Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong. [[..setting:species|Click here to go back to the Inhabitants page.]]\\ ====== Myconidae ====== //(MY-ko-nid - /ˈmaɪ.koʊ.nɪd/)// ---- > "Storm to the long-west. We ought expect lightning; perhaps hail, hours out, though closer nodes might taste it sooner - or, perhaps -? Mm. No. My fellows above say… its wind fares more easterly. I had forgotten we maintained an exclave atop the plateau. How fruitful." — //Tetsuo Tteobi, Weather-monitor of the Long Network on the Savage Coast.// ---- Could it ever be said that Humanity had domesticated fungi? Strange, alien, and hard to read, the Myconids are an unusual species of partially-gestalt fungi whom occupy many-limbed, inhuman body plans. ===== Society and Culture ===== > "Does my Network do anything? That's an interesting question. Let me consult my Network..." Almost all Myconids rely on their [[..:start:glossary#network|Network]]. The Networks of the Myconids are vast, sprawling social, informational, and emotional lines of communication hosted by underground mycelium pathways and shorter-range over-air spore clouds. Networks can be anywhere in size from a small coterie of local Myconids to the vastness of Supernetworks, of which there exist no more than five globally. The Networks are unique amongst almost all societies --- insofar as societies can still be said to exist --- in that they are, truly, global, with some caveats. The chief caveat is that information travels through networks at a speed only three or four times that of a jog; so messages over any distance longer than a few miles will still take quite a while to send and be recieved. Contrary to popular belief, the Networks are not actually hiveminds. Whilst rare Myconids willingly opt to become something akin to communication nodes inside their Network --- called the Superstructure --- the vast majority of actual transfer is done by cultivated non-sapient fungal mass tended to by more intellectual Myconids. Further, there is no obligation to permit the feelings, thoughts, and sentiments issued in one’s Network to influence one’s own mind (although many do) --- most Myconids accept what they desire to accept, and suppress what they don’t. Death, too, does not deny access to the Network - in a species so content with the many cycles of demise and rebirth, the dead tend to be quite willing to put the sum of their life’s knowledge into their Network. They do not live on --- immortality is not particularly prized amongst the mushroom-men --- but their memories, and sentiments, do. Still, reinventing vocal chords from base principles is hardly something a Myconid would struggle to do. After all, they can simply page their Network: some other spore-kin will have ascertained the method years ago; and the instructions ought to be readily readable from the mycorrhizal cartograph of their corpse. Myconids consume nutrients via a kind of rapid decomposition that involves placing the relevant biomass inside of their bodies and absorbing its nutrients over the course of about a day. Many have compared this to theories of how Humans used to digest; but the common Myconid will contest that the process is entirely different: for one, they are able to taste the complexity of the biomatter’s decomposition across the entire process of its consumption, whereas Humans only had tongues inside their mouths. Myconids tend to avoid direct sunlight and prefer to make their living spaces inside lightly damp and well-covered areas. Unlike many other species, the amount of Myconids who are capable of living a sub-aquatic or even amphibious lifestyle is close to zero. Most Myconids are susceptible to drowning in even the shallowest of pools, and thus tend to avoid bodies of water like the plague. ==== Attitude Towards Humanity ==== The Myconid attitude towards Humanity varies entirely depending on the sentiment of the particular network, or even local group, that a given spore was born to. Perhaps the only widely applicable fact is that Myconids do not tend to feel as if they owe anything to Humanity in the same way that most other Kingdoms do --- the mycelium reigned ‘afore them, and now does, once more, thereafter. ==== Attitude Towards Other Kingdoms ==== === Triffids === The Myconids have always held more of an amiability for their [[triffids|once-rooted brethren]] than for the animals and machines whom have always been ambulatory; and some Triffids can understand the spore-language that Myconids speak instinctually. Dead Triffids can be consumed by the Network without issue, and generally have a light, pleasing flavour and texture. === Smarties === The vast kingdom of [[smarties|Animalia]] has prompted many responses from the Myconids over the years --- broadly considered to be far too fast-moving and capricious by most of the larger Networks, Myconids and Animalkind have a testy relationship. This being said, the many different clades of dead animals have by far the largest variety of tastes to appeal to; and serve as ideal nourishment for any local Networks. === The Emulated === Whilst copper wiring and mycelial root are, fundamentally, not too dissimilar, the Myconids are known to be a little smug that their rustic, biological Networks have apparently outlasted the [[the emulated|Machines]]’ silicon interweb. The Emulated are almost entirely improcessible to the Networks’ stomachs, and the taste, even if attempted, is awful. ===== Creating a Myconid ===== Myconids usually have a wide, heavy ‘cap’ that conceals and shields the majority of their more important sensory organelles. Some also have features below these caps - upon the ‘head’ - that resemble eyes, mouths, lips, and hair. Beyond this, most of their body is just thick, spongy plectenchyma that doesn’t taste very good. Myconids have no set body plan. It is, however, considered somewhat gauche by most Networks to too closely ape the bipedal signature of Humanity, so most opt to grow their forms in quadro-, hexo-, or octopedal footprints --- that is to say, four, six, or eight-legged. ==== Character Inspirations ==== * An eager linguist, seeking to ease communicable woes between Myconids and other species. * A shifty iconoclast, looking to spy on the Fourth Place's network in order to conquer it some time in the future. * An epicurean gourmand, intent on sampling the nutrients of many a different kind of dead (or living) being. ==== Naming Conventions ==== > //Ten names is just too long, man.// > //I need all ten names to capture my magnanimity and beneficience. And length. The length is the point. A brief thing like you just wouldn't understand.// --- //A complaint filed from a participant in a small Network to a member of the Superstructure.// It is difficult to phonetically transcribe a Myconid’s name outside of the spore-lingua Myconids use to communicate with one another. The most easily translatable aspect of their naming schema is that a ‘name’, linguistically, to a Myconid, is always about the same length. When spoken or written, then, a Myconid’s name is, barring extreme exceptions, always six letters long, and no more than three syllables. Outside of this, there are no limits. More traditionalist Myconids will tend to select sounds that they enjoy saying, whereas humanophiles like to cheekily name themselves after nouns and adjectives in the ancient languages. Whilst each individual name is bound to their language’s strict schema, a Myconid may opt to use as many of these names as they like for their full name. Most opt for one or two, although more self-absorbed Myconids have been known adopt up to six. Examples: Lowell, Tenxiu, Archas, Ippyeo, Vandal, Sticky, Burrow, Gnomes, Isaiah, Mickey, Dashev, Meydas. ===== NPCs ===== ^NPC^Pronouns^Description^Physrep^ | Violin Radius Crania | it/they | Myconid | De-facto leader of the Hominists at the Fourth Place. It claims to be able to communicate with humans, read their language, and appease them in perfectly specific ways. | Scarf | |Kapaak|they/them|Myconid|A daredevil explorer. Tends to be somewhat reckless, and often comes back with significant looking injuries, often covered in ‘blood’. Likes to push themself to their limit.|TBD| setting/myconids.txt Last modified: 2026/10/17 14:03by gm_kris