Introduction to Fervent Flora

Oct 10, 2025

When we count how long humans have existed, we count years in hundreds of thousands. For plants, we count in hundreds of millions. In all the time that they have been here, in the eons before us and seconds alongside us, do you really think that the best a plant can do, the most impressive of its capabilities, is to become attractive to pollinators through bright petals and tantalising fragrances; to photosynthesise and provide the very air that sustains life; to serve as homes to a plethora of insects, birds, mammals, amphibians and fish; and to evolve to eat some of these nutritious visitors?

You haven’t learnt the half of it.

Trees, shrubs, and flowers have grown to thrive alongside each other. However, as we, with all our fraught history and impending futures continue to fight with each other, plants have evolved to survive us.

Some choose allegiances and mislead, trap, or heal, accordingly; others don’t need to know you before they reclaim the oxygen only lent to you; and some are so sensitive, so unforgiving, that they’ll take the very ground from below your feet for a mere whisper of intrusion.

Across the Meanderway, such plants are covertly tasted, tested, traded, utilised, and destroyed - but where we start our story, a great discovery is happening.

In the isolated Islands of Vereterra, far southwest of the Meanderway, quiet folk with a desperate need to battle unknown invaders and save life as they know it are slowly uncovering plants’ myriad properties and talents. The Vereterrans, the true ones, are chronicling what they term ‘Fervent Flora’ - they’re planting seeds, nurturing stems and saplings, and trying to hide their samples and knowledge from those who cannot be trusted with untold potentials and powers.

Registry of Fervent Flora

The Vereterrans are adept at grouping their green discoveries by use - therapeutic, defensive, attacking or otherwise - and have devised the following classes:

Rumble Rooglars are net-like plants that detect vibrations – be it your movement or breath – and respond in various ways, many believed disproportionate, unfair, or downright wrong. A worthy mention includes the Wool Rooglar, where, in the Early Wars of the Meanderway, a vine blanket measuring 17 acres absorbed the puff of 17 legions of the Aleland army, wiping the country’s entire military.
Solar Synonyms utilise the sun’s energy for explosive power, which can prove very handy when attacking but not so fortunate when misplaced. Throw a Barb Petal and the small fire crack will distract and divert, accidentally eat a Vale Stone and it will electrocute your skull and all it houses with the equivalent energy of a thousand Mirror Mountain storms.
Strings & Rooters all share a long strand structure, but while Rooters burrow and hide underground, many Strings lengthen at will, peering sometimes off entire cliffs to latch onto what they want. Notable examples include the sentient Newton’s Pull and Footfolk Fungus, both of which have reportedly chosen to align with the Ever Elevens in the Enduring Wars of the Meanderway.
Toxic Confidants are poisons, all with unfortunate and sad tales of discovery. Many of these plants are banned or restricted in warfare by the Citizen Saviour Agreement, and it is the lesser-known toxins that now pose more threat. Found in many gardens, the Red Pinch, for example, is a slow acting poison that plucks blood supplies vessel by vessel, leaving vascular surgeons beside themselves (importantly, many surgeons formerly struck off have since, following the plant’s discovery, been reinstated.)
Plants Chambers are a wonderful family of remedies and help. They are non-selective; any creature, good or bad, may benefit from their unique aid. A personal favourite found in every kitchen draw, bathroom cupboard, or box of useful things is Nohbacus, the plant that ended antibiotic resistance. Plants Chambers, together with other cocktails of natural ingredients, make up many Fervent Treatments & Cures. Be careful not to accept concoctions from black market stalls; it takes a trained eye to select the right flora and a patient one to check masses – leave it to the healthcare professionals.

Dear and curious subscribers…

I will add a new plant monthly (as a minimum) to the Registry of Fervent Flora. Each category’s first plant profile will be free to read, but only paid subscribers will have access to the rest, as well as the short stories related to the plants’ (often dreadful) discoveries or notable case studies.