Mycelia

Character

Spores floating in a still cavern. Mushrooms growing on the side of a rotted log. The cool texture of firm fungus on a feverish brow, and the sweetly sour promise of dripping water in an empty cavern.

Power

Psilofyr, philosopher-god of the myconids and an intermediate power, controls this realm. It's a power of nonconfrontation, of peace with a body's environment. It disdains humanoid company, and encourages the same in its petitioners, because the flesh-people are stupid and violent and hasty. They have no grasp of what's best in life.

Description

Psilofyr's realm is hidden from most who seek it (see -Special Conditions- below). Once they find it, this is what they'll see and sense.    Standing at the top of a stair, a body can see an immense cavern hollowed into the great gear. The cave's got to be al least 100 miles across, but a body can still see the far side with ease. The cavern's perfectly rounded, all the stalactites and stalagmites perfectly ordered so that it's clear they were placed that way on purpose. The smell of long-decayed organic matter wafts gently up past one's nose, a smell almost sweet and never nauseating. The light's a dim purple, and it emanates from the giant mushrooms covering the floor like a carpet.    Closer inspection of the floor reveals that it's mulched organic matter, though its origin isn't exactly certain. It's all covered with damp and dew, and tiny fungi spring up throughout the realm. Some say these fungi are the unformed bodies of myconids preparing to be reborn in Mycelia. and so it's a good idea to walk carefully around them. Myconids wander all around the area and evince some curiosity toward nonfungal visitors. However, they're all polite enough not to approach a body until invited to do so. Normally, myconids'll spray spores at the intruder to induce rapport, so that the two parties can have a mind-to-mind talk. However, thanks to the special properties of Mechanus — the ones that allow everyone to understand everyone else's speech — that's not necessary here. Any cutter in their presence'll be in two-way telepathic communication with the myconids. They're interested in what news they can get of the world outside, but not enough to leave the realm.

Principal Towns

There's no burgs in Mycelia: the myconids all live together under the roof of the gear. The only structure is the Palace of Psilofyr, a huge, hollow mushroom in the center of the realm. The mushroom's in the middle of a lake that's apparently bottomless, or so it seems — a basher can swim and swim and never reach the bottom. Likewise, Psilofyr keeps everyone away from its house — there's no reaching it if the power doesn't want company.

Special Conditions

As said before, there's no approaching Mycelia unless a body's moving away from it, no finding unless a body's not seeking. Its a paradox of nonviolence, a thought pattern Psilofyr's established to keep out those whose minds are too turbulent to understand fully what Mycelia offers.   While in Mycelia, there can be no violence. Those who entertain violent thoughts find themselves transported away across Mechanus, without their companions. To find their way back, they must atone for their transgressions, and vow to relinquish control of themselves for judgment by the Circle (a group of nine myconid kings) when they return to Mycelia — if they ever do. If the Circle finds a basher guilty, they sentence him to a horrible, rotting death.   The air in Mycelia is laden with spores from one myconid ceremony or another. Every hour a body's in Mycelia, she's got to ameka con save against poison or breathe in one of the six types of spores that myconids produce. A smart basher'll bring along a mask to minimize this risk.    If a body concentrates hard enough, he can see any-place in the realm to which he's got a direct line of sight (that is, unobstructed by rock, structure, or other impediment). This means a body can see over 100 miles, if he really wants.

Principal Non Player Characters

The most important non-power a body can talk to here is King Amaratta (Proxy/Myconid). It's late of a plane-shifting mountain — it ran afoul of snake-men, and left its people without a leader. It's fairly friendly, having worked with nonfungi before, but its attitude toward flesh-people Is still noncommittal.

Services

For those with the proper attitude and the right amount of jink, there's all sorts of fungal derivatives available here. Poultices, potions, and inks are the most common, though there's also a brisk trade in the myconid hallucinatory spores — they're excellent for disabling someone peacefully, and pacifists over the plane use them against those who'd cause harm.