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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
USA
1446 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Nov 2015 : 23:31:24
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In Out of the Abyss, the player's make "contact" with the dreaming mind of Araumycos and it's in the Astral (where we know dead gods go to). It looks like a jawless skull the size of a mountain covered with lichens and big patches of mold, the same colors as Araumycos on Faerun. Inside the skull is a brain shaped fungus suspended by tendrils in the middle of the open space.
Since it's a brain, are we looking at some sort of Elder Brain created in the hollowed skull of a dead god that didn't turn out right? Or it's some sort of dead god or primordial?
I was curious what others will make of this since it's new lore.
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Edited by - Eilserus on 30 Nov 2015 23:32:13
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Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2015 : 15:08:48
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Personally, I prefer having Araumycos as just a strange bit of plant life native to the deep Underdark. Rather like how the deep, deep ocean has some bizarre plant and animal life unique and slightly alien. I'm fine with Araumycos having some unusual properties, even phasing into the Astral, casting off magic radiation, or being tied to the Weave. But I prefer having it be just weird plant life that has some unusual attributes and not some kind of fallen power or an entity (beyond being very large).
I'm the kind of person who likes the little details, like how the Underdark has a variety of interesting but relatively normal mushrooms, blind cave animals, even weirdly unique monsters that inspire study. Everything doesn't have to be tied to some RSE or former deity, or "change everything you thought" in a flashy way.
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"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2015 : 17:04:30
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| I, personally, would like spin Araumycos as some sort of formerly human collective that was engaged in some big experiment, and wound up forming into - or being absorbed by their creation of - this fungal entity. |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2015 : 01:37:40
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I always thought it was neat as simply a giant fungus. Very similar to the one in Oregon that is like 2,200 acres!
Not so sure how I feel about it being "god-like" or something.  |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2382 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2015 : 01:49:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
In Out of the Abyss, the player's make "contact" with the dreaming mind of Araumycos and it's in the Astral (where we know dead gods go to).
[...]
Since it's a brain, are we looking at some sort of Elder Brain created in the hollowed skull of a dead god that didn't turn out right?
Obviously. The only things to b found on Astral plane are dead gods. And the Elder Brain is the only thing with brain. Everyone knows this.
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People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2015 : 05:45:13
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Here's a way to spin all that... The skull is, indeed, the remnant of some fallen deity. My proposed collective worshipped that fallen deity. For some reason, they thought that this nifty fungus they found would strengthen their mental abilities and thus the amount of worship they offered, facilitating the return of this deity. So they took some of the fungus to that skull, and surrounded themselves with the rest (perhaps immersed themselves in it and/or ingested it, and then did some ritual they thought would awaken the deity. Instead, they were absorbed into the fungus and became Araumycos.
The leaders of this whole thing were at the skull and did the ritual at the same time. So both the entity in the Realms and the one in the skull are linked; because the leaders were at the skull, their section of the dispersed intelligence is slightly dominant to the rest of the entity, and would thus be perceived (by limited, mortal minds) as the mind of the entire thing.
If the original fungus had its own intelligence to begin with, the human collective having merged with it would wind up with an intelligence that was quite alien to anything else. |
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Shadowsoul
Senior Scribe
Ireland
705 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2015 : 11:38:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
Personally, I prefer having Araumycos as just a strange bit of plant life native to the deep Underdark. Rather like how the deep, deep ocean has some bizarre plant and animal life unique and slightly alien. I'm fine with Araumycos having some unusual properties, even phasing into the Astral, casting off magic radiation, or being tied to the Weave. But I prefer having it be just weird plant life that has some unusual attributes and not some kind of fallen power or an entity (beyond being very large).
I'm the kind of person who likes the little details, like how the Underdark has a variety of interesting but relatively normal mushrooms, blind cave animals, even weirdly unique monsters that inspire study. Everything doesn't have to be tied to some RSE or former deity, or "change everything you thought" in a flashy way.
I agree with this 100%. |
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
#8213; J.R.R. Tolkien
*I endorse everything Dark Wizard says*. |
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Drustan Dwnhaedan
Learned Scribe
USA
324 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2015 : 17:51:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Shadowsoul
quote:
Originally posted by Eltheron
Personally, I prefer having Araumycos as just a strange bit of plant life native to the deep Underdark. Rather like how the deep, deep ocean has some bizarre plant and animal life unique and slightly alien. I'm fine with Araumycos having some unusual properties, even phasing into the Astral, casting off magic radiation, or being tied to the Weave. But I prefer having it be just weird plant life that has some unusual attributes and not some kind of fallen power or an entity (beyond being very large).
