Linta
Shaman Queen Linta Petaladot Hanson, The Mycelial Maiden
Very Few Primes May Be Magically Compelled Under Conventional Circumstances...
Even if their magical contracts were written perfectly and the summons to bring them to Ta Mando performed without a single flaw... a Prime may still scoff at their summoner's demands and leave if they so desire.
Some decide to promptly overthrow their would-be masters.
Many stay with their summoners and try to improve the lives of those who brought them to this world. Some Primes, However, Carry Out The First Request They Are Given Out Of Strict Courtesy And Then Simply Leave To Go On With Their Own Lives...
Linta Is One Such Prime A Child Of Prehistory Integrated Into A Hive Mind And Then Torn Away From It To Ta Mando By The Shift,
Linta Only Cares For Those Who Summoned Her So Much As Anyone Cares For Anyone Else.
Her Goals Are Her Own And Few, By Themselves, Can Stop Her From Reaching Them...
Even if their magical contracts were written perfectly and the summons to bring them to Ta Mando performed without a single flaw... a Prime may still scoff at their summoner's demands and leave if they so desire.
Some decide to promptly overthrow their would-be masters.
Many stay with their summoners and try to improve the lives of those who brought them to this world. Some Primes, However, Carry Out The First Request They Are Given Out Of Strict Courtesy And Then Simply Leave To Go On With Their Own Lives...
Linta Is One Such Prime A Child Of Prehistory Integrated Into A Hive Mind And Then Torn Away From It To Ta Mando By The Shift,
Linta Only Cares For Those Who Summoned Her So Much As Anyone Cares For Anyone Else.
Her Goals Are Her Own And Few, By Themselves, Can Stop Her From Reaching Them...
Divine Domains
Mushrooms & Other Fungus
Nature
Rulership
Power
Knowledge
Trees & Other Plants
Unity & Cooperation
History & Time
Innovation & Invention
Science
Hypernatural Nightmares
Nature
Rulership
Power
Knowledge
Trees & Other Plants
Unity & Cooperation
History & Time
Innovation & Invention
Science
Hypernatural Nightmares
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Tall even for a modern man, Linta is a towering, curvaceous figure of superhuman beauty and grace who can turn every head in the room simply by walking through the door; with stunningly long, well managed black hair, flawless golden brown skin, well manicured nails and striking green eyes.
Not just for looks, however, Linta is obviously extremely fit; with strong arms, glowing health, thick, muscular legs and a somewhat wider frame than even her height would otherwise dictate.
A seductive but strangely alien entity, Linta is both captivating and terrifying to look upon; a being with hideous power and a near perfect understanding of its possession. Usually Smiling... But ONLY Just...
Not just for looks, however, Linta is obviously extremely fit; with strong arms, glowing health, thick, muscular legs and a somewhat wider frame than even her height would otherwise dictate.
A seductive but strangely alien entity, Linta is both captivating and terrifying to look upon; a being with hideous power and a near perfect understanding of its possession. Usually Smiling... But ONLY Just...
Special abilities
Linta is beyond human in almost every way.
She is not only superior to the average human across all standard metrics... she isn't even made of the same stuff anymore!
While Linta was certainly born human, she wasn't even nine before she was turned into a Fungal Symbiote and force grown to the beautiful woman she is today.
And since her arrival in Ta Mando she has found her body changed even further!
Her skin, while soft to the touch like human flesh, hardens instantly when struck to take up a woodlike consistency.
Only when appreciable force is leveled against her does her flesh simply... GIVE under the assault; morphing around the intruding device and pushing it out or reforming away from it
Indeed Linta's entire body is completely diffuse and any shape it possesses is merely an illusion.
She is NOT a single, intact form but a mere avatar of the hive mind; composed of innumerable bits of fungal matter.
It IS assumed that the seat of her knowledge is or at least originally was stored somewhere within this avatar but if some "core" of her exists within it is apparent that even this may be regrown within the pools beneath Cardikest and all knowledge up until her Avatar's destruction is retained. While her dominion of The Mycelial Monarchy is not complete, it is a war that Linta is steadily winning.
Linta may assimilate any fungal matter she touches or infect plants and animals with her own personal brand of spores via mucous membranes or through consuming assimilated fungus.
While her spores are powerful and adapt regularly, a strong enough immune system can fight off individual infections and even grow temporary immunity.
While Immunity is not permanent, it does give at least a month of safety even in otherwise heavily sporulated areas.
Once successfully infected an individual takes about a week before being completely transformed by Linta's spores into a Fungal Symbiote. (We'll Come Up With A Cool Name Later...)
Once the transformation takes hold Linta's fungus completely integrates into the host body; sharpening their senses, improving their natural abilities, hardening their bodies to become functionally completely homogenous (Like Wood) and allowing them freedom from sleep or standard methods of breathing.
Symbiotes are outwardly identical to humans and require close investigation by medically qualified individuals to be diagnosed.
However, once fully transformed, Symbiotes cannot be separated from the Colony through any known circumstances.
If killed the personality and memories of a symbiote are held within the Colony's Hive Mind and chemical pods underneath Cardikest will rebuild their body; allowing them to live on just as they had before.
Perhaps more importantly, Fungal Symbiotes can instantly communicate with each other through the hive mind and even see through each other's eyes during combat situations if needed.
Linta can even tap into this network directly and possess any fully transformed symbiote whenever she likes.
Upon completion of the metamorphosis to Fungal Symbiote, Linta gains all memories, experience and skills from the transformed individual and is always aware of anything they consciously see, hear or otherwise process.
Importantly, members of the Colony are able to live their own lives and often wander about autonomously; doing whatever they would were they just living their daily lives.
The biggest social difference between normal humans and Linta's Symbiotes is that they do not speak to one another verbally; as they are not required to.
Linta MAY take over at any time but seldom does and all symbiotes have a natural inclination toward serving her so do not mind being briefly puppeted for the service of the colony at large. Linta can produce "Healing Fruits" from herself or any fungus that she's assimilated.
These mushrooms are shaped like typical, (If extremely consistent) wide capped, beige toadstools about two inches in diameter and two inches tall that grow in only a few seconds.
Eating these delightfully nutty, exceedingly mushroomy fruiting bodies grants the eater the feeling of a full stomach and a proper meal's worth of nutrients and calories.
More than that, these Healing Fruits quickly close wounds, stabilize heavy injuries and treat many ailments that the consumer may have. (Works Especially Well On Parasites!)
While Linta DOES produce these directly from her anatomy, they are not infectious by themselves and anyone may eat these Healing Fruits without worry of infection and assimilation into the Colony.
It would seem whatever differentiation occurs within the fruits themselves to make them so beneficial also eliminates whatever highly morphic spores are used to infect animals and plants. Linta is able to produce an extremely strong acid (normally from her hands) that can eat through human flesh and other substances quite easily.
While Linta herself can decide the potency of the acid she creates, at maximum strength she has been known to eat through boulders in minutes and can easily melt off a person's arm in a few short seconds of contact.
