Suggestions for more wildlife and plantlife of Dethsiris

[Kayla]

Suggestion.
Observations of wildlife and plants one might encounter in the jungles of Dethsiris.
A guide and warning, dictated by Kayla, a petite and illiterate barbarian who lives in the jungles.

Plants:

Sweetberry bush.
The sweetberry bush is a thorned bush with broad three pronged leaves. It is rare and most often appears to grow in patches between 10 to 30 feet wide. The bushes themselves seldom seems to reach more than 2-3 feet in height. The flowers have white lily like small petals and the berries is a clear dark red. The scent of the flowers are deceivingly sweet and rich in aroma of honey and nectar.
The berries are up to half an inch in size and they grow in abundance on each bush. The taste of the berries is very sweet as the berries are very rich in sugar and energies but seems to lack any nutritious value. Sadly, it seems to the victims that to taste just one berry is never enough.
The juice of the berries is also very narcotic as well as instantly addictive in nature. Once effected the animal or person eating them would feel calm and joyous, and soon loose all coordination and then loose consciousness. Then when waking up, the victim most often feels the craving for more berries. Unless the victim is saved or able to break out of the addiction, they will stay with the sweetberry bushes until they perish from lack of food.

The patch of sweetberry bush are in fact just one plant, as the bushes in the patch are connected via the roots. And from observation it seems that the Sweetberry bush is indeed carnivorous. When the victim have perished, the plant waits for the body to decompose and release it’s body fluids, all that is then drawn to the roots and nourishes the plant.

Uses: The Sweetberries would have medicinal uses, or be used in drugs to incapacitate. And if one can resist eating the berries right off the bushes, it can also be used for recreational use. Allowing a bowl of crushed berries to ferment will produce a very sweet alcoholic drink with very amusing hallucinogenic effects.
Game mechanics: Rp use only?


Thorny and sticky twisty plant.
This plant is one of many uses, it is a long vine that grows very long, often reaching 20-30 feet in length or even longer. The long stem is covered with 2 inch long sharp thorns that grows about 1-3 inches apart. It is very strong and do not break easily, but can be cut by most sharp tools. Most often it clings to trees or grows in spirals around the trunk of them, thus protecting them from animals.
One can cut lengths of this plant and lay it in coils around one’s campsite for extra protection at nights, one only have to remember where the coils are if one need to leave the campsite in the darkness. The Thorny and sticky twisty plant also grows in coils around bushes or just on the ground.
The thorns are very pain full, but not poisonous.

Wildlife:

Giant slimy slug.

The giant slimy slug are seldom seen. Although they are both large and seemingly slow. Their average speed depends on the size of the slut, but most can manage about 10 feet per minute when in a hurry. There are two identified variants, the jungle variant is dark brown with lighter brown and also green patches and there is a pale gray, translucent variant found in caves and other dark places. Both variants have two eyestalks, and two feelers and a wide broad toothless mouth, a broad body with a hardened shield on it’s back, the body tapers out to a tail.

The size of the giant slimy slug ranges from 6 inches up to a staggering 10 feet, and there might indeed be older ones that have reaches truly massive sizes, depending on the access to the food it needs.
The giant slimy slug seems to be omnivorous, as long as the food is already decaying and decomposing. It will eat anything that it can fit its mouth around, or suck into itself. Although it do not seem to be able to digest living prey.

Sadly, it also tastes very bad or it would be a huge find for any explorer searching for easy caught food. The meat, even when boiled or grilled quite simply tastes rotten and sour and if one is desperate enough to keep eating the meat, nausea and diarrhoea will follow.

The one practical use for this giant would be to collect it’s slime that when applied to the skin have a calming and soothing effect. Good for use on smaller wounds or burns. In larger amounts it can be used as a sedative and will cause sleepiness or a deep dreamless painless sleep.

It is not a predator, and it’s preferred way to defend itself is to burrow down in the soft ground and pretend it is part of the undergrowth. But in some cases, larger specimens of this slug have been seen luring predators to come in contact with the slime, until the predator have been sedated and asleep. Whereupon the slug has been able to escape or, turning on the predator and devouring it whole. Probably it could be able to keep the animal sedated until it would perish and decompose inside the slug’s stomach but most often that would take far too long time, so the slug would expel the animal back up and then go and find something else to eat. The animal would still be asleep and open to attacks by other predators of the jungle, or just wake up after some time and be on its own way The giant slug seems to be immune to most venoms and toxins naturally found in the jungles.


massive leech
The massive leach can be found in some, but thankfully not all of the ponds and streams in the jungle. It seems to keep to places where animals would come to find water, and then the leech strikes to drink blood from it’s victim.

The Massive leech is dark brown with black stripes, it can reach a full foot in length and two inches in diameter. It have a round puckered mouth with sharp teeth that it sinks into its victims skin and then begins to draw blood until it is satisfied, often up to a half pint, more if it is a larger leech. This will normally not be a problem for a normal sized healthy person, but often the leeches attacks in packs once one have gotten hold of a victim.

Jungle deer
A small furred shy and nervous herbivore, reaching about 2-3 feet in height. It is a slender and agile animal with small spiky horns. It’s fur is dark brown with white stripes. The Jungle deer often moves in packs and rather flees than to hold it's ground.
Very tasty if one can catch one.


Tasty Goanna
Tasty goanna is a large, 3-5 feet long, lizard with a brown and green skin. It is fast, much faster than a person and strong. It is an omnivore but only hunts smaller prey, unless they are hunting in a group. Then they can be a real problem for anyone hunting them. They have small retractable small teeth in their mouths, and long sharp claws. They can also use their tail to strike, the tip of the tail seems to be hardened just for this. The tasty goanna have sensitive feet, they pick up any vibrations in the ground around them but they do not seem to be able to hear much. They have good sight in bad light, average sight in darkness and are sensitive to sharp lights. They mainly hunt at dusk and dawn.

The tasty goanna is very tasty when cooked, and even raw it may be a good meal for the hungry traveller or explorer. If one can sneak up on one and catch it.


Great Goanna
The great goanna is a menace to anyone smaller to it. It is much larger than the Tasty Goanna, but share the same body shape but the Great goanna have a grey and brown skin and a distinct rounded ridge from its forehead and down to the tip of its tail. The great Goanna are estimated to be able to reach a staggering 15-20 feet in length, but luckily that is very rare. It is fast, faster than the average person, but it’s size and weight make it a poor climber. So if attacked, a nearby tree to climb up into might be a good thing to have. This is an animal that one better have to avoid, it’s skin is very thick and hard to penetrate with arrows or lighter weapons. It hunts for prey, but seems to prefer already dead animals or steals prey from other predators.

Fuckitiamoutofhere.
It is a big grey and white creature, a land living crab. Or it can perhaps live in the sea too, or both.
It is huge as it body measures up to 3 feet in length and maybe twice that wide. It have long articulated legs and two huge arms with claws. It have a wide mouth with mandibles and bony sharp teeth. It roams the beaches and the nearby jungles in places. It may be either a carnivore or herbivore, or perhaps an omnivore. But I (Kayla) have never stuck around long enough to observe which it is. It is immensely ugly and the shell is just too thick for a stabbing spear or knife to penetrate. It seems to be very strong and it can easily snap branches and smaller trees with it’s powerful claws. Thicker than my arm or leg. I am not going to stay around to learn more about this creature, that I prefer to call just.. FuckitIamoutofhere.

[Sarmani]

I'm on board with this.

Sarmani will have to track down this little explorer.

[Kayla]

Kayla will be in the jungles or on the nearby beach
Just let me know, iI am usually on as Melora, Aimea, Kayla or Ethandri.