I'm the kind of person who likes the little details, like how the Underdark has a variety of interesting but relatively normal mushrooms, blind cave animals, even weirdly unique monsters that inspire study. Everything doesn't have to be tied to some RSE or former deity, or "change everything you thought" in a flashy way.
I agree with this 100%.
Same here. I think it's far more interesting as a giant plant with some unusual and unique properties, rather than some fallen deity's brain. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6645 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2015 : 23:41:54
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I had Araumycos pegged as being from Abeir and evidence of previous "Spellplague"-type events in Realms history.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2015 : 00:51:35
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WotC is infamous for removing lore by combining things that shouldn't be combined, so I just hope that this isn't another mistake like... the skull once sat on the shoulders of a primordial, whom we now know as Moander.
I'm with those who like Araumycos as a plant/fungal entity, and I'm not crazy about it being "humanized" with a skull shape. I remember elements of the descriptions of Araumycos that are consistent with neutral pathways, but that shouldn't have to mean it's a brain or has a brain.
We'll see what other lore pops up. |
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Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2015 : 03:16:42
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
I had Araumycos pegged as being from Abeir and evidence of previous "Spellplague"-type events in Realms history.
-- George Krashos
You know, I'd be totally fine with Araumycos being a weird fungus from some alien planet. The Realms have always had that "leaky doorways" and "erratic gates" kind of problem.
Some kind of nearly dead god-brain though, just nah.
Maybe Araumycos feeds on energies in the Astral as well as the Weave, perhaps even phasing into other worlds through "weak spots" in the planes. But still somehow, it's all just one gigantic fungus.
I wonder what it tastes like. Would it be good as a replacement for truffles in cooking?
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"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
USA
1446 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2015 : 16:21:43
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I would guess no since it blackens and dies almost immediately after being cut off the main growth. Maybe it'd be good potion ingredients though?
The new lore is strange. We know it's a Weave anchor and it pretty much stays within the bounds of the High Forest. Though considering it's infested huge swaths of Ammarindar I'd have to ask whether this is true for back in the day or present High Forest growth/coverage. The Greypeak mountains being outside the High Forest after all. Of course, we have connections to the Underdark and drow and illithid activity as of 1357 DR around the Endless Caverns area so I would assume Araumycos doesn't fill every single space under the forest.
I'd have to go digging, but wasn't it noted Araumycos as hiding Creator ruins? I had always figured it had something to do with the Crown Wars or the Aryvandaar Empire. Maybe even predating that to the Creator races.
This has always been one of my favorite things of the Keep, talking about new bits and seeing how they fit into the lore puzzle. |
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Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2015 : 17:42:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
I would guess no since it blackens and dies almost immediately after being cut off the main growth. Maybe it'd be good potion ingredients though?
The new lore is strange. We know it's a Weave anchor and it pretty much stays within the bounds of the High Forest. Though considering it's infested huge swaths of Ammarindar I'd have to ask whether this is true for back in the day or present High Forest growth/coverage. The Greypeak mountains being outside the High Forest after all. Of course, we have connections to the Underdark and drow and illithid activity as of 1357 DR around the Endless Caverns area so I would assume Araumycos doesn't fill every single space under the forest.
I'd have to go digging, but wasn't it noted Araumycos as hiding Creator ruins? I had always figured it had something to do with the Crown Wars or the Aryvandaar Empire. Maybe even predating that to the Creator races.
This has always been one of my favorite things of the Keep, talking about new bits and seeing how they fit into the lore puzzle.
If memory serves, and I could be completely wrong, I think the original intent for Araumycos was intended to be a like a randomly opening/sealing door - meaning that it was this huge fungal thing that grew and shrank from time to time, unpredictably (aka DM's whim), so you could suddenly uncover or bury new areas of the Underdark. That way you could develop some new ancient ruin where Araumycos used to be, allow players access for a while, maybe even let them in and trap them for a while. Bursts of growth or receding might be something players could figure out, or not, but it was primarily meant as a DM tool.
They've added lore since that time, of course, but I believe that was the original design intent.
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"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
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Out of the Abyss & Araumycos *spoilers*
