I am currently working on a character that is essentially a naga, with a few stuff added in.
The problem lies with their general life cycle. I've made their species somewhat co-dependent to a type of plant found in their local ecosystem that greatly impacts their overall lifestyle.
I had several ideas as to what the plant might offer, but i havent gotten deeper into the details yet
Option 1: it allows them to enter the final stage of their life, basically adulthood, and this implies an entire ritual which they must not miss else they will remain in their current young form forever, like a curse.
Option 2: it gives them a lot of benefits in the long run, but they also carry the risk of becoming afflicted with a sickness caused by said plant upon reaching a certain age or most likely when gravely injured - the sickness itself manifests as plant matter growing from their skin like a type of parasite.
The general idea i was going for the character itself is that because they themselves were unable to participate in the ritual/consume said plant due to having been kidnapped, they can never go back to their old home, where even if they survived, they would probably be shunned or hunted by a certain type of people, either because of their attractive looks or in some cases just for their meat/pretty scales.
The first option still stood due to a preference of having the older adults look different than the younger specimens, in a way that perhaps is not as attractive, but its a process that cannot happen naturally to this character due to their predicament.
So the general questions i had for this, which option sounded best? or if there was a better alternative that would work more fluidly and make more sense/makes them interesting? how to make it make sense in an ecosystem? And what would the general benefits of this plant be, that gives them such a drastic edge over other species, hence why they need it?
I'm thinking option two.
About the plant, how exactly is it used? Is it consumed? Turned into a potion or something?
I was thinking maybe the plant was consumed and it acted like some kind of combination between a berserker mushroom and cordyceps?
Like, hear me out:
- The ritual does something with the individual and the plant. I don't know enough specifics, so I'm just going to go with eating the plant, but that's not a be-all, end-all. Feel free to tweak this to fit your universe better.
- Once the individual has eaten the plant, it gives the benefits. The cost is that if the individual becomes weak, injured, sick, old, or whatever, the plant starts to act like cordyceps. Essentially, it turns the individual into a zombie who's main goals are to make more plant.
Hell, you could even combine both ideas and have the adults take different forms once they've taken the ritual.
Axolotls in real life can't reach their fully-matured adult form unless they're exposed to iodine. Maybe something similar happens to your species and the plant? Idk, just some ideas. This whole concept is turbo interesting, and I'd love to know what you finally decide on. :D
I'm thinking option two.
About the plant, how exactly is it used? Is it consumed? Turned into a potion or something?
Well, the way i imagined it, they just eat it like any other food source. It kinda was supposed to be like a gradual immunity build up to it, in order to explain why the character couldn't just start consuming the thing starting now.
As a baby, they would still have had it's traces in their system from their parents, but prolonged time without any exposure most likely eventually flushed it out, which now would present a problem if they were to try and consume it as an adult. It would probably make them sick or have no effect.
I really like the angle of the plant being like a cordyceps, especially for it's sinister potential! It probably won't look like mushrooms, but i love it!
It also gave me an idea as to why the younger or untouched specimens are preferred over just any other version. The roots of the plant would probably infiltrate all over in adults, which would make eating them a very bad idea-
So that's one good thing given by the plant! :D just gotta find the rest now
Axolotls in real life can't reach their fully-matured adult form unless they're exposed to iodine. Maybe something similar happens to your species and the plant? Idk, just some ideas. This whole concept is turbo interesting, and I'd love to know what you finally decide on. :D
For the axolotl idea alone, i will kiss you on both cheeks, i love you XD thank you so much!
I probably will come back eventually and post the character when i finish editing them (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
