Corpse Fruit

In the mast seasons a normally rare plant can be found throughout northern and eastern Dlynaeth. Any carrion that lies undisturbed by large predators for a day is likely to start sprouting corpse fruit plants. Small woody stems emerge from the carrion, carrying very pale green heart-shaped leaves. It's totally unclear how the plant manages to develop so quickly although the current hypothesis is that it has something to do with the increased activity of fungal networks in the soil and the magical aura fluctuations of mast seasons.

A Rare Bloom

Very soon after, as the corpse begins to lose its solidity the plant will put forth two pale flowers, a male and a female. The male flower sits up top and droops over the female flower, dropping its pollen onto the stigma to self-pollinate. Most unusually, this plant can actually successfully self-pollinate, perhaps due to its rarity. The flowers only bloom for a single day after which the petals quickly drop. Within just a few days a dark purple fruit develops. Outside of mast seasons, the plant rarely fruits as it often only manages to produce a single bloom and has no other plant nearby.

Fruit

Corpse fruit have an alluring, peach-like shape and grow so fast one can watch them at it and not get bored (if one is a botanist). The skin is so dark purple it is sometimes mistaken for black although the flesh is a very pale yellow. They spread an intensely sweet smell, both alluring and a little like the sickening rot that they grow in. If one bites into the fruit (which is not altogether advisable), they will find the flesh yielding, stringy but also with an unpleasantly slimy sensation. Despite the sweet smell there is a tartness to the fruit which is almost shocking, like biting into a perfectly red apple and finding it unripe.

"Oh sage, whatever shall I do? Our family has been cursed for more than ten years!"

"A mast season will be upon us soon, my young friend. You must seek out the corpse fruit to save your family."

— Tiadrim, theatre play

Poison or healer

If one were to bit into the fruit as described above, it is quite likely to be one of their last acts. Paralysis sets on quickly followed by hours of racking pains, nausea, vomiting, loss of blood and rapid dehydration. Botanists think it likely that this is a reproductive strategy of the plant - an attempt to make another corpse nearby that the plant can grow on.

In very small doses however, and with the right preparation, corpse fruit can bring an almost miraculous level of healing to those afflicted by certain wasting diseases. It is also said to lift curses, especially those set upon a whole family or bloodline, although it is still a matter of much debate whether curses are real and if so, whether they would fit neatly into a single category of magic. Nevertheless, due to these properties corpse fruit is also popular among writers and many myths, theatre plays and epic poems feature heroes who go questing for them and bring either salvation or death to their companions.