Plant Dossier: Void Peas
“One time a kobold ran up to me with one of these little pods and stole my keys! He jammed it into the pod as he ran away— I caught up with him mind you— but the little bastard was giggling like a maniac. Welp, long story short, the punk made my keys vanish from reality... forever. And the closest locksmith was over 300 miles away!” — Treznor Callion
Type: Extraplanar Pod Fruit
Where to Find: Hills, plateaus, mesas. Comfortable range: 49° - 105° F
Distinguishing Features: Thick emerald green pods 2 inches in length.
Out of Sight, Gone Forever
They grow in simple patches of 3-4 plants, yet the plain looking void pea plant is anything but normal. These strange vegetables are just like most other varieties of pod fruits. They grow just like other plants, develop pods like other plants, and are delicious when harvested. Yet, the troubling differences begin to occur at the very end of the plant’s life.
Void peas, as their name may suggest, have a unique disappearing act they can perform. Void pea pods decay at an exceptionally slow rate. In nature, these plants often have small mounds of discarded pods piled around the base of the plant. These verdant pods feel rubbery to the touch, and are wonderfully flexible. When a pod is pinched shut, the pod reseals itself as if the peas had never been harvested at all.
Druids and scientists pondered the reason for this adaptation for years. The pods provide very little nutritional value, nor add anything back to the soil. Instead, the pods true power was revealed through an accident. One day, Dr. Kanney Triff hypothesized that the pods resealed in case the pod was prematurely opened before the peas were fully developed. To test this, she gathered premature peas and attempted to place them into a pod to see if they would continue growing.
They didn’t. Instead, when Dr. Triff checked on the pods, she discovered that there were no trace of the peas. After a few more experiments she concluded that this happened with each pod, and that the pod wasn’t simply reclaiming the nutrients from the peas— the peas just vanished.
Dr. Triff, on a whim, placed other objects within the pods. A thimble, a strawberry, ants, different types of peas, it did not seem to matter. Each and every object vanished without explanation. This realization is what led Dr. Triff to give the plant its common name.
As time passed, more research was done on the void peas. However, no one has ever been able to find out where the peas go and why the pods perform this strange act. Yet, there are no shortage of fanciful theories.
Void peas came under extreme scrutiny after they were a key item in a political assassination. During the assassination, the target, a prominent government official, was slipped a potion of diminution in her drink. Once she had shrunken down to only a few inches in height, she was placed within a void pea pod. She was never seen nor heard from again. This one event has spurred many cities and nations around the world to collectively ban the sale, harvesting, and distribution of void peas.
Gameplay Effects
Void peas are extremely easy to harvest and collect. Requiring no check to gather numerous pods. A typical plant has 1d12 pods clustered around it.
Void Pea Pod. This pod has enough room to fit any object or creature that’s less than 3 inches tall inside. If something is placed within the pod it vanishes from existence in 1d4 minutes. Anything placed in the pod is lost forever and can only be reclaimed through the use of a wish spell.
