Eons ago, in the City's youth, the people of the city encountered the Fruit. They named these creatures Myconidia in the City tongue of Lemmic, and they offered them a contract: the Myconidia could enter the City, as citizens, but they would have to undergo some changes and swear to a pact. Some of the Myconidia did this, while others refused. Those that swore the Pact were changed; they grew mouths, and turned russet red. Those who did not retreated to the wild caverns and became known as the Free Myconids.
Myconid culture is deeply communal; the fruiting, the mobile creature that is seen above ground is merely the mycnoid's sporing. It can wither and die without affecting the true myconid: the mycelium growing below the earth. Myconids communicate amongst each other by emitting spores or, if they grow in the same village, by mingling neural connectors in their mycelium.
However, the fact that they are not mobile also greatly effects their culture -- they do not travel far from their mycelia, they have no gender differentiation, and they reproduce by causing their fruitings to die and form a new mycelic colony. They are immortal in lifespan, though over many centuries they become forgetful, and the destruction of fruitings and degradation of mycelia also causes them to lose their oldest memories. They have no understanding of faith and religion, and cannot therefore be priests.
Myconid names are descriptive and always in Lemmic; for example, Guardian, Proprietor, Walker.
Myconids have the following stat adjustments: -2 Str, -1 Cha, +1 Int, +2 Con.
Stat maximums and minimums (before adjustment):
Str 6/18, Dex 3/15, Con 8/18, Int 3/16, Wis 6/18, Cha 3/18
Classes: thief (merchant) 12, fighter 9, Ranger 12, fighter/thief, maybe others (unlockable)
Movement: 12
Special Abilities: The Mycelium. The fruit tend to have titles instead of names. The ambulatory mushroom one sees is not the actual house of the thing's personality; rather, this is a mesh of fungus in the earth called the Mycelium. Whenever a Fruiting character dies, they may make a resurrection survival roll during each successive season until they regenerate. If they succeed, their next Fruit loses 1 Con, but regenerates over the next month at their mycelium. If their Con ever drops to 0, it requires 100 years for the mycelium to recover and issue new fruit. If the mycelium is destroyed or dies, this ability is lost.
Mushroom Speak. If a myconid PC stops and roots for 10 minutes, they can use a special version of speak with plants that affects all fungi. They can do this any number of times per day.
Regeneration. If a myconid stands in water for 6 hours, they may regenerate an additional 1d4 hit point per day.
Planting. A myconid may allow their fruiting to perish if left in safety for 1 month to "reproduce" and plant a new mycelium.
Weapon Proficiencies. Merchant-myconids may select one of three unique starting items and be proficient in their use and repair: repeating crossbow (40 bolts), bullseye lantern, or potion belt (with 5+1d6 random grenade-like potions on it)
Culture and History
In the youngest period of the City, after the discovery and integration of the Chasmous but before the construction of the first Serpentine Gates, the Myconidia were contacted in the upper reaches. City ambassadors spent many years with them.
Myconidia were by no means united, and generally made war for territory, resources, and cultural reasons. There were as many Myconid cultures as there were caverns, and each varied widely. Myconid coloring was sometimes useful as a way to determine allegiance, because the diet of a mycelium when producing its Fruiting would, in part, determine what color Fruit was produced.
Culture and History
In the youngest period of the City, after the discovery and integration of the Chasmous but before the construction of the first Serpentine Gates, the Myconidia were contacted in the upper reaches. City ambassadors spent many years with them.
Myconidia were by no means united, and generally made war for territory, resources, and cultural reasons. There were as many Myconid cultures as there were caverns, and each varied widely. Myconid coloring was sometimes useful as a way to determine allegiance, because the diet of a mycelium when producing its Fruiting would, in part, determine what color Fruit was produced.
The Myconidia had a religion focused on a single world-spanning fungus they called Sorl, the original Mycelium. Some claimed that prior to the coming of the City and the Pacts, all Myconidia were part of Sorl the Silent; others, that they fractured long ago, well before the City came, and that their sporings all made war.
The City, little by little, expanded its influence in the upper reaches, particularly where the temperate and tropical regions permitted year-round habitation of the upper caverns. Trade with the surfacers was important, and a rumor has been passed in myconid culture for centuries and centuries that the first City-dwellers were men that followed a Wanderer-guide into the depths of the earth to begin with. Whether this is true is a matter for debate (though myconidia have a very vague concept of "truth"; much more important is a malleable concept of mythic truth -- things that are true not because they literally happened, but because they make sense and explain something vital).
The City made allies with various sporings (as the myconidia colonies are known), eventually leading to the Pact. This was sealed at the Great Sporing (myconid legend tells this to be the origin of all the Myconidia from a single lonesome Fruit, but this is unlikely) by the admission of all Wanderers and allied Settlers into the Pact.
Imparting the Pact began a long period of internecine warfare between Wild and Settled Myconidia. Their languages diverged. In some regions there was uneasy peace between them, but in others there was outright warfare. However, the City never became involved in the fighting, except to outfit their proxies, the Settled Myconids, with weaponry and magics. Myconid rumor persists that there are Fruit who were taught to use magic and become mighty wizards, but again, they are more interested in metaphorical than literal history. As it stands, no myconid has been able to master the necessary skills to use magic.
The Myconidia are therefore divided into three rough groups: the Wild, the Settled, and the Wanderers. Wanderers are most likely to become adventurers and gain class levels. They provide the necessary interlink between Settled societies and the Wild, and were once a frequent sight in the grand bazaars of the city.
The City, little by little, expanded its influence in the upper reaches, particularly where the temperate and tropical regions permitted year-round habitation of the upper caverns. Trade with the surfacers was important, and a rumor has been passed in myconid culture for centuries and centuries that the first City-dwellers were men that followed a Wanderer-guide into the depths of the earth to begin with. Whether this is true is a matter for debate (though myconidia have a very vague concept of "truth"; much more important is a malleable concept of mythic truth -- things that are true not because they literally happened, but because they make sense and explain something vital).
The City made allies with various sporings (as the myconidia colonies are known), eventually leading to the Pact. This was sealed at the Great Sporing (myconid legend tells this to be the origin of all the Myconidia from a single lonesome Fruit, but this is unlikely) by the admission of all Wanderers and allied Settlers into the Pact.
Imparting the Pact began a long period of internecine warfare between Wild and Settled Myconidia. Their languages diverged. In some regions there was uneasy peace between them, but in others there was outright warfare. However, the City never became involved in the fighting, except to outfit their proxies, the Settled Myconids, with weaponry and magics. Myconid rumor persists that there are Fruit who were taught to use magic and become mighty wizards, but again, they are more interested in metaphorical than literal history. As it stands, no myconid has been able to master the necessary skills to use magic.
The Myconidia are therefore divided into three rough groups: the Wild, the Settled, and the Wanderers. Wanderers are most likely to become adventurers and gain class levels. They provide the necessary interlink between Settled societies and the Wild, and were once a frequent sight in the grand bazaars of the city.
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