Harvest Corn

zhea Mayes, commonly called harvest corn, is yet another an important cereal grain grown in the sky. It's the tallest species of corn in the sky, with stalks naturally growing up to ten feet tall, and the selectively bred varieties can shoot up to over twenty feet tall! Their impressive height and sturdy stalks support roughly two large ears of corn each. The corn themselves come in many different colors and with different flavors and nutritional values, but they all carry the high levels of calories needed to sustain dragons, and are seldom eaten by humans unless it's at a feast or as rations.

Aside from the nutrition and stalk height, the harvest corn has no inherent magical properties - at least, none that have been discovered yet - but is still very valuable to a Skydweller's diet. The corns serve as the base for many means, including corn salsas, salads, chowders, and even just plain corn heaped with a number of toppings.

The ears of corn aren't the only valuable things; aside from their agricultural uses, the zhea stalks are often used as tinder for the controlled bonfires that light the night during the Hallow'Eve season. While kept at a safe distance from the Cities, the bonfires are set up to light the temporary festivities. The fires not only provide light, warmth, and something to rally around and cook on, but they also smell of petrichor (the scent of rain) and autumn squash, completing the season's atmosphere.

Maize Maze

There's one other tradition the zhea corn is associated with: corn mazes. Already, mazes and puzzles were beginning to become a favorite past-time of human-dragon groups. With the influence of returned monitors, the corn mazes, grown specifically to be tall enough to envelop dragons, are just as much a part of the Skydweller autumn as they are to the ground dwellers. The only difference is that the cornstalks entwine together in an arch above the path, letting some sunlight filtering through but making the 'maize mazes' endeavors that are not for the claustrophobic. But for many Skydwellers around the Cities, the mazes are a favored and nostalgic tradition for the autumn season.