Plant Speech is an ability of the Tula of the Poku Saeruo Degonjo. The hybrid species of the Tuoro and even the Qakla are sometimes capable of Plant Speech. For the purposes of this article, the word 'Tula' is used to refer to the being using the ability, even though they may be Tuoro or Qakla.

In the time before the Tula first encountered the aggressive Qaktoro many centuries ago on their mutual homeworld, the Tula had developed the ability to establish a rapport and connection with plants in their proximity. To the present day, all Tula have the ability to physiologically link to the plants around them out to a maximum range of 100 meters (328 feet). This ability helps the Tula to hunt prey and avoid predators, and its other contemporary applications are numerous.

Nearly every practitioner of Plant Speech has taken and passed the Yoqate'ka (Communion) ritual on or about their fifth birthday. There are rare cases where Plant Speech has been learned without the ritual. Practitioners become more adept at using the Plant Speech ability with practice.

Plant Speech has specific aspects, or abilities, which have their own limitations. Not all practitioners of Plant Speech have access to every ability.

• All (100%) of the practitioners of Plant Speech are capable of this ability. If they cannot Sense, they cannot use Plant Speech.
• The ability has a range of 100 meters (328 feet).

The Tula can gauge the health of the plants within their range. A plant's health is good if they have plenty of nutrients, sunlight and water, and bad if they deprived of those factors. The Tula can also detect the presence and general location of other biological life forms who are physically in contact with the plants. Sense does not grant any identifying information about the individual detected, however, a Tula knows if the being is touching multiple plants, which can sometimes imply size. Robots and machines, even those moving and those who have sentience, do not appear as 'life forms' to Tula using Sense.

• Only 25% of the users of Plant Speech are capable of Greater Sense.
• The ability has a range of 1 meter (3.3 feet).

This talent allows the Tula to be able to determine if a plant and or its fruit is safe to consume, or if it has possible curative properties. When used, the individual gets a 'feeling' about the plant, and it may take several minutes to get an accurate 'good' or 'bad' feeling. Plants with both safe and dangerous components are particularly troublesome to identify; for an example of such a troublesome plant, the leaves of a rhubarb plant are poisonous, but the stalks are not.

• 85% of all users of Plant Speech are capable of Telepathy (called Telepaths in this article).
• The ability has a maximum possible range of around 1 km (3200 feet), with limitations.

Many Tula have the ability to communicate with others who are themselves capable of at least the Sense ability. Telepathy is a mental link which uses plants as a medium, and which is almost always initiated deliberately by the Telepath.

For a Telepath to communicate with any other receptive being, there must be a contiguous connection of plant life between the the sender any any receivers. The plant life in question must be of the same species. For example, Tula can communicate through a forest if there are enough of the same species of trees, or if the Tula are standing in a field of grass or flowers. The sender and any receivers must have physical contact with the plant life.

A Telepath in contact with multiple species of plants can decide which species to use as a medium for their messages. Through assiduous growing of plants, Tula can create complex networks for communication, though in this modern scientific age, technology has superseded some of the need for this practice.

The connection can be used to communicate any thought or concept, and the complexity of the communication being sent depends on the sending Tula's training. The Telepath cannot read any thoughts from others who are connected to the plant life unless they, too, are capable of Telepathy.

The message sent by a Telepath is heard by all Sense-capable beings who are connected to the plant link that the Telepath is using. The Telepath has no choice about who may or may not hear their message; the messages can be heard by any Sense-capable being who touches the plant or plants being used, even if that being is an unwanted receiver. It is notable that, with Sense, the Telepath can be aware of some details of the life forms connected to the link.

If a recipient wishes to refuse the connection, they must break physical contact with the plants being used as the link.

Recipients who are not Telepaths, and who are receiving communication from a Telepath, cannot communicate any information back, nor can the Telepath read their thoughts.

Multiple Telepaths who are connected through the plant link can communicate back and forth. Those who are only Sense-capable may merely observe, and cannot send any information of their own.

• Only 25% of all users of Plant Speech are capable of Coax.
• A Tula can safely affect up to their body weight in plant matter that they are touching.

Those with this ability can Coax a single plant, or a group of plants, whose mass is equal to or less than their body weight. Coaxing accelerates the growth of the plant. This acceleration can cause the plant to bloom, or to grow fruit if it has already been fertilized according to its reproductive physiology. Coax can also affect seeds, causing them to sprout faster, even in less-than-ideal conditions. There is a relationship between the time spent coaxing, and the accelerative effect on the plant; one hour of coaxing tends to result in eight days worth of growth in a plant. Coaxing has a metabolic cost to the Tula using the ability; a large amount of calories are burned during the process, the strain can become lethal in severe cases. The plant itself can also be stressed by the accelerated growth, and may even die due to cellular-level damage. Smaller plants are easier to effect than larger plants. |

The Tula can perform the Sense abilities with no real metabolic cost, and little physical or mental stress. Continued use of Telepathy is as equally exhausting as continued verbal conversation; after many hours, a Telepath's mind would need rest, and they would require nourishment and hydration. Complex telepathic communications have a larger toll on the Telepath.

A Tula must rest for perhaps three hours to every hour of Coaxing to recover their strength. Coaxing larger amounts of plant matter increases the physical and mental strain exponentially; doubling the Coaxing effort requires four times the duration of the recovery period. Note: Failure to recover properly when repeatedly performing Coax can cause permanent injury to the user, and may even cause heart failure or death due to extreme exhaustion or dehydration. During the Norka (The Exodus), many Tula died while coaxing plants to feed the clan.

 ==== Vit'taka (Plant Speech)====
Miali's mixed [[species:tuoro]] blood gives her an affinity towards plants and allows her the use of //[[species:tula:plant_link]]// to a modest extent. She is able to use both the //Sense// and //Telepathy// abilities, and is skilled in the use and care of common plants she is familiar with.

Some plants have important cultural or mystical value to the Tula. These include, but are not limited to:

• The Vithuos (Life Tree)
• The Jodauvit (Think Plant)

• Article by Nashoba. Updated by Hollander.