Pumpkin

Pumpkin was a ground vine that produced large, yellow-orange gourds (called pumpkins) with edible flesh, similar to squash in flavor and consistency, that were a staple crop in the north and central regions of Faerûn.

Description
The tendrils of a pumpkin vine could grow quite lengthy and become thick and woody at the places where the gourds sprouted. Depending on conditions and cultivation, pumpkins could grow big enough that a medium-sized human could not get their arms around one, and would be hard-pressed to lift it unaided. Truly spectacular specimens were often grown by cloud giants in their gardens, producing pumpkins the size of a human carriage or caravan wagon.

Locations
Pumpkins favored the temperate regions of Faerûn and were known to be cultivated in Cormyr, the Dalelands, the upper Dessarin Valley, the Trielta Hills, and along the Sword Coast. But the best specimens came from the Goldenfields abbey east of Waterdeep.

At some point in time, pumpkins were either relatively unknown, or scarce for some reason, because Aurora's Emporium of Waterdeep once sold an ounce of pumpkin seeds for twenty gold pieces, circa the mid–14 century DR. But considering that over a hundred years later pumpkins were used for decoration in the City of Splendors, the shortage was only temporary.

Uses
The rind of a pumpkin was usually skinned and boiled to soften it, then used in soups or mashed and used as a side dish. It was also used to make desserts, such as pumpkin pie. The many seeds found in each pumpkin gourd could be salted and roasted to make a crispy, chewy snack food, very popular in the Tashalar circa the late 15 century DR.

Pumpkins were a big part of the Waterdhavian festival of Liars' Night, celebrated at the end of Marpenoth each year. Pumpkins and other gourds were hollowed out and a face was carved into each one to represent the facade of a person participating in the revel. A candle was placed inside and lit to represent the person's true self. It was considered bad luck for the candle to go out while the person was away at the festival. Likewise, anyone snuffing out someone else's candle or smashing their pumpkin risked drawing the enmity of both Mask and Leira.

Pumpkins were one possible component for the head of a construct called a scarecrow. A whole field of pumpkin plants could be conjured almost instantaneously as one possible outcome when using a bag of beans. Unfortunately, they grew, ripened, rotted, and exploded in a stinking cloud in a matter of moments, also leaving behind one or more evil scarecrows.

If boulders were not handy, oversized pumpkins made a good substitute for hurling by giants with no change to range, accuracy, or damage to people and other soft targets.

Rumors & Legends
The elves had a humorous myth about pumpkins being created by Aerdrie Faenya using the heads of orcs that were killed in innumerable battles. The joke was that the elves made much better use of the orcs' heads than the orcs ever did.

Whenever a pumpkin grew unusually big in their garden, halflings believed it was the work of Yondalla showing them favor or bringing them luck.

It was said by some topsiders that the cavern holding the Underdark city of Sshamath (full of thousands of stalactites and stalagmites connected by columns and bridges) resembled the stringy guts inside of a raw pumpkin.