The Mushroom Folk

[Sagwort 833]

The Mushroom Folk

History

**BRANBOROUGH**

"Now, lad, be careful on yer journey. I don't want to hear word of any casualties," Petyr said to Lurken.

"Aye, Mr. Brandybuck, I shan't let y'down!" Lurken said smiling. Lurken was a young halfling who had been a druidic student of Petyr since the Great Fall of Aegis. A bright lad, he quickly picked up on the druidic practices that Petyr had taught him, such as meditation, cooking, planting, and examination of specimens.

Petyr always valued these skills above that of "magic", for the druidic bond with Nature was more than simply controlling it. Hence, Lurken knew little of showy magic.

"Once ye collect the specimens, I'd like ye to deliver a portion to the Druidic Order up north, for I'm sure they'd love t'see yer findings. Of course, so will I," said Petyr. "From what I've heard, the Fungal Forest has been explored little, so I'm sure plenty of th'specimens will be unique."

"Aye, Mr. Petyr."

And so, with the aid of ___, _____, ____, and ______, Lurken set out on this druidic quest. He dreamed of finding rare poisons, miraculous mushroom cures, and other such specimens, but little did he know what he would find...

**THE FUNGAL FOREST**

Indeed, the Fungal Forest was a place of many unique flora that had competed for survival since before any Descendants had arrived. Some mushrooms developed poison, others developed floating spores as to increase the odds of later generations, and others simply grew to massive heights. The precise level of sentience in these plants is unknown, yet there must be some sort of mind, for all of the flora actively seek to spread their spores. However, enough of this history lesson! On to present day.

Lurken and his friends set up camp under the shelter of one of the great red giants. As ____ was starting a fire, Lurken went to the river to gather some water, preparing to make some mushroom stew. What Lurken did not know was that a certain spore was present in both the mushrooms and the water. Yes, this spore was particularly aggressive. Over the course of the next day, it maneuvered its way to the heads of our travelers in an effort to control and manipulate.

The first to go was their memory. The second to go was the majority of their skill and knowledge, leaving them with few skills other than fishing, cooking, and fighting. The last to go was their intelligible speech. Aye, the spores had conquered our brave adventurers, utilizing them to spread mushrooms across Asulon. In particular, Lurken was of much use, for with his limited druidic prowess, the mushrooms were able to quicken their growth. The band of mushroom-conquered-people would soon live in structures made in this fashion. Over time, they would fashion clothing of mushrooms, smell like mushrooms, and Nature knows what else. Only time shall tell what occurs next...

Appearance

The Mushroom Folk tend to have a rather…mushroomy appearance. Due to their exotic stature and characteristics being the result of a rare and invasive fungus their appearance can range from a formal looking elf with a few splotches on purple on them, to squat creatures with glazed over eyes, bark like skin and a cap growing from the top of their scalps.

In the beginning stages of the “infection” Mushroom Folk tend to keep the same appearance as their original race, however they might develop strange purple, brown, red, blue, or even white growths on their skin. These growths begin where the skin tissue was exposed first, usually being the mouth. These splotches will begin to run across their face, down their body until eventually they will cover the entire body with slime mold type texture. After the spreading is complete the fungus mold will begin to thicken and harden into a white bark like substance. From there a large cap will grow from the scalp of the infected, their eyes glazing over and bones becoming weak. The cap grows from the scalp for the reason of reproduction; the cap must be in a high location so that it may spread its spores to others yet to be infected.

[[Notice that we will not force people to become Shroom Folk, only by their choice will we spread our spores]]

The clothing of the Mushroom Folk tends to be extremely primitive, using the silk from the local spiders and fibers from the more “flimsy” funguses lying about the Fungal Forest, they weave a form of cloth that they then wear as simple yet effective thin clothing. Much like other things in the Shroom Folk life style, the clothing lacks much in the creativity of colors. The clothing ranges from brown, to light brown, to lighter brown, on rare occasions you will find colors such as red or orange, however those “dyes” are rarely found in the Forest the Shroom Folk live in.

Behavior

Behavior of the Mushroom Folk is rather shy and inquisitive in nature; they tend to stare at those who they consider strangers until you earn their trust. Despite their shy nature they are also extremely curious, investigating and observing things that they consider alien. This is possibly the reason why they have a profound fascination of man-made objects such as toys, watches, and other “nick-nacks” that common people often take for granted. In most cases stashes of these trinkets can be found in the homes of the Shroom Folk, although they seem to have hatred towards fire, and a curious fascination with glow stone. Despite this intelligent mind set they have lost all ability to read or write, the only literary skill they now have is pictures that can be seen around the Fungal Forest. Being the inquisitive people they are, they have quickly “re” picked up on the common tongue used by the other races, however they still lack the proper use of grammar often speaking in strange patterns, putting nouns and verbs into odd places within the structure of their phrases. The Shroom Folk do have a dialect of their, speaking in a language consisting of 15 words, four of them being for mushroom and three of them being for fish.

Due to the fact that fish is a large part of their diet and trading, they tend to eat absolutely nothing but fish and mushroom broth that is quite similar to the famous Druid Broth. Using spears made from mushroom fibers and sharpened rocks they go about the swamp Forest and hunt for fish that are local to the Fungal Forest. To those they trust they are willing to happily trade or even gift to them the massive quantities of fish that they have stored within their abodes.

