[Alert:

Congratulations on fulfilling the conditions necessary to naturally tap into the power of the evolution menu! If you are seeing this notification then the following conditions have been fulfilled.

1: At least one creature devoted to you has naturally evolved without any direct intercession on your part. This was fulfilled by the girtablilu named Niqi.

2: You have coaxed creatures into evolving. This condition has been fulfilled over and over again, such as by you awakening Silander and her evolving at that time, as well as by the soul-orbs you've coaxed into evolving.

3: You have used your blood to cause a creature to evolve. This happened first with Gugrog and then again just now with the unnamed fungal lurker.

4: You gained access to the evolution menu. This happened before, in the aftermath of the completion of your quest to aid the tree-wolves.

Now onto what you've been waiting for! Your fungal servant is more than happy to allow you to select what it evolves into, trusting and deferring to your judgment.]

Name: Description: Domains & Subdomains Involved: Fungal Folks

These creatures are the standard end to the evolutionary line of terrestrial, terranean and subterranean fungi.

Fungal folks are intelligent, mobile fungi who can use magic or wield weapons. They have a distinct culture all their own and in the ancient past worshiped petty and selfish gods of nature who relegated them to positions of less importance than other hybrid beings.

They have distinct offshoots that have over the passage of time become their own species.

Fungal folks that gain classes tend to gain martial classes, particularly the classes of ranger, fighter, or rarely berserker.

Fungi, Minds, Civilization Mi-Go

Mi-Go are alien creatures from worlds where nature is incredibly unlike nature in the world of your birth.

Mi-Go are intelligent, cruel, domineering fungoids capable of surviving in the cold vacuum of space unaided.

They are scientists, colonizers, and were loyal servants to ancient, alien gods.

Law, Minds, Darkness, Madness, Artifice, Life, Void, Faith Mushroom Magi

Mushroom Magi are a relatively new species, descended from fungal folks whose entire existence revolves around magic. These very rare beings are natural spell-slingers and innately possess the druid class.

They use nature magic proficiently and served ancient nature gods in nobler and more enviable roles than their ancestors did.

Faith, Mind, Magic Shadow Spores

When not the product of unnatural interference and disruptions Shadow Spores are an evolution of fungi that grew underground or were cultivated by beings who infused them with darkness.

These shadowy beings stay out of the limelight and work behind the scenes to serve shadowy masters in a variety of roles. They specialize in roles that less than savory, and as a whole tend to enjoy dirty work.

They are often rogues, necromancers, or illusionists.

Darkness, Illusion, Necromancy, Death, Evil, Minds

All of these look... quite interesting. I had never heard of Shadow Spores or Mushroom Magi before. I realized as I read through the options available to me. The unusual ones were the ones I really liked, especially since at the moment I can't create those ones on my own.

I could make my friend here into a druid! Or into a terrifying shadow necromancer... I thought as I studied the options in front of me. They were practically begging me to pick one of them.

Having a druid-fungi protect the fungi of this forest is a logical decision. It makes sense to give a mushroom monster magic related to nature and direct them to protect not only fungi situated throughout the area but other lifeforms throughout this place like trees, animals, and the river.

On the other hand, the fact of the matter is that my influence here will almost certainly corrupt this place. I can and will be corrupting things throughout the forest, and that, coupled with my powers over darkness and nature will make this place a safer one for creatures like Shadow Spores. Having one in here who I know and command would be a good idea to prepare this place for the future...

Nature vs Necromancy. Shadows vs spells.

What to do... What to pick?

It took me several moments to settle on a course of action. And eventually what won out wasn't the voice in my mind that was telling me that druids were a natural and logical protector of forests, but instead what won the debate in my mind was my reckless curiosity, and a tiny seed of chaos that I decided to envision was hidden somewhere inside of me. I liked to imagine that it embodied the small part of me that was still recklessly curious, and still free to be immature and make mistakes.

This tiny seed of chaos was something that I pictured needed to be nurtured and cared for. And I imagined the course of action I was choosing would be me giving that tiny seed a bit of sunlight to help it grow. Which was ironic all things since I was about to turn a servant of mine into a shadow being. I informed the notification that I was going to have my newest familiar evolve into a Shadow Spore, and the second I confirmed my choice I watched as my friend began to change before my very eyes.

