Triffid

(TRIFF-idd - /ˈtrɪf.ɪd/)

”Timeless beauty, where many would pilgrim to see us. A marker of graves and adoration immemorial. Understanding some of our long-lived lives and fleeting existences are for our infinite mark on this Earth’s elegance…”

— The final words of the oldest ever Triffid, Two Rainbows Behind Factory Smog.

Triffids are the plants that humans once cultivated and had grown. From all sorts of shapes, sizes, and species, Triffids are the products of gardens, farms, and displays gone back to their wild roots.

Triffids seek to grow, the natural urge of all plants, in whatever way they suit themselves anywhere they can find. Oftentimes that is physically, gaining height or weight to become sturdier and longstanding. Sometimes it is selfish, to give themselves the greatest chance of survival, by expanding roots far and wide to absorb resources, seeing its worth in wealth. On occasion it is to spread pollen or seeds, bearing fruit that is taken far away to grow new plants or Triffids from sprout. Sapience changed these base desires though, with ideologies of beauty or power driving their various other motivations. Triffids can be seen as vain or self-conceited, but really their aesthetics have been highly valued for a long time and continue to be, alongside their urge to grow.

Very small communities of Triffids may live alongside their non-sapient brethren, in forests, swamps, and all sorts of environments — even man-made. Dependent on personal ideals, many Triffids rarely stay in a single spot in their lives, moving every so often to grow more elsewhere, when resources are sapped away. The availability of water, sun, and oxygen drives this desire to move, as well as pollination or reproduction in new places, sharing their aesthetic merits elsewhere. A Triffid, whilst they would like as long a life as possible, will often find their life fulfilled in security of their looks, ensuring new young sprouts, or aiding others with their fruit or nectar.

Sapience has given Triffids all sorts of new abilities, mostly the power of speech through altered vibrational skills and faster movement. Enhancement of their natural abilities, like a limited local worldsense, make them excellent travellers and interesting companions. Yet, there is constant divide on whether some wish to carry on their mostly individual, nomadic lifestyle, or to finally join larger communities in Groves.

Many Triffids are aloof towards humans and humanity. While some individuals and environments have collapsed due to lack of human intervention since their extinction, others thrive in their absence. Remarkably, the individualism that humans once cherished has made its way into the aesthetic expression of Triffids, prizing a unique appearance or style over more basic or functional needs sometimes.

Both being parts of the natural world that humans once sought for their own gives Triffids and Smarties a strong relationship founded on mutuality. With them both relying on one another historically and even in modern times, they are generally amicable and live beside each other, though often in separated communities.

Fungi and plants have always had a close relationship, outlasting extinctions and catastrophes, reflecting further in the modern day with many communities containing both in harmony. However, some Triffids are less amenable to their spore-laden cousins, recounting their parasitic nature; yet their limited ability in understanding Myconidae through their own Network helps greatly in reaching symbiosis.

Many Triffids do not forget the scars left behind by the machines on the land, often unable to inhabit the areas near their factories nor consume the waste they produce. Yet, there can be sympathies held between both kingdoms, mainly in how some Emulated feel sorrow for how Triffids have been treated by machinery.

Triffids range from small flowers all the way to large trees. Some look more human, with eye-like shapes or adorning nature like it is clothing, or others like untamed wilds. Most utilise roots like legs and vines, leaves, or branches like arms, although the type of plant differs heavily. Triffids are often not just one plant, but can be many utilised in one form, or several different types bound together under one consciousness.

When creating a Triffid, make sure to tell the GM team what plant(s) they are based on and how they may appear.

• A daylily bouquet who had survived a wildfire, escaping to find a new, populated home.
• A corpse flower shunned from its grove for its parasitism looking for others more accepting or like themself.
• A confident mass of lithops who wants to spread their plant species far and wide.
• An arrogant cherry blossom tree hoping to stand out in the crowd and be adored by many.

Many Triffids name themselves after the location where they are first asked for their name, or when they may reach a certain new place that feels monumental at a certain point in their life. Nicknames are typically chosen from one of the many words within a name for ease of communication.

Example names: Dewy Sunset into Fields (Sunset), Over the Northern Hill and Beside the Last Tree (Hill), Smoking Fires Between Sandy Shores (Sandy), River Swallowing a Settlement Untouched (River).