[✗] [World/Flora Lore] Chlorophyte

[Helmet 1454]

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Chlorophyte

 

 

[A cluster of freshly sprouted Chlorophyte. Bing AI.]

 

 

Explanation

 

Raw Chlorophyte is a bright green mass with an almost crystalline luster, occasionally found clinging to dead/dying trees where the walls between the Fae & Material Realms are thinned. Fae Rings are often found within walking distance of these growths, however they may sprout up anywhere where sturdy trees may be cultivated. Chlorophyte growths can form underground, leeching off of an elder tree's roots, or visibly growing upon the tree's bark above ground.

Chlorophyte itself is a symbiotic fae flora capable of integrating itself into various flora, namely vines and fungus, roughly replicating its appearance and binding to the host through the usage of mycelium-like tendrils. Chlorophyte can always be recognized by its unmistakable emerald-green color and crystalline appearance, which notably pulsates with a soft green glow.

Druids who commune with the substance or creatures infested with it will find a basic intelligence, with little to offer beyond a monotone voice hungering for more to eat.

 

 

 Harvesting Methods

 

The Harvesting of Chlorophyte is a simple process. Raw Chlorophyte is as tough as any mundane plant on its own, so it can just be cut off from whatever surface. Face coverings are recommended due to the release of spores.

Chlorophyte can be harvested when growing on dying, ancient or dead trees, being the most likely to remain intact when being peeled off whether they be sourced from the tree’s roots or bark. However, Chlorophyte cannot be effectively farmed due to the infrequency of its arrivals through Fae Rings & general unpredictability when tended to as a crop. Attempts will result in no yield. 

Druids can also use Communion to convince or deceive the Chlorophyte to release itself from whatever surface it clings to, offering no benefit compared to just cutting the substance off the old fashioned way beyond Chlorophyte hardly releasing any spores when it is done this way.

 

Redlines

Spoiler

- Both Harvested & Chlorophyte-Latched items are ST signed.

- Chlorophyte may not be farmed in any manner.

- Fresh, 'raw' Chlorophyte has the same strength & flammability as any other mundane plant, & thus may be harvested easily.

- Chlorophyte 'Ore' being exposed to Azhl will ruin any potential batches of Harvested Chlorophyte from the node.

- Druids severing Chlorophyte from its surface through Communion serves no mechanical benefit, as the druid must be within striking range of the cluster & take an equal amount of time convincing the substance to dislodge itself in comparison to just cutting it.

- Druids cannot convince the Chlorophyte within a Construct or item to disconnect from the Golem's/Automaton's Core/Gearheart without OOC consent, despite how funny it would be.

- Spores being released upon cutting a cluster of Chlorophyte will at worst induce mild coughing for 3 OOC hours on the person under normal circumstances.

- Druids using Communion to harvest Chlorophyte will release a negligible amount of spores while doing so, making masks unneeded.

- Druids may not weaponize raw clusters of Chlorophyte through their magics, being unable to be controlled.

 

 

 

Effects & Applications

[A heater shield, its planks reinforced through processed Chlorophyte. Bing AI.]

 

The Fungus can be applied to any sort of wood without fault, though alternatives will be physically weaker when treated due to the lack of synergy between the Chlorophyte & the host material. Ferrum may be reduced to a strength similar to Aurum, as an example. 

Latched Objects can be identified through the bright emerald moss & floral growths spreading not only over item, but seeping into the very substance of the object- rooted with mycelium colored that crystalline-green hue.

Materials latched by Chlorophyte will rarely if ever chip/crack, always prioritizing bending & deforming rather than splintering off into different pieces. When it is inevitably misshapen from being struck, the Chlorophyte latched object will bend itself back into its original shape gradually. It does this by using the foliage grown over it- though these repairs are weak initially, these mended areas taking on a far more soft, organic texture that is imperfect in shape.

 

Mechanics of Regrowth

 

Latched objects take [3] passive emotes to mend the damage dealt to themselves, the mycelium reforming & finishing the repairs at the end of the user's 3rd emote. This process can be interrupted if the Chlorophyte object strikes something or is struck by something, & these repairs cannot stack with itself on the same item- it will only ever repair [1] strike's worth of harm. Regrowth cannot restore objects that have been damaged beyond functional use in the middle of a fight. These repairs are perfected over the course of [1 OOC day], completely repairing the physical harm done when allowed to rest. leftover debris & scrap from the original item that have broken off, if any, will go completely inert.

