The Dofa Tree

In the Li star system, on several of the moons around Haun’hai, known as the Belt Worlds, an unusual transplant from the jungle worlds of Chi has taken root, called the Dofa Tree. The Dofa, pronounced “doe fa,” is a slow-growing tree that prefers dark, shaded regions to grow in. It has deep, emerald leaves, long tresses of shiny, purple berries, and slick, white bark that sheds thin, glittering slivers of its skin throughout the year. First introduced to inhabitants of Miseo by traders arriving from the Chi system several millenia ago, this plant was initially mistaken for a bush native to that moon until they both outgrew their native dopplegangers and produced fruits with bizarre properties.

Dofa berries grow in clusters of grape-like fruit whose chewy skin has a strong, spicy licorice flavor that, when coupled with its juicy inner meat’s honey-like sweetness, makes for fantastic candy throughout the Belt Worlds. The patience required to wait for the trees to mature enough to harvest, combined with the fact that they only fruit every other year, might have made any foods or drinks made from Dofa berries a rarity. However, when the berries are fermented into ale with a particular lichen found most commonly on Miseo, the resulting mild euphoria demonstrates why both ordinary and pirate traders throughout the region have chosen to grow large orchards of the trees on the outskirts of coastal towns like Crashton. These effects, although not incapacitating, are reknown for their ability to ease pain and relax tense muscles that are overworked by long hours of labor in the turbulent seas or skies of Miseo.

One particularly unique tree has been celebrated at the famed “Gobesh Caves” just northwest of Crashton. This tree is mentioned in the archaeological wonder known as the “Tablets of Gobesh,” which document the strange time paradox that is colloquially known as the Haun’hai Incident. It was discovered and its base reinforced after the arrival of the SS Agape and her armada. It remains the oldest Dofa Tree in the system, at over 17,000 years old.