General Information
Name: Moonlace
Class: Botanical
Type: Warding Bloom
Colour: Petals ivory-white by day; soft cerulean-blue luminescence by moonlight
Smell: Subtle night-bloom musk, faintly sweet with a trace of damp earth
Description: Moonlace is a rare, bulbous flowering plant found natively along the shores of Lake Nagithel. It produces three to five long petals and slender, arching stamens and stands out due to its bioluminescent nature. Under daylight, Moonlace appears delicate and pale; once night falls, its petals glow with an ethereal blue radiance, the intensity waxing and waning with the lunar phase. Harvested at the full moon, cut blossoms retain their blue glow indefinitely—an effect directly tied to their mystical property of warding the undead. In daylight or new‐moon darkness, their warding power lies dormant.
Properties: Undead Warding: This effect repels and weakens undead creatures within a small radius. The strength of the influence is enhanced by the moon's fullness; blooms harvested during a full moon maintain their maximum potency night after night. Bioluminescence: The blue glow is a subset of the warding effect; luminous pigments can be extracted into inks or dyes that shimmer faintly under starlight, used in this illustration. Wild stands of Moonlace are most potent but exist only near Lake Nagithel. Fortunately, they can be easily cultivated. Humanity maintains seasonal Moonlace beds around Nyxrath Grave, tended by lineages of ritual keepers living nearby.
Harvesting & Processing
Harvesting: Full-Moon Blooms: Best cut just after the moon reaches its peak; use a thin Veldstone dagger to sever the stalk above the bulb. Handle by the base of the petals to avoid crushing luminescent cells. Bulbous Rootstock: Left intact unless expanding a cultivation bed.
Processing: Immediate Use: Full-moon harvested blossoms can be used for protection wards in several ways. They may be dried, ground, and burned in a specialized Rimeleek container as warding incense. Additionally, they can be utilized in alchemy to achieve optimal effects for warding against and slaying the undead. Pigment Extraction: To create luminescent ink, crush a few petals into a fine paste, then strain it through a Flaxroot cloth. Dilute the resulting mixture with Blackoil.
Storage: Store fresh full-moon–harvested blossoms in shallow, dark wooden bowls or hang them upside-down in a cool, sheltered alcove. Extracted pigment should be kept in Veilglass or dry Drak-Grease-sealed Rimeleek pots and never exposed to direct sun.