43.🍂 Specimen: The Witherbud

📜 Field Guide

The Witherbud is a sombre bloom, its dark wrinkled bud revealing a single ember-coloured eye. Encased in autumnal petals, it seems to carry the weight of fading seasons. Folklore claims Witherbuds mark the turning of the year, blooming where endings and beginnings meet. Their gaze is slow, deliberate, as though they measure time differently from all other things.

🍄 Habitat

They flourish in soil rich with decay and leaf litter, often sprouting near fallen branches or forgotten garden corners. Their roots are said to draw strength from the dying season, storing memory in silence.

⚠️ Warning

The Witherbud is patient but unsettling. Tales tell of its gaze following through dusk into dreams, leaving keepers with visions of things long gone.

🎨 Sculptor’s Note

Each Witherbud is hand-sculpted and painted, with layered autumn tones in petals and foliage. No two eyes ever watch in quite the same way.