Fungal Imps
Fungus imps are a key creature of Kauuvatti culture. Born of a wistorm long ago, the first fungus imp was a lucky little being, and was able to live long enough to leave its spores in the bark of the trees in a thick forest.
From each collection of spores, new imps formed, leaching the energy from the trees until they were big enough to uproot and spread themselves further.
They are surprisingly non-violent for wistbeasts, lacking any mouth, teeth, claws, or horns. Instead they cause mischief, venturing in the underbrush and through the shadows in search of Wistmettle.
If they only had other wistbeasts to harvest, and had to hunt to survive, they surely would have quickly starved and gone extinct.
Instead, they found good access to wistmettle in the human villages. A parasitic relationship initially formed, with imps sneaking into the settlements and stripping away the mettle and making off.
The humans showed curiosity to the strange cute creatures, who they assumed were not wistbeasts due to their vast numbers and intelligence, a combination of traits not normally seen in wistbeasts.
Nowadays the relationship has balanced, with @Kauuvattians leaving wistmettle at their shrines, as an offering to the imps, and the imps providing protection from other wistbeasts that would encroach on the land.
The fungal imps were also the main reason that Emperor Mingus' army had to stop their expansion to the west. They hampered his armies which were built for grassland warfare, and not forest battles.
Basic Information
Anatomy
They are a stumpy white and brown mottled lump, with a flared top and small legs and arms.
Genetics and Reproduction
They reproduce asexually, and are technically all a single organism. They infect trees with their spores and the spawn saps the life from the tree in order to grow.
Growth Rate & Stages
When they first uproot themselves from the bark, they are only 8 centimeters in diameter. They will grow their entire life, reaching up to 45 centimeters in diameter before they become to big to sustain themselves.
Ecology and Habitats
Warm, deciduous forests are the natural habitat for the fungal imp, which requires plenty of warmth, shade, and humidity to stay in top condition. However, they can only set their spores in the trees of the area, and so cannot spread any further than the forests they are native to.
Dietary Needs and Habits
They require plenty of food and water, and once they reach a certain size they begin to collect shavings of wistmettle to sustain their existence.
Biological Cycle
In the winter, they sleep in deep burrows and sever most of their sensing tendrils. Once the winter is over they are at their most active, traveling about dozens of paths relaying their tendrils for the coming year.
Additional Information
Domestication
Domestic fungal imps can grow to be very large and very old, so long as there is enough wistmettle provided. Usually kept as a luxury pet, it provides simple companionship and are remarkably soft once they get comfortable with being touched.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The flesh makes for a good supplementary food, and is a venerated part of Kauuvattian culture. Due to their sacred nature, it is of the highest taboo to hunt the fungal imps. When a corpse is discovered of natural causes, it is usually an imp that laid itself to rest by a shrine and starved to death. The rituals call for a clean dissection, collection of all wistmettle in the creature, and the removal and consumption of the cap.
Average Intelligence
The fungal imp has a great sense of direction and time, and can hold some very long grudges, but struggles with object manipulation or complex planning.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
They observe through small tendrils they extend and leave behind everywhere, which when overlapped connect the senses of multiple fungi. The end result is a forest wide network of awareness, where every single imp knows the moment a foot is set on their territory.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Humans - The fugal imp is provided with a reliable source of wistmettle, and in return the forests are kept safe and clear of all threats.
Lifespan
2-5 years in the wild
Average Height
35-60 centimeters
Average Weight
5-8kgs
Average Physique
They are very weak, and rarely find need to use what little strength they have.
Related Ethnicities
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I love this one! Are there many examples of domesticated Fungal Imps living outside their traditional home? Either as pets or as an exclave colony that was somehow established? Is there any ablity for them to talk/communicate with humans or other Wistbeasts? Regardless the thought of stepping into an old growth forrest full of little mushroom kodama is fantastic.
As mentioned above, they are sometimes kept as exotic pets. To make an exclave colony would require someone to make a grove with the same old growth trees of their native land, which has not been done by anyone yet. Few people are even aware of the sporing and growth of the Fungal imps, due to their small nature when first sprouting, and their protective nature of the youngest. They lack any ears or mouth, and so would be bad for conversation. In fact, because their only sensory organ is the mycelium they trail behind them, they have nearly no ability to communicate outside their species.