Suitably, Linta is also largely immune to any corrosive effects; able to produce even complex compounds within her own body and store them safely until they are otherwise needed! While all of this is quite impressive, even without her amazing fungal powers Linta would still be able to actively track bullets in flight and possesses reflexes capable of moving her out of the way in the time it takes for any bullet to reach her.
Strong enough to lift a small SUV paired with a capable education in both magic and psychic studies, Linta is a formidable opponent even at her weakest. Due to the nature of The Hive Mind, especially her presence in a much larger hive mind before coming to Ta Mando, Linta's mind goes beyond the superhuman and steps into the outright encyclopedic.
In coming from a much larger colony before this latest Shift, Linta is like a single Borg Drone separated from The Collective; possessing all of the skills and knowledge of every individual formerly in connection with her... and now gathering even more information through almost identical methods every day.
Because of this long history of integration with millions of functioning minds it would be realistic to assume that Linta possesses more knowledge than any single human ever could in a standard lifetime; the aggregate of her shared skills and experiences amounting to far more hours of study and practice than probably exist even in her greatly extended lifetime.
Furthermore, her wealth of skill and practice is the product all manner of different lifeforms; from ancient trees and fleeting insects to predator and prey alike to humans and monsters and GODS!
Linta is therefor able to see from far more perspectives than even many gods are able to take.
She is able to and regularly does process things in a completely alien fashion, unable to be easy predicted even by the most practiced of tacticians.
She never feels fear and is unable to be swayed by all but the most (Literally) divine speakers. While Linta hides many more abilities, these are the ones that people know about and lie as the foundation of her more well known powers.
She is not only superior to the average human across all standard metrics... she isn't even made of the same stuff anymore!
While Linta was certainly born human, she wasn't even nine before she was turned into a Fungal Symbiote and force grown to the beautiful woman she is today.
And since her arrival in Ta Mando she has found her body changed even further!
Her skin, while soft to the touch like human flesh, hardens instantly when struck to take up a woodlike consistency.
Only when appreciable force is leveled against her does her flesh simply... GIVE under the assault; morphing around the intruding device and pushing it out or reforming away from it
Indeed Linta's entire body is completely diffuse and any shape it possesses is merely an illusion.
She is NOT a single, intact form but a mere avatar of the hive mind; composed of innumerable bits of fungal matter.
It IS assumed that the seat of her knowledge is or at least originally was stored somewhere within this avatar but if some "core" of her exists within it is apparent that even this may be regrown within the pools beneath Cardikest and all knowledge up until her Avatar's destruction is retained. While her dominion of The Mycelial Monarchy is not complete, it is a war that Linta is steadily winning.
Linta may assimilate any fungal matter she touches or infect plants and animals with her own personal brand of spores via mucous membranes or through consuming assimilated fungus.
While her spores are powerful and adapt regularly, a strong enough immune system can fight off individual infections and even grow temporary immunity.
While Immunity is not permanent, it does give at least a month of safety even in otherwise heavily sporulated areas.
Once successfully infected an individual takes about a week before being completely transformed by Linta's spores into a Fungal Symbiote. (We'll Come Up With A Cool Name Later...)
Once the transformation takes hold Linta's fungus completely integrates into the host body; sharpening their senses, improving their natural abilities, hardening their bodies to become functionally completely homogenous (Like Wood) and allowing them freedom from sleep or standard methods of breathing.
Symbiotes are outwardly identical to humans and require close investigation by medically qualified individuals to be diagnosed.
However, once fully transformed, Symbiotes cannot be separated from the Colony through any known circumstances.
If killed the personality and memories of a symbiote are held within the Colony's Hive Mind and chemical pods underneath Cardikest will rebuild their body; allowing them to live on just as they had before.
Perhaps more importantly, Fungal Symbiotes can instantly communicate with each other through the hive mind and even see through each other's eyes during combat situations if needed.
Linta can even tap into this network directly and possess any fully transformed symbiote whenever she likes.
Upon completion of the metamorphosis to Fungal Symbiote, Linta gains all memories, experience and skills from the transformed individual and is always aware of anything they consciously see, hear or otherwise process.
Importantly, members of the Colony are able to live their own lives and often wander about autonomously; doing whatever they would were they just living their daily lives.
The biggest social difference between normal humans and Linta's Symbiotes is that they do not speak to one another verbally; as they are not required to.
Linta MAY take over at any time but seldom does and all symbiotes have a natural inclination toward serving her so do not mind being briefly puppeted for the service of the colony at large. Linta can produce "Healing Fruits" from herself or any fungus that she's assimilated.
These mushrooms are shaped like typical, (If extremely consistent) wide capped, beige toadstools about two inches in diameter and two inches tall that grow in only a few seconds.
Eating these delightfully nutty, exceedingly mushroomy fruiting bodies grants the eater the feeling of a full stomach and a proper meal's worth of nutrients and calories.
More than that, these Healing Fruits quickly close wounds, stabilize heavy injuries and treat many ailments that the consumer may have. (Works Especially Well On Parasites!)
While Linta DOES produce these directly from her anatomy, they are not infectious by themselves and anyone may eat these Healing Fruits without worry of infection and assimilation into the Colony.
It would seem whatever differentiation occurs within the fruits themselves to make them so beneficial also eliminates whatever highly morphic spores are used to infect animals and plants. Linta is able to produce an extremely strong acid (normally from her hands) that can eat through human flesh and other substances quite easily.
While Linta herself can decide the potency of the acid she creates, at maximum strength she has been known to eat through boulders in minutes and can easily melt off a person's arm in a few short seconds of contact.
Suitably, Linta is also largely immune to any corrosive effects; able to produce even complex compounds within her own body and store them safely until they are otherwise needed! While all of this is quite impressive, even without her amazing fungal powers Linta would still be able to actively track bullets in flight and possesses reflexes capable of moving her out of the way in the time it takes for any bullet to reach her.
Strong enough to lift a small SUV paired with a capable education in both magic and psychic studies, Linta is a formidable opponent even at her weakest. Due to the nature of The Hive Mind, especially her presence in a much larger hive mind before coming to Ta Mando, Linta's mind goes beyond the superhuman and steps into the outright encyclopedic.
In coming from a much larger colony before this latest Shift, Linta is like a single Borg Drone separated from The Collective; possessing all of the skills and knowledge of every individual formerly in connection with her... and now gathering even more information through almost identical methods every day.
Because of this long history of integration with millions of functioning minds it would be realistic to assume that Linta possesses more knowledge than any single human ever could in a standard lifetime; the aggregate of her shared skills and experiences amounting to far more hours of study and practice than probably exist even in her greatly extended lifetime.
Furthermore, her wealth of skill and practice is the product all manner of different lifeforms; from ancient trees and fleeting insects to predator and prey alike to humans and monsters and GODS!
Linta is therefor able to see from far more perspectives than even many gods are able to take.
She is able to and regularly does process things in a completely alien fashion, unable to be easy predicted even by the most practiced of tacticians.
She never feels fear and is unable to be swayed by all but the most (Literally) divine speakers. While Linta hides many more abilities, these are the ones that people know about and lie as the foundation of her more well known powers.
