Happy Place
Happy Place is the common name for a group of edible, psychotropic mushrooms harvested from the deep, volcanic caves of Eden—most commonly those in The Nunyan Wastes.
Properties
Material Characteristics
Like all edible mushrooms, Happy Place mushrooms are the fleshy fruitbodies of fungi. They have stems and gilled caps and come in an enticing array of colors, just like normal mushrooms. But where Happy Place mushrooms stand apart is in their bioluminescence. These suckers glow, and they glow bright—much to the delight of the farmers who harvest them in the dark caverns that these things call home. There’s no need for a torch or a flashlight when hunting Happy Place.
Unless you choose to pick a spot clean in one fell swoop, that is. The bioluminescence ends the moment each mushroom is plucked from the ground, after all. So maybe leave at least one mushroom in its place to light your way back out of the cave, huh?
Geology & Geography
Though Happy Place mushrooms can theoretically be found anywhere regular mushrooms grow, they seem to vastly prefer the conditions within the deep underground caverns beneath The Nunyan Wastes. They thrive in warm, humid environments.
History & Usage
History
It is believed by the Saints of Sam Hill that Happy Place mushrooms came to be when the goddess River left the responsibility for the land of Eden to her sister (the goddess for whom the land was named). Only the combination of Eden’s warmth and River’s moisture, say the Saints, could possibly have created the magic within each Happy Place.
Scientists have confirmed the presence of high concentrations of The Waters of the River Without End within the flesh of each piece of Happy Place, which they believe is the source of both the mushrooms’ bioluminescence and their psychotropic properties.
Everyday use
Happy Place mushrooms have two equally common uses. First, they are consumed as a recreational drug. And second: cooked specimens, whose psychotropic properties are considerably reduced, are used in mushroom ketchups and sauces—most notably as a topping on the popular Nunyan dish called yeti spaghetti.
Hazards
Consumption of uncooked Happy Place can be addictive—and anecdotal evidence suggests it is a hard habit to kick. That said, no one knows for sure how hard it might be to stop. That’s thanks to Happy Place lobbyists throughout Eden putting the kibosh on any and all studies dedicated to understanding the drug and its effects.
Yay, mushrooms! Bioluminescent mushrooms! I like the idea that they are less potent when they are cooked, that's a fun detail. Mushroom ketchup sounds delicious. :)
Yay! I'm so glad you got to see this. I had a sapient "mushroom people" article on my list of things to write too, but I think that'll just have to wait for Worldember.