Illustration of trumpet shaped flowers with yellowish bases that shade into a peachy pink.
Safety Rating: Harmless.
Environment: Mountains.
Details: Also known as the Glue Flower, this alpine vine has variegated pink and orange trumpet-shaped flowers that have magical properties. To each person they smell just like the best thing that person has ever smelled and that smell brings with it a magical compulsion to stick their nose in the flower to enjoy the smell. Anyone who does so soon finds that the flower’s bright yellow pollen has glued itself to their nose and forehead.
Memory Flower’s usual pollinator is the Brown Slime Mouse, which is a small slime creature the size and shape of a mouse. Its slime is a translucent light brown, which helps it camouflage, and it has a long, stretchy nose that it uses to drink nectar from flowers. The Memory Flower’s pollen is coated in a strong glue to help it stick to the Brown Slime Mouse’s head.
The magically attractive scent of the Memory Flower also entices a wide range of other creatures to pollinate it. Many sapient species prize the Memory Flower and its memory invoking scent. As a result, Memory Flower is one of the most frequently cultivated magical flowers.
Lore: This flower has many uses. The pollen is used to make a powerful glue, while an extract made from the stigmas can be used to dissolve even the most powerful glues, and the flower petals are used in both perfume making and in Mind Magic treatments for memory loss.
Magical Compulsion: When a character gets close enough to smell a Memory Flower they roll their mental defense.
- 0 Successes: “What is the best thing your character has ever smelled?” This flower smells exactly like that and it vividly brings up a happy memory. The character is compelled to stick their nose in the flower and their nose and forehead get covered in bright yellow pollen that doesn’t come off.
- 1 Success: The Memory Flower smells amazing and it reminds them of a happy memory. It is appealing, but they are not compelled to sniff it. If they choose to sniff it they will also be covered in pollen.
- 2 Successes: The Memory Flower smells nice, but the character knows that the flower has some sort of mind-affecting magic and is not in any way enticed to approach the flower.
- 3 Successes: In successfully deflecting the Mind Magic of the Memory Flower, the character gains insight into what the magic does. The magic entices people to get close enough to the flower and smell it. It does not do anything else. The most likely explanation is that this has something to do with the process of pollination.
Inspiration: The appearance of the Memory Flower is loosely inspired by Four O’Clocks.
Memory Flower is part of the Crossroads Setting for the tabletop role-playing game, Magic Goes Awry. Click here to go to the list of wild and whimsical magical plants from the Land of Crossroads.