Apparel & Accessories
To some Linta might seem to wear almost modern clothing, though no single style is identifiable and her preference for billowing sleeves and dresses may well be inspired by The Aireen who summoned her.
However, much closer inspection would show anyone that Linta seldom wears "normal" clothing. There is no cotton or flax that grows in Linta's jungles.
She herds no sheep or goats or yaks or camels of any sort for fleece.
She does not use grass or leather or wood fiber.
All of her clothing is made of Mycelium Threads which she and specially altered servants can freely weave together with special tools and magic.
While this may seem strange, Linta has made something of an art out of it; having invented new types of looms and special hydroponic systems to grow mycelium free from substrate.
While once naked in the jungles, the flies and ants picking at their flesh, her imperfect thralls now at least trudge around with somewhat stylish, comfortable clothing... not that they care. MOST designs from Linta's wardrobe happen to be reminiscent of those that she discovered in Cardikest; painted on walls, featured in sculptures and shown in fuzzy illusory depictions of the humanoids that built that long lost civilization.
While Linta was unable to get everything correct in any given design she generally seems more interested in taking inspiration from the past rather than mimicking it completely.
However, much closer inspection would show anyone that Linta seldom wears "normal" clothing. There is no cotton or flax that grows in Linta's jungles.
She herds no sheep or goats or yaks or camels of any sort for fleece.
She does not use grass or leather or wood fiber.
All of her clothing is made of Mycelium Threads which she and specially altered servants can freely weave together with special tools and magic.
While this may seem strange, Linta has made something of an art out of it; having invented new types of looms and special hydroponic systems to grow mycelium free from substrate.
While once naked in the jungles, the flies and ants picking at their flesh, her imperfect thralls now at least trudge around with somewhat stylish, comfortable clothing... not that they care. MOST designs from Linta's wardrobe happen to be reminiscent of those that she discovered in Cardikest; painted on walls, featured in sculptures and shown in fuzzy illusory depictions of the humanoids that built that long lost civilization.
While Linta was unable to get everything correct in any given design she generally seems more interested in taking inspiration from the past rather than mimicking it completely.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Linta was born shortly before 10,000 BCE on the northern shores of the Caspian Sea before humans had even figured out how to domesticate goats and sheep.
A relatively hardy people, Linta's nomadic tribe wandered up and down the coasts; fishing and gathering and hunting with their many dogs.
Her father, who would be named Petalar, was part of a prestigious four man hunting team that was so capable that the tribe seldom worried about hunger.
They had capable students learning to take after them and none worried of their capacity to make children like them. Linta was a little girl, not even nine years old, when a tiny grove of lush trees appeared... barely a square mile but completely new and unknown to them.
It sat on the shores and loomed over them as they awoke one day. At first the tribe was uncertain... but then, eventually, one stepped into it...
... And it told them...
"I am your friend... I will help you live longer.
I will bring you food every day.
I will protect you from harm and I will make your lives easier." He who would be Soond was the first to travel further into the tiny grove... into the fungal mat on the ground.
He ate of the fruit of the mycelium... he communicated with it... and then, a day later, he returned out of the grove and told everyone that he believed that this new grove was good.
He believed that, if they joined it, they would be truly safe as it said.
And he would be the first to join it, if nobody else wanted to, to show them that it was safe. And So, Together, They Went Into The Grove And Received Their New Names;
Soond The Discerning Eyes
Gal The Swift
Husken The Mighty
And Petalar Of The Silver Tongue; Linta's Own Father When they emerged they were healthy, stronger, smarter... blessed by the fungus to be better than human...
Linta showed interest and Petalar was told as follows.
"Bring Your Daughter To Me.
I shall make her strong!
She shall have all of your knowledge and shall teach you all things you could never have known!" And so he brought her to the pools... and laid her down in the strange fluids... and slowly she fell asleep, unable to keep her eyes open.
She, the first child to undergo the metamorphosis, slowly matured over several days.
In just over a week she grew into a beautiful woman and was endowed with greater powers than her fellow symbiotes.
She awoke with the perfect understanding of how to improve the lives of those around her. Salt Harvesting And Better Living Conditions came immediately.
Then docks and fisheries and shellfish farms!
Then the capture and assimilation of any and all remaining near-extinct megafauna... and their breeding!
And once they had gotten hold of such mighty beasts... they used them to plow the earth and grow more precious foods than they'd had access to before!
Metalworking came in mere months and then, very quickly... more pods with which to integrate more human minds into the Collective! For hundreds of years Linta lived in this world...
Through the Hive Mind she became the Protege of the Mycelium!
She became its voice, always aiming the slowly but surely expanding prehistoric society onward! And then, without any way to stop it... she was pulled away.
She lived through two short shifts as a Fiat under other bumbling primes; each time finding her former Overmind and rejoining!
Then she arrived in Ta Mando... There she knew IMMEDIATELY that there was no central hive mind anymore...
There was merely a lost, savage jungle of aggressive fungus and hyperflora.
She was there to tame it... summoned by technologically backward sea folk trying to set up a colony on a land they had no understanding of.
Immediately, in the midst of battle with the environment itself, they BEGGED her to turn the jungle back... to protect them from it and allow them to win even just a bit of land from it.
And so, with a wave of her hand... the jungle receded. She marked a line in the ground far inland.
The Jungle would advance no further than this unless they would cross it first.
She had fulfilled their request... and now she would claim the jungles as her own.
This was her payment for their lives. Within a month all of the attacks from the dangerous fungal zombies stopped.
The jungle no longer advanced eratically in all directions as it had before.
Nobody needed to burn back the brush... for the trees and vines refused to cross the line.
... And some decided... perhaps it would be best if this goddess they had summoned was appeased. Already in Cardikest, reclaiming the lost capital of a civilization fallen before humanity ever had the chance to rise, Linta saw a young woman carrying a bowl of fruit... and leading a pig into her midst.
She showed no fear and dressed in regal attire... the most regal the colony could spare.
She set the food on a good stone and fell to her knees as the jungle closed in around her... and she called out to Linta.
This "humble servant of the sun," as she had put it, had brought the offering to Linta to maintain good relations... to maintain peace and submission to her will.
Linta took this and, henceforth, beat down good tracks for the colonists to pay her tribute. The year went by and Linta struggled against the forest.
It was wild, untamed and uncontrolled; with no direction or agency.
But everywhere her essence touched fought it and controlled it.
It would only be a matter of time until Cardikest itself was fully uncovered and in her grasp. She may have been one separated from the many... but soon she made up her mind that, once she was done with the jungle, she would once again be part of the many.
She would make this world her own, just as HE had made her world his.
A relatively hardy people, Linta's nomadic tribe wandered up and down the coasts; fishing and gathering and hunting with their many dogs.
Her father, who would be named Petalar, was part of a prestigious four man hunting team that was so capable that the tribe seldom worried about hunger.
They had capable students learning to take after them and none worried of their capacity to make children like them. Linta was a little girl, not even nine years old, when a tiny grove of lush trees appeared... barely a square mile but completely new and unknown to them.
