Wrought Mushrooms

Wrought Mushrooms are fungi native to Terr'Aina. Despite the usual first impression being that these fungi thrive off of "rot", Wrought Mushrooms are actually names after their flesh's similar appearance to wrought iron. Appropriately, this texture and appearance is also due to intense heat, although for the Wrought Mushroom, this heat originates within. Wrought Mushrooms filter air for dusty and flammable particles, using them to generate heat to break down any organic material they grow upon. This unique usage of heat is very similar to combustion, and is said to have inspired similar Magi-Mechanical engines.

Wrought Mushrooms are actually extremely useful. Their diet of dust and debris makes them natural air purifiers, and the heat and light they emit is also useful, and can even be "stoked" similarly to a furnace. While the exterior skin of a Wrought Mushroom is naturally hard, if one manages to pry or break it open, the Wrought Mushroom's meat can also be eaten safely and is considered quite delicious. Wrought Mushrooms are also very hard to consume by most creatures, and have little difficulty propagating in some areas. However, this can make them hazardous, especially when in areas such as libraries or wood buildings.

An old man in Hon-shu of Xian told me this - before there were engines, there were Wrought Mushrooms. Dunno what he meant by that, though. -Rook's Guide to the Realms