[Chlorophyte writhes into place] > [Chlorophyte biomass contorts around damage] > [Finalizing repairs & results]

Fresh repairs made by the symbiotic material that aren't [1 OOC day] old are fragile, breaking in a single blow with a texture more akin to wet clay than their host material's strength. Void-based harm, Azhl, exposure to running Smogger Machines will delay the imperfect repairs setting in on top of interrupting the entire process if it is in the form of an attack. Not only this, but due to its plant-like nature Chlorophyte is vulnerable to fire- able to be caught alight. While burning, Regrowth is disabled until the flames are put out, taking [2] full emotes to do so.

 

Redlines of Effects & Applications

Spoiler

- All materials treated with Chlorophyte will rarely, if ever chip, crack, or break off into pieces- instead warping, deforming or tearing on impact/use.

- Woods of any kind, including woods with exotic/superior properties like Ironwood & Haganeki are able to be treated without being physically weakened- taking in all of Chlorophyte's effects.

- Treated materials that AREN'T WOOD will have their base durability & strength be reduced to mundane aurum, easily bending & deforming when struck/swung.

- Materials that are weaker than stone/iron cannot be used effectively in combat- sharing the same strength to wet clay at all times & easily tearing.

- Any materials naturally stronger than iron (ex, Carbarum) that aren't a form of wood will be reduced to iron durability/strength.

- Regrowth passively activates whenever the Chlorophyte item is damaged, slowly mending the harm dealt. It finishes & applies the effect only at the end of the wielder's 3rd.

- Recently repaired portions on Latched Items/Constructs/Creatures will have the consistency of wet clay, being easily stabbed, bashed or slashed through in [1] hit. This cannot be stacked with itself on the same item/body region, you will never get more than 1 hit's worth of durability per item/body part.

- Shortbow/Hand crossbow rounds may be caught by Chlorophyte Repairs, though Longbows, Crank Crossbows, & Javelins with momentum will almost certainly pierce through them.

- Latched Items will be fully restored after 1 OOC day of unuse.

- Items or body parts that are destroyed or damaged beyond functional use cannot be repaired with Regrowth in the midst of combat, having to wait the full OOC day in order to be fixed.

- Chlorophyte is flammable, the wielder having to take 2 full emotes to extinguish it. This cannot be circumvented with permanent treatments like Athins.

- Being hit by Voidal magics or Azhl will extend the amount of emotes needed for Regrowth to occur by [1] emote, on top of interrupting it if in the form of a proper strike.

- Being in the presence of a running Smogger Machine, Voidstalker or Void Obelisk will extend the emotes for Regrowth to occur by [1], but will not interrupt it.

- The presence of a Voidal Tear, Hollow, being set on fire or Arcanium/Void Enchanted items on the person carrying Chlorophyte will disable Regrowth.

- The biomass on treated items serves as a tell, and may not be weaponized alone. No growing rose-bush-like thorns with Chlorophyte on stuff & similar shenanigans.

- Regrowth cannot be used to 'duplicate' materials when repairing itself. If attempted, the debris goes inert in all useful properties- being no better than musty wet sand.

- Regrowth cannot repair destroyed enchantments/magical imbuements on the item if they are removed or the item itself breaks at some point. They will have to be reapplied. 

 

 

 

Application Methods

- Mundane Methods -

 

Woods of all kinds, including those of mystical properties can be latched by Chlorophyte by simply keeping the two in close quarters with one another in isolation for an extended period of time, most often a narrative month (1 OOC day). This gives the object full usage of the property 'Regrowth', the parasitic greenery bonding with the wood. Nearby components and decorative materials on the wooden object will remain unaffected by Regrowth, lightly tarnishing.

 

- Druidic Methods -

 

Druids have far more freedom, able to change the appearance of the Chlorophyte as it bonds with whatever material they wish. The colors they may select can be any that appear in natural flora- greens, yellows, oranges, reds & even purples. The physical shape of the growths can be altered between generic tendrils, vines, leaves, fungal growths, or a mix of those options. 

Regardless of what is selected, the near-crystalline sheen will always stain both the Chlorophyte & the item that is imbued by it, allowing the substance to be easily identified.

