130.1

The towering mushroom looming over you seems so large that, at first, you think it’s some sort of sculpture or artificial creation of the Estians. But no, its dry, leathery skin sinks slightly under your fingers, and the faint bioluminescent glow within pulses like a faint heartbeat. The surface is as wrinkled and thick as an oak tree, and you assume it must be truly ancient.

On an impulse, you thump the stalk of the mushroom with your fist. A pulse of neon light radiates out from the impact, running up and down the mushroom, then into the twisting mycelial network beneath your feet. As you watch the ripples reverberate on other mushrooms all around you, you realize that anything done to these progenitors would have lasting consequences to the entire network.