Manitari

"Of all the children of the Elfblight, only the manitari can truly be said to be thriving."
~Archmage Dulacar, A History
The manitari are a species of sentient, humanoid fungus. They are sometimes referred to as ‘half-myconid,’ though this is not an accurate description and the two races are entirely unrelated. They are descended from victims of the Elfblight unleashed by the elves in the Year 606

Physical Description

There are three general varieties of manitari: Van, hess, and cree.
Van-manitari are proportioned as and have the rough appearance of humans, though they tend to be thinner. Their skin ranges from pale white to coal black, and can be colored orange, yellow, brown or red. A few are blue, and this is considered a beautiful color among the manitari. There may be a solid color, or the color with white spots or rings. Their hair either has the texture of fungal strands or is replaced by a glossy mushroom cap. These manitari are the result of manitari-human pairings.
Hess-manitari look fully human, dwarf, goblinoid or elvish except fruiting bodies of fungus grow from their skins, often at strange or awkward angles. Uneducated or inexperienced provincials sometimes have the impression that hess-manitari are victims of disease, but this is not true. These are the result of manitari-humanoid (but not human) pairings.
Cree-manitari (sometimes called 'pureblood manitari') appear as humanoid mushrooms. Their skins are nut-brown to pale white, usually show little in the way of features, and their heads are capped with glossy mushroom caps.
In all cases, they have internal organs like humans, though their blood is a translucent brown fluid and their organs do not beat, are more rigid, and fulfill slightly different but analogous roles to that of regular humans. They have a skeleton made from particularly rigid fungal matter, and what it loses in strength it makes up for with flexibility. They have two large u-shaped teeth, one on top and the other on bottom, that slowly regenerate from wear.
They display the same sexual dimorphism of their human ancestors, though this is mainly a relic, as they reproduce differently.

Biology

Manitari are an ambulatory fungus. Their veins and arteries do the work of pushing their blood fluid unrelated to the ‘heart,’ which is actually a nerve cluster of sorts that regulates the vessels. Every organ is similarly altered, creating a biology that was difficult at first for healers to learn and catalog.

Manitari primarily eat nuts, though this is more of a cultural than a biological preference. They also often raise sheep for wool and meat, and many manitari work private gardens as part of their devotion to recycling. Despite their preferences, the manitari can eat and drink anything humans can, though alcohol causes mild hallucinations rather than a drunk condition. This is not typically a deterrent.

Manitari reproduction is very strange to outside observers. They can mate with any creature, though most prefer their own kind. After a night basking in each other’s’ spores, they have transferred enough material to produce children, which they will not do in their own lifetimes. When the manitari die, they rapidly dissolve into a puddle over the course of three days, from which arises a bed of mold. From this mold, new manitari sprout up for six weeks, at which time they have reached a height of around two or three feet. Every mating partner of the manitari’s life produces one to four children from this bed, with traits and personalities borrowed from both parents. The children instinctively seek out the nearest grove and are raised and educated communally.

Relations

Manitari enjoy being around other races. They freely trade with most races, though they do hold resentment towards elves and goblinoids due to their history, and they have a deep cultural distaste for undead (including necropolitans). There is a booming market for selling old books and relics to the manitari. Anywhere manitari can be found, there will be a grove nearby. These groves are generally loyal subjects of the canton in which they are founded, though they cut themselves off in order to better protect and teach the young that seek them out. Adult manitari don't necessarily live inside the grove. In fact, only the oldest tend to while they care for the children, with the adults striking out and exploring.

Adventurers

Manitari tend to be rogues, druids, or mages, though manitari mages avoid fire spells as a rule. Manitari mages are most often diviners.

Naming Traditions

Unisex names

Surhewz, Cıtêr, Xasê, Pılemorij, Bedew, Bamasuran, Elida, Erganıj, Zerda, Kurêşan, Gulsım, Abasan, Hıtan, Gulaban, Rojgul, Hênij, Gulşen, Hırhan, Sısıkê, Alan, Cınde, Goşkar, Dehar, Hırhan, Gandar, Kulapi, Wes, Licokıj, Zano, Karker, Serdar, Cıtêr, Feryad, Babıj, Şewqi, Hayıg, Munzır, Zerdoğ, Asanwar, Mamıkan

Family names

Manitari can be adopted into regular human clans, or they often take the name of their grove.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Manitari speak common natively, but they can commune with each other in a rudimentary way through their spore clouds.