It sat on the shores and loomed over them as they awoke one day. At first the tribe was uncertain... but then, eventually, one stepped into it...
... And it told them...
"I am your friend... I will help you live longer.
I will bring you food every day.
I will protect you from harm and I will make your lives easier." He who would be Soond was the first to travel further into the tiny grove... into the fungal mat on the ground.
He ate of the fruit of the mycelium... he communicated with it... and then, a day later, he returned out of the grove and told everyone that he believed that this new grove was good.
He believed that, if they joined it, they would be truly safe as it said.
And he would be the first to join it, if nobody else wanted to, to show them that it was safe. And So, Together, They Went Into The Grove And Received Their New Names;
Soond The Discerning Eyes
Gal The Swift
Husken The Mighty
And Petalar Of The Silver Tongue; Linta's Own Father When they emerged they were healthy, stronger, smarter... blessed by the fungus to be better than human...
Linta showed interest and Petalar was told as follows.
"Bring Your Daughter To Me.
I shall make her strong!
She shall have all of your knowledge and shall teach you all things you could never have known!" And so he brought her to the pools... and laid her down in the strange fluids... and slowly she fell asleep, unable to keep her eyes open.
She, the first child to undergo the metamorphosis, slowly matured over several days.
In just over a week she grew into a beautiful woman and was endowed with greater powers than her fellow symbiotes.
She awoke with the perfect understanding of how to improve the lives of those around her. Salt Harvesting And Better Living Conditions came immediately.
Then docks and fisheries and shellfish farms!
Then the capture and assimilation of any and all remaining near-extinct megafauna... and their breeding!
And once they had gotten hold of such mighty beasts... they used them to plow the earth and grow more precious foods than they'd had access to before!
Metalworking came in mere months and then, very quickly... more pods with which to integrate more human minds into the Collective! For hundreds of years Linta lived in this world...
Through the Hive Mind she became the Protege of the Mycelium!
She became its voice, always aiming the slowly but surely expanding prehistoric society onward! And then, without any way to stop it... she was pulled away.
She lived through two short shifts as a Fiat under other bumbling primes; each time finding her former Overmind and rejoining!
Then she arrived in Ta Mando... There she knew IMMEDIATELY that there was no central hive mind anymore...
There was merely a lost, savage jungle of aggressive fungus and hyperflora.
She was there to tame it... summoned by technologically backward sea folk trying to set up a colony on a land they had no understanding of.
Immediately, in the midst of battle with the environment itself, they BEGGED her to turn the jungle back... to protect them from it and allow them to win even just a bit of land from it.
And so, with a wave of her hand... the jungle receded. She marked a line in the ground far inland.
The Jungle would advance no further than this unless they would cross it first.
She had fulfilled their request... and now she would claim the jungles as her own.
This was her payment for their lives. Within a month all of the attacks from the dangerous fungal zombies stopped.
The jungle no longer advanced eratically in all directions as it had before.
Nobody needed to burn back the brush... for the trees and vines refused to cross the line.
... And some decided... perhaps it would be best if this goddess they had summoned was appeased. Already in Cardikest, reclaiming the lost capital of a civilization fallen before humanity ever had the chance to rise, Linta saw a young woman carrying a bowl of fruit... and leading a pig into her midst.
She showed no fear and dressed in regal attire... the most regal the colony could spare.
She set the food on a good stone and fell to her knees as the jungle closed in around her... and she called out to Linta.
This "humble servant of the sun," as she had put it, had brought the offering to Linta to maintain good relations... to maintain peace and submission to her will.
Linta took this and, henceforth, beat down good tracks for the colonists to pay her tribute. The year went by and Linta struggled against the forest.
It was wild, untamed and uncontrolled; with no direction or agency.
But everywhere her essence touched fought it and controlled it.
It would only be a matter of time until Cardikest itself was fully uncovered and in her grasp. She may have been one separated from the many... but soon she made up her mind that, once she was done with the jungle, she would once again be part of the many.
She would make this world her own, just as HE had made her world his.
Gender Identity
Linta Is Non-Binary But Responds To Female Pronouns
Sexuality
Demisexual Panromantic
Education
Linta Was Not "Educated."
She Was Programmed! Brought into the Hive Mind when she was just eight years old; Linta was not, like her father, merely given specific information that she would need to be useful.
Rather Linta was The Grove's first experiment with gifting near all of its knowledge to an individual; seeing whether or not the primitive human mind could handle such a burst of information.
Moreover, Linta was a drastic success! While The Grove did not have unlimited or even particularly specialized modern skills, it gave her more than enough knowledge to kickstart every particular technological revolution to the modern day in the next century!
Immediately Linta started teaching her people how to refine resources, harvest salt, fish more sustainably and farm in the dirt for necessary plants!
She taught them to herd animals, to capture game and breed it, to selectively breed dogs for better traits.
And EVERY new advancement in information that came to The Grove, she learned through what amounted to a biological "Update." She was, to everyone she knew, Linta Of The Enlightened Mind.
And that title still holds to this day.
She has lost none of the information that she once held.
If anything, since her arrival in Ta Mando, she has only learned more!
She Was Programmed! Brought into the Hive Mind when she was just eight years old; Linta was not, like her father, merely given specific information that she would need to be useful.
Rather Linta was The Grove's first experiment with gifting near all of its knowledge to an individual; seeing whether or not the primitive human mind could handle such a burst of information.
Moreover, Linta was a drastic success! While The Grove did not have unlimited or even particularly specialized modern skills, it gave her more than enough knowledge to kickstart every particular technological revolution to the modern day in the next century!
Immediately Linta started teaching her people how to refine resources, harvest salt, fish more sustainably and farm in the dirt for necessary plants!
She taught them to herd animals, to capture game and breed it, to selectively breed dogs for better traits.
And EVERY new advancement in information that came to The Grove, she learned through what amounted to a biological "Update." She was, to everyone she knew, Linta Of The Enlightened Mind.
And that title still holds to this day.
She has lost none of the information that she once held.
If anything, since her arrival in Ta Mando, she has only learned more!
Accomplishments & Achievements
Clearing the Great City Of Cardikest has been Linta's greatest accomplishment in this new world of Ta Mando!
Once completely impregnated by the jungles around it, over the last year Linta and her "retainers" have made significant progress in restoring what once was and building up what will eventually be.
Now the innermost regions of the city are clean and repurposed for the housing of her small contingent of still thinking symbiotes, a place where they may live something akin to normal lives in this junglebound micro-society!
Eventually she plans on fully restoring the ruins of the city and creating from it all that is required to carry out her plans of world conquest. While Linta arrived in the presence of many flawed, otherwise incapable spore zombies and quickly took them under her control, they do not THINK anymore and are not proper symbiotes.
With that in mind, one of Linta's great accomplishments in Ta Mando is the acquisition of her first willing "Subjects" from the Aireen Colony on the northern coast of the peninsula.
The "Husks," as she calls them, are less like people and more like animals; incapable of planning or enacting complex missions or understanding complicated goals!
