Lúsmorl

General introduction

The Lúsmorl is a fungus that is widespread in all of Samthôs subterranean areas. This includes caves and tunnels and old mining shafts as well as the subterranean realm. In many environments it is a major or the only source of light. Lúsmorl are a sort of bracket fungus that grows on walls and breaks away the rock to consume the contained minerals to sustain itself. The colour of it's glow depends on the rock it's attached to, ranging from a cool white to a greenish or yellowish. Their glowing colour also influences their environment as different light colours foster different forms of plant life.

Typical biocoenoses

Depending on the light colour of the Lúsmorl colonies the plant communities depending on their light can be quite different from one another. Furthermore not all subterranean plants are distributed evenly across planet and Lúsmorl may not be the only source of light in a given environment. Thus, for the sake of simplicity, only biocoenoses depending on Lúsmorl alone will be discussed here and only in a very generalised way.

White light biocoenoses:

These are the biocoenoses having plant life most similar to that on the surface. In fact these biocoenoses are typical for caves, tunnels and mines not connected to the subterranean realm and have a comparable array of plant species as live around the opening, though it's only the less sun loving plants. Thus there are often plant societies made up of ferns, mosses or shrubs and vines and grasses that normally make up the undergrowth of forests. In moist or wet environments there can also be a substantial growth of algae. Likewise the animal communities in white light biocoenoses resemble that of the surrounding surface area. Naturally larger animals, especially predators, are far more rare, but there can be a complete array of animals in some of the most spacious of there environments. Due to the lack of UV light only nocturnal reptile species can survive here.

Green light biocenoeses:

As surface plants reflect off the green light and thus appear green, plants that live in green light biocoenoses have different colours. As the plants underwent some evolutionary pressure to live in such environments and the subterranean areas are mostly isolated from one another, plants in green light biocoenoses have gone two ways. In one case they have become very dark as to collect as much light as possible with their basic colour being brownish-reddish, like black tea. In the other case the plants look yellow, like wilting surface plants although they are perfectly healthy. In the second case the environment is still quite bright and provides for a plant and animal community similar to that of white light biocoenoses. In the first case the make-up of the communities is drastically different as those caves and caverns tend to be very dark and gloomy. Most of the wildlife consists of invertebrates, normally nocturnal animals and forms of animals that underwent evolutionary changes as to be better adapted to the special requirements these biocoenoses offer.

Yellow light biocoenoses:

The yellow light biocoenoses only come in one flavour resembling the darker version of the green light biocoenoses a lot. What's different though is the base colour of the very dark plants which leans towards a purplish blue. With the environment overall being very dark the animal life is comparable to that of the darker version of the green light biocoenosis.

Examples of special adaptions to Lúsmorl biocoenoses

As opposed to the surface there is no day-night-cycle in subterranean areas. The same is of course true for environments sustained by Lúsmorl colonies. This favours smaller animals in these areas as they can more easily find shelter from the light under stones, leafs or in small cracks, nooks and crevices. In the brighter Lúsmorl sustained communities there are also forms of cave dwarfism with some deer or bovine species. Mammalian predators in caves are almost exclusively solitarily living smaller animals like martens or weasels that have evolved into distinct forms. These can, due to cave gigantism, be larger than their surface relatives, while subterranean bear species tend to be rather smaller than the surface species they stem from.

In the dark version of the green and the yellow light biocoenoses there are often highly specialised bats, some of which underwent cave gigantism and have grown to big sizes and partly evolved into flightless animals. Invertebrates, too, seem to profit from these environments and underwent cave gigantism as well. Liveforms other than the Lúsmorl have also often evolved some form of bioluminescence for a wide variety of purposes.

Interactions with other species

The Lúsmorl are a major source of light in most of the areas they live in. Many life forms living with them are depending on them directly or indirectly. Of course many subterranean plants rely on their light for photosynthesis but there are also animals feeding on Lúsmorl. One notable example is the lava flatworm that got its name from its black and red colouration. This animal it known to have caused the collapse of complete cave ecosystems by eating up all the Lúsmorl. This happens especially in the brighter biocoenoses as they sometimes don't house natural predators to the flatworm. In the other types of biocoenoses either some bats, insects or isopods hold the flatworms at bay.

Some of the bat species that retained the ability to fly also became bioluminescent and hide between the Lúsmorl. The same is true for numerous invertebrates. Some predators eat Lúsmorl to incorporate their bioluminescent cells into their bodies and use them in various forms for hunting.

Consumption and use

The Lúsmorl is not considered edible for beings possessing the Gift of Reason. Though not poisonous it has a bitter taste and leaves a dusty or pelty feeling in the mouth. These properties cannot be altered by curing the mushroom in any way. On the other hand the Lúsmorl can be used as a light source for spelunking or during the night. It can also illuminate houses. A major problem is its durability as the Lúsmorl only stays fresh for two to three days. It is also extremely susceptible to UV lighting and exposure to the sun or any other source of UV light will make it deteriorate almost instantaneously.

The most common use of Lúsmorl is in alchemy where it is used in a lot of different concoctions and has a wide variety of applications. The mushroom does not have to be fresh for all the alchemical uses and can indeed be made non-perishable by drying, brining, dry-salting or pickling. The Lúsmorls alchemical properties change depending on the way they are cured. They also lose their sensitivity to UV light after being cured. One very well known and simple alchemical recipe is a skin-whitening ointment, which contains Lúsmorl as the main ingredient besides 9 other ingredients, most of which are easily obtainable and the mixing is independent from the lunar cycle or planetary cycles. This recipe is known almost all over eastern Erana and Auchulpa and probably also on Emniyama.

The Lúsmorl in culture

The Lúsmorl is an important part of some societies' culture as for those who dwell underground it may be the only or an important source of light and thus is an object of veneration for some. There are Kubolen who even believe the Lúsmorl were crafted by the gods to encourage and enable an underground lifestyle.