((The events of this thread transpire alongside, Seeking Answers and a continuation of Mysteries of the Second Isle! If you wish to participate, join the Explorer's League!)) While the others worked diligently, back home Dianne Black began conducting a series of trials on the moss acquired overseas from the second Island provided to her by Eric whom originally acquired the sample. Given Dianne’s experience and knowledge with herbs she would notice a few key determining factors about the moss; it was very alien by comparison to other known flora and seems more akin to an arboreal strangler plant native to Daen, though rather than strangling and ending prey itself it seemed to require a symbiosis from the native leeches that inhabited the moss. Dianne never the less began conducting various tests and studies on the moss to determine some of its properties, first and foremost from past incidents she came to the conclusion that the moss is in fact not even moss at all, it is instead a strange aquatic plant that changes shape and form depending on the environment. In water it gradually takes on a long seaweed-like shape and relies more on its colorful bio-luminescence to lure in would-be prey, which it subdues using the spores while the leeches feed. To test the process, Dianne placed a common aquarium fish in a tank housing the moss to watch it all unfold while taking notes. The fish seemed drawn to the light like a moth to a flame, entranced by it almost, as the fish grew near the seaweed-like moss released a cloud of spores into the water that seemed to pacify the fish and keep it from fleeing-- while the leeches sprung out to feed. The small fish was short lived but curious yet, the moss reached out with a tendril to jab it into the dead fish to feed-- much like the Stranglers of Daen. The ‘moss’ now seaweed seemed like a complex aquatic from of the Strangler plant that adapted to utilizing symbiosis and chemicals when hunting rather than luring in prey by using scents. With that, Dianne concluded that it could be maintained and cultivated in a similar manner to its cousin. For the most part, the moss didn’t seem to react much differently when left alone, but cultivating and keeping it was much like how one would keep a pet snake albeit with more complicated steps. Firstly, it seemed it could survive in virtually any climate, on land or in sea, or potentially in rivers. Furthermore, Dianne also concluded that part of the reason being for the habits and behavior the moss exhibited were because it was a deep sea dweller where no sunlight ever shined, so it had to rely on other methods of getting the nutrients it needed in order to survive, but how it came to adapting to surviving on land was entirely unknown, both the moss and its leech inhabitants both had these peculiar traits. The moss also seemed to take up the niche of a predator in whatever ecosystem it dwelled. After hours of research, notes and documenting the strange plant Dianne concluded it could indeed survive quite well in captivity, it filled the role of a predator in an ecosystem and functioned similarly to its similar cousin the Strangler but found a roadblock that prevented further research, they only had one sample. It was simple to maintain the one they already had in the secure containment they kept it in, but they needed a different sample to produce more. They could acquire it one of two ways, return to the Island to dare to collect more for the shores or take a more daring approach to try and locate just where the moss originates from out at sea off the Island’s shore. Both options seemed equally risky but necessary to proceed. It also seemed that by comparison to other specimens, this sample was rather small by comparison and it grew longer and stretched upward when exposed to water. There was no telling how large specimens of the ‘moss’ could grow when underneath the waves in their natural habitat. It could serve as a hunter to things much larger than your common goldfish..
