Chaos fruit

Strange, sweet and bitter fruit from the strangest source.

Overview

It's not clear who first coined the name "chaos fruit" but it seems to have stuck. It refers to a peculiar product recovered during the grand adventure from the depths of Brocéliande. Each is infused with Spring magic as well as possibly the essence of the vallorn itself, and when consumed creates a somewhat unpredictable effect comparable to a powerful potion, but "naturally occurring." There are stories of fleshy flowers whose juice focuses the perception of Spring magic to allow a magician to wield powerful rituals, misshapen fruit whose rind grants anyone brave enough to eat it a burst of unparalleled endurance, glutinous juices and sap that provide miraculous healing, delicate berries that induce a narcotic stupor, and many more. Very quickly, those exploring the fruit determined that the physical appearance is no guide to the effects one will have; that texture, scent, and taste are more important than colour or shape.

When the first fruit were uncovered, some were cultivated on forests across the Empire providing an erratic supply to certain citizens. As aberrant fruit, however, they require a certain level of magical energy to propagate, and it is not currently possible to establish new "colonies" of chaos fruit.

The existence of the fruit and their somewhat unpredictable results has also led a small but vocal number of gourmands to demand that one of the Empire's magical colleges codify a ritual for divining "what will happen to me if I consume this?" Almost immediately rival groups shout them down, claiming that such a ritual would remove most of the fun that comes from putting unidentified food, drink, and other consumables in one's mouth.

Using a Chaos Fruit

Any character can use a chaos fruit with five seconds of appropriate roleplaying consuming the fruit
You cannot use a chaos fruit without a suitable lammy and phys-rep present
You cannot take the action to consume a chaos fruit if you are dying on zero hits
You can feed a chaos fruit to a dying character if they are willing
Some chaos fruit function as tonics; a character can be under the effect of only one tonic at a time regardless of source

The fruit can be consumed just like any other fruit. This unleashes their magic in just the same way that a potion provides its benefits to the one who consumes it. All the normal rules for consuming a potion apply. Some chaos fruit are tonics; a character can only be under the effect of one tonic at a time regardless of the source (that is, a chaos fruit tonic will supersede and be superseded by the effect of any other tonic whether it comes from a chaos fruit or not).

Not all chaos fruit are beneficial. It is not possible to force-feed someone a chaos fruit.

Chaos fruit are described with adjectives related to texture, scent, and taste rather than colour or shape. This allows players to phys-rep their chaos fruit with whatever fruit or fruit-adjacent things they can lay their hands on rather than mandating (for example) that a fruit be yellow, or banana-shaped. Two chaos fruit that have the same effect will most likely not look anything like each other.

It was quickly ascertained that these are "simply" fruit - there are no extractable magical essences within them. Distillation of Diverse Parts simply destroys the fruit leaving only worthless mashed pulp behind.

Cultivation

Chaos Fruit cannot be cultivated without an opportunity

Whilst some suggested farms or herb gardens might be the best option, after some limited testing it became clear that the fruits grew best amongst the forests of the Empire. Apparently their successful propagation requires a certain wildness to the trees that an orchard or well-tended vineyard simply does not possess. Whether it is due to the trees present in all forests, or that the magic of Spring that is infused in each of the fruits is so anathema to the order imposed on the land by farms and horticulture of herb gardens, or simply that it is the ritual Rampant Growth that is the necessary ingredient the end result is the same.

During the Winter Solstice 384YE and the Spring Equinox 385YE, it was possible to prepare a forest to produce chaos fruit. The ritual Rampant Growth needed to be cast, using five different chaos fruit as the focus. The fruit were consumed in the process. The enchantment had its normal effects, but in addition the forest was permanently transformed, producing 2 fewer measures of magical material, and instead producing one random chaos fruit each event. The fruit needed to be reasonably fresh, and must have been recently plucked directly from an area of vallorn. As such this method could only be employed during the Winter Solstice 384 and the Spring Equinox 385YE. During the Spring Equinox, thanks to the Hallow of the Green World created across the Empire, it was possible to further diversify a forest, allowing for up to two chaos fruit to be harvested each season (at the cost of 4 fewer measures of forest materials).

With the passing of the Hallow, and with so much time having passed since there were any fresh vallorn-infused chaos fruit, it does not seem possible to cultivate new harvests of chaos fruit any more.

