Abysshroom

## Appearance

The Abysshroom grows large, grey mushrooms. The pileus has a campanulate form with small white dots and eerily acid green patterns that seem to glow a bit. There are visible gills at the top of the little hill on the cap. Both stipe and lamellae are not visible, as the special thick, pale olive green veil, which grows from the edge of the pileus to the bottom of the stipe, completely hides them. Behind the veil the lamellae are decurrent and the stipe is fibrous. The mycelium with the same grey hue can be visible within the jelly-like substance it grows in. The hyphae don't grow out of the substrate unless when forming a mushroom.

## Habitat and Ecology

The fungus only grows in special substrate underwater so it is quite elusive. The most common locations are the underwater caves in the Submerged Boneyard and the Frantic Bay, but the Ambient Species may also grow in other locations close-by. The mushroom's veil is much thicker than the partial veil and the volva of other fungi to protect the fragile lamellae which hold the spores. The veil prevents any water to enter and within the space, behind the veil it's actually dry. Researchers assume that it evolved from the volva of the fungus' ancestors. The mushroom breathes through gills in the middle of its cap.

Aside of the underground caves and surroundings, Abysshrooms actually grow within the sponge of Tynomera's tail as well. Because of the smaller space and fewer nutrition the fungus becomes a lot smaller but it survives. The symbiosis between the Abysshroom and Tynomera is very pronounced to the point both species cannot live without each other. The special substrate on which the fungus grows is provided by the Snake Wyvern, in return the only food the monster ingests is the Abysshroom. Tynomera smears the jelly it produces by filling its Fermentation Sac with plant matter, which it cannot digest, and releases some spores from its tail while doing so. The substrate is very important to the growth of the mushroom, as the veil only grows thick enough after a while, which wouldn't be able to withstand the water pressure. Due to the water repellant nature of the jelly, the veil can grow big enough before breaking out into the water. The jelly holds a certain amount of oxygen that gets closed inside, which the fungus uses until it grows a mushroom big enough to break through the jelly and breathe with its gills.

Due to the decurrent shape of the lamellae a lot of spores can be stored. The fungus has bacteria inside which produce effluvium gas which are put together with the spores, which also hold some of the bacteria. Through this the release of spores, which is the automatic reaction to the veil being damaged, is also a release of effluvium gas. Tynomera's spongey tail takes in these spores when it harvests the mushroom and holds them through its special structure. When the sponge part gets moved quickly or squeezed the spores get released. This makes both the Abysshroom and Tynomera one of the leading research subjects for effluvium. Researchers actually keep the monster in captivity to research both of them and the effluvium. This is mainly possible due to the apathetic stance of the monster towards other life forms that don't pose a threat as long as unprovoked.

## Notes

* Fed on by: Tynomera
* Substrate: Jelly made from plant matter inside the body of Tynomera.
* Abysshrooms are an item and can be combined to effluvium-specific items, like remedy or pods.
	+ They can be gathered, but harvesting requires the use of a knife, which takes more time than normal gathering. As the mushroom also releases it spores when its veil gets damaged, harvesting also inflicts some effluvium damage, so caution is adviced.