Enderal:Research Papers
Unknown
The on Enderal to this date unknown species of fungus multiplied astoundingly swiftly in the buckets of the laboratory of Fortress Fogwatch. The trader was already mindful of whether the spores even survived the long storage time, hence the cheap price. Now I planted a first colony in a by rocks protected corner in the nearby woods to study the growing cycle in the wild. Therefore let's get to the actual research report:
Externally viewed the mushrooms can be distinguished in a reddish to purple and a bluish to cyan type, whereby they are male and female characteristics. A thin stem bears the fruiting body, which is, depending on how many nutrients are present in the nearby ground, spread flat or tapered. In the later stage the stem lignifies to support the increasing weight of the fruiting body. The female shroomling with blue and cyan coloring can, in the highest phase of its growth, become vastly taller than a troll — it is amazing that the rather thin stems are this sturdy.
In its mature form, elongated threads sprout out of the with lamellae filled underside of the fruiting body, carrying the fungal spores within them. During maturity they are rippled on top of the generally surrounding, smaller, male mushrooms, which are also discarding spores. From this combination arises a new mother shroom again. It is safe to assume that the wind or roaming animals will play a part in scattering the female and male spores in a large perimeter, which is why new colonies could rapidly spread in the wilderness. I have to keep an eye on it to prevent an uncontrollable proliferation. It appears as if the biggest part of the mushroom mass is on the surface, however appearances are deceiving — a root-like mesh pervades through the ground. This is actually the true mushroom, as the excrescence that is piercing through the surface and growing upwards, simply serves propagation. The brightly gleaming root mesh seems to be able to digest almost every living thing, be it animals, plants or other mushrooms.
During my last walkabout around my in open environment arranged plantation, I could even note that a nearby tree was infested by the mushrooms. Parasitic, purple glowing veins moved from the roots across the bark up to the branches, it is truly eerie, how far the mushroom roots must have grown underground.
I will return in a few days to investigate how the different poisons, with which I sprinkled the surrounding fertile soil, have taken effect, to then report on this “plague”.With the most potent poison I should be able to destroy the remaining mushrooms with ease. Our employer, the noblewoman from the house Dal'Minas, will be be impressed, when I as most able and courageous apothecarii successfully fought these extraordinary mushrooms.
It is unbelievable … The most potent poisons, that showed effect in the laboratory of Fogwatch, seem to have absolutely no effect outside. On the opposite, my arranged, hidden mushroom plantation is now no longer hidden, but already visible from the wayside, additional trees were infested as well. I'm such a fool, I have to immediately continue the research before my employer and the rest of the apothecarii catch on to my practices.
Who am I kidding? It was all in vain. My arrogance is costing me and my descendants everything, the mushrooms have developed into an unstoppable plague. My experiment has not yet been linked with the outbreak, however I'm losing everything that is important to me. My son will not be able to follow my footsteps, I will flee with him so he may not bear the blame of my failure in the future. I'm also losing my health, my body decomposes, I inhaled the spores of these terrible mushrooms for far too long.
Firinja Dal'Minas, my dearest love … I will never be able to look in your eyes again. I created this disaster to impress you, because I thought I could tame it, thought I could be a hero. Yet I was deluded. The mushrooms are vastly more powerful than I could have imagined. They pervade the earth, contaminate the water, pollute the air — even the weather seems to bend down to it and protects them with a thick cloud layer against the sun, which was my last hope to dry them out.
I'm sorry that we had to flee, my son. I'm sorry, Firinja, that my love to you made me blind. Blind to my failure. I'm sorry for every living being, which will fall victim to the infested part of the woods.
I am so dreadfully sorry …