Culture and cultural heritage

Manitari groves are elderocracies, led by the oldest. The manitari automatically arrange their social rank by age as an ingrained cultural trait. The hundred oldest manitari in a grove are known as the Elder Em, the title of Em being a great and nearly holy rank. Ems employ a bureaucracy to pass down their decrees, which are enforced by a militia known as the Pale Guard. Roughly 2-5% of any enclave is made up of the Pale Guard.
Groves are the population centers of the manitari. Groves are usually ensconced in ruins or degraded slums, where they seek to recycle, rebuild and revitalize it. Archaeology is a natural obsession with the manitari, and Archaeologist is a common profession.

Shared customary codes and values

Manitari are communally minded, eschewing individuality and honoring self-sacrifice.

Common Etiquette rules

Manitari respect their elders first and foremost.

Common Dress code

Manitari make their clothing out of large cultivated mushrooms in their groves. Mushroom cap hats and fungal fiber tunics are common sights.

Art & Architecture

Manitari groves are often built up from ruins. The cycle of life and death in these places is carefully tended and encouraged. As such, these places have trees less than a hundred years old that can be hollowed out into mansions, semi-sentient bramblethorn defensive walls, and towering mushrooms that reach halfway the height of the massive trees. The air can be problematic for those visitors with allergies or breathing problems, as there is always some sort of spore in the air. All of the architecture of the manitari is designed to blend in with this landscape, with giant mushroom homes and treehouses hanging just inside the canopy.
Manitari art tends to be natural: floral designs and fungal cultures. Pigments are derived from nature, and scenes depicting natural landscapes or simply wild color patterns are popular.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Manitari tend to be ancestor-worshippers, with their clerics representing the Grave, Life, and Knowledge domains. They are otherwise prone to worship of either Scarroh or Vhara of the Fields in her role as scion of renewal.

Coming of Age Rites

Manitari participate in the Oyna ( Becoming ) ritual, just as all human races do.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Manitari that wish to mourn their lost comrades do so with a wake involving a wild party.

Common Taboos

Selfishness and undeath are anathema to manitari culture.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Manitari beauty usually comes down to coloration and patterns, though tastes are highly individualized.

Gender Ideals

Manitari gender is largely vestigial, a remnant of their human ancestors that has little bearing on their procreation and only sometimes an impact on their identity.

Courtship Ideals

Ideally, manitari courtships don't last more than a week before intimacy. They will spend a month or so with a partner, then part ways.

Relationship Ideals

Manitari do not usually form romantic bonds, and their trysts tend to be short. They tend to view the number and quality of romantic partners as an important part of their legacy.

Manitari

Ability Score Increase +2 Intelligence, +1 Constitution

Size Medium

Speed 30ft

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Ability Scores: Intelligence +2, Constitution +1

Skills: Manitari choose two of the following skills: Insight, Investigation, History, or Arcana.

Spore Cloud : Manitari are constantly surrounded by a 15 foot cloud of nearly invisible spores. By default, the manitari is at the center of the cloud, and it will follow them 1 turn after any movement. The manitari can take a move action and direct the cloud intentionally to move 10 feet per round in any direction, though they must remain within the cloud in order for their bodies to replenish the spores as they constantly die and are replaced. If the cloud remains out of contact for 3 rounds, it dissipates and the manitari must take a full rest to replenish it.
The spore cloud has several effects.
-The manitari has advantage to any attacks made on any enemy within the spore cloud.
-The manitari can communicate silently with any creature within the spore cloud.
-As an action, the manitari can focus the spores to infest an enemy or an ally. They can add or subtract 2 to any ability score of that creature. This can be resisted by a Constitution save DC 8+the manitari’s constitution modifier. Likewise, they can also bestow advantage or disadvantage to any roll. These adjustments last a maximum of 6 rounds, or until the target leaves the cloud. The spore cloud dissipates until the manitari takes a short rest.
-As an action, the manitari can rejuvenate an ally. By focusing their effort, they can allow an ally to roll a hit dice to recover exactly as if they had a short rest. The spore cloud dissipates until the manitari takes a short rest.
-The manitari can focus any spell with a range of ‘Touch’ into the cloud, transferring it to any creature in contact with the spore cloud. Afterward, the spore cloud dissipates until the manitari finishes a long rest.
If the manitari has no spore cloud, they grow tired and sluggish. They add one level of exhaustion, which cannot be returned until they once again generate their spore cloud.
Vulnerability (Fire): The manitari takes double damage from fire effects. If the manitari takes any fire damage, their spore cloud ignites, doing an extra 2 fire damage to them and any creature within the cloud, which then dissipates until they finish a long rest.

Languages. Common