The ambient mana here had a subtle flow to it. Eirwen focused and followed it with her mind, finding the various places it was drawn to. Red was grinning, caught on to what she was doing. As she observed in detail, he spoke with amusement in his voice. "You caught on as fast as I expected you to. Took me more effort, but you always were better at sensing."
Absentmindedly she took note of how her entourage were spreading their own senses wide, a net that made sure none could sneak up on them while she was investigating. The round objects were buried under the snow, mana gathered inside. Now that she knew how to recognise them, she could sense dozens in this area. "Can I just grab one, or?"
Red nodded. "Yes, they're already separated so they can be handled just fine. It's just that they need the snow to draw mana, so once removed, the rot starts to set in. But they're utterly delicious. Just take care with the pit, because that's where their true secret comes in."
A delicacy from the western mountains, snowplums are named such not due to their colour, but the fact that they ripen within snow. Once no longer covered, they stop ripening and begin deteriorating. But as long as they are inside the snow, the cold makes them become more tasty with the day. When gathered, normally they will be transported within snow, though even that method has its obvious limitations. This means this delicacy cannot be enjoyed more than a few days of travel past the snowline.
This fruit tastes both sweet and tart, the juicy bite spreading a touch of honey. Some make jams out of them, which last significantly longer than the plums themselves do. Sometimes, Flameheart nobles place an order for a significant amount to be collected, so they can present them at a feast. But as mentioned, there is only limited time. And many a snowplum gatherer is very secretive to where they gather their own, so sudden orders may not be fulfilled.
There is more value to the plums than just their taste, though. Their pits are useful for producing enchantable weapons, a material that can be ground to dust and combined with the core of a sword. It's not clear why the plums serve this purpose, just that snowplums grown elsewhere do not have this property. To this day, none have managed to really figure out why.
While gatherers can make good money selling the fruits, due to the value of both flesh and pit, the job is still fraught with danger. The fruits are also enjoyed by Dire Wolves and even Frost Giants, so if people dig them up, it's not just human competition they must then contend with. The local beasts also will have their desire to sink their teeth into the flesh of the fruit, especially if they also can sink their teeth into the flesh of the people that conveniently gathered them.
This reminds me of paw paws, which are, apparently native to my area, and delicious, but have basically zero shelf life.
Visit my brand new world during Summer Camp 2026!
Summer Camp Hub 2026
Reads up on those Oh those sound awesome. Note to self, eat those at some point if I ever go stateside!
Too low they build who build beneath the stars - Edward Young