Choke Mold

Plant Type

Black Mold

Rarity

Rare

Description

True to its name, Choke Mold is found in swamp and fungal areas with an unbearable stench, likely from decaying carcasses and rotten woods and leaves. It grows year-round, assuming water is present, and leeches off the nutrients of innocent creatures or plant life it haphazardly attaches itself to. Its color is a muddy yellow, and although bland in appearance, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the sickly browns and greens of the unforgiving swamps. As a recently-sprouted fungus, it requires little water and will feed off any moisture. The plant becomes sickly and dies prematurely should it not be nurtured properly.

However, unlike most plants, little grows around the verdure because of its unique property: it creates a vacuum. Once matured, every [30 OOC minutes], Choke Mold draws all oxygen and present nutrients (from the air or otherwise) into itself from a one meter radius, including some from the host it attaches to. It continues to cycle through the aforementioned elements for [5 OOC minutes]. As a result of its lofty energy requirements, it typically attaches itself to high-yield hosts, such as matured trees or deep roots of a plant.

As the fungus grows, it becomes capable of reproduction. Spores will periodically sprout from the mold and release septs later, carried by the wind and animals. A Choke Mold spore is relatively common; however, the hosts they attach to rarely survive the trade-off of nutrients.

Location

Choke Mold is found in fungal and swamp areas, most commonly attached to aged flora; however, a spore can attach and grow on any animal, more than likely draining it of nutrients or suffocating it—whichever comes first. It is considered rare.

Development

Choke Mold starts as a small spore, commonplace from thriving parent fungi in its vicinity. It travels via wind or carrier and eventually settles on plant life or some unfortunate creature. It starts by absorbing present moisture in minuscule amounts. Over the course of four menses, the fungus exponentially grows and matures, and should the mold still thrive on a creature, its doom is near-ascertained; most flora only offer a trade-off of nutrients and are capable of growth and development, even if vastly slowed.

Material Properties

• The spores have a high chance to spread to nearby victims and can infect people. Handling this plant is exceptionally dangerous.

Alchemical Properties

• Choke mold spores, if combined with something that would hyper-accelerate its growth, can be used as a thrown alchemical to temporarily drain the very air itself around it, preventing others from breathing and not allowing sound to escape.

The World of Aethius • The Multiverse of Aethier