Sundrops and the Giyim Tree

Tiny golden birds no larger than an acorn, often mistaken for bumblebees, these birds were kept by nobility as a sign of status. They are rare to find in the wild these days and there are rewards to those who can find their nests. They pollinate the Giyim tree and other flowers. Because they eat the giyim fruit, were one to eat them (though that would be silly due to their size) it would be like eating several toxic fruits at once and is almost always fatal.   Their numbers have been dwindling in the wild for many years due to poachers trapping them and selling them at exorbitant prices to nobles and merchants around the world. This has led the Crown Prince of Sitaar to put a bounty on any poachers, promising significant rewards for their capture or death. The Sundrops, being native to Sitaar and critical in the propagation of the Giyim tree, are a source of national pride and any who threaten them are treated with contempt.  

Giyim Fruit

This tree produces a fruit that is, in actual fact, an inverted carnivorous flower. These flowers must be harvested and prepared in a very particular way otherwise they are completely toxic. They are only pollinated by the Sundrop bird, a bird that is immune to the toxins of the Giyim fruit. However, the Sundrops are not entirely immune to the Giyim as the carnivorous fruits have the ability to open like a maw and trap those birds or insects not quick enough to escape. The fruits, when prepared correctly, are said to be one of the most delicious things anyone will have the chance to taste and the right to boast of having eaten one and surviving is an attractive thing to many travelers and nobility. One should only trust a Giyim dish from a veteran chef, or risk severe illness or death.

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