Mushroomancer's Panacea

Seeker Sana had followed many trails in her time—whispers of lost knowledge, forgotten elixirs, and magic hiding in plain sight. But this time, she wasn’t just chasing myths. She was chasing the origin of modern mushroom medicine.

The trail led her to East Asia, to a place where mushrooms are almost sacred, and can be found sprouting in every corner. The villagers spoke of the “People of the Mountain,” wise beings who had passed down the secrets of healing fungi, which they now cultivate. But when Sana pressed for more, the elders only smiled, eyes twinkling.

“Some knowledge isn’t given, child. It must be found.”

Sana sighed. She was all too familiar with this feeling, why did everyone related with this kind of legend always have a riddle! She smiled to herself, feeling more confident. If there was a riddle, there was often truth to be found.

So, she climbed. Higher and higher, through mist-draped forests where the ancient trees tangled together, draped in cloaks of vibrant green moss. And of course - Mushrooms. they were everywhere... on the tree stumps, buried in the grass, wound between tree roots and gathering in woody hollows. It was easy to see why this place was famous for its funghi. But Sana wasn't wandering blind, she came prepared—her scrying stone, smooth and cool in her palm, pulsed with the faintest shimmer. It had never failed her before.

Veylins Seekers always come prepared.

One evening, as she stood on a lonely ridge above the forest, the stone began to glow. It pointed not to a hidden monastery, nor a concealed doorway—but to a solid rock face, not too far away.

“No,” Sana muttered, frowning. “This can’t be right.”

She pressed her hands against the stone wall. Cold, unyielding—at first. Then, a sudden squish.

Sana jumped back a step, taken by surprise. The rock wasn’t rock at all. It had the soft, spongy give -and even the texture - of a mushroom cap.

With a deep breath, she pushed harder. The stone bent like overripe fruit, then—pop!—it gave way, revealing a passage beyond.

The passage was dark, but a very soft glow emanated from the distant ceiling.

Sana took out her flitfly lantern, casting blue magical light around as she stepped inside. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, but beneath it, something richer—a scent like sun-dried herbs and rain-soaked moss. The glow she saw from the ceiling before could now be identified as bioluminescent spores, spreading from unseen fungus.

Then, as she turned a corner, she saw it.

A town—if it could be called that nestled in a vast cavern, glowing softly under the light of those bioluminescent spores. Tiny houses, half the size of any human dwelling, peeked out from under enormous mushroom caps. There were streets and roads, lined with mushrooms taller than Sana herself, some spiraling into delicate lattices, others swaying gently as if sighing in their sleep.

The 'streetlights' were not unlike the stone lanterns one might find in Buddhist temples - except fashioned into the shape of toadstools

But the biggest surprise? The townsfolk.

They were Mushrooms. Humanoid in shape but unmistakably fungal. And not in the parasitic, zombie kind of way. These beings were something natural.

Some had long, slender stems with delicate frilled caps. Others were round and plump, speckled with glowing freckles. One, Sana swore, had the wise, crinkled face of an old morel mushroom and a beard made entirely of moss.

And though their mouths did not move, their voices filled her mind:

“A visitor... Clever and bold, but free from mold! Most curious...”

Sana held her breath. “I mean no harm,” she thought back, unsure if it would work.

It did.

The Mushroom Men murmured amongst themselves swaying from side to side, their thoughts brushing against hers like whispers in her mind. They had seen her coming. They had watched her search.

They stopped swaying. And they spoke in unison:

"You are pure, unmolded one. You seek knowledge without malice, without greed. Your curiosity is respectable. We will grant you a gift"

The Panacea. This is what Sana had come for. Small, jelly-like spheres made from the concentrated essence of Reishi and Lion’s Mane, blended with magic only they knew. A medicine unlike any other, capable of healing both body and mind.

But their gift came with a condition.

They spoke again. “Swear that you will not reveal our home. Swear that mankind’s greed will not devour us.” Sana could almost sense a hint of fear as their voices brushed her mind.

She knelt, pressing both hands to the damp earth. “I swear it.”

Satisfied, the Mushroomancers - for that is what they were - shared their knowledge, their wisdom weaving into her mind like threads of mycelium beneath the soil.

Her mission complete, she returned to the Umberglow at Veylins. The artisans marveled at the Panacea’s recipe. They crafted it carefully, naming it “Mushroomancer’s Panacea.” However they were frustrated by Sana's vagueness - she refused to tell them the details of how she acquired the recipe

Sana could not forget the words of the Mushroom men - She smiled to herself. After all, Veylins did not need to know all of the ingredients needed for the Panacea to work...