In my treks through the woods and wilds of Egjora’s main island, I have seen and tasted much, and though I have suffered much indigestion in these, I feel quite compelled to divulge further on one of the more curious botanical oddities of the island that I have come across. Quite whimsically, I am sure, I have called it the Glen of Eternal Blooms.
Wooded by the same Quercus Albus that populates the rest of the island, the Glen is roughly sixty meters in diameter roughly circular and located on the southernmost part of the island, approximately three miles off the coast.
The expanse of the glen is inlaid and bordered with a network of smooth stones, possibly man-made, that creates a complex channel system throughout the clearing, though overgrown with grass and soft moss from years of neglect. These channels allow water to pass from the spring that bubbles up from the center of the glen, into seven shallow pools. This water has a rather unique property and it becomes apparent in the plants that grow in the pools. These large flowering bushes are similar to that of lilac plants in their size and growth patterns, but the flowers themselves are an odd cross between your common rose and tiger lilies. While these flowers are still thriving on their mother plant, they appear pale, almost transparent, very similar to glass, and just as firm and cool to the touch. When harvested, however, these flowers become as soft and silky as any flower, and within minutes of being separated from their stalk become flushed with color in shades that vary from the palest of pinks to the most vibrant and even violent shades of yellow and orange. To this day, I have yet to find a bloom that yields shades in purple and blues.
Remarkably, I can find no trace of magic, and from what I have been able to determine through the study of this place, and through careful examination of specimens collected from each plant, the unique properties found can be attributed to the water supplied by the spring. While it is not fit for humanoid nor animal consumption ( I was most unfortunate to discover this by trial and error, and was made horribly sick by just a sip of the foul, almost gritty liquid) I have come to conclude that the composition of the minerals in this naturally occurring spring is what gives these plants their odd appearance.
When deprived of this water, the blooms will actually not wilt as one might expect. Of the specimens I took several seasons ago, not one of the seven blooms shows any indication of fading or becoming brittle. This longevity in the blooms is what inspired me to give the glen the name I detailed earlier: The Glen of Eternal Bloom. More studies must be done on this area. What kind of effect will this spring have on other plants and fungi? Will edibles become inedible or more beneficial to one’s health? These are things yet to be discovered.