Chitin Wheat

A wizard's best friend. Well... acquaintance. That you have a love/hate relationship with.

The Vitacori Kerati species, more commonly known as 'chitin wheat' or (less frequently) 'tulip wheat,' is a critical resource in the modern age, but previously was grown as a natural form of pesticide. The wheat's defining characteristic is the carnivorous 'head' resembling an ordinary, if sturdy, flower. When an insect enters to gather nutrients, the plant snaps shut, triggered by the disturbance. Over time, it secretes acid and seeds to dissolve the trapped target. As the resulting paste hardens, the newly formed cocoon drops to the ground, ready to be eaten by animals and deposited elsewhere. The name 'chitin wheat' derives from the cocoon's resemblance to beetle shells.

Physiology

Chitin Wheat by Wombo ("Tulip Wheat Chitin Gold Red")

In almost all respects, chitin wheat appears like its non-carnivorous cousin. Both species have long, hollow, golden-hued stems comprised of a semi-flexible yet strong material. Each sprouts several leaves to gather energy from sunlight and grow to a typical maximum height of five to six feet and with roots that extend more than a yard underground (chitin wheat typically spreads 50% further into the ground than comparable wheat stalks).
The difference between the two species lies in the head (sometimes referred to as the 'ear'). Common ears resemble an interlocking set of bristly blades with numerous narrow 'awns' extensions (at least, in dryland varieties of wheat). In contrast, chitin wheat blossoms into a funnel-shaped, white and red flower bearing a droplet of nectar, similar to a tulip. However, the head is notably larger and sturdier than tulip species to better accommodate its prey.
As an insect crawls into the flower, it disturbs tiny hairs on the surface of the petals, which cause an abrupt close, sealing the animal inside. The wheat then secretes an acidic fluid into the chamber and disintegrates the subject, turning it into a thick pulp replete with unfertilized seeds. As the plant reopens, the mixture rapidly hardens into a shell-like substance on contact with the air and falls to the ground. This cocoon is the effective 'seed' of the wheat.

Reproduction Cycle

Chitin wheat's reproduction cycle is unique across biology and is the key factor in its practical application. When chitin wheat consumes a bug, it injects the mush with small seeds and mana naturally drawn from its root systems and sunlight, similar to how other flowering species imbue mana into their fruit or kernels. However, unlike all other carnivorous flora and fauna, chitin wheat does not absorb the mana from its prey (in part or in whole). Critically, this preserves the mana within the cocoon, which mimics a barrier and blocks mana leakage or ingress.
The cocoon, when eaten by an animal and digested by the stomach, releases the seed-paste and combines with the creature's mana with two significant results. First, the seeds are fertilized by the subject's magical energies and made ready to grow into a new stalk when returned to the soil after digestion and release by the host. Second, it causes a exo-aetheric reaction, raising the animal's mana reserves significantly. The effect is directly proportional to the mana pool of the original fauna. Thus, the cocoon can be leveraged as a source of mana restoration.

Practical Usage

While the cocoon in its natural form is useful as a restorative, it is not especially potent for humanoids. Centuries ago, magical theorists and alchemists worked jointly to successfully grind chitin wheat cocoons into flour compatible in baking without losing mana content, but it remained a curiosity at best (primarily due to its 'compromising' taste). The vast majority of practitioners in this period preferred the practice of gathering excess mana from the wizard's pool in potions for future use, even though it consisted of a complex, expensive, and draining process.
The critical innovation came hundreds of years later when wizards developed an operation in which a specific insect, the mana locust, is fed to a crop of chitin wheat. Mana locusts contain considerably denser mana pools than almost any other species (outside of humanoids and demonkind). Chitin wheat, by preserving the original insect's energy within its cocoon, complemented this trait perfectly.
The Aemark Kingdom, along with other major powers, swiftly converted grasslands into chitin wheat plantations and established 'hatcheries' to feed the wheat annually. After a decade of planning and increasing production, the four eastern Turan nations each manages a locust and crop rotation designed to output a consistent stream of chitin bread (colloquially called 'chit-bread'). The plant occupies an important position in warfare, in which campaign strategies often involve sabotaging chit-bread supply chains.

Scientific Name
Vitacori Kerati

Origin/Ancestry
Carnivorous Flora

Geographic Distribution
Turan

Discovered By
Ulysses Senelnlaesal Xavier

Aemark Chitin Spread

Need something to spruce up your chit-bread? Too bland to enjoy? Look no further than Aemark Chitin Spread, providing you with the best topping for a wizard on the go!
The strawberry isn't...bad, but nothing gets rid of that chalky aftertaste. Except maybe coffee.