[Connect to Chlorophyte] > [Alter Chlorophyte Appearance] > [Meld with Material] > [Finalizing & Results]

Applying Chlorophyte to anything that isn’t wood is a less-than-ideal bond. The physical strength & properties of the object will be deeply weakened- iron being reduced to a might similar to aurum & thus easily deforming as an example. Because of this and its Fae-oriented properties, Chlorophyte it is unable to be placed upon anything that is already weak & brittle, or outright harmful against it. Examples include aurum, cloth, brittle stones, mundane bones, Azhl, Argentum, and so on.

If it is placed on weak/brittle materials anyways, these objects serve no combative purpose & are purely decorative- folding like wet clay when squeezed & inevitably reforming back into its original shape.

 

Redlines for Mundane/Druidic Methods

Spoiler

- Every unit of Chlorophyte can treat 2 ingots worth of any other material.

- Woods of any kind including woods with superior durability/exotic properties like Ironwood or Haganeki are able to be treated over the course of an OOC day by simply keeping the object & chlorophyte sealed within a container.

- Mundane application of Chlorophyte is common knowledge to all.

- Druidic application of Chlorophyte is common knowledge to Druids/Epiphytes/Tree Lords.

- If applied to a material weaker than stone/misc mundane metals, the resulting object will be as delicate as putty. Don't powergame expensive play-doh.

- Altering the appearance of Chlorophyte via Druidic methods serves no tangible benefit other than aesthetics. It will not hide the crystalline sheen on Chlorophyte Latched items.

- Latching/Treating anything that isn't wood with Chlorophyte requires a Druid to force the bond between the Chlorophyte & the material, taking 4 emotes at minimum. This includes Gearhearts/Golem Cores.

- Items or Materials with Voidal magicks or are counterintuitive to nature/the fae cannot be treated (Arcanium, Void-enchanted items, Azhl, Argentum, etc).

- Floral Flesh cannot be latched by Chlorophyte. This is not so much an impossibility, but rather a balance patch.

 

 

[A stone golem, Chlorophyte clinging onto its form. Bing AI.]

- Latched Constructs -

 

Lastly, the Cores and Gearhearts of Soulless Golems & Automatons are no exception to Chlorophyte bonding when helped by a Druid/Epiphyte/Tree Lord. Once done, cracks, creases & joints will be filled with the bright green 'plant' life, Chlorophyte wrapping itself throughout the construct's body.

Not only does this grant them the boons and banes of Chlorophyte throughout their vessel, but the construct will also become more 'attuned' to nature as well. this attunement only ever goes as far as the construct being able to gleam the emotions within flora/fauna in view and on contact. Constructs may remain indifferent to this information, & still cannot effectively respond to nature using it.  

 

Redlines for Latched Constructs

Spoiler

- Latching a construct requires a Druid/Epiphyte/Tree Lord & OOC consent from the person playing the construct.

- 2 ingots of Chlorophyte need to be used directly on the Automaton's Gearheart/Golem's Core in order for the construct to be considered latched.

- Golem/Automaton parts affected by Chlorophyte break [1] hit faster than they normally would, to a minimum of 1 strike per part.

- Golems/Automatons affected by Chlorophyte may use "Regrowth", each limb & significant body part acting as its own Chlorophyte item separate from one another.

- Even if an Automaton is made with iron-strength wood instead of iron, it will still be weakened & take the reduction to durability. There is no circumventing this.

- Latched Automatons will not be able to circumvent the consequences of minor overclocking through Chlorophyte in the middle of a fight. Theoretically possible, buuuut this exists as a balance patch.

- Major overclocking on a Latched Automaton will outright break the limb by the time it’s finished, and thus the Automaton will have to wait the full OOC day.

- Arcane sigils on golems & other forms of enchantments cannot be repaired by Chlorophyte at all using Regrowth. This includes a Golem's Core.

- The attunement to nature is shallow, and cannot be used to properly commune with it. No information is handed to the Latched Construct other than the living creature's emotion.

- Golems with Souls & Machine Spirits cannot treat their Cores or Gearhearts with Chlorophyte. Segments of their bodies can still be coated, though this requires an ST signed item made specifically for that region.

