Hedge Thorn
From Changeling Venue
Contents |
Physical Description
Hedge Thorn is formed at the ends of branches or leafs, that have been modified into cylindrical, hard structures with sharp ends. Thorns are used by plants to protect themselves from predators. Some plants with spines (a botanical name for thorns) and the animals that feed on them, have co-evolved in response to each other, with some plants having very long thorns and the animals that feed on those species having long tongues to reach past the spines to feed on the leaves.
In much the same way that Arcadia is mutable, the Hedge Thorn has adapted over time to take on many shapes. For example, the thorns of different cactus are leafs that have been completely transformed. In Hellbore the spines are modified stipules. The sharp, long spines of the Hawthorn Tree, the pointed tips of the Murmurleaf, and the prickles of a shrub like the Hedgerose are all thorns.
Thorns and prickles, most notably those on roses, are common literary symbols for the hidden dangers or woes of something beautiful or pleasant, as in "Every rose has its thorn".
Cultivation and Propagation
Hedge Thorn is omnipresent and evergreen within the Hedge. It comprises the majority of the vegetation one can find when traveling through the realm between. Although thorns generally serve as a passive defense mechanism, in some species they can be hollow and contain poisonous substances that cause lasting pain or even paralysis, and in others, may be barbed and detach readily, sticking to whatever brushes against them.
Properties of the Plant
Physical and Medical Properties
Every Changeling in existence knows very well what stepping of the paths in the Hedge can do, because even those who were carried down the wide and open paths to Faerie by their abductors have felt the touch of the Thorns. The thorns of the Hedge, like the thorns of any mundane briar, poke, scratch and tear at those who walk through them or even pass too near. But the Hedge’s Thorns don’t just tear away flesh or clothing. Rather, they tear away the very souls of travelers.
We do not know for certain, of course. How can you prove such a thing? How do you even know for sure that you had a soul to begin with? But we have all felt the same pangs of loss during the journey. When one changeling says, “I think I lost my soul during the journey,” we collectively nod our heads because we all know the feeling.
The Hedge doesn’t seem to take the whole soul at once. No, the Hedge rips the soul off piece by piece, each tiny shred lost in the thickets and usually consumed by ravenous denizen of the Thorns. Anyone with a soul to lose, traveling off the path in the Hedge, feels a sharp, tearing pain occasionally while walking stumbling through the sharp thorns, and over time starts to feel empty, drained and apathetic. The will is broken, and sooner or later one simply lies down and dies or gives in to the comfort of madness.
Mystical Properties
For Changelings, the thorns of the Hedge strip away power. When leaving a path in the Hedge, at the point a Changeling would normally lose a dot of Clarity, the Hedge tears a point of Glamour from the Changeling.
Rumors About Hedge Thorn
~Free to add additional rumors here~
OOC Information
Hedge Thorn is explained in White Wolf's Changeling: The Lost book on page 220. The book compares Hedge Thorn to many plants like roses that possess thorns or spines and the flavored text above I included based on the information we have about the real plant.