In stark contrast, her own symbiotes are more intelligent than they were before joining the hive mind and may benefit from the processing power of the whole to make individual choices more appropriately!
With TRUE Subjects, Linta has officially stepped into the first major stages of her plans for this new world of wonder and fantasy!
Once completely impregnated by the jungles around it, over the last year Linta and her "retainers" have made significant progress in restoring what once was and building up what will eventually be.
Now the innermost regions of the city are clean and repurposed for the housing of her small contingent of still thinking symbiotes, a place where they may live something akin to normal lives in this junglebound micro-society!
Eventually she plans on fully restoring the ruins of the city and creating from it all that is required to carry out her plans of world conquest. While Linta arrived in the presence of many flawed, otherwise incapable spore zombies and quickly took them under her control, they do not THINK anymore and are not proper symbiotes.
With that in mind, one of Linta's great accomplishments in Ta Mando is the acquisition of her first willing "Subjects" from the Aireen Colony on the northern coast of the peninsula.
The "Husks," as she calls them, are less like people and more like animals; incapable of planning or enacting complex missions or understanding complicated goals!
In stark contrast, her own symbiotes are more intelligent than they were before joining the hive mind and may benefit from the processing power of the whole to make individual choices more appropriately!
With TRUE Subjects, Linta has officially stepped into the first major stages of her plans for this new world of wonder and fantasy!
Failures & Embarrassments
To Linta's intense chagrin, she found out almost immediately that the world is not so easy to take into hand as her former master would have had her believe!
While she is, indeed, every bit their equal in comprehension and basic brain power... she lacks the former interests and real world experience to actually rule as he did... to be a social player as well as a physical one... to weave words and actions together in the same ways The Grove had such that they amaze and inspire people around her to join en masse.
Indeed, Linta has found that MOST of Ta Mando's residents find her not compelling or entrancing... but disturbing and discouraging; with only those most desperate to escape their old lives willingly joining her and all others merely FEARING her!
As a community cannot flourish in fear and loathing, least of which a hive mind, she has found few willing Subjects to join her cause... few mortals to whom she might properly explain the benefits of entering into the collective she maintains... Despite having been in Ta Mando for well over a year... Linta has been able to convince precious few mortals to enter into a union with her... and naturally this leads her to be very lonely... embarrassed at her inability to integrate with a collective after herself having been raised in one.
Everything that felt so natural before is now so difficult that she often finds herself discouraged at such simple, human failings.
While she is, indeed, every bit their equal in comprehension and basic brain power... she lacks the former interests and real world experience to actually rule as he did... to be a social player as well as a physical one... to weave words and actions together in the same ways The Grove had such that they amaze and inspire people around her to join en masse.
Indeed, Linta has found that MOST of Ta Mando's residents find her not compelling or entrancing... but disturbing and discouraging; with only those most desperate to escape their old lives willingly joining her and all others merely FEARING her!
As a community cannot flourish in fear and loathing, least of which a hive mind, she has found few willing Subjects to join her cause... few mortals to whom she might properly explain the benefits of entering into the collective she maintains... Despite having been in Ta Mando for well over a year... Linta has been able to convince precious few mortals to enter into a union with her... and naturally this leads her to be very lonely... embarrassed at her inability to integrate with a collective after herself having been raised in one.
Everything that felt so natural before is now so difficult that she often finds herself discouraged at such simple, human failings.
Mental Trauma
Trauma is processed differently for Linta and her kind!
With a collective hive mind to fall upon, things like death and childhood trauma are considerably less impactful on the mind of a young woman!
With forced maturation and an isolated education in a literal fungal growth pod there's no chance to be bullied by one's peers growing up!
Even when grievously injured or left without necessary resources an entirely different anatomy merely handles such things better; with less pain, hardly any thirst or hunger and numerous biological coping mechanisms to handle any and all trauma from physical to mental! Suitably, Linta has never truly KNOWN proper trauma of either the mental or physical variety!
By the time she had to handle real conflict she was already The Grove's head representative; stronger and more intelligent than any who would get in her way with no reason to fear death or harm due to her ability to resurrect through the Hive Mind!
While this may leave Linta remarkably well adjusted and mentally stable for being a Hive Minded Queen Of A Fungal Death Jungle... it also means that she has little understanding in the way of personal risk or emotional damage and sometimes cannot fathom why anyone would be mentally scarred by their past!
With a collective hive mind to fall upon, things like death and childhood trauma are considerably less impactful on the mind of a young woman!
With forced maturation and an isolated education in a literal fungal growth pod there's no chance to be bullied by one's peers growing up!
Even when grievously injured or left without necessary resources an entirely different anatomy merely handles such things better; with less pain, hardly any thirst or hunger and numerous biological coping mechanisms to handle any and all trauma from physical to mental! Suitably, Linta has never truly KNOWN proper trauma of either the mental or physical variety!
By the time she had to handle real conflict she was already The Grove's head representative; stronger and more intelligent than any who would get in her way with no reason to fear death or harm due to her ability to resurrect through the Hive Mind!
While this may leave Linta remarkably well adjusted and mentally stable for being a Hive Minded Queen Of A Fungal Death Jungle... it also means that she has little understanding in the way of personal risk or emotional damage and sometimes cannot fathom why anyone would be mentally scarred by their past!
Intellectual Characteristics
In her childhood Linta was considered a bright child!
She was no genius but she was bright and obviously the daughter of one of the more fast talking members of the Tribe. However, after the arrival of The Grove she was named as the vessel for all of The Grove's Knowledge and became something more like a biological computer rather than a regular human being.
Endowed with the sum of all its knowledge, Linta went on to eagerly and hungrily seek even more information through both exploration and assimilation via the Hive Mind.
Her brain itself was heavily altered to seek out a broader and at the same time deeper understanding of things; physically changed to want, more than anything, to CONSUME data! As mentioned in her Special Abilities, however, Linta does not merely process information like a normal human being...
Having seen through the eyes of so many different species before and processed the thoughts, memories and passions of so many different types of people, Linta is able to uniquely understand points of view better than most mortals and possesses the overall mental bandwidth to solve nearly any math problem or physical experiment by mental simulation alone.
She can understand the needs of all manner of parties in a given situation and that understanding makes her a stunning negotiator due to her ability to put herself in the shoes of others (Sometimes literally) despite her general lack of comfort or confidence in matters like public speaking or her inability to convince the common folk to see her as benevolent or comforting.
She was no genius but she was bright and obviously the daughter of one of the more fast talking members of the Tribe. However, after the arrival of The Grove she was named as the vessel for all of The Grove's Knowledge and became something more like a biological computer rather than a regular human being.
Endowed with the sum of all its knowledge, Linta went on to eagerly and hungrily seek even more information through both exploration and assimilation via the Hive Mind.
Her brain itself was heavily altered to seek out a broader and at the same time deeper understanding of things; physically changed to want, more than anything, to CONSUME data! As mentioned in her Special Abilities, however, Linta does not merely process information like a normal human being...
