dropfruit

Individual fruits are small, about the size of a pinky fingertip. Their shape is what gives them their name, broad at the base and narrow at the stem like a drop of water. The interior is split into two sections lined with soft yellow seeds. When ripe, the skin is bright red, smooth, and firm--but within a few hours of being picked it begins to wrinkle from water loss.

Dropfruits are best enjoyed raw or as a dessert garnish. They can be dried, but lose some of their sweetness in the process. Dried dropfruits are better known by the slightly macabre term "eldertoes". They aren't eaten alone, but added as flavoring to soups and baked goods. For most of the Volcanic Era, only the dried fruits could be exported to other islands. They're still more commonly known in dried form, to the point that many people aren't aware that eldertoes and dropfruits are the same thing.   On New Year's day of 2000 Vol, the first conduit boat made a round trip between Mraydor and Galtern. To prove that the boat really made it all the way to the southernmost end of the Cluster, it carried a freshly-cut branch of dropfruits packed in damp cloth to keep them moist. They arrived on Mraydor with the same smooth shape and texture they had when they were picked, the first cultivated dropfruits to survive being shipped to another island.