Fungus
In the heart of the damp woods, where the light of the living fades, mushrooms and fungi perform their silent duties. Entwined among the roots of dead trees and scattered bones, they stand as humble yet inexorable guardians of death.
Together, mushrooms and Insectes consume the flesh, reclaiming from the earth what belongs to it. Some fungi grow directly from hollow eye sockets and ribcages, erecting strange effigies of life within death.
Ancient tales describe them as emissaries of decay are seen as the servants of Shadow, performing a sacred ritual by dismantling bodies to return their essence to eternity. They do not destroy; they transmute. Their work is that of guardians, the passage between one state and another, and their very existence serves a truth : everything belongs to the earth.
Appearance
Fungus manifest an incongruous beauty through a miriad of shapes and colors. From delicate, ethereal features to shapeless masses, they oscillate from one extreme to another. In their plurality, we find luminescent mushrooms that sparkle in dark woods and others like the puffball that explodes as soon as you step on it, spreading a foul-smelling dust. Others are brightly colored, as a warning of their deadly toxicity, while more discreet ones blend into an earthy gray, able to hide themselves in the damp soil and tangled roots.
Of course, a handful are edible, appreciated for their refined, subtle taste. In the harshest of times, they were an essential resource for the Living. Beware of those who can sometimes confuse each other, on pain of death. Their texture, rough like bark or viscous like body fluids, reflects their role in the cycle of life. In this way, mushrooms reveal the essence of their being: neither plant nor animal, but a harmony apart, emerging from the shadows to perpetuate natural order and eternal decomposition.
Biology
Fungi, heralds of the eternal cycle, are born in the darkness of deep soils, where Light fades and decomposition flourishes. They begin their expansion by invisible spores carried by the winds and deposited wherever fate chooses. These spores can even nestle in the flesh of the dead. Housed in their new habitats, they are ready to germinate when conditions are optimal for their proliferation. Once established, their mycelia, a kind of fine root that enables them to exchange with trees, spread out in a labyrinthine network. Absorbing dead matter, they reuse it and transform it into nutrients that nourish the earth and its inhabitants.
This cycle is not simply an end, but a renewal. Fungi participate in the restoration of the world, breaking the bonds between flesh and soul, returning the mortal shell to the earth that gave it life. Some fungi produce luminous or poisonous bodies, signs warning that death has claimed these lands. Their role surpasses that of mere decomposers : they are agents of the great cycle, intermediaries between the end and the beginning, reminding us that in the world of the living, nothing is lost, everything transforms.
Distribution
Fungi, discreet weavers of life, spread through an underground, tentacular network, an invisible web linking roots, soils, and the final traces of the dead. These fine filament structures snake beneath the earth and communicate with an unsuspected intelligence, eluding mortal perception. Through their mycelium, fungi exchange nutrients, transmit distress signals, and rebalance ecosystems, unifying under their empire the realms of flora and fauna.
They colonize every environment : from lush forests, where they thrive in the shadows of giant trees, to arid deserts, where only their most tenacious stumps survive, clinging to the remnants of a life long extinguished. Their network becomes the memory of the world, holding the echoes of departed souls and forgotten forms. Thus, fungi are not only guardians of death, but silent bridges, connecting all the living in an immutable cycle of giving and decomposition.
Symbiosis and Parasite
Fungi conceal a primitive but profoundly adaptive intelligence, which they manifest through ambivalent alliances: symbiosis or parasitism. In symbiosis, they unite with their hosts in a beneficial exchange, strengthening trees by extracting nutrients from the depths or nourishing insects in return for shelter.
This alliance transcends species, weaving a complex web that sustains life in the most inhospitable environments. However, fungi do not limit themselves to cooperation. As parasites, they infiltrate vulnerable bodies, proliferating within their flesh and transforming them into tools to spread their essence.
Once host and master, the parasite alters the behavior of its prey, leading it into desperate or unusual acts, all to perpetuate the fungal hold. In their duality, fungi reflect the ambiguity of nature itself : both creators and destroyers, their reign persists, indifferent to notions of good and evil.
Myths and Legends
It is said that mushrooms are the silent witnesses of Vaults, sentinels rooted in the earth of the world of the dead. They are the children of Bellyem . The oldest tales speak of the Divinatory Fungi, spectral white mushrooms that grow exclusively where the blood of a pure being has been shed. It is whispered that by consuming them, one can hear the echoes of the future.
Other, darker myths describe the Abyssal Mycetes, spores that proliferate in buried places. These black and twisted mushrooms are said to have been born from primordial regrets and sins, their altered spores acting as silent judges, clinging to those who carry unatoned burdens. Thus, the people fear the glades where these fungi abound, for it is said that no one can step foot there without confronting their own darkness.
Was not expecting to be unsettled by fungi - the wordcraft here is stellar
Oooh wow my first comment ever ! Thank you so much ! Indeed, there are a lot of hidden clues more important than they look !