Myconid
"Be careful outside this late at night, the fungus folk do their weird fungus people stuff this time of day. Just make sure not to get too caught up in it all."
- Danton, eastern gate guard Avel Caelora, Gadencia
The Fungus creatures, also known as Myconids, have quite the hazy upbringing. Almost no info is known about where they come from or who even made them if mother nature didn't. Their lack of language, written or otherwise, and indifference of the past meant that even to the Myconids it was difficult to grasp their origins. Some scholars believe that Araumycos, a massive and seemingly sentient fungus has something to do with the reason Myconids are alive but are unable to gather the evidence to prove so.
Physical Appearance
Myconids resembled giant fungi ranging from 2-60 feet tall, the taller myconids (Above 12 feet) are very very rare and only 5 have been recorded in history. Their upper half split into a pair of arms below their caps and their lower half divided into a pair of legs at the stump. Each extremity was pudgy and broad, with their hands ending in two stubby fingers and a thumb, and their feet hosting numerous vestigial toes. This number was not absolute however, with some fungus folk hosting more than the usual number of limbs and/or digits. The bloated flesh of most myconids ranged in coloration from purple to gray. Two eyes rested on their caps, perfectly concealed against the rest of their spongy skin when shut. Some fungus ones secreted a poisonous ooze from near everywhere but their hands.
A mutant strain of myconid referred to as venom spores had a pale milky skin tone contrasted by a bright red cap. Their eyes were a sickly shade of yellow with identically colored spots adorning their caps.
Society
Comprising myconid society were groups known as circles, tight social cliques of twenty or so members. Circles contained four members from each of the myconid age groups, The oldest group having only 1-3 Members, and were presided over by four circle leaders. Circle members were very intimate with one another as they melded regularly, although melding was not normally restricted between circles. A myconid society was comprised of 1-10 circles, although normally at least 3, each with their own specific niche, and new ones that could be established if need be. Known circle duties included agriculture, exploration, construction, child rearers and hunters, although contrary to intuition hunters were more akin to scavengers who located corpses to use as fertilizer or be reanimated by the sovereign. Their schedules were strictly organized into eight hour blocks of conducting their specialized work, melding, and then sleeping before the cycle repeated the next day. Circles were organized around mounds of rock where moss was encouraged to grow that functioned both as melding area and sleeping ground, although some were known to live in hollow, self-sealing, fungal houses. Every circle was tightly grouped in such a way that distress spores from one could reach at least one member of another, and the presence of distress spores was the only thing capable of breaking myconids from a meld. Melding served as a combination of all recreational activities from entertainment, social interaction, worship, and meditation. A circle leader would trigger a meld through the use of their hallucinogenic spores combined with small doses of rapport spores from other myconids within the circle, allowing them to achieve a transcendental, collective hallucination.
Every myconid community was organized by age category and had its population under careful control. New tasks were given to the fungus ones as they grew older. Sprouts worked as hands for their respective elders, assisting with daily chores, and responsible for releasing distress spores if hostiles approached. Normal adults, of age 8-12, did most of the basic work and would fight along side their superiors if danger approached. Unlike the fleeing of the juniors, adults only fled in order to conduct an ambush later on or to locate an elder. Elders, myconids of age 12-16, were responsible for supervising the work of other myconids and attempted to prompt conversation when faced with hostility. Typically they would start from the strongest opponent and work their way down to subdue all aggressors. Fungus folk of age 16-20 served as guards, protecting other members of the circle from harm. All older members of a circle were its leaders who administrated them and advised the myconid king, the only entity above them. Leaders and kings preferred to lead from the back, only joining into combat if they believed their servants to be in actual danger. To be a sovereign was the most dreadful position within the myconid community, seen among others as practically a punishment. Because the myconid sovereign was tasked with being objective to the circles and administrating their duties, he could not become part of a circle himself, and could never again meld with those of his tribe. The duties of the king included the creation of spore servants so that the myconids could remain pacifistic, the coordination of work schedules, vigilance against potential threats and the production of fungal brews. Most attempted to remain in frequent communication with other tribes and held occasional meetings to discuss mutual problems, with every sovereign being familiar with the spores of most others throughout the Underdark. Normal myconids were buried in the gardens, while sovereigns were laid to rest underneath the mounds of mossy rock.
Relations
Myconids were quick to suspect that flesh and blood humanoids would attempt to use violence against them. They viewed most of them as brutish and insane beings who would conquer and destroy anything in their path before returning to make sure it stayed vanquished. Likewise most humanoids view the fungus ones as ugly monsters, lumping them in with the various evil Underdark forces. Outside of spores that could be used in certain potions, myconids possessed no useful trading goods making it difficult to establish cooperation between most other races. Population pressure furthered their paranoia and xenophobia. Of the few races the myconids could normally get along with were the spiritually peaceful and nature loving slyth, as well as their fellow fungi the vegepygmy, whom they viewed as rustic cousins.
Expanionist myconids were cultivated and/or enslaved by other races like the drow, fomorians, and shadar-kai for their inherent resiliency.
Religion
Melding served as a form of worship for the myconids, but they did possess an actual patron deity. Psilofyr was the wise philosopher god who first taught the myconid kings how to perform alchemy, and guided the selection process for new kings as well as anointing every 20 or so kings his priests. He regularly shared his thoughts with the myconid sovereigns and thus had no need for omens. In times of great peril he would send an avatar to commune with a priest king and thus grant them his powers in order to resolve the current crisis.
Zuggtmoy's influence could drastically change the behavior of myconids due to their fungal nature and trusting ways making them easy to corrupt. By melding with a myconid directly she could infect them with a madness and fervor that spread as others melded. Infected became enraptured by mad songs and dances, and touched by a sense of euphoria unknown to most. Eventually her abyssal presence transformed myconids into twisted monstrosities, resembling giant fungal maggots capable of actual speech and infecting others through special spores.
Names
Myconid names follow a sort of nature path when it comes to giving and receiving names. They take these names from things in nature that closely relate to where they live and who they are.
In addition, they dont normally take middle or surnames as the society as a who is the group, not families.
Common names: Stump, Stool, Mush, Basidia,