From:	Allen Versfeld moe@*******.com
Subject:	the Revenge of Poison Ivy (Re: Astral Defences)
Date:	Tue, 14 Sep 1999 16:03:51 +0200

Scott W wrote:
>
> All right, al right, here's another...
>
> A plant that's sort of a ground-cover, with a mess of vines, flowers,
> and every so often, maybe a digestive opening of some sort????? (I'm
> stuck on how this sucker'd get its nutrients). Anyway, the ground
> cover's covered with teeny thorns, so that anything that walks on it
> might get pricked by the thorns, inducing an effect similar to
> Paralyzing Touch. When Quickness gets to zero, people just sorta keel
> over, and eventually die. This attracts scavengers, who might get
> caught, etc.
>
> But you say, this won't be a risk at all to those with boots on! No,
> it won't, at least not to their feet. I find critters that are always
> deadly all the time to be a little boring, actually. The scariest
> situations happen when a normally harmless plant, animal, or mineral
> (?) are suddenly deadly because of a change in circumstances, I.E.
> "Those rats weren't a problem until you lost your flashlight," or
> "gosh, now that your legs are broken, those wild dogs are getting a lot
> braver. How many bullets do you have left again?"
>
> Anyway, there it is. If someone can help me with how such a plant
> "gets its energy," as it were, that'd be a big help. Most plants have
> to dissolve their prey, by soaking it in digestive juices. Any ideas?
>
> -Boondocker

How about if it simply relies on the corpses of its prey rotting and
fertilising the soil?

Alternatively, it could send tendrills into the corpse (sort of like an
ivy plant gripping onto a wall)?


--
Allen Versfeld
moe@*******.com