Astragalus
astracantha,
commonly known as star-thorn, is low, stoloniferous shrub of the
legume family Fabaceae. Its runners stretch for kilometers beneath
the surface of the sand, concealing thorns as long as a Human
forearm. It is pollinated by migration of the large, shaggy boötha,
and there is also evidence to suggest it has a symbiotic relationship
with the massive swarms of carnivorous sandfleas that plague its
habitat.
Utilization
of A. astracantha
was key to the development of the Meek civilization, as the plant
provides a number of useful materials and substances. Its thorns are
hard and strong enough to be used for tool and weapon construction,
and the plant exudes a sap which hardens into gum astracanth, which
has a myriad of culinary, material, medical, and spiritual uses.
It
has also awakened the latent psionic tendencies of humans and
revolutionized space travel.
Before
the psionic properties of A.
astracantha were
discovered, interstellar drives were crude affairs that relied on
primitive ‘bending’ the space-time continuum. Star-thorn allows a
cosmogator to pierce the very fabric of reality.
Unfortunately, it only grows in one place in the entire universe: Arið, the desertified planet better known as Sere. It was once covered in deep oceans, but large-scale desertification turned the world into a desolate wasteland. Yet as inhospitable as the planet is, it is also the center of a vast interstellar conflict where a multitude of alien species vie for control of the planet’s primary commodity.
