Blooms

Blooms are what happen when the human element feeds back into the undergrowth, changing a localized portion of the Mycos. This change can spread back to Sporebound when they join the Bloom, granting access to unique Germs and advantages. Practically speaking, each Bloom is a Hiylum’s personal project and an expression of their will on the world.

When a Hilum retreats to the Undergrowth, they bring with them a human will that has truly fused with the Mycos, while remaining separate enough to be alien to the Mycos. That mind cascades out, claiming a section of the Undergrowth as its own. The Hilum changes the spores created in this section of the Undergrowth, which spread outward. Interestingly, the Undergrowth flora and fauna treats the changed spores as hostile, meaning most don’t spread too far past where the Hilum lives. When those Spores settle and Bloom within a Sporebound, that Sporebound becomes a new nexus and producer of those spores.

Each Bloom reflects the goals and worldview of the Hilum that made it. As the Hilum tends to have strong, bordering on psychotic interpretations on what the war against the Blight should look like, their Blooms tend to reflect that. Thankfully, that Bloom’s viewpoint is filtered through the Sporebound’s own psyche, meaning that most people who are part of a Bloom are just a little off, instead of being genuinely problematic. This eccentricity is often tolerated by the Colony so long as it genuinely serves the war against the Blight.

Blooms with multiple Hilum
The Undergrowth hasn’t quite caught up with the concept of zoning laws and property lines. Sometimes, two Hilum will settle next to each other closely enough that their realms push up against each other. Usually, this results in a brief and violent exchange that ends with one of the Hilum dead or moving on. Sometimes, those realms merge.

The end result is a realm that is an amalgam of its component parts. The resulting Bloom, likewise, reflects an amalgamation of the two Hilum’s perspectives. Sometimes, one Hilum is so much more powerful that it diminishes the other’s view, but even then there is always a small piece of the subjugated Hilum. Instances of this are vanishingly rare. When it does happen, the resulting Bloom must completely satisfy all of the composite Hilum’s viewpoints. As this is often impossible, or generates nonsense that isn’t compatible with staying human, it is even rarer that these Hilum can sustain a Bloom. Still, it does happen. Some Blooms even dream of joining with (or consuming) other Blooms.

What of the Hilum who create these aberrations? It varies. Sometimes there are two Hilum. Sometimes they fuse together like some sort of multiheaded fungal monstrosity. Sometimes they meld together perfectly, becoming an entirely new person.

Only existing Sporebound who are not part of a Bloom may join a Bloom. A Sporebound must gain the Hilum’s blessing or be sponsored by an existing member. If a Sporebound tries to join through sponsorship, it needs to come with citing a recent (since the beginning of the game before last) significant accomplishment that is in line with the Sporebound’s ethos. That causes the aberrant spores to take root in the Sporebound’s body. Still, their body will try to fight it off like an infection. They must then work to spread the Hilum’s ethos to create the appropriate resonance that their unique spores can actually bloom. This often looks by taking one of their Anchors and notably shifting its goals or methodologies to be in line with the Bloom’s ethos. The exact methods vary widely, but Sporebound takes a dim view on those that try to accomplish this through supernatural means. Once all of that is done, the Sporebound has one more simple, easy step.

They have to die.

Regardless of how much of their body is preserved, their body will be completely reconstituted. Their body is brought back with the Bloom’s spores and tendrils having fully replaced the normal Mycos’ material. Instead of Removing an Anchor, the Anchor they brought in line with the Hilum’s viewpoint becomes their Bloom Anchor.

Can I attend my own funeral?
It is generally considered impolite to present someone their own corpse. This hasn’t stopped a whole lot of people from doing it anyways, especially to Sporebound that don’t perform the dying part of this process by going out in a blaze of glory.
  1. You must be selected by the Bloom’s Hylum or get sponsored by an existing member. If you are sponsored, they must submit a recent (since the beginning of the Game before last) accomplishment you did that is in line with the Bloom’s ethos.
  2. You must spend a Downtime to have a Narrative Impact on one of your own Group Anchors. The resulting Narrative Benefit is immediately spent to bring the Anchor more in line with the Bloom’s ethos.
  3. You must die. Most Sporebound choose to go out in a blaze of glory fighting the Blight or exploring deep into the Undergrowth.
  4. Instead of Removing an Anchor to reconstitute your body, the Anchor you affected earlier becomes your Bloom Anchor. Congratulations! You have joined Bloom.
  5. Joining a Bloom costs a single Advancement. If an Advancement is not available, you may instead lose the next Advancement you would gain.
  6. Each Bloom comes with a Bloom Germ, which begins attached to the Bloom Anchor and is Cultured.

You gain access to your Bloom’s Active Germ, which is immediately attached to your Bloom Anchor and Cultivated. Bloom Anchors are more attached to the Bloom than they are you. Some think that Bloom Anchors are some odd way for the Hilum to gain Anchors, but no Hilum has ever expressed a personal interest in their Bloom’s Anchors. Bloom Anchors differ from regular anchors in the following ways:

  • Your Anchor’s Tag and Category both become [The Name of your Bloom] instead of what they were previously. The scale remains unchanged.
  • If you act against your Bloom’s Ethos, then your Bloom Anchor is placed in Crisis. If your Bloom Anchor is already exhausted or In Crisis, exhaust another Anchor.
  • Bloom Anchors may not be exhausted for a Narrative Benefit. They tend to be doing inscrutable things that advance the Hilum’s agenda instead.
  • Bloom Anchors may not have Cultured Germs attached to them, except for the Germ granted to them by their Bloom.
  • You may exhaust a Bloom Anchor to use a Bloom Germ’s Cultured effect.
  • If your Bloom Anchor is Removed, you lose all Benefits from being in the Bloom. If you die while your Bloom Anchor is removed, your body will need to reconstitute completely regardless of how much of you is preserved. Once it does so, you are officially no longer a member of that Bloom, and may never return to it.
  • If you Develop an Anchor to create another Bloom Anchor before you die, your Bloom Germ attaches to it and cultivates immediately. You may only have one Bloom Anchor at a time.

What happens when a Hilum dies?
Hilum are notoriously difficult to kill, but it does happen. If a Hilum is killed by another Hilum, then the victim’s Bloom is subsumed by the victor’s. All members of the previous Blooms become members of the new Bloom that represents the combination of both by the end of next game. Many Sporebound wind up leaving their new Bloom.

If a Hilum is killed by anything else, all of the Bloom Anchors of that Bloom are placed In Crisis. This Crisis can only be resolved by someone else taking their place. This involves shedding every Anchor except your Bloom Anchor and journeying deep into the Undergrowth. A character who becomes a Hilum becomes an NPC.