The Honey Ball is a rare fungus native to Drowda, Ellador, and Fendarfelle with ancient ties back to the DrovvHeritage of old who valued it as a sweet treat. Following their fall, the Sihndar were the first to enjoy the curious substance again, soon followed by the Isldar, Dwarves, and Ailor of the north. Due to its rarity, it has become a delicacy prized by many merchants and often sees its sweet blue “honey” reserved for the upper classes of many decadent societies.
History
Honey Balls were a delicacy enjoyed by the Drovv, isolated in northern lands of the world, far from others for centuries before the arrival of the Allorn Empire. With their conquest by this powerful state however, the Drovv gave tribute to the Elves in many different ways, one of these being the export of Honey Balls into Daen. While some rejected the substance, others greatly craved it, such as the Solvaan of the Regalian Archipelago. With time, the substance became rare, Drovv lands gradually shifting with time over their ancient landmass. It did not help matters when the blast of cold which truly froze the lands of Northbelt came to pass, spawning from the birth of the Isldar. Hundreds of Honeypits (the term for harvesting sites for the unique fungi) were wiped out, and within a hundred years, the Cataclysm shattered the north into new lands. Honey Balls were widely assumed to be extinct at this stage, but they carried on in small clusters across their oldest, original places of growth. The first to rediscover the substance were the Sihndar, initially in the lands of Tazman, as well as along the coastline of mainland Drowda. The warrior people viewed the sweet spheres with suspicion, and it took them several decades to recognize the growth as harmless, before taking to it with gusto as a sweet of. On Ellador, the Isldar and then the Dwarves, came into contact with remnants of the substance, though it proved much rarer on that epicenter of the unnatural cold which had originally rendered the substance unsustainable. Finally, there were the Ailor, who had traded for the substance for years without truly understanding its origin. However, when Ithanian Ailor pushed into Fendarfelle, they found samples of the substance growing wild across the northeastern coastline. The Ithanians grew immensely infatuated with the strange material, and to this day, Ithanian desserts using Honey Ball Honey are often considered the best. The fungus remains rare overall but has a steady supply to those seeking it out.
Appearance
Honey Balls sit between one and six inches in diameter, with a spherical shape and a thick, outer crust of which is always vibrant purple. The plant is often anchored to rotted wood or other Honey Balls around it through a singular, highly fibrous stem which can act like a root, but also mesh with other plants to help keep the organism secure. Once the Honey Ball’s tough skin has been breached, the substance’s namesake is revealed. This prized substance has the same opaque appearance and consistency as honey, but with a cyan-blue color. What this substance actually is has been up for debate for years, but is generally understood to be both a repository for the plant’s spores and as a byproduct of the Honey Ball’s decomposition of whatever substance it is attached to.
Uses and Abilities
Honey Ball is exclusively used as a high-end food source by several Cultures and Heritages across Aloria. The fungal honey has a sweet and creamy custard taste with a hint of earthy spiciness and is best used to create glazes or sauces. Some can afford to use the substance as a spread, or as a coloring and sweetening ingredient in their baking. But due to the plant’s rarity, dishes containing pure Honey Ball are pricey, and many are inexperienced in the Honey Ball’s different uses.
Trivia
Raw Honey Ball is known to be so sweet that those who consume it will involuntarily smile.
Only the wealthy can afford authentic Honey Ball dishes. It is common for imitation Honey Ball to be sold at a cheaper price to the lower classes. This is usually simply normal honey or even just sugar water and eggs mixed with blue dye.
Many animals enjoy Honey Balls, and some more territorial species are known to guard patches of the fungi for their own use. Tracking these animals is one way of foraging for the fungus.
Some believe that Tazman has been in Aloria before, in previous Void Invasions, leaving behind tainted, corrupting boils that eventually became Honey Balls.
