Sweat Berries

On the bark of the tree before you is a small, fist sized, scaled object similar in shape to a chicken egg. It is brown in color, and has an earthy smell about it. It smells similar to a mushroom, but with a hint of a sweet citrus pine smell. At a glance, one would imagine a strange lizard or scaled creature to emerge from it, should something allow it to hatch.

Upon removing the scaled object from a wall, which is no harder than pulling a tic off ones skin, one can find a little drool of sap leaking from the object and the tree it was inhabiting. There is no definitive connection from the tree to this scaled egg like save for a minuscule hole that looks to be blocked up by old sticky sap.

What you have found is a Sweat Berry Pod. A delicacy to many, but a vital food source for many avian creatures. There are only three ways to access the Sweat berry pod. Either by a long thin beak that is able to access the slurry of seeds and flesh of the sweat berry within. Also by breaking the shell in half with a sharp blade, and scooping out the mixture of slurry and seeds. And finally, which is fairly popular, and a tradition as old as Gwilith itself, and maybe older, roasting the entire pod as is, until it bursts in an explosion of seeds, leaving tender cooked, and in some cases, crystallized Sweat Berry Flesh.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Sweat berries have a similar reproduction method as other coniferous plants, but with notable differences. After growing to its full size, the size of a human fist, a pod will start to produce pollen on the outer edges of its scales, allowing the wind to pick up the pollen and cross pollinate with other trees. The pollen is absorbed into other trees in the area through normal means of the tree, but changes the properties of the sap within the tree, allowing it to become a source of food for other Sweat Berry Pods, by changing its makeup. Though normally this change is purely unnoticeable at a glance, testing will show that if specific stimuli effect the tree, it makes the sap flow smoother. This pollination occurs every year after a large enough wind storm blows up enough pollen to pollinate trees for ten miles in a windward direction.

From there, the pod will sit and wait for years and years at a time, sometimes over fifty years before it experiences its final stage of life, during which time it could grow as large as a human head, and fall of the tree it occupies. Should it occupy a tree that it kills during this time period, it will fall off as well, and after three days, naturally open its pod to reveal small holes where flesh can be devoured, riddled with seeds to a point where any passing birds or animals may eat from it, and carry the seeds to its next destination. This opened version of the pod will have a sickly sweet, and sour taste to it, and is known to carry a high chance of food poisoning, and terrible effects to any creature who can sweat, to a point of exhaustion in just a few hours. But if eaten by a traveling, non-sweating creature, it will be defecated in a new location, where it will become another pod, ready to continue its life cycle.

However, there is an alternative method of the pod releasing its seeds, through a forest fire, or other type of flame. The pressure inside the cone builds up, cooking the flesh, and congregating natural sugars of the pod into fine crystals, forcing open the cone in a single flaming explosion that shoots seeds in every direction, which are light enough, and have small papery wings which allow them to float away on the uplifting current of air from the fire, spreading far and wide, and hopefully sticking to a tree from the caramelized sugars that coat the individual seeds.

Ecology and Habitats

More often than not, sweat seeds are found along the borders, and up to 20 miles in along the edge of the Great Forests of Vitium. Many have migrated towards the center of the forests, mostly those who have experienced wildfires and traveled great distances. It is said that a few different species exist elsewhere thanks to trade, and the popularity of cooking the fruit in fire instead of chopping in half, allowing the seeds to spread for miles.

The pods, though parasitic to their tree inhabitants, do give higher production of sap to the tree, forcing them to take in more water over its lifetime, stunting its growth, as well as the growth of the trees around it. But the fleshy substance inside provides wonderful food for animals and birds alike, as well as a major source of food during the winter for dried or crystallized flesh for all communities on the borders of, or inside Great Forests of Vitium.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

As one of the first cultivated of Gwilith in the beginning, it is believed that the search for these fruits, and their confusion with other conifers within the northern part of The Great Forest, Sweat Berries provide a lot of nutrition for a growing populace. The seeds are also repurposed as bait to help catch small birds familiar with the fruit, as well creatures with strong jaws, like bears or dire animals.

Sweat berries do have one major flaw as a source of food. A side effect of eating a Sweat berry lies in its name. Sweat berries, during digestion, causes a profuse amount of sweating for several hours after consumption. This requires those who consume it to drink large amounts of water for several hours after consumption.

Because of its higher caloric content, the profuse sweating from consuming sweat berries, and its sweet taste, the sweat berry is considered a staple diet food, but is recommended to eat with caution, as the profuse sweating could cause serious illness or death in extreme environments.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Primarily found in Great Forests of Vitium

Found only along the eastern border of Stones Root Forest in small amounts, but are hunted down as an invading species.

Lifespan

25-50 years