Clades (Factions)

In the world of the Sporebound and Mycos, there are three different types (Clades) of Sporebound, each a symbiote of their own Mycos with its own goals, but aligned against their enemy: The Blue Blight.

These are the three Clades:

  • Tree Huggers work with Mycellium, protecting natural places and building a network of community.
  • Dumpster Divers work with Penicillium, preserving and decaying in equal measure, watching out for the invisible people in the dregs of society.
  • Shroomheads work with Psilocybinia, using psychedelics to promote empathy, creativity, and connection with the Sporelands connecting to our world.

Within each of the Clades are smaller, more specialized groups called Blooms. On the surface, members of these Blooms have a moderate, reconcilable stance. They focus on one aspect of their Clade’s mission, and they are especially good at trying to fulfill it. They are often considered Subject Matter Experts, essential in Sporebound activities.

Beneath that surface, though, is a gravity well. As layers are peeled back, the opinions, motives, and actions become more extreme. At the center of that gravity well is a Hilum, a being who used to be Sporebound, but has lost all connection to their humanity, becoming an offshoot of their Mycos. If Sporebound tread too close to the extremes, they too will begin taking actions that distance themselves from their humanity and community, the anchors that bind them to the physical world. If they’re not careful, they will likely become Hilum themselves. For some, their connection to humanity is a price worth paying for that power.

The name “Bloom” refers to how members of these groups consider finding one's “True Bloom” to be the end goal of being Sporebound. Many Sporebound would disagree with this premise, especially if they are familiar with the goals at the center of those gravity wells.

Imagine, for a second, the one dimensional world of amoebas, bacteria, microscopic insects, dust mites. They’re moving around their world, chomping down on flecks of organic matter. Then they see intricate patterns, made of oil, covered in flakes of skin.

If they could think of it, they’d wonder where these patterns came from. Where those flakes came from. Why their kin are smushed all around them. But they can’t. They can’t recognize it for what it is: our fingerprints. Us picking up a knife, or putting our hand on the wheel of a car, or opening a door. All they see is the fingerprint, but they don’t recognize it for what it is.

That’s what fungus is. It’s more than just mold on your walls, or mushrooms in the forest. It’s the imprint of the Mycos on our world. Just their slightest touch, from another dimension, enabled life to flourish on harsh volcanic rock. Enables cows to digest grass. Provides the hundreds of antibiotics to fight sickness, or causes new ones. But while humans examine the fingerprints, find new uses for them and ways to deal with them, they’re incapable of recognizing them for what they are: the imprint of something far larger which they can’t comprehend.

The Sporebound can. While they’ll never be able to comprehend the creatures who leave the fingerprints, they can recognize them for what they are. They become allies with these Mycos against their enemies, in about the same way we might eat yogurt to improve digestion. We become a small part of their world, but their imprint becomes the entirety of ours.