Xyl spots something interesting

"Ooh!" Xyl practically shouts, stopping suddenly. "Look!" She points at a small tree, with green fruits about the size of peaches hanging from its branches.

You don't recognise it. "What is it?"

"Witchfruit. I read about it in some of my books. The juice is the active ingredient in a lot of powerful healing potions, either by itself, or with something to target the effect. It is pretty rare, always in demand, and pretty much impossible to farm. We should definitely take them with us."

That gives you a thought. "So, if I ate one of these, would it heal my {if hurtAnkleDays > 0}ankle{else}aches and pains from last night{endif}?"

She shakes her head. "Technically, yes, but I would not recommend it. If you eat the seeds they grow into a parasitic plant which is apparently very painful to the host. Difficult to remove as well. If you miss any of it, it just grows back. If you were dying it would probably be worth it, but anything less than that? Best avoid it."

Xyl weaves a silk bag, and the pair of you spend the next few minutes picking the fruits. To pass the time you ask her to tell you more about them, and their life cycle.

"Once the seeds enter a host's stomach," she says, "they begin to grow. They grow a long vine through the host's intestines, barbed so it is impossible to remove without magic. Once it reaches the anus, it grows a large flowerhead. Officially, it is called a gutvine, but most refer to it as either the assflower or the pucker plant. The flower is light and contact sensitive, and the vine's barbs grow longer if it is covered up, and shrink when it is uncovered. They also grow if the host has not moved around recently, to encourage them to move around and spread the seeds wider. The flowerhead releases seeds when the host shits, which grow into a new tree."

"So why can't you farm them?" you ask.

"Too much competition kills them. Each tree needs to pull in a lot of magic from the surrounding area to make the fruit. If two trees are too close to each other, odds are they will both fail unless they are near a natural source of magic, and even then you could not grow more than two or maybe three."

Soon the tree's branches are bare, your bag is full, and you move on.