Having seen through the eyes of so many different species before and processed the thoughts, memories and passions of so many different types of people, Linta is able to uniquely understand points of view better than most mortals and possesses the overall mental bandwidth to solve nearly any math problem or physical experiment by mental simulation alone.
She can understand the needs of all manner of parties in a given situation and that understanding makes her a stunning negotiator due to her ability to put herself in the shoes of others (Sometimes literally) despite her general lack of comfort or confidence in matters like public speaking or her inability to convince the common folk to see her as benevolent or comforting.
Taboos
Linta has made it a strong concern of hers that those who join her hive mind, at least for now, MUST be willing!
Perhaps an infant offered to her as sacrifice or a small group of orphans left at her tree line may be taken in for their own good and an injured soldier stumbling into her clearings may be integrated just before his death as a means to save him but otherwise Linta's Hive Mind is too small, at this point, to simply take thinking mortals into it without their consent!
To do otherwise would ultimately threaten the unity of her collective and only serve to stymie her plans. Linta does not desire enslaved and impotent zombies the likes of which she arrived to... but rather a society of friends and loved ones that live within a central, united mental space wherein they might all embrace completely the emotions and choices of everyone in total!
To show the world how much more idyllic it might be if only it would join her... she must first show the benefits of her system through the most united of her few subjects; a pool of consenting minds to eventually overpower those who WOULD dissent! Perhaps in time Linta will relieve herself of this taboo... but for now it stands as her highest tenet
Perhaps an infant offered to her as sacrifice or a small group of orphans left at her tree line may be taken in for their own good and an injured soldier stumbling into her clearings may be integrated just before his death as a means to save him but otherwise Linta's Hive Mind is too small, at this point, to simply take thinking mortals into it without their consent!
To do otherwise would ultimately threaten the unity of her collective and only serve to stymie her plans. Linta does not desire enslaved and impotent zombies the likes of which she arrived to... but rather a society of friends and loved ones that live within a central, united mental space wherein they might all embrace completely the emotions and choices of everyone in total!
To show the world how much more idyllic it might be if only it would join her... she must first show the benefits of her system through the most united of her few subjects; a pool of consenting minds to eventually overpower those who WOULD dissent! Perhaps in time Linta will relieve herself of this taboo... but for now it stands as her highest tenet
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
The Colony Has Only One Motivation... To Grow!
Linta cares very little for political schemes or matters of religious or cultural differences that mortals constantly squabble over.
Within the embrace of the Hive Mind all understand and take part in the universal chorus and cannot be differentiated even if they wanted to.
ALL within the colony act in unison according to her will to the best of their abilities, just as she and her people did for he who brought them from barbarism. Cut off from the original hive mind within which she was raised, Linta seeks to produce her own colony; a collection of minds millions strong that work together in perfect harmony for universal mutual benefit.
Thus far she has mere thousands of mindless thralls under her sway but soon... very soon she will extend her tendrils out into the wider world and bring truly thinking beings into the hive; not these flawed, unthinking infected from before her arrival but fruitfully contemplating, planning, cooperating minds!
Within the embrace of the Hive Mind all understand and take part in the universal chorus and cannot be differentiated even if they wanted to.
ALL within the colony act in unison according to her will to the best of their abilities, just as she and her people did for he who brought them from barbarism. Cut off from the original hive mind within which she was raised, Linta seeks to produce her own colony; a collection of minds millions strong that work together in perfect harmony for universal mutual benefit.
Thus far she has mere thousands of mindless thralls under her sway but soon... very soon she will extend her tendrils out into the wider world and bring truly thinking beings into the hive; not these flawed, unthinking infected from before her arrival but fruitfully contemplating, planning, cooperating minds!
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Linta's father and his companions were all adults when they joined with The Grove; having had experiences and dynamics that only adults can have with each other.
They had experienced love, loss, difficulty and victory, learned and practiced and gotten stuck in their ways... at least certain ways that had become successful for them!
They were, all four of them, somewhat specialized and reputed for their own specific talents and all of them had a place with their peers and fellows!
Linta had none of this when she was brought into The Grove; a child who had not formed any strong opinions or social bonds! While this meant that she was ideal for growing and molding; teaching everything that The Grove could show her... it also stunted her social development... or perhaps even stalled it altogether!
When she stepped forth from the pod she was a fully grown woman... having passed up all of the important social milestones of her developing years!
She has, therefore, little in the way of memories playing with her peers, growing up with them and experiencing the typical difficulties of puberty and early adulthood that normal humans generally have. Due to this, many people throughout her adventures from world to world have even told Linta that she is "Robotic."
To her, however, what is important... and consequently what she is good at... is artifice and academia! Linta is, in some ways, a one woman think tank of experimental determination!
She regularly spends hours researching new things, making models, running tests and recording her results; a proper modern scientist by any other name!
Her academic understanding of modern topics is far above the 21st century layman and she is always seeking to expand her knowledge and educate her collective; regarding the world not as one of mysticism and divine interpretation but one that follows rules and is held by laws which she may learn and perhaps eventually manipulate!
In short, Linta's greatest strength is science and experimentation!
They had experienced love, loss, difficulty and victory, learned and practiced and gotten stuck in their ways... at least certain ways that had become successful for them!
They were, all four of them, somewhat specialized and reputed for their own specific talents and all of them had a place with their peers and fellows!
Linta had none of this when she was brought into The Grove; a child who had not formed any strong opinions or social bonds! While this meant that she was ideal for growing and molding; teaching everything that The Grove could show her... it also stunted her social development... or perhaps even stalled it altogether!
When she stepped forth from the pod she was a fully grown woman... having passed up all of the important social milestones of her developing years!
She has, therefore, little in the way of memories playing with her peers, growing up with them and experiencing the typical difficulties of puberty and early adulthood that normal humans generally have. Due to this, many people throughout her adventures from world to world have even told Linta that she is "Robotic."
To her, however, what is important... and consequently what she is good at... is artifice and academia! Linta is, in some ways, a one woman think tank of experimental determination!
She regularly spends hours researching new things, making models, running tests and recording her results; a proper modern scientist by any other name!
Her academic understanding of modern topics is far above the 21st century layman and she is always seeking to expand her knowledge and educate her collective; regarding the world not as one of mysticism and divine interpretation but one that follows rules and is held by laws which she may learn and perhaps eventually manipulate!
In short, Linta's greatest strength is science and experimentation!
Virtues & Personality perks
The Saprophyte Sovereign's highest concern is her people's standard of living across all metrics!
Having spent many long nights making ideas and plans for great structures to jut out of the jungles around her capital, she has done so strictly for the enlightenment and comfort of her subjects rather than her own glorification!
Indeed NO great monuments or symbols of her glory or importance yet exist and there are no plans to make any in the future, as such things matter not to her reign. Linta's desire is to raise, first and foremost, the quality of life for all of her followers.
Such quality stems not only from symbiosis itself but also from her fervent determination to uplift the status of Cardikest and the peninsula.
The roads and canals she will build shall allow her people to travel more easily!
The homes she will provide will be capable and long lasting!
