(2022-09-27) Flowers for Paluuva

Details

Author:	Mishell
Summary:	Paluuva receives a very peculiar delivery.
Rating:	T for Teen

Chain: Exes and Woes

A delivery person shows up at Paluuva's door with a bouquet of peacebloom. Paluuva's recent studies of Azeroth's culture might have taught her that this is often symbolic of apology or a "peace offering." However, this particular bundle is covered in netting and bound with wire, looking more like a prisoner of war than a gift.

A tag hangs from it that may perhaps elucidate? No. It reads, perhaps puzzlingly, TIRISFAL. Just as Paluuva may be ready to ask some very pointed questions, the messenger reaches into her bag and one by one produces seven more bundles like it, each with a geographical tag, as well as the following nineteen-page letter:

Paluuva,

While waiting for your response, I have run a comparative study of eight different varieties of peacebloom to see if any demonstrated superiority over the others in the production of inks for arcane inscription. I controlled for the possibilities of a) potency lost during shipping time and b) unknown contamination by foreign substances/energies by conducting my experiments only on samples personally harvested same-day.

My findings are as follows:

All eight varieties produced approximately equal ratios of viable pigment if I allow leeway for the unfortunate incident that resulted in contamination of a large portion of the Durotar harvest. Once the bloodied material was discarded, the remaining harvest was of an insufficient sample size for a proper experiment. I ran a smaller-scale version of the Durotar experiment on the untainted samples and should note that the ratios held up approximately the same as the other samples', within a reasonable margin of error.

Another note: the Teldrassil experiment had to be run in smaller batches rather than all at once, as this variety has an astonishingly rapid decomposition process once harvested. I abandoned my attempt to question the local druids on this peculiarity, as my projections suggested that the interaction was rapidly leading toward sample contamination.

My most compelling finding was that ink milled from the Eversong variety resulted in scrolls which, on average, were nearly 0.8 percent more potent than the other seven varieties. Given the large sample size used, I believe this to be significant. My hypothesis is that the nature of the ley lines running through the area and the unrestrained spellcasting by the local inhabitants over several millennia has subtly infused the soil itself with ongoing arcane resonance, which the local vegetation absorbs in small but measurable amounts in a similar manner to photosynthesis.

Enclosed are samples of all eight varieties if you should wish to run any tests on them yourself. There will likely be little left of the Teldrassil sample by the time the messenger arrives, but I included it for the sake of completeness.

Below you can see the whole of my findings. All quantities have been rounded to the fifth decimal place. I have triple-checked my calculations, but if you spot any errors feel free to amend them.

The next seventeen pages are raw data with no further commentary.