Bristlebane or Bristleberry?

Bristlebane or Bristleberry? is a random encounter in Tales from the Tiers.
==Overview==
==Flow==
==Reward==
==Transcript==
After a few hours of difficult travel through an area with dense undergrowth, you happen upon a small stream where you can refill your waterskins and wash the sweat from your brow. Nearby, you spot a large copse of narrow trees with leaf-bearing vines coiling around their trunks.
 
As the vines snake upward, dozens of thin, yellowish-green stems spring forth along the plant's cane, some of them stiff and upright, others drooping downward like long hairs. At the end of these stems, an explosion of bright orange berries radiates outward, ripe and abundant. To your eye, they appear to be Bristleberries.
 
They're a very distinctive fruit, nutritious and energizing. They're also, unfortunately, exceedingly similar in appearance to Bristlebane, a berry that is tolerated by Beastmen and animals but rather toxic to humans.
 
Examine the berries.
 
Rub the berry pits against your skin.
 
Examine the vine's leaves.
 
Eat the berries.
 
Leave.
 
Judging the berries a greater risk than they're worth, you decide to leave the colorful fruit alone. Replenished waterskins will have to suffice for now, and continue on your way.
 
Clustered together in tight drupelets, the berries vary from bright orange to a yellowish-orange color. The size of each individual fruit differs slightly between Bristleberry and Bristlebane, but it's very difficult to determine without the two side by side.
 
Better to test with your skin rather than your stomach. You break off a cluster and mash the berries between your fingers, revealing the tiny pits inside. Working in slow circles, you rub them against your arm for a few seconds. Your skin remains free of any stinging rash, which you take as a good sign.
 
The leaves extending from the main vine are bright green and lobed, with edges resembling undulating hills. This matches an old saying you recall about the berries: 'Leaves like hills, safe from chills. Leaves like rain, unending pain.'
 
You adopt a cautious approach, filling your pouches with berries while eating only a single cluster. The fruit is sweet and tart, surprisingly juicy for its size, and the thought of immediately eating another handful is tantalizing... but you restrain yourself. With the stream as your guide, you cut follow the dense forest and eventually reach the main road with little difficulty.
 
The rush of sugar and euphoria puts a spring in your step. Certain you spotted your edible berry from the toxic, you tear into your pouches and devour the berries, invigorated by every bite. Satisfied, you bound down the road, revitalized for the journey to come.
 
The berries appear to be safe.
 
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Category:Tales from the Tiers random encounters