Bronzecap Mushroom

A deadly mushroom with toxic magic that can lead to metal cravings, premonitions, and bronzification.

This article is currently a WIP! What would you like to see added to it?

Overview

Bronzecap mushrooms are a harmful species of fungi due to their toxic based magic to lure living creatures to touch or eat them so that they can perish and become hosts for further growth.
Their influence causes unsuspecting beings to panic their way into dark overhangs, tree roots, or caves where the mushrooms grow and inflict a strong craving of metal which can cause them to pick up or eat the fungus.

Bronzecap poisoning

Cravings of metal

Inhaling nearby spores in the air causes a strange and sudden craving for metal. You may find yourself absent-mindedly reaching into your pocket (or someone else's) for coins, or raise a ring on your finger to your mouth, maybe you even feel the need to carry your pocket knife sideways between your teeth like depictions of pirates climbing up the sides of ships. The craving isn't to eat metal, but you feel an overwhelming need to be in as much contact with it as possible, as soon as you can.

Premonitions

If you inhale the spores for too long, you begin developing strong premonitions and feelings of uneasiness, as if something really, really terrible is about to happen.
You want to run,
you want to stand your ground,
you want to hide,
to prepare,
for what?
Who knows, but it's coming, and you want to be ready for whatever it might be.

Bronzification

With your intense craving for metal, it's incredibly hard to resist touching the bronzecap mushrooms. They have an unmistakably metallic surface that looks (unsurprisingly) a lot like bronze.
Touching them is harmless, but... what if you bit one? Y'know, to see if it was really metal or not? Would it taste like metal? This might be the last chance you get to eat anything...
Unfortunately when the bronzecap is ingested or enters the bloodstream through open wounds, it causes living matter to turn into a feeding ground for the fungi, allowing it to spread and cause fatal damage to vital organs. The body is slowly taken over and turns bronzelike in appearence.

Uses

Some cultures use bronzecap mushrooms as a ritualistic and spiritual form of preservation for their dead. The fungi forms a "natural statue" of the deceased before growing into an unrecognisable form or decaying back into the soil.

Contents

Related articles
Bronzecap poisoning
Species by Magic Type
Magic