Penumbra myoclastis : The Twilight Thorn
🔬 Scientific Name: Penumbra myoclastis
🌘 Common Name: “The Twilight Thorn” or “Tearvine”
🌱 Classification:
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Order: Asterales
• Family: Myoclastraceae
• Genus: Penumbra
• Species: myoclastis
🧬 Morphology:
• Core Stalk: A thin, ribboned vascular stem patterned with alternating light-dark osteolines, resembling decayed muscle filaments calcified into place.
• Petals: Inverted, waxen bone-blades — broad at base, narrow at tip, stained with old glyph echoes. Each petal appears to have once been soft tissue now turned symbolic ivory.
• Flower Head: Broad and downward-facing, suspended like sorrow. Central disk is a fused tangle of microjoint bones — phalangeal knots and ossicle clusters.
• Tendrils: Narrow, sensory feelers that extend laterally and drag lightly over nearby surfaces — often described as “searching” or “accusatory.”
🦴 Osteofusion:
• Bonds to former muscle origins — particularly deltoid, pectoral, and upper back fascia.
• Replaces muscle spindles with rigid vascular ossithreads, locking posture into static regret.
• Grows outward from beneath the scapula, arching over the shoulder like a downward banner.
🧠 Traits:
• Emotional Echo Trigger: Bloom cycle initiates only after long-suppressed guilt is re-experienced consciously.
• Posture Lock: After full bloom, host cannot fully lift their arms again.
• Wither Bloom Response: Petals drop rapidly in the presence of forgiveness, leaving behind only brittle bloom scars on fused bone.
📍 Habitat:
• Found in seated skeletons in ruin churches, ossified confessionals, or along long-walk pilgrimage corridors.
• Known to sprout uninvited in silent courtroom benches or hospital waiting rooms.
⚠️ Risk Profile:
• [G8-R] – Paralytic. Unrecoverable memory loop risk. Recommended for containment or ritual embrace.
• Bloom scars are legally admissible in Bone Law.
📝 Notes:
• “It bloomed when I remembered her.”
• “My scapula fractured under its weight, but the guilt remained.”
• “I touched one and it dropped a petal. I didn’t deserve it.”