 

 

 

OOC Purpose

 

Spoiler

Chlorophyte Itself - We're missing the color green/emeralds in the ST metals list, so here we are. Making it nature/fae oriented only seemed right. And yeah, it’s named after the terarria metal. I’m not changing it. There are also too many metals with the express purpose of being put on swords only, so I thought that this would be a good excuse to try balance that scale with something that isn't inherently offensive.

Regrowth & Weakening - Rapid regeneration is something hard to get down correctly, but is a pretty unique niche that I haven’t seen another material or lore piece touch outside of rituals or things that are strictly outside of combat. As for how it reacts to materials, letting woods get buffed by the ‘ore’ without taking any drawbacks unlike other materials encourages a more nature-oriented/hermit-esque theme. This in particular was recommended by 248pengin, absolute genius. It also nerfs any would-be ST metal combinations like rokodra.

Combative Usefulness - In combat, Chlorophyte items could serve as an indirect counter to weapons & magics that have a very limited amount of uses. Prime example; high density Boomsteel, but also others like Salium weapons or Morion whenever ST remember Morion exists. A shield that regenerates from damage would be pretty good against a weapon that can only be swung 4 or so times. Aside from that, it’d be only decent or a mild mix up against people with mundane iron and gold weapons/armors, which is good. Even if someone is in an entire suit of armor with a shield, any plates that are repaired in combat can be stabbed through or slashed off, or just set the dude on fire & watch the insides cook to medium rare.

Application Methods - Limiting its ability to be applied to all materials, objects & constructs via druidism only felt logical to act as a hurdle for anyone wanting to use it. It would mean knowing, interacting with or having ties to nature-oriented characters on LOTC, & other materials have similar barriers to access them. Naz has Rokodra, Azdrazi has Dracanium, & necromancers have Morion. Such restrictions seem fair enough for this material, especially when by default the most useful combination (Chlorophyte latched onto wood) is able to be made by all. Mundanes/non-druids may have the bare necessities, but Druids & related CAs have the privilege of aesthetics, freedom to put it on whatever they want & faster application times.

Latched Constructs - Wild Robot is cool. Big metal/stone hippies also sound fun as a concept. I myself probably won't see them since I'm too busy trying to introduce global warming as a concept irply with smogger machine spam buuut there's bound to be people that are interested. I’ve seen far, far too many golems covered in greenery not to give them a lil treat. From a mechanical/CRP perspective, it makes golems & automatons tanky in a way that I think is more enjoyable overall. An automaton can lose an entire limb in two hits if they are not careful now, but if they strategize well enough they can take a lot more than just three.

All and all, this has been an interesting write. I'm always taking feedback, so feel free to leave some for me either via discord or forums.

 

Credits

Spoiler

248pengin, Helel, Mega_Husky, Jihnyny - All four gave feedback. Very thorough back and forth conversations about the lore, themes, & purposes- the things I struggled with the most on this post, while also overlooking & talking to me about how the mechanics of the material sound. 10/10, would be indoctrinated on druid lore again by Pengin.

 

Edited April 10, 2025 by SlitheryC1
Specified what soul-having golems/automatons gotta do to have Chlorophyte on their persons, & also that it can't repair enchants/runes on items/golems..

[Wulfric 472]

i feel as if ive heard that name from somewhere

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Plantera is closing in on your location buddy.

[Helmet 1454]

5 minutes ago, Wulfric said:

 

 

1 hour ago, SlitheryC1 said:

Chlorophyte Itself - ...And yeah, it’s named after the terarria metal. I’m not changing it.

 

Thank you for noticing <3

 

[KidKrinkles 2044]

7 hours ago, SlitheryC1 said:

 

 

Thank you for noticing <3

 

Haters will say this is the Terreria metal.
Slith:

 

[Turbo_Dog 3569]

Slith can I make homing bullets with this? Real talk 

[Althea_ 381]

I like this. Gives some love to the hippies druii, fae, and other nature folk, granting others another reason to seek them out IRP, and adds flavor and more potential RP to constructs. +1

[salamanderfantasy 1340]

i am SORRY i said id proofread and then forgort entirely. i love the Green. Im going to each a chunk of it regardless of any negative side effects.

[Islamadon 9158]

This lore has been denied.

Generally, Management Felt as if this kind of detracted from the uniqueness that was Qalashi Steel [Flexibend] and also stepped a bit into Dracanium's repair mechanic. While we aren't opposed to druidic-esque metal, we simply do not think this submission would pass at this point in time with its given effects.