Ptoma fruit

In the fields of Parnathum, there grows a plant. It grows at random, for the hides of many a reaper, lancer or traveller have the seeds in their flank. And then all the seed has to do is wait for entropic victory.

Death is what makes the rooting, and brings forth the fruit that claims all who end.

In city culture, the Ptoma is the mark of those who have already died, often depicted in media as the danger of the fields, though only after death.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Ptoma is a small cluster of roots, a flower, and a mass of spined red leaves. The roots are hardy and questing, and the leaves protect the roots as the fruit grows. The roots of the Ptoma seek out the bacteria found in corpses, converting these nutrients into the fruit of the Ptoma.

When the fruit ripens, it splits, releasing a biochemical acid that accelerates decomposition, allowing the roots to burst forth in energy and producing a dandelion-like fluff that blows like spores on the wind.

Its leaves are designed to protect, catching and tearing on those that might step on the Ptoma plant, that smaller creatures might join the pile of the dead and thus feed ever hungering roots.

Behaviour

Ptoma seedlings have sharp hooks designed to stick to fur, and easily flakeable umbrellas of fluff that allow they to fly on the wind. These seedlings lose their umbrellas when they hook to a victim, lying in dormancy until the bateria of decay set the seedling into voracious hunger.

Centaur in Parnathum see Ptoma seeds as an omen of death and ill-will. A centaur who is found with a Ptoma seed will often have that section of fur shaved down to the skin, often with a starlight-enchanted straight razor.