#im also sorry for any grammatical errors ghgnghn

[rosenfey]

what kind of flora and fauna exists in edean? anything you've created from scratch or taken from mythology?

Thank you so much for asking! I’m always so happy when people ask me about Night Lands and I love answering questions about the world of Edean! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fit any flora + fauna related content into my worldbuilding entries this year, but I will try to cover the basics shortly here! Just a warning that it still is quite long, so it’s under the cut (I’m sincerely sorry to any mobile users).

For the FLORA — there are of course a lot of plants and trees that are common in modern world just as well (with the lavenders of Lavenor, or common herbs and trees everywhere in the world, as well as many flowers), with some made-up and fantasy ones thrown in the mix. A lot of them glow in the dark, some of them emit sounds (close to singing) during certain phases of the moon, some are very poisonous and dangerous and many are used in arcane acts or medicine, and have an important role in some cultural rituals, such as sending off glowing petals of a certain plant in the air in some burial rituals.As the vast majority of plant life in Edean is either inspired by our own or is straight up the same (or not so unusual in that way), I will briefly mention some of the less common ones. There are  some plants that are exotic even for the majority of Edean’s inhabitants and grow only in certain places. Tearna’s jungles boast a vast variety of strange and magical plants, for example. There’s also the frozen forest near the city of Glacirios far in Eskadria, where all the plants are rumored to be made of a living crystal, resembling shards of ice (crystal-like plants are not exclusive to Eskadria though, especially the glass-resembling orchids or other stone-like forests in the world, though the one in Glacirios is especially known for its flora that resembles carved ice a lot - rumor has it it was made by the Gods to entertain themselves at the dawn of the Begining). Another example of unusual flora is the ash-covered land of Ashenland (…don’t say anything). With the country ravaged by magic, the land adapted and a lot of flora (and fauna) had to learn to survive in the harsh conditions. Ashen forests are common, with tall, barren trees gaping like picked teeth at the sky. Serenia is yet another country that was touched by magic extensively, though in a different way. Serving as some sort of a playground for an order of powerful mages, common laws of nature don’t seem to matter there as much. With floating rocks and pink grass, a lot of strange and fascinating plant life can be found there. Not to mention the giant mushrooms that grow as tall as trees, which is a feature Serenia is most famous for. A lot of plant life is sensitive to magic, especially herbs. They are vastly important resource both in magic, alchemy and medicine. They have healing purposes, are a part of many healing poultices or potions. With their strong connection to magic (and depending on the part of the moon cycle they are harvested) they have different effects on the user. They take part in a large variety of rituals, both cultural and magical and in the form of drugs can provide visions for those seeking them. All children know a short rhyme or a song that teaches them about the very basic healing herbs and the poisonous ones they should avoid. Herbs and flowers are also used in hygiene - apart from perfumes they can be used in soaps and put in between bundles of clothing so the fabric absorbs the smell. Herbs, as well as a lot of flowers can be also worn, either in hair or as a part of clothing or amongvaluables, as they have protective purposes - especially when strengthened with magic, as a lot of plants can hold magic inside them quite well (which also explains why Evelin, one of the leading characters, wears flower crowns all the time, as her brother often enchants the flowers with protective spells).

As for the FAUNA — I will not focus on the animals here as most of them are fairly similar to our own, with some exceptions and magical variants. Cats in particular seem to be attracted to magic and are capable of seeing other worlds. Ravens are one of the most mysterious animals as well. Highly intelligent and prone to speak (though unwilling to most of the time, as they deem people to be quite ignorant), they know much more than they let on.Instead, I will mention the supernatural creatures - monsters, in some cases, and the focus of the Brotherhood, the demon-hunting company of the protagonists of the story. The world of Edean is inspired by slavic mythology so a lot of creatures from the myths can be also found in the world, if a bit altered in some cases. The first story in the Night Lands series follows the fate of a kikimora, a female spirit worshipped by inhabitants of a secluded village in the middle of the woods, who visits them at night and drinks their blood. The second one is about a noonwraith haunting the fields near Lothardell and the characters have to venture far into her memories - and their own - to understand the pain she’s been through. There are other creatures from (not only) slavic folklore such as leshys (leshies?? how do you spell them?) - spirits of the forest, rusalkas, hags from the moors (that steal children and eat dead from the graves and all that fun), will-o-the-wisps, underground dwarves that guard mining shafts, banshees, slavic versions of harpies and sirens, and of course vampires and werewolves and many, many others. There are also some quite common fantasy creatures like trolls, mermaids, wyverns, chimeras and basilisks, etc. Ghosts and other wraiths are fairly common as well. Some of the other creatures are made-up creations of yours truly, though I did take a lot of inspiration from all different mythologies (but I admit slavic folklore is my favorite because, well, it’s where I come from). Alright, so dragons. As I mentioned in the world building entries, dragons were a thing, back in the era of the Ancients. Capable of speech and being extremely powerful and intelligent, they coexisted with the Ancients and even let them ride on them (which is hardly believable because there really isn’t a creature more proud, vain and self-assured than a dragon). They all went extinct. Or so the story goes (*eye emoji*)I’ve already talked about them, but it’s hard to not mention demons at all, though they are far from mere creatures - more like god-like omnipotent and immortal beings with a culture and history of their own. They seem fascinated by the mortal plane and seek their way to it. Not all of them are malevolent but those that are are extremely dangerous and impossible to kill, casting them out back to their world being the only option to get rid of them - a process that involves a fair amount of subterfuge and bravery. Something that should be left for the demon hunters, though they too seem to have a lot of different, personal demons haunting them.