Golden Kisitti Tree (World Guide, Technical) (Patreon)

Golden Kisitti Tree

The golden kisitti tree is a large deciduous tree native to the Drochaki homeworld of Anochak III. Its smooth bark has a sparkling golden sheen, while its leaves are a translucent amber in color. Its large amber flowers are notable for their sweet, honey scent. They produce copious quantities of pollen, but cannot be fertilized, and thus cannot produce fruit. The actual reproductive process of the tree is far more insidious, and equally astonishing to behold.

Should a sapient organism come into contact with the trunk of a golden kisitti, luminous, golden amber sap oozes out of the bark and quicklyadheres the interloper to the tree. The bark then parts, forming a glowing, sap filled bole into which the captive is partially drawn. The subject is then rapidly transformed into solid amber, still partially sticking out from the bole. This does not kill the subject, but rather causes her to enter into a strange, semi-conscious state wherein she can feel the amber of the bole as if it were all her body.

Over the course of several months, the bole will rise up the golden kisitti tree, shrinking as the captive form is slowly absorbed. The bole will completely vanish as it reaches the tree's high canopy. After another month or so, a perfect, 15 centimeter sphere of glowing amber with form beneath one of the branches. This 'fruit' and its captive consciousness will drop to the ground after a few weeks. If planted into the ground in a suitable location, it will grow into a new golden kisitti tree.

Most golden kisitti fruit are created from drochaki who accidentally touch the tree trunk while trying to collect the pollen which gives their honey its ability to sustain the life of those encased within it. More recently, a fair number of fruit have been created during the process of collecting the sap in order to make biogel. This involves actually touching the tree, hoping that one can pull away quickly enough to avoid being caught. The resulting sap is collected, with those who weren't quite quick enough a constant reminder of the price of failure as they made their way up the tree to become fruit themselves.

Most recently, and thanks to the increasing public acceptance of physically transformational xenoexperience, an increasing number of golden kisitti encounters are with non-drochaki actively seeking to partake of the experience for their own curiosity and pleasure. This has resulted in a glut of golden kisitti fruit wherever there are drochaki hives away from Anochak, and it has become increasingly common to find the resulting fruit used as sapient baubles. As such golden kisitti fruit can be acquired for roughly ¢5,000 on the open market.