast about for the correct name. Lysanna tried to keep up with the civilian aliases of all of her fellow Velencians before she felt the right name click into place, "Aria?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2024 4:20 pm
The sound of of footsteps on the concrete sidewalk made Naeria turn over her shoulder, wide-eyed and jumpy for a moment before she realized that it was another member of the Vanguard approaching. At that point, Naeria shifted form looking like she might be about to bolt to simply staring at the newcomer in curiosity. She knew who it was, but it took her, too, a moment to remember the proper human name for the cadet in front of her. "Anastasia," she managed after a few seconds. Yes. That was right. Her curiosity about these flowers helped her to push through her usual shyness, at least enough that she could manage to speak. "It was not here yesterday, and there is not evidence of most plants growing so quickly." Mushrooms could spring up overnight. Things like this tended to take more time, but perhaps this was just a species she was unfamiliar with. "I am trying to determine if this is biological or magical in nature." She touched another bloom, sending another scattering of sparks through the air.
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2024 2:39 am
Oh good, she had guessed the right name. For now though the cadet could just simply think of her as Naeria but if they spoke to each other it would be best to use their human names. Making sure that her glamour was still activated Lysanna was oddly mystified by the colors that the blooms seemed to exhibit. When Naeria had mentioned that the flowers hadn't been there the day before it just caused the mystery to deepen further. However when the corporal reached down to touch yet another bloom Lysanna made the strangest of noises but it was too late.
The sudden little explosion that the plant emitted caused Lysanna to jump back from the spark that was released into the air. It had just missed her face. When it seemed like it was safer to do so Lysanna knelt down to examine the blooms more carefully. Her hands stayed at her sides as she had no desire to repeat the stunning display that Naeria had set off moments earlier. Her gaze was thoughtful as she turned over the facts in her mind. She gave a shrug before speaking, "maybe it is a little bit of both Aria. Clearly the plant is composed of biological matter and this reaction we are getting is not normal. I can also tell you that normal Terran plants don't grow this fact out of nowhere. My little secret garden took a lot longer than a day for things to grow."
She looked back to the flower before glancing at the direction of their residence before tilting her head, "do you think you want a sample? I could run back and grab some items that we'd need in order to research this."
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2024 6:21 pm
If Lysanna also had a garden in which she studied Earth plants, then Naeria would trust her observation that this plant was exhibiting growth patterns that were much faster than that of other plants that grew in this environment. "We should take samples," Naeria agreed, all traces of shyness fading as she focused in on seeing this as a project and a potential source of new information. Besides their swift growth, it seemed that the flowers were storing and producing energy. There would be many practical applications for a plant like this on Velencya, especially if it produced heat. "Examining the stem and leaf cells in detail could give us answers about its speed of growth," Naeria said, but then she paused, chewing on her lip as she looked at the place where the two blooms had been. There was one more left on the plant, but she was careful not to touch this one. "I wonder if there is a way to remove the flowers without triggering them."
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2024 3:16 am
There was a moment in which Lysanna paused to stare down at the little flowering plant before hearing what sounded like a mild acquiescence in Naeria's tone as she glanced over to her fellow Vanguard member. While she was still just a lowly cadet Lysanna was always wanting to be involved in such projects that the others were doing. Given the insight that she had in the area of at least the plants she had chosen to tend in her garden she could be a boon of vital information to Naeria. Although it did seem like the corporal was already well-versed in some aspects of some of Earth's growing vegetation.
"If you give me a list of things you think we'd need to study this, I can run back and grab them and be back here in a short time. I have a feeling though that this plant isn't the only one of its kind."
It might have just been a guess but there was a high chance, given the glowing dust she had spotted earlier, that there were more of these odd flowers around.
"Anything we can glean from the study, even of just the leaf and stem portion of the plant, would be plenty helpful to Velencya, right?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2024 7:17 am
"All information is useful," said agreed Naeria, although her voice, always hesitant, had dropped to a hushed whisper in an attempt not to disturb the final, valuable bloom. "We need shears," she said, "To take the samples. Gloves, to prevent cross contamination." She considered this for several moments. "That should be all. Everything we need for the more in depth analysis is inside." She would be curious to see what she and Lysanna could discover about this species, and if the fact that it was likely magic would affect things at a cellular level. "While you do that, I will take some pictures of the full plant and its habitat." The fact that they were in a somewhat public area kept her from being able to simply use her Comtech for this purpose, but she did have an Earth phone, with a surprisingly satisfactory camera. She took a picture of the flower, and then the leaves, and then a picture from farther away to show that it was growing in the strip of grass next to the sidewalk.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2025 2:33 am
Having received the verbal list of what Naeria believed what they would need to study this flower Lysanna quickly took off towards the dwelling that all the Vanguard shared. It wasn't too far away and since it was only two items that were needed in order to harvest the final bloom of the flower. The only thing was, that perhaps there was a container of some sort that would be helpful as well.
Entering their shared home did Lysanna quickly shed her own bag just inside the door before she made a beeline towards one of the storage rooms in which she could find gloves and shears. The gloves themselves weren't too hard to track down as she had multiple pairs of fresh gardening gloves that she could just bring to Naeria for use, but the shears... Lysanna glanced around the room and the tools before finally spotting what she was looking for hanging up from a peg in the wall. Retrieving the cutting tool did the cadet also grab a clear plastic container that looked perfect for sample collecting before she darted back to the front door in order to return to Naeria's position. Hopefully the flower would still not have been set off and they'd be able to study everything about it.
Running back outside did the cadet make haste in order to hand over the items that Naeria had requested. She didn't mind being the one to gather what was needed, as long as she knew she was helping ... it was enough.
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