Heart Seed

A Heart Seed is a rare fruit found all throughout Vildrel, but most commonly in the Blue Bog. The term "heart seed" typically refers to the fruit itself, and not the seeds found within the fruit. Heart seeds are instrumental in the creation of Chimera.

Appearance

Heart Seeds are a bulb-shaped fruit, light yellow in color. They typically weigh no more than three pounds. They have a single large seed pith at their center, with less than an inch of fruit flesh surrounding it.
As a fruit for consumption, the Heart Seed is less than ideal. The flesh surrounding its large seed pith is thin and tough, and removing the pith from the flesh is difficult to do without tearing the flesh. It also has a strong, bitter flavor and a matching smell that reeks of cyanide. Lastly, the Heart Seed has a far more valuable use as a magical component for Arborists.

Formation

Heart Seeds do not come from a single type of fruit bearing tree and they can't be reliably cultivated. They grow as a single fruit on a fruit tree of a different species. Their growth seems to be completely random, though they are more common in the Blue Bog. The seeds within the fruit will not create a tree when planted.

Use

(Main article: Arborist)
When surgically inserted into an animal, construct, or even an object, heart seeds create Chimera (though this cannot be reliably done without expertise). In organic creatures, the heart seed attaches to the heart. After fusing with its new chimeric body, the heart seed enters an incubation phase where its seed envelops its new body in soft fibrous roots while the host body is transformed into a newly-born being. If the incubation is successful, a chimera emerges from the pupae.

Item type

Consumable, Magical