To strangers the Shroom Folk (As stated above) act with a shy nature, hiding amongst the canopies of fungus and staring at the trespasser. Rarely will they act violently to others, as they are naturally a peaceful culture, most likely from the Druid mindset that Luchen the Dedicant was trained in for so many years. However, when they fell that they have been wronged they are known to act viciously, fighting with fishing spears that they wield with pin point precision.

Society Structure

The Shroom Folk seem to lack any form government system, and the one that they do possess is simple yet seemingly effective. A single “elder” leads the village and also acts as the head Mystic who is the spiritual leader of the Shroom Folk. The Leader is always the eldest Shroom in the current village, if that Elder were to die then the next oldest would take his place. All those below the Elder are considered equal rank; they take up the job of harvesting mushrooms, fishing, and cooking. These three skills seem to be what the Mushroom Folks’ life revolves around.

The Mystics act as the priests of the Fungal Folk. They are memories of the original thoughts of Dedicant Druid Luchen who was of course, a druid. The Mystics beliefs are similar to that of the Druids, however they lack any form of magic. Their job is to make sure the flora of the Fungal Forest remains balanced and so the survival of the forest continues to flourish. They walk about the Fungal Forest and make sure that any form of corruption is dealt with swiftly, they seem to think that the forest itself is a god of sorts most likely because they are aware that the forest is their source of life.

The Mystics are also extremely skilled in the arts of herbalism, using a base for the potions consisting of nothing but mushrooms local and exclusive to the Fungal Forest. Due to this certain potions can be found only the Mystics have the knowledge and the resources to make.

[[if you wish to join our unique culture please PM me and we can get an event set up for you to become infected]]

All Lore Was Written By Drplat

[Watyll 1104]

Two races in one day...that must be a record. Looks good.

[Sagwort 833]

[[May I point out that this is not a new race, it is not even being considered a sub-race to any of the four main races. This is (If anything at all) a culture that will consist of nothing more than a small community of players.]]

[Watyll 1104]

((may anyone join them? It seems to be challenging and interesting rp.))

[Ѻ Mikey Ѻ 24]

I'd recommend talking to Paragon Kjell first as us Forest Dwarves have already spoken to him about living there.

[Sagwort 833]

I have indeed spoken to Hiebe, leader of the Ironfist Clan (which is where the Fungal Forest is) and he has allowed us to share the forest with the Forest Dwarves. When the Forest Dwarves actually arrive we will most likely create some sort of trade treaty in which we trade our wish in return for whatever they happen to have.

[Hiebe 2493]

Rply only ambros has talked to me about exploring there.

[Ѻ Mikey Ѻ 24]

I have indeed spoken to Hiebe, leader of the Ironfist Clan (which is where the Fungal Forest is) and he has allowed us to share the forest with the Forest Dwarves. When the Forest Dwarves actually arrive we will most likely create some sort of trade treaty in which we trade our wish in return for whatever they happen to have.

No, the point is, Paragon Kjell owns the land, and the forest dwarves HAVE arrived. They arrived about an IRL week ago. Also sharing the land wouldn't work. The lore on forest dwarves is that they are ICly quite racist and only get along with their own kind. The impression your giving me is that you think you have automatically took over the forest without even discussing it with Kjell or the forest dwarves. I have discussed this issue with Kjell OOCly, and all I know from it, is that he knows nothing of your arrival to the place.

[Hiebe 2493]

Its inmsigh....well Ironfist dont know and I'm rather pissed.

[Sagwort 833]

[[i do not want to start a flame war or anything, so I shall get to the point.

I spoke with Hiebe as a Halfling character Luchen (Who is the character in the Mushroom Folk History) about setting up a small camp in the Fungal Forest to collect samples and such and then bring them back to the Druidic Order, however, if you read the lore you will find that everything does not quite go according to plan. Once the group of 5 becomes infected they are obviously not going to up and leave as they are now the Mushroom Folk. If the dwarves wish to kill off, enslave, drive off, or whatever cruel things it is Forest Dwarves do, then I encourage them to do it. All I am saying this is something that rply would not work out by the Mushroom People just asking the King to stay on his land considering in their mind set, they feel the Fungal Forest is theirs.]]

[doom6153 57]

((I have to agree Sagwort. Also I am going to be rping as a forest dwarf and find this to be an intersting idea, both in concept and in the rp it can add to the forest dwarfs.))

[Charles_Grimlie 1072]

(( Well might need to get druids there, I will exterminate the mushroom people and make them into some fine soup for living upon my lands without my permission, Hiebe is only the lord and manages the land I am the true owner of it. ))

[Dun_Irongut 104]

(( Well might need to get druids there, I will exterminate the mushroom people and make them into some fine soup for living upon my lands without my permission, Hiebe is only the lord and manages the land I am the true owner of it. ))

((Actually, I believe I approved this some time ago, long before the forest Dwarves decided to live there and long before you were king :wink:. But I suppose your word is final. Regardless, get on with it and enjoy the RP of having two subcultures living in one area. If forest Dwarves are truly solitary, RP it out and fight those who encroach on your land. And RPly, it really wouldn't make sense for any other Dwarves to help, being that the nature of the Forest Dwarves is solitary. Regardless of that, it's a large area. Share it, enjoy it, etc...

[Watyll 1104]

((from what it sounds like, the mushroom people would

A. Try and resolve things peacefully

B. get slaughtered or

C. Call on the giant mushroom trees to kill all the forest dwarves))

[Boomack21 124]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.