The thick, almost quadrupedal creature seemed to grow slimmer with each moment that passed. Its form also went from being that of a crude monster, with a bear-like frame, into something that could creatively be called humanoid-like or humanoid-lite. The reason the thing's new form, its basic shape, could only be called humanoid-like or humanoid-lite was that there were several readily apparent issues even seconds into its transformation that made it a bit of stretch to just call it a humanoid.

The creature's head, like that of one of my more monstrous fungal forms, was a solid oval of fungal mass rather than an actual face. It was an object that possessed the rough shape of a head, but one that lacked eyes, a mouth, a nose, or even external ears. Under the cover of darkness that may not prevent it from catching a humanoid unawares, but if my newest familiar were to openly dash at a humanoid with the sun shining down on it it's blank face would inspire nightmares.

The creature's hands were unlike those of any humanoid I had ever seen, even in the memories I had either been given, taken, or made copies of throughout my life. The objects at the end of the shadow spore's arms were more like shields or dinner plates than hands. At the end of the spore's arms were two thick, round objects that resembled a shield made of the darkest blue material I had ever seen.

The creature's chest was muscled and resembled that of a professional, fit soldier. Its legs were the same way. The fungal mass that passed for its skin was universally dark, though by no means uniform in their darkness. Different spots were different shades of blue, green, red, brown, and black. Even the same limbs and extremities had variations from one particular centimeter to the next.

I smiled at the thing and knelt down next to it to place a gentle hand on its inanimate dome.

It took my friend perhaps a minute or two to begin to stir. The evolutionary process had caused it to lose consciousness, and so the thing needed a few moments to become itself once more. But in time it began to reawaken, a wholly different and infinitely more powerful being than it had been before it drank my blood. When the thing was not only stirring but also conscious enough to gain an awareness of my proximity it backed away from me, instinctually shocked that something was so close to it. I grinned amusedly at it.

"Hello there. Welcome back to the world of the living shadow-spore." I said, referring to it by the name of its species. My eyes were focused and honed in on its almost wooden face. The thing was silent for a moment, as it took in my words. It was also incredibly still, not breathing or even emitting any noise. It was like it was a strange, dark statue in the middle of the woods.

"Hello Fungal Lord." It said, after several moments of silence. Its head was facing my direction, and I had no doubt the thing had access to some sort of vision that didn't rely on eyes. I reached my hand out and grabbed it by its version of hands, the strange dinner-plate like things at the end of its arms. And then I lifted it up, pulling it by its extremities until the thing was standing. In no time at all my familiar was on its feet, and we were head-to-head.

It was quiet, probably studying me, until it broke its own silence. "What do we do now?" It asked, curiosity audible in its voice. I softly chuckled at the thing and kept my hands wrapped around the edges of its arms. My hands were at the area right where its arms began to turn into shields.

"Now, we go for a walk," I told it. "I want to conduct an experiment." I said, my mind beginning to formulate one even before we began our trek back to another familiar place. My familiar fell silent once again, but very subtly nodded at me, tipping its heavy-looking head ever so gently in my direction.

And then I turned around, keeping one of my hands wrapped around one of its arms, and began to trek back to the river.

So I know that at least in a safe, controlled environment like my realm I can practice with things that are not yet under my control. But what about elsewhere?

I must know... is it really that easy?

My mind was unfocused while I trekked back to the river I had once watched my orcish minions fish in. It wasn't hard to get back there, as I had a nearly perfect memory and could recall the steps I took with ease. While we walked there, my minion and I were both quiet, although we weren't utterly silent.

The shadow spore's mind was filled with alerts and notifications, many of which were disorienting to the thing. One of the few moments I broke the silence was to ask my friend a question about the nature of its vision.

"What do your fungoid eyes see?" I asked it, out of curiosity. It was more or less following me, or perhaps more accurately, I was more or less dragging it along with me, so it wasn't as if it needed to guide itself towards our destination.

"I see nothing but notifications. So many notifications." It told me, its voice distant and dreamy as it talked to me. It was as if my servant was tired, though I knew it wasn't. The thing was excited, in its own way. I could feel it in its mind. I could hazily sense the dizzying speed with which my newest familiar was pouring over countless alerts and notifications thanks to our connection, not only as awakened and awakener, but also as master and familiar.