People will live long, productive, peaceful, happy lives together and shall bear many children; all of which will survive and go on to have their own families!
Illness shall be defeated, hunger eradicated and the monsters in the dark shall not only be lain low... but integrated into the collective as well!
Within The Mycelial Monarch's Demesnes the very birds and bees, vines and trees are aware and on her side! And all of this she would share with the rest of the world... if only they would join her small but capable collective...
Having spent many long nights making ideas and plans for great structures to jut out of the jungles around her capital, she has done so strictly for the enlightenment and comfort of her subjects rather than her own glorification!
Indeed NO great monuments or symbols of her glory or importance yet exist and there are no plans to make any in the future, as such things matter not to her reign. Linta's desire is to raise, first and foremost, the quality of life for all of her followers.
Such quality stems not only from symbiosis itself but also from her fervent determination to uplift the status of Cardikest and the peninsula.
The roads and canals she will build shall allow her people to travel more easily!
The homes she will provide will be capable and long lasting!
People will live long, productive, peaceful, happy lives together and shall bear many children; all of which will survive and go on to have their own families!
Illness shall be defeated, hunger eradicated and the monsters in the dark shall not only be lain low... but integrated into the collective as well!
Within The Mycelial Monarch's Demesnes the very birds and bees, vines and trees are aware and on her side! And all of this she would share with the rest of the world... if only they would join her small but capable collective...
Hygiene
Linta maintains the regal appearance of a queen at all times; going through all manner of hygienic practices despite not really needing to!
Her hair is regularly brushed, her nails perfectly manicured and her body washed with oils, soaps and hot water by mindless thralls at least twice a day; maintaining her admittedly diffuse form in much the same way solid folk might.
Linta seldom wears an outfit for more than ten or twelve hours before changing it out to be washed; ensuring her clothing is always free from the many bugs and bits of grue that are always present in the Jungle, though she really only has a few dozen presentable outfits! While Linta is otherwise perfectly fine with the products she has, she does desire to bring more foreign comforts for bathing and hygiene into her kingdom... perhaps just as a way to bring back some of the civility of her previous Shifts but also perhaps to make life easier for her more solid subjects.
At some point she is well aware that her kingdom must step out onto the world stage and, when that happens, she will have to present herself as more than the queen of unwashed savages.
She must be the example for a society that hasn't even yet fully coalesced!
And that starts with teaching people to wash their damned hands...
Her hair is regularly brushed, her nails perfectly manicured and her body washed with oils, soaps and hot water by mindless thralls at least twice a day; maintaining her admittedly diffuse form in much the same way solid folk might.
Linta seldom wears an outfit for more than ten or twelve hours before changing it out to be washed; ensuring her clothing is always free from the many bugs and bits of grue that are always present in the Jungle, though she really only has a few dozen presentable outfits! While Linta is otherwise perfectly fine with the products she has, she does desire to bring more foreign comforts for bathing and hygiene into her kingdom... perhaps just as a way to bring back some of the civility of her previous Shifts but also perhaps to make life easier for her more solid subjects.
At some point she is well aware that her kingdom must step out onto the world stage and, when that happens, she will have to present herself as more than the queen of unwashed savages.
She must be the example for a society that hasn't even yet fully coalesced!
And that starts with teaching people to wash their damned hands...
Social
Reign
Though her reign has been short thus far, it has been prosperous and bountiful; her thousands of freshly assimilated servants now completely under her control and clearing out the once great city of Cardikest.
Unlike normal humans these flawed, infested humans do not sleep or have need for as much food.
They worry not about injury and perform beyond the average human, as they no longer know their own limits.
Through them Linta can see and command the mindless shells that the Jungle before her time made them into. However, as with any ruler, there are no shortage of problems.
With no real population base her ability to expand is limited, especially considering the great mountains to the east being the only land route to the rest of the world.
For now, understanding their admitted frailty, Linta must use her three thousand or so fungal thralls carefully; for every single one is necessary to complete her plans...
While Linta is well aware that she could simply devour the entire Aireen colony she also is an honorable and lawful individual who keeps her promises and deals...
At least until they step over the line she will honor the peace. Still, in her short year and a half on Ta Mando she has made great discoveries and brought to heel powerful enemies!
She has assimilated great swaths of the mycelial jungles; cutting them off from their original source and investigating further what went wrong in this long forgotten empire!
Running afoul with many malicious deities within the bounds of her forests, Linta did groundbreaking combat with these rivals and either replaced them with more willing subjects or forced them to bend the knee to her.
Discovering a Great Aqueduct And Reservoir System from the old society, Linta has already begun to restore the bountiful infrastructure that once clearly held this place together!
Having designed a waterpowered sawmill, Linta has just recently opened it for business; ensuring a near constant supply of fresh, hardwood boards for the expansion of her nascent empire! While many of these accomplishments may seem paltry compared to other primes, Linta is not discouraged by her slow progress; knowing that the state of the jungles mean that she will be bothered by very few outsiders until she is ready to face them personally.
For the time being, The Saprophyte Sovereign's Demesnes is safe for those that bend the knee to her supremacy.
Unlike normal humans these flawed, infested humans do not sleep or have need for as much food.
They worry not about injury and perform beyond the average human, as they no longer know their own limits.
Through them Linta can see and command the mindless shells that the Jungle before her time made them into. However, as with any ruler, there are no shortage of problems.
With no real population base her ability to expand is limited, especially considering the great mountains to the east being the only land route to the rest of the world.
For now, understanding their admitted frailty, Linta must use her three thousand or so fungal thralls carefully; for every single one is necessary to complete her plans...
While Linta is well aware that she could simply devour the entire Aireen colony she also is an honorable and lawful individual who keeps her promises and deals...
At least until they step over the line she will honor the peace. Still, in her short year and a half on Ta Mando she has made great discoveries and brought to heel powerful enemies!
She has assimilated great swaths of the mycelial jungles; cutting them off from their original source and investigating further what went wrong in this long forgotten empire!
Running afoul with many malicious deities within the bounds of her forests, Linta did groundbreaking combat with these rivals and either replaced them with more willing subjects or forced them to bend the knee to her.
Discovering a Great Aqueduct And Reservoir System from the old society, Linta has already begun to restore the bountiful infrastructure that once clearly held this place together!
Having designed a waterpowered sawmill, Linta has just recently opened it for business; ensuring a near constant supply of fresh, hardwood boards for the expansion of her nascent empire! While many of these accomplishments may seem paltry compared to other primes, Linta is not discouraged by her slow progress; knowing that the state of the jungles mean that she will be bothered by very few outsiders until she is ready to face them personally.
For the time being, The Saprophyte Sovereign's Demesnes is safe for those that bend the knee to her supremacy.
Contacts & Relations
Technically Certain Primes in Ta Mando already know Linta from previous shifts.
For example, Linta has personally trained under The Master and alongside Dr. Su Kaolla Rose Gray in previous shifts and would be regarded as a close friend if they met up with her.
While Linta is easily a very different person from the last time anyone she knows saw her, they'd still recognize her as an ally. More relevant to her present situation, Linta has direct ties to the Aireen colony that summoned her.
