> So what's the Sartarite national flower?
Because it is the Sartarite 'national' flower, I think it doesn't
have to be the perfect storm folk flower (else all the Heortlings,
maybe even all Orlanthi, would hold it in equal regard, and it
wouldn't be so special to the Sartarites. Besides the Sartarites are
the folk of storm and earth, and other things). Rather, it should be
key either to the local history, starting with the Quivini resettling
the area after the dragon kill, or else associated with
Sartar or his immediate heirs (i.e. in the making of Sartar, or the
preserving of it after Sartar's passing).
I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to flowers (they all fall into the
category of "things that make me sneeze and get itchy, watering
eyes), so I have no suggestions for real world flowers to use. But
thinking symbollically, I'd go for something that blooms (or spreads
its seeds) around 88 day, and which perhaps has one of the following
histories:
- provided the quivinni with some important item when they were first
re-settling. Maybe it grew on land of some important kind (like the
Pennsylvania Dutch moving into Southern Ontario put there farms
wherever a certain type of tree (black something nut, I think?) grew,
as they knew it marked good land). In this case perhaps it naturally
grows around sacred sites, or where good spots for wells are?
Alternatively, the plant provides something important...its stalks
were gathered to feed the herds throught that first brutal winter
before the fields were well established, or it was boiled into a tea
that helped fight off some nutitional defect. Or else it helps repel
or warn of some particular pest or danger, so the early steads
planted it all around before they had proper fences and
fortifications.
- It features somehow in Sartar's deeds, perhaps in the marriage to
the Feathered Horse Queen. Or perhaps she gave the flowers to him,
and he passed them on to all the clans? It could have been in a
necklace of flowers given from one to the other, as a symbol of one
of the promises that they made.
- It was known in mythology, but hadn't been seen growing since the
Darkness, and Sartar re-stored it. Its flower or seed is used in
beer or food as a flavoring, giving a Sartarite national flavor.
Another thought is that it might grow mostly just in the Quivin
Mountains (although maybe also in patches on Kero Finn).
Good luck!
--Bryan