Explorations in Clayland Part 8: Mushrooms on the Move

We're just getting started with the spores...

Here is another collection of mushroom folk.

Winging in from parts unknown, a trio of arial forms. The leftmost has the standard mushroom folk form, albeit augmented with a pair of wings. Its pink coloring coupled with flight suggests a fey influence. A fairy mushroom folk? Not impossible. In the center, a highly elongated mushroom has wings instead of arms and is equipped with a saddle. Transport service with mycological style. On the left, an ordinary green mushroom uses a pair of fluffy flowers with arial seeds to slow an otherwise fatal fall. The floral version of a parachute.

Sliding across the undergrowth, another trio makes their presence known. On the left, an acorn-shell rider wizzes across grass stalks and leaves, spear at the ready. In the center, one rider takes a more leisurely pace. Astride, a domesticated slime mold, he'll get where he needs to go in his own time. Finally, to the right, an orange mushroom picks up the pace. Screaming along on a snap-pea board, he uses helicopter seeds (only one still attached) to steer and perform feats of acrobatic grandeur.

Back on foot, a third trio opts for other forms of propulsion (two orientations shown). On the left and center, blue and green mushrooms carry tanks of noxious chemicals in tanks on their backs, ready to shoot them out of wood-formed guns. If you look closely, there are tubes that go from the mushroom caps to the tanks, demonstrating that the toxins original from the mushrooms themselves. In contrast, the rightmost mushroom, in purple, uses a more elegant weapon, for a more civilized time. A poisoned blowgun.

Finally, a final and disparate trio marches in, ready to do battle. On the left, a strange bluish-purple mushroom has long blades for hands, surely poisoned for good measure. In the center, a much-repaired banner-bearer holds a banner-flinging crossbow. Did I mention he has banners? On the left, the mushroom king raises a spear in defiance. It's hard to see from this angle, but his shield has a picture of a mushroom on it as well.

Thanks for joining. Want another taste of umami? Don't worry, more mushrooms are on the way soon?

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The Mark Williamson Creative Universe

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