For several gathers now, members of Sanctuary have been encountering increasingly hostile forms of fungi. While walking along some of the outer trails around Sanctuary, its denizens might come across small random clusters of five or so stands of mushrooms. With their charming red caps and white spots, they initially make a very cute impression.
However, if one wanders too close they will immediately become agitated and start violently sporulating. More often than not, these spores caused some not so nice side effects if inhaled, many ranging from status effects such as stun, repel, frenzy, and even death by poison! Initially stopping these flat-topped-fiends wasn’t much of a challenge as they were rooted to the spot and had a limited range of attack. Simply being able to cast magic effects on them while staying safely out of range, or being able to dart quickly into melee range to land a cutting blow would suffice.
Unfortunately though, it appears as if these manic mushrooms are starting to evolve! Within a few months after these initial encounters these same fungi were seen moving- slowly, but still moving from their once stationary positions! A small cluster shambled out of the woods and attempted to come into the heart of the town itself. While easy to dispatch as speed was not on their side, this was an alarming development, and Wardens at the Great Tree were notified.
Finally, at the last Sanctuary gather an even more troubling event occurred. The mushrooms have appeared to have formed some degree of a symbiotic relationship with muck striders residing in the forest! It is uncertain at this time how this relationship came about, or the exact ecological benefits that each species gains from the other, but regardless, the mushrooms did not attack the muck striders and appeared calm within their presence.
When a team of explorers from Sanctuary stumbled upon a trail full of the creatures, both the mushrooms and muck striders attacked in force. The explorers were doing well and driving the duo back up the path when out of the bushes bounded a most horrifying sight! One of the mushrooms had undergone yet another evolution, and was now a wrinkly and deadly monstrous Morel. It was only with effort that the explorers were able to win their way free of the enemy. Samples of the new mushrooms were collected and sent to the Wardens for further study. At this rate it is difficult to determine what new mutations might crop up next.
-Asphodel Meadows