While she has never since returned to her summoning location she HAS sent numerous infected envoys to establish what amount to a good, if terrifying, peace.
Territory between them firmly marked as a dividing line, The Aireen are allowed to coexist with Linta's Kingdom ONLY IF they do no violate any rules she sets down.
Suitably, the only Aireen who step foot beyond the territorial boundaries are special envoys bringing tribute or making special requests.
The locations they are allowed to travel and stop at are also clearly marked and well beaten to avoid any diplomatic mishaps.
For example, Linta has personally trained under The Master and alongside Dr. Su Kaolla Rose Gray in previous shifts and would be regarded as a close friend if they met up with her.
While Linta is easily a very different person from the last time anyone she knows saw her, they'd still recognize her as an ally. More relevant to her present situation, Linta has direct ties to the Aireen colony that summoned her.
While she has never since returned to her summoning location she HAS sent numerous infected envoys to establish what amount to a good, if terrifying, peace.
Territory between them firmly marked as a dividing line, The Aireen are allowed to coexist with Linta's Kingdom ONLY IF they do no violate any rules she sets down.
Suitably, the only Aireen who step foot beyond the territorial boundaries are special envoys bringing tribute or making special requests.
The locations they are allowed to travel and stop at are also clearly marked and well beaten to avoid any diplomatic mishaps.
Hobbies & Pets
A Gigantic Snake appearing to be a reticulated python with emerald green eyes normally accompanies Linta wherever she goes in the Cardikest.
This snake is not normal but rather a highly modified fungal symbiote with intelligence comparable to humans.
Weighing over 550 pounds and extending to just over 12 yards long, this snake does not drape itself over Linta but rather over the environment around her; able to hit a human and knock them out in a single strike before quickly consuming the entire person whole without difficulty. (Though it is unknown how many people she has actually eaten)
While originally a constrictor, this snake has been "Upgraded" to have highly potent form of venom similar to that of the Malayan Krait; with a 50% chance of death even if the victim has received sufficient antivenin treatment. While she has no name, Linta has made this snake a regular appearance whenever she is within Cardikest.
When Linta is NOT in the city, however, The Snake coils about her throne and physically speaks FOR her if needed, as it has the capacity to speak the human tongue; though nobody tends to get so far into the Mycelial Forests without first being assimilated into the hive mind anyway. When not working on something, making public appearances to her few thinking subjects and patroling the edge of her territories Linta likes weaving, writing, sewing, reading and practicing various culinary skills like fermenting drinks, making jams, preserving meats and otherwise exercising various kitchen tricks she takes a degree of pride in.
This snake is not normal but rather a highly modified fungal symbiote with intelligence comparable to humans.
Weighing over 550 pounds and extending to just over 12 yards long, this snake does not drape itself over Linta but rather over the environment around her; able to hit a human and knock them out in a single strike before quickly consuming the entire person whole without difficulty. (Though it is unknown how many people she has actually eaten)
While originally a constrictor, this snake has been "Upgraded" to have highly potent form of venom similar to that of the Malayan Krait; with a 50% chance of death even if the victim has received sufficient antivenin treatment. While she has no name, Linta has made this snake a regular appearance whenever she is within Cardikest.
When Linta is NOT in the city, however, The Snake coils about her throne and physically speaks FOR her if needed, as it has the capacity to speak the human tongue; though nobody tends to get so far into the Mycelial Forests without first being assimilated into the hive mind anyway. When not working on something, making public appearances to her few thinking subjects and patroling the edge of her territories Linta likes weaving, writing, sewing, reading and practicing various culinary skills like fermenting drinks, making jams, preserving meats and otherwise exercising various kitchen tricks she takes a degree of pride in.
Wealth & Financial state
Linta is the perfect example of the woman who has everything and nothing to do with it.
The great and terrible civilization that once lived on the peninsula before humanity ever cautiously stepped out of the distant jungles of a different continent was a terrifying and powerful one with all manner of material wealth and magical might.
Now, hundreds of thousands of years later, it all falls to Linta; an entire imperial city of wonder just sitting there, isolated from the rest of the world...
Within its bowels await mountains of gold and silver, walls covered in curios and armories of magical armor and weapons from an age when the gods were still being born, fighting and dying every day. What's more, Linta has access to thousands of puppet symbiotes; once directionless and violence but now bound to her and her will, her dedicated servants.
These relatively mindless humanoids, Imperfect specimens infected before she ever arrived in Ta Mando, manage all sorts of activities from day to day; uncovering old buildings, clearing out rubble, mining resources from the earth and refurbishing old population centers.
... And, of course, never asking for pay.
While these individuals ARE truly alive, they're best thought of as Livestock since they have no personality and literally exist to serve Linta's Will.
They should NOT be considered people like the newer members of the Collective. Even beyond the bounty of this once great land, Linta is regularly offered Tribute by the Aireen Colonists who summoned her just over a year ago; hopeful, if pitiable sums of treasure gleaned from the land that she never asked for but accepts all the same.
The great and terrible civilization that once lived on the peninsula before humanity ever cautiously stepped out of the distant jungles of a different continent was a terrifying and powerful one with all manner of material wealth and magical might.
Now, hundreds of thousands of years later, it all falls to Linta; an entire imperial city of wonder just sitting there, isolated from the rest of the world...
Within its bowels await mountains of gold and silver, walls covered in curios and armories of magical armor and weapons from an age when the gods were still being born, fighting and dying every day. What's more, Linta has access to thousands of puppet symbiotes; once directionless and violence but now bound to her and her will, her dedicated servants.
These relatively mindless humanoids, Imperfect specimens infected before she ever arrived in Ta Mando, manage all sorts of activities from day to day; uncovering old buildings, clearing out rubble, mining resources from the earth and refurbishing old population centers.
... And, of course, never asking for pay.
While these individuals ARE truly alive, they're best thought of as Livestock since they have no personality and literally exist to serve Linta's Will.
They should NOT be considered people like the newer members of the Collective. Even beyond the bounty of this once great land, Linta is regularly offered Tribute by the Aireen Colonists who summoned her just over a year ago; hopeful, if pitiable sums of treasure gleaned from the land that she never asked for but accepts all the same.
Divine Classification
Summoned Fungal Deity
Alignment
Autocratic Hive Mind (Lawful Absolute)
Current Status
Assimilating The Mycelial Jungles, Ruling Her New Kingdom
Current Location
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Saprophyte Sovereign
Age
Physically 20-ish; Chronologically Many Centuries
Circumstances of Birth
Unimportant And Entirely Mundane But Beloved
Circumstances of Death
Greatly Exaggerated
Children
Current Residence
The Great Palace Of Cardikest
Pronouns
She / They
Gender
Female
Eyes
Brilliant Green, Almond-Shaped, Particularly Striking
Hair
Knee Length, Straight, Black, Never Tangled
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Golden Brown, Unblemished, Healthy, Soft To The Touch
Height
6' 6" (198.12 cm)
Weight
482 lbs (218.632 kg)
Comments