Amanita Ophio
Amanita Ophio (they/them) is a character played by Hal in the Whirring in the Woods one-shot. They are an aasimar (necrotic shroud) circle of spored druid, with the Sentient Substrate background.
Description
Amanita Ophio, in their body as of 264 AL, is a 5'11", gaunt, tired-looking Aasimar with grey skin and fungal growths all over their body. Red, spotted mushroom caps sprout up through their matted, roughly 5" long dark green hair. Their dark, solid black eyes with grey pupils are sunken into their head, but they have a bit of an inherent shine and light, glinting even when there is no apparent light source for them to reflect. White freckles dot their face. They wear short-sleeved hides to reveal shelves of brown fungal shelves growing out perpendicular to their arms. They are dirty head-to-toe, unable to bathe without harming themselves, but their clothes are clean and well-maintained. Amanita tends to be cautious about revealing details about themselves to others, as the reality of their existence tends to unnerve or fully frighten people who learn that they *are* a fungus, not just covered in it. This does not make them fully reserved, though, as only spending 7 years as a humanoid creature still leaves lots of room for new experiences and learning. If they have a question that Byron can't answer, they will not hesitate to ask. They love trying new foods, particularly anything that involves fermentation or other microbiologic processes as part of their creation. They have difficulty understanding how to act in typical social situations, though, and may act awkwardly. It doesn't help that they speak with some difficulty, owing to the fact that they are controlling their speech by way of a whole other creature's nervous system. Amanita is very confident in their ability to navigate the Redwillow and feels most comfortable there. To their recollection, they had never left it prior to joining with Byron, and they treat it with the sense of duty, loyalty, and protectiveness that one might have toward a hometown. Byron is very easygoing, happy with and in perpetual awe of the experience of being a passenger in his own body. He gets along with Amanita and constantly tries to help them and offer advice, whether or not it's solicited. When expressing his thoughts in words, he acts like an archetypal stoner. He has a keen interest in the use of psychoactive substances, even though Amanita doesn't quite get the same things out of them that he does.Backstory
Byron was a novice of a Circle of the Land druid enclave that encountered a diminishing, unique fungal colony in the Redwillow. After a decent amount of telepathic conversation, Byron was convinced of the fungus’s benign intent and offered to act as a host, as aasimar biology (necrotic damage resistance) seemed likely to be able to sustain it indefinitely. So Byron did what seemed sensible and inhaled as many spores as he could, then ingested the fungus. You could call it an infestation or symbiosis, but once the fungus took hold, it took control of Byron entirely and became a Circle of Spores druid. While not in control, Byron is still capable of independent, conscious thought, and offers advice on things such as magic, interacting with humanoids, and eating food instead of breaking down decaying matter. Upon returning to the enclave, Byron and the fungus found that the elders were disturbed by and distrustful of their presence. The elders called an emergency session of their council that night, which Byron was not allowed to attend. Anxiously, the pair occupied themselves in the library, browsing a mycology book and cobbling together a name the fungus could use for themselves: Amanita Ophio. After three hours of debate, the elders made the decision to eject Byron from the enclave. Amanita gathered as many of Byron's belongings as they could and wandered into the Redwood, making camp and consoling Byron through a restless night. If the exsiting enclave would not accept them, they concluded, they would have to form their own. Byron already had interest but little expertise in mycology, composting, and other matters of natural decay. Wanting to explore this more, and with Amanita's vested interest in the topic, they decided they wanted to form an enclave with these activities as its focus. They had a long way to go, though. They needed expertise. They needed a location. They needed interested participants. And, most of all, Amanita needed to get used to being humanoid. From there, they began to wander the land around the Redwillow, seeking information, resources, and allies, until news of missing persons and strange sounds from the woods brought them to defend Amanita's home.Trivia
- Amanita will periodically forget to keep their conversations with Byron inside their head, asking him questions or responding to his remarks out loud without regard for who's listening.
- Byron does not remember his last name. For reasons neither of them understand, it was lost when Amanita took control.
- Hal made a picrew of Amanita, seen here
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