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Ami’Horbus leaf
Pronunciation: “Am-my hoor-buss”
Plural: “Ambi'Horbus Leaves”

Deep in the uncharted wilderness, there exist the fabled Velvetina groves; sanctuaries of such unspoiled beauty and peace, that their presence is often attributed to being mythological. Growing in clustered formations on the outskirts of these sacred realms are ami’horbus leaves; a dark-green and black weed of a rather unassuming appearance. Despite growing only from the enchanted soils of the velvetina’s native sanctions, there is nothing inherently magical about this otherwise unique flora… but the plant’s hidden capability for warfare is nonetheless remarkable.
Throughout the ami’horbus leave’s germination, tiny seed pods collect and amass within a growth sac concealed deeply inside the plant’s central growth. The weed’s stalks are sheathed with rigid, spearheaded formations that protect the plant against hungry herbivores, but are broken off when appropriate force is applied. This “gall” (called the lyjiah, an old Aylandran word for “cradle”) that holds these propagating seeds soon swells, and the seeds within liquefy through some unknown biochemical process and bleed into the soil. Slowly contracting, the gall’s reproductive cycle continues, making the ami’horbus leaf’s presence on Velvetina soil oddly numerous. While these unique and expensive flora are difficult for our people to obtain, they seem to spread in entire orchards that would threaten to overwhelm any ordinary vegetation, were it not for the Velvetina’s influence.

Use and Technique
As such, the deceptively harmless-looking weed’s startling power was thought to have been discovered by accident, or perhaps by random splicing the flora’s leaves to create a makeshift rope. When the leave’s roots are left intact upon the plant, they can be curled around the growth’s lyjiah in a bottlenecked loop. When the strands are pulled against the seeds, the sac’s membrane bursts, propelling the rigid, pointed growths that protect the weed’s stalk. These brutally sharp formations lance through the air at an incredible velocity, spearing through both armour and flesh with horrifying efficiency. Once lodged into tissue, the “spears” are extremely difficult to remove, as the chitin-like material breaks into tiny particles within a creature’s flesh… causing them to dig deeper through an opened wound, much like glass dust. Every movement the unfortunate victim makes is wrought with seething agony, as the organism’s breath causes muscles to contract tighter… drawing the ami’horbus leave’s particles even deeper into the body. It may take years before a suffering creature’s body is finally freed from the stinging pain of every single particle, making the ami’horbus leaf’s damage potential both terrified and respected.

Composition
These rare flora are difficult to obtain, as their acquisition involves daring and treacherous hikes through hostile wilderness into marked territories where the rarely-seen Velvetina groves are known to be. When uprooted, the weed’s roots must be left perfectly intact, and they must be of ample length to wrap around the flora’s stalk and lyjiah completely. As it seems, merely tying a rope around the plant instead is both awkward and dangerous, as the roots seem to provide a more direct range of fire. Anything else used to burst the plant’s seed chamber risks spraying the deadly shards in unpredictable directions, including backwards into the wielder’s own flesh.

Once uprooted and kept, ami’horbus leaves keep with refreshing duration. Agriculturalists have tried in vain to cultivate ami’horbus leaves on their own soils, meeting dismal failure each time. The plant’s growth is attuned to the soils of a velvetina’s grove only, and the weed only propagates directly from the freshly-liquefied seeds that’re leaked into the earth by the climax of the plant’s reproductive cycle. When the plant’s lyjiah erupts, it sprays the fine, choking seed particles into the air (these seeds are harmless, aside from stinging one’s eyes a little, and provoking fits of coughing or sneezing). They drift lifelessly on the breeze, unable to continue the plant’s propagation once settling into the soil… even when settled on the dirt of a Velvetina’s sanctuary. Because the cycle of the plant’s growth is so exacting, the only manner of acquiring these rare and dangerous flora is by directly scrounging them from their native soils… and only by precise care that the weed’s roots aren’t damaged or destroyed when uprooted.