Mycondia

My, what a lovely set of mushrooms

Mycondia is home to the myconids of Arborea, a race of sentient fungi that contains numerous identifiable species. Myconida occupies a large portion of the Western Plateau, with its various colonies set amongst the jagged karsts and deep-set hills in the centre of the plateau, where the various colonies live in over-grown steamy jungles full of unusual vegetation that appears nowhere else in the realm. Myconida is a dark realm-within-a-realm, covered in strange coloured mists where strangers often wander (or are led) into deadly natural traps. Unlike the other swampy areas of Arborea, most noticeably the Dragonlands, the 'sun' is rarely sighted in Mycondia, though the bright and lurid illuminations cast by massive fungi can provide sufficient substitution. Thos who have travelled through the Gloom Realm all note the same thing - that everything appears alive and connected....

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Colonies, colonising

.. which it is.
Mycondia is one giant collective mind, difficult as that concept may be to apply to something that spread and apparently full of individual fungi who are remarkablely social. Mycondia is a fungi neural network whose colonies operate as different parts, and often functions, of the same central stem. This neural network lies over the natural landscape and produces a variety of different fungi for different functions. Some are climate regulators, some reproducers, some landscape shapers and caretakers, others purpose built alarms or spore traps. Many are symbiotes for the local creatures, beasts and native vegetation, long co-opted by the fungi to live in harmony. Mycondia regulates it's own needs based on a range of internal and external factors.
The most notable myconids are those that mimic humanoids and are grown with the gift for shared speech. Many inexperienced travelers assume these are the inhabitants of Mycondia, with other functions reduced to furniture, decorations, or form-grown mushrooms. In fact, the mobile myconids are the least numerous of the species within the Gloom Realm and often have far shorter life-spans than the remaining functions of the network.

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Bet there's a mushroom for that

Mycondia needs little from the 'outside' world and, until the Aborean War, was thought to be largely oblivious to other realm events. However, as the War started in earnest and prior to the visit by the First Cohort, Mycondia expanded expotentially, as if the network had chosen natural chokepoints to prevent outside interference of invasion. This didn't stop the Rule of the Essetrex, but did serve to, paradoxically, bring the realm's attention to this once ignored part of the land.
Since the War, Mycondia has seemingly acceded to regular visitors from interesting parties. In particular, the growth of the fungal medicinal and arcane ingredient industry, championed by the Spawn of Yhagrex, sees constant trade between the two political powers to the extent that many now consider the Gloom Realm to be the de facto fourth power structure in Arborea.
While overtures made by the Owena and Touched have resulted in initial expeditions to exchange trade goods, the diplomatic success of the Yhagrex Horde is considered a result of their surprising similar physiological heritages. Arborean dragons, like the myconids, have a low-grade shared connectivity within their brood, making dragons a distant cousin of the myconids, unlike Arborean or non-Arborean fae and others. Additionally, both dragons and myconids consider the eating of their peoples an offensive suggestion and barbaric act. Fair really.

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Wait til you see the cellar

Like many other regions, the surface of Mycondia is only the beginning. The neural network extends far below the aboveground landscape and stretches for an extent if not larger than the surface area, then certainly something approaching the same size. Given the drastic change between the above- and below-ground locations in Mycondia, the flora and fauna also differs greatly, with new symbiotes between fungi and underterran creatures producing some bizarre and horrifying combinations.
Undeground Mycondia - often called Undercondia - is, like many isolated and hard to reach locations in Arborea, the subject of ceaseless rumours regarding secret extra-planar passages or tunnels that cross the Veil. Some doggedly insist mycnoids to be an introduced species to Arborea, arriving via these apparent planar gaps. Several known expeditions have set out with the express purpose of verifying these rumours with none returning. A sure sign of success.... or abject failure. Like many things in the addled surrounds of Mycondia, nothing can be taken for granted.

t

"Yep, been there, far as I remember. Gloomy place, so fulla mist you can't see not more than two axeheads in front'ya, until theys want you to be dazzled and blinded, then-bam!-have ten-foot pink mushy pulsing flaming colours so heavy they imprint ya brain. And the singing. Urliant's low-hanging nuts, where to start!? Angelic, demonic, and everythin' inbetween. Harmonies ta make ya cry for mumma, then-bam!-key change and their howlin' and catwhaulin' like you just killed mumma mushy and she's crawlin' up through the entire hillside to drag you under. Lotsa good smoke though. How boy, was there ever. Good times."
- Bogart Looms, dwarven explorer and sometimes partaker of herbal intoxicants, oral recollection

Alternative Name(s)

The Gloom Realm; Undercondia

Related Historical Events

• Circa Firetend 2PS
  Subsumption of the Essetrex

Type
Fungal Realm;
Intrusive Species

Rule of the Essetrex

The Essetrex was, as far as anyone could tell, a Shadowfae member of the Court of Eyes, likely highly placed. Whether sent or volunteered, the Essetrex infiltrated Mycondia and - somehow - manipulated the neural network into over-production of fungal defense, with the likely ultimate goal of Corrupting the Gloom Realm and adding an aggressive Mycondia to Court forces.
The visit of the First Cohort is credited with alerting the neural network to outside influences, though not in quite the heroic manner often espoused. In fact, events surrounding the downfall of the Essetrex has been largely extrapolated by studies of the snippets provided by The Great Betrayer, La'had Shadow Consort regarding the First Cohort's visit. In his (piecemeal) version, the repeated attempts by the First Cohort to communicate with defense fungi provided Mycondia with a baseline alien enough to similarly identify the presence of another alien presence within its core functions - the Essetrex. The battle in which the First Cohort participated was likely only an aboveground sideshow compared with the true underground and internal battle.
In any case, the Essetrex now possesses a rare distinction among the Court of Eyes leadership - she still lives... in a manner of speaking. Recognising her natural pussiance, Mycondia overcame her resistance and subsumed her into it's network, anointing her centralised brain stem as an organising function of Mycondia's acquired arcane abilities. If tales of Mycondia's would-be conqueror are to be believed, it's an extreme lesson in being careful what you wish for.

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