Dire Potato

The dire potato was an attempt by the house in 205 IC to ease the food shortages in the wake of the Cult of Orcus' reign. The goal of the project was to create an extremely hardy, extremely efficient breed of the common potato plant by blending it with the essences of a number of supernatural beasts, thus producing a staple crop that would be easy to grow (even in toxic, tainted soil) and highly nutritious. Amongst the essences spliced into the plant were vampire dust (to drain nutrients from the soil with great efficiency) and troll blood (for health and bulk). The result was a large blood red variant of the potato that grew fast, grew big, was a filling meal on its own and extraordinarily resistant to pests and disease. The only downside was that they exhibited carnivorous tendencies and were unusually aggressive (for root vegetables).

Thankfully while they were larger that a regular spud, the animate potatoes weren't particularly strong or fast. Still, the existence of such an unnatural abomination of a plant caused much alarm among the local druids, especially when the house revealed their plans to export them across Bal-Morath. What followed was several years of escalating raids on the farms growing the potatoes until eventually the two parties met to negotiate a treaty. The deal struck required that the potatoes not be exported without being thoroughly dead and sterile (with all shipments requiring inspection to ensure this was the case), could only be grown on the farms they were already present in, and that house Abraxas would assist the druids in maintaining the land (including the removal of feral potatoes). In exchange the druids would calm the waters along the coast and encourage local sea monsters to avoid shipping lanes.

The end result was that the dire potato became a fairly common sight in House Abraxas' land, an expensive delicacy for those of an adventurous disposition elsewhere in Bal Morath, and practically unheard of elsewhere. Since she'd hoped for the plant to become a staple crop across the land, Makara considered this to be quite a setback. However the calming of the waters along their stretch of coast allowed the house to expand their port significantly, bringing much trade and wealth to the region while providing stable employment for many of the inhabitants. Today, Makara Abraxas is considered the luckiest fool the family has ever begotten, and a drinking song in her dubious honour is often sung in the taverns along the docks.