Difference between revisions of "Fungal Fortress"

Latest revision as of 21:14, 14 January 2022

Fungal Fortress
File:Fungal Fortress (map).png Map of Fungal Fortress (click for larger size)
Connects to	Povus
Area Level	85
Map by BetaNotus (12/22)

Fungal Fortress is a series of Myconian, Dwarven, Mantis, and Goblin tunnels converging underneath the Povus region. Just as the surface of Povus suffered from plans gone-awry, this subterranean landscape has been blighted by misfortune of its own. Accessing the dungeon requires at least [friends] favor with Mope, a Myconian who played a key role in the Fungal Fortress's tragic tale.

Points of Interest

Traps

• Lever-controlled stone door - Heavy stone doors that block passages. Each stone door is controlled by a lever.
• Fungus Blaster Trap - Groupings of Green crystals that attack nearby targets, dealing powerful nature damage. These are also disarmed by levers.

Gobporter

Gobporters are a type of Gob-Lands teleportation device. These magical relics turn the Fungal Fortress into a transportation waystation, although the method to activate them is unknown.

Fungal Fortress Inhabitants

Friends

There are no friendly NPCs in the Fungal Fortress.

Foes

Bosses

Harvestables

Mushrooms

Black Foot Morel

Pixie's Parasol

Mope's Advice

“

I'm interested in entering your fungal fortress.

I am pleased. I believe we can be mutually beneficial. Beneath the mushroom you're standing on is a series of caves. I can send you there, but you should not go alone. It is exponentially more dangerous than up here.

What will I find down there?

The natural caverns beneath us have been ruthlessly hollowed out and expanded by... my former allies. These creatures were a mistake and need to be destroyed.

Aside from these creatures, there are many deadly traps. And the lowest levels of cavern have breached ancient Gob-Lands tunnels, now laden with powerful foes.

Tell me about the enemies I will face.

...I trust you, so I will divulge my shame. In my grief over the death of my friends, I used every forbidden technique. For who was left to forbid me?

When the surface orcs attacked, I infected them with a fungoid agent.

So there are diseased orcs down there?

The orcs are no more. They have become fungus-men.

This technique is forbidden for good reason: fungus-men can spread very quickly, and they have often leaked into the Gob-Lands in the past, leading to the persecution of my race. So I tried to improve the technique!

I gave my fungus-men psychic powers to that I could better control and guide them. I gave their lives meaning, and they in turn moved heavy stones and helped me grow more fungus. Then a villain found us.

A villain?

I have never seen her like: a praying mantis of significant proportion who wears a human-style top hat.

Imarak could hear my fungus-men's psychic network, and she claimed they were experiencing a type of pain I could not feel. She offered to aid them in exchange for rooms to raise her brood. This was agreeable, and for a time all went well.

Imarak's eggs hatched and we celebrated our new mantis friends' lives. The mantises helped us create more efficient shapes for our tunnels, and helped us understand how the surface can benefit us. It was a beautiful partnership.

And then the mantises betrayed you?

Yes. Imarak broke the fungus-men free of my control. I can no longer communicate with them at all! Some remain loyal to me, but most have turned to hedonism: they live only to spread their fungus and add more "friends" to their psychic network.

This could not have happened at a worse time, for my first batch of new myconians has begun to gain sentience, using recovered heartshrooms. These innocents are alone down there without any guidance... except the guidance of Imarak's cruel teacher-mantises!

I see, I had another question.

I will gladly give you the knowledge I can. You will need it to survive the traps and foes below! Beware entering the Gob-Lands areas; I counsel avoidance.

Tell me about the traps.

Originally, our home was protected by classic psi-fungal traps. But under Imarak's guidance these were enhanced with surface-world mechanisms. This seemed wise in the moment, but now that I have been betrayed by Imarak, it is unfortunate, for I cannot deactivate them.

What sort of mechanisms are we talking about?

I have seen large crystals which fire blasts of spores. These crystals have limited amunition, but each shot is quite lethal.

The crystals can be deactivated by levers hidden elsewhere in the caves.

Okay, what else besides spore-crystals?

Perhaps the most effective defense mechanisms are simply large stone blocks that cannot be tunneled through. These blocks sit on elaborate mechanical platforms which are, again, controlled by levers elsewhere. These levers are well-guarded.

Giant stone bocks? Okay. What else?

They've been hiring subterranean... entrepreneurs... to work as guardians. Expect an assortment of deadly creatures.

Tell me about the Gob-Lands tunnels.

Beneath our caves are a network of stone-block rooms. I do not know their creator; Imarak suggested they are of dwarven origin, but Imarak is untrustworthy.

These rooms are connected to the Gob-Lands tunnel system, and serve as a sort of way-station for goblins moving through the area.

We treated these rooms as "neutral territory," to use a goblin term. We traded with some travelers and otherwise left them alone.

And then what happened?

After Imarak wrested control of my fungus-men, some visiting goblins became infected. They escaped into the tunnels and caused discontent in nearby goblin tribes.

Soon, so-called Peacemasters arrived, ready to destroy all hint of fungus. I was unable to intervene to protect my fungus-men, and most in the lower tunnels perished. But Imarak had prepared traps or them, as her brood is being raised on the second floor.

I suspect you will find Imarak down there, still defending against Gob-Lands invaders. This presents a strategic opportunity: while she is focused on these invaders, she won't be prepared for your attack.

Send me to the caves!

Very well. I still have some control over my layer, for I still embody many of the mushrooms inside. I cannot see very far into the tunnels, but I can hear. If you say "Mope, Home!" aloud, then stand still for a few seconds, I will telepathically hoist you back to the cave entrance. Use my aid to your advantage. I offer it freely.

Are you and your friends ready to enter?

— Mope

Gallery

• FungoidFortressEntrance.png

  The entrance cavern.

Tips

Trivia

The Fungal Fortress was added during Game updates/2021-12-24.