It's going so fast... While it's doing this I could give it a name! After all the thing did allow me to pick what it evolved into, so why not let me name it? I thought, amusedly. I should name it something related to speed since its such a quick reader. Maybe... Rapidito? Hmm... maybe... That one's definitely not bad.

My mind immediately set to work, thinking of words like "Speed" and "Fast" in a number of languages. The first word that came to mind, "Rapidito" was the word for quick or speed, in the language of Reconquista, the kingdom where the human knights who served in Ranthor's army had hailed from.

My mind continued to race, in almost comic imitation of my servant's mind, as I began to dive, head and mind first, into the idea of selecting a name for my newest true ally.

I didn't know that I was about to learn the importance of not second-guessing one's self. I also didn't know that I was going to be reminded of a simple fact: I'm not good at picking names.

By the time we had made it to the river, I had gone through dozens of names. And it turned out that the best one was the one that was hailed from the language of Reconquista. When we first made it to the sparkly shoreline of the river I looked at my friend and began to speak.

"I have been thinking about your name." I told it, a wide grin on my face. It twisted its head so that it was pointing in my general direction. As usual, it was a quiet thing, waiting cast-offishly for me to share what name I had picked for it.

"I think your name should be Rapidito." I told it, a confident smirk on my face as if I had just solved some complex, impressive puzzle. The thing had turned to face me before I spoke, but once I said the name I had picked for it the thing slumped its shoulders in what rather surprisingly looked to be disappointment. And more than that the thing seemed to suddenly grow smaller, as if trying to hide out of some sort of embarrassment.

I was taken aback for a second, not mentally ready for the name I had hand-picked to be rejected with nothing more than instinctual body language. It didn't even say anything in the seconds that had passed since I told it what I would have. When it did speak its voice revealed its feelings.

"Lord... I don't think that's the name I'd choose for myself." It said, breaking the news to me in a gentle, polite way that it didn't like the name I felt would have been good for it. I sighed softly and then began to scratch the back of my head.

"Well... You need a name. And if you don't like the one I picked for you, why don't you try and find one you like?" I told it. The thing did another of those difficult to notice nods, tilting its head forward with the sly smoothness a practiced pick-pocket does what his line-of-work is named after. I meekly accepted that this was an undertaking the shadow spore would have to do on its own, as many of the most important endeavors in life tended to be.

In response to that mildly embarrassing moment I threw myself into the experiment I had come up with: an experiment that would begin to test whether or not I could chaotically manipulate and influence things that were normally not yet influenceable by me.

Not long after that awkward moment, my ally was behind me, studying me, and I was in front of the part of the river that flowed in the middle of the forest. I stared at the lazily flowing stream and began to study its meandering tide. It slowly pushed things from somewhere far away, and towards another distant location.

Looking at it and its unmotivated flow I began to grin. Surely if I can go ahead and chaotically control any water it would probably be this relaxed and leisurely body of water. I told myself, setting myself up for an obvious "Pride cometh before the fall" moment.

I once again envisioned another thing that I had once felt beyond my abilities to control, water this time, being bent to my whims and obeying me. I had pictured the water shooting up and coiling around my arm, protectively.

I even zeroed in on that mental image, drew it close to my heart, and then shot my arm out in the direction of the water, all while unleashing divinely chaotic energy into the water. I also grunted loudly, as if I were trying to make a sound while punching and psych-out my opponent in a sort of martial arts match.

Which was why I was both disappointed and somewhat embarrassed when nothing more than me throwing an intimidating strike in the direction of the water happened. No water shot up and out of the river, no water coiled around my fist and arm to form a protective, albeit moist sleeve of natural armor. Nothing more than my voice exploding out of me and sailing into the forest happened.

Instead of creating an awesome visual, I had just created a childish scene of a strange man shouting and threateningly striking the air in front of and slightly over a lazy river.

"Well that's odd." I said aloud. There was a look of confusion on my face before I began to slowly come to the conclusion that I shouldn't have expected or hoped that this would be that easy.

And in that moment I was reminded of an earlier, somewhat idle thought. "Is it really that easy?" I had wondered, minutes ago. Now I could begin to guess at the answer: probably not. But this tiny set-back begin to get the gears of my mind twisting and turning, as I began to ponder the precise nature of the benefits and regulations of my divine realm, beyond those I had been told about explicitly by the system.