Probably Not Vallorn

While they do not appear to be actively dangerous, chaos fruit still originate from deep within the vallorn
Reports have been compiled detailing where chaos fruit are being grown

Though "vallorn seeds" are subject to a Declaration of Interdiction these fruit don't seem to be that. These appear to simply be fruit infused with a powerful resonance of chaotic Spring magic. However... while they are likely to be safe to eat it's not impossible that cultivating them might lead to some unforeseen side effects months, years, or even decades down the line. Cautious horticulturalists suggest it might be dangerous to cultivate their growth in a forest in Liathaven, Brocéliande, Hercynia or Therunin due to the presence of an active vallorn there. Other naysayers wonder if the wicked eternal Yaw'nagrah might be involved in their creation, meaning that in theory they should be interdicted. In practice there appears to be no immediate threat from cultivating these fruit, but the Conclave has the power to interdict the magical practice of cultivating chaos fruit should they choose to do so.

The Navarr Enfys Larksong raised concerns about what might happen if a colony was exposed to large amounts of vallorn miasma. Their judgement called for “Imperial citizens who choose to cultivate this fruit to not keep such a decision a secret.” A number of other Navarr agreed, and pointed out that this is not the first time that plants originating from the vallorn had been cultivated in the Empire; in Summer 379YE for example. It might not be a bad idea to keep track of them as well. There are two straightforward ways a list of forests cultivating chaos fruit, and farms where plants touched by the vallorn are grown.

During the Spring Equinox 385YE, the Imperial Synod dispatched a trio of investigators to find out more. Two mandates were enacted; one raised by Vadrian Dace in the Highborn assembly, and one by Enfys in the Navarr assembly. Thanks to these mandates, Sister Julliette of Balthazars Vineyard and Enfys themselves worked with Vigilant priests to compile a list of every Imperial citizen who had added chaos fruit to their forest in the last six months. Thanks to the concerted effort by the two assemblies, the reports have gone further and included the details of farms and forests where vis-producing vallorn vegetation had been harnessed following the peculiar events of 379YE. The lists were provided to the priests, and made public following the summit. The Cardinal of Vigilance, Gaelen Embercast, commissioned a personal report from the Silent Bell; the details of that report are not commonly available.

The Fruit Report

As of the Summer Solstice 385YE, the following citizens' forests produce a single chaos fruit each season.

Citizen	Forest	Territory	Nation
Adeen Eternal	Beggar's Lye Forest	Brocéliande	Navarr
Akiir	Dragonbone Forest	Kallavesa	Wintermark
Alf boll tanner	Dragonbone Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
Ardyn Mors	Dragonbone Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Arianwen Silkensong	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Astolat	Dawn
Artorious Godfreyson	Dragonbone Forest	Therunin	Navarr
Baldric Altti	Dragonbone Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
Balenn Splitroot	Beggar's Lye Forest	Brocéliande	Navarr
Brangwy Broken-Bough	Dragonbone Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Brynell Thornweaver	Dragonbone Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Cadwell Flint	Dragonbone Forest	Hercynia	Navarr
Damrin Iron Hill	Dragonbone Forest	Hercynia	Navarr
Eleri Bronwen's Rest	Ambergelt Forest	Therunin	Navarr
Fallow	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Feran Ingason	Ambergelt Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
Fig Niblett	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Astolat	Dawn
Hazel Jackdaw	Dragonbone Forest	Upwold	The Marches
Ioric Milos Dvorsky	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Karsk	Varushka
Jamina Meridian	Dragonbone Forest	Segura	The Brass Coast
Lindir Thornheart	Dragonbone Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Mordecai	Ambergelt Forest	Reikos	Highguard
Morgan Greenwater	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Semmerholm	Dawn
Patches	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Mournwold	The Marches
Patches I Riquesa	Dragonbone Forest	Segura	The Brass Coast
Radha Autumngale	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Rowan	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Semmerholm	Dawn
Tom	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Miaren	Navarr
Torque Stormbroke	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Therunin	Navarr
Torunn	Dragonbone Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
William Birch	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Mournwold	The Marches

The following citizen's forests are producing two chaos fruit each season.

Citizen	Forest	Territory	Nation
Ceri Splitroot	Dragonbone Forest	Brocéliande	Navarr
Culloch	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Weirwater	Dawn
Desilav Sergeyevich Jesen	Dragonbone Forest	Volodmartz	Varushka
Isador Bell	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Astolat	Dawn
Kal	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
Kamarra Dunn	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
Tuija Dunning	Iridescent Gloaming Forest	Hahnmark	Wintermark
William Yew	Dragonbone Forest	Mournwold	The Marches

The following citizen's farm is producing one spring vis each season

Citizen	Farm	Territory	Nation
Dobra	Black Unicorn Vineyard	Astolat	Dawn

Chaos fruit

Contents

Overview

Using a Chaos Fruit

Cultivation

Probably Not Vallorn

The Fruit Report

Further Reading

Profound Decisions[edit | | ]

Community[edit | | ]

Wiki Editors[edit | | ]