Chanceberries

Sometimes, I look across the open plains, the vibrant skies, and glittering lakes, and I thank the gods for all that they bless us with.
And sometimes, I walk directly into the path of a chanceberry bush and wonder what in the Nine Hells they were thinking?!

— exasperated berry-covered gardener

Generally assumed to have originated from a stray fey joke (or perhaps a series of drunken shenanigans hailing directly from Elysium), chanceberries are a bizarre species of fruit that sprout in random shapes, sizes, and colour schemes. There is little logic or reason behind their formation, with formal studies discovering only that the berries seem to grow in very magic-dense areas somewhat exclusively, and often take on traits of the area around them. Chanceberry bushes growing in Tenaerul, for instance, tend to be darker in colour with more extreme variety in taste compared to those grown in Serendel Forest.
Notably, chanceberry bushes are not like other bushes. They do not grow from the ground: instead, a floating seed blossoms into a floating bush, and the berries grow mid-air. This is considered a great benefit by many skydwelling creatures, as they can take berries from the air instead of needing to swoop down near potential predators to find food.
As chanceberries are populous even in the depths of winter, the bushes are praised as a nutritional source across multiple levels of the ecosystem, and have been historically been a small but delightful break from the struggles of famine when located. Individual chanceberries possess mild levitation abilities of their own, but only in magic-dense areas under most circumstances.

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Chanceberry by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

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Tasting Chanceberries

Though a usually-delicious rare snack, the flavour of chanceberries is not one that can be fully described - largely because it changes. Every berry has a different taste, seeming to bear little resemblance to the berry's individual colour. Thus far, the influencing factors in taste seem to be related to the schools of magic used nearby, along with any differences in planar alignment or populations of local spellcasters.
For instance, casting arcane spells has been observed as strengthening additional effects such as spiciness or tanginess, whereas divine magic seems to intensify the berry's core taste and rate of refreshment.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Individual chanceberries are the seed that blossoms into an entire bush, if given time and exposure to enough latent magic, though the precise environmental needs of the chanceberry are not fully studied. As the bush is a flying plant, it attracts the attention of many flying creatures - all of whom then release the individual berries to float gently in the air and bloom into new chanceberry bushes.
In instances where a given berry is not able to stay in the air for long enough to bloom, the plant grows much like a standard bush upon the ground, excepting that its roots are particularly small and do not burrow into the earth. Instead, they form part of the central structure. When the bush matures, it invariably begins levitating, and the wind carries it along. Some bushes either get caught or fully grow in trees in this manner, fooling those below into believing the trees bear fruit until a particularly strong gust of wind comes to knock the bush away.

Ecology and Habitats

Chanceberry bushes are located throughout Valathe, with rare occurrence across Takawaoku's verdant areas, such as the realms of Shiar and Rhaead. They are also occasionally found in Xin-Jiyu, most usually in the dense forests of Tsukirai and Galasthin.
Explorers of the Sunari Wilderness have reported instances of chanceberries in the wilderness; these sightings are invariably different to those elsewhere, and has officially been classified as a subspecies of chanceberry. Their initial discovery has forced the discussion of how to classify the genus, subgenera, and species of chanceberries and their variants.
Experimentation is ongoing in a combined effort between Polyhedra and Restruja to bring the chanceberry to Iskaldhal to provide another food source in the long winters.

Thus far, our experiments with chanceberries have not borne fruit. Ha, get it?

— Polyhedran botanist

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Chanceberries are an interesting additional reagent to any practitioner of druidic herblore or of traditional alchemy. Though the effects are often random, growing chanceberries in captivity allows limitation of the magic they are exposed to and can guide the results. Though this guiding process has little effect on the taste or appearance of the berries, it does seem to effect their usage in magical concoctions and mundane dyes or paints.
Dyes, paints, drinks, and foods have all been crafted from chanceberries over time. Chanceberry dye is one of the highest-prized dyes available, and if its method of production was not a well-kept secret, the berries would be at severe risk of over-foraging and ecological disaster. As most dyes created from the berries are standard dyes with little magic to them, however, the berries remain a rare oddity rather than a floating goldmine.

Chanceberries by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Origin/Ancestry

Valathean (supposedly)

Conservation Status

Least concern

Geographic Distribution

• Serendel Forest
• Tenaerul
• Undric Region

Related Materials

• Chanceberry Dye