Ospurst

"They drank deep of the warmaiden's milk, and were overtaken by the divine bloodlust. Glorified are the berserkers of the Bone Dancer, who die to live and live to die." -Passage from holy texts from a temple dedicated to Jarat. The consumption of ospurt-based medicine played an integral part in the culture of Jarat's berserker-priests

Basic Information

Anatomy

The ospurst plant is a stout shrub-like plant, typically growing to be somewhere between three and four feet in height. It has paper-thin diamond-shaped leaves that are a pale shade of green in coloration. In spring, they bloom with black-and-crimson blossoms that mature into fruit during the summer months.
The fruit of the ospurst, when properly boiled and blended, can be used to produce a drug called 'warmaiden's milk'. Ingestion of the milk induces a state of frenzy, causing the drinker to become extremely violent as well as temporarily increasing their stamina. However, those who drink the milk lose any semblance of self-preservation instinct. Additionally, repeated consumption of warmaiden's milk is reported to cause long-term damage to a person's mental health, such as paranoia, loss of memory, and vivid hallucinations.

Genetics and Reproduction

The seeds of the ospurst are found within their fruit. However, each fruit seldom has any more than just one seed inside, meaning the development of an ospurst orchard tends to be a very slow endeavor. To protect the seeds, the raw fruits are highly poisonous to most wildlife.

Growth Rate & Stages

It takes approximately six to eight months for the orspurst to grow from seed to fully-fledged bush. However, the plant requires an additional year of maturing before it can start producing fruit.

Ecology and Habitats

Ospurst plants grow best near large bodies of freshwater.

Conservation Status

Due to the religious importance of its fruit, followers of Jarat guard the ospurst with great zeal. To destroy an ospurst plant is a grave offense within the clergy, often punished with a slow and torturous execution.