The Lore

Entry 1552 - A Subterranean Intellect

The vast network of caves and tunnels beneath the Empire has always been a mystery to me, a simmering stew of strangeness and horror, occasionally spitting forth some new terror to plague the surface. My sparse understanding of this underworld is drawn from the few dangers that rise from its depths.

One such terror, which has grown increasingly prevalent in recent times, is the Mycena Mortifera, a peculiar fungus of unnatural intellect and great appetite. While I am no mycologist, I will endeavour to outline some basic aspects of this lifeform’s ecology.

The Mortifera is colossal, a gestalt entity formed from a network of mycelial strands and fruiting bodies, spanning the length and breadth of the Empire. Some even speculate it extends across all of Doaden. It thrives in symbiosis with a vast array of other fungi, and areas under its influence are often overrun by an extraordinary variety of growths. These blighted places form a terrifyingly beautiful tapestry of colours and shapes, nigh-alien to our understanding.

The most crucial aspect of the Mycena Mortifera, however, is its predatory intelligence. Make no mistake, though this entity has more in common with plants than beasts, it is among the deadliest predators on Doaden, tantamount even to some of the extraplanar terrors that beset mortalkind. It seeks out new prey with a relentless, smothering intent, spreading its tendrils far and wide. Its preferred prey is the sentient, humans, giants, elves - creatures with free will. By some grotesque twist of nature or malign design, the Mortifera flourishes most in sentient bodies, feasting on their rich flesh as eagerly as it consumes their will, enslaving them to thralldom under its vast hive mind.

Where this strange fungus first originated, I cannot say. As you, dear reader, well know, I often lay the blame for many of the realm’s ills upon the Cataclysm. But when I ponder the Mycena Mortifera, I cannot tell whether it is a curse of our own making or a horror that has long slumbered in the deep earth, far beyond the reach of our understanding…