Mindshroom

Mindshroom is a very hallucinogenic mushroom found in the The Fantasme.

Anatomy
Mindshrooms are small mushrooms recognizable by their yellow caps with orange-red spots. The stems of the mushrooms are light green with a striped texture. When the mushrooms grow tall enough their stems will start to twist around.

Reproduction
Like most fungi, mushrooms reproduce asexually by releasing spores into the air and settling on damp, shading surfaces, such as beneath trees and inside of rotting tree logs. The mushrooms can grow in a matter of one or two days and will continue to release spores for a few weeks.

They grow the most commonly in the Aurora region, as it's full of forests that offer the perfect environment for the mushrooms.

Uses
Mindshrooms, as their name suggests, are highly psychoactive when ingested. It's known that people experience intense hallucinations and delusions when under it's influence.

Among Wood Elves, the mushrooms are used as a recreational drug. The mushrooms will often be boiled into tea. The process of boiling them reduces the intense hallucinogenic effects, instead making the user more relaxed and in an overall improved mood. The effects of mindshroom tea are similar to the effects of cannabis.

The act of eating the mushrooms raw however, is not recommended, due to the significant mind altering side effects of them. The effects of raw mindshroom are similar to that of LSD.

Symptoms of a Mindshroom High
It takes about 15 - 30 minutes for mindshroom to start taking effect. The initial effects are similar to mindshroom tea, with a sense of euphoria and relaxation. At the same time visual and sounds will be more vivid, crisp and vibrant. The person will become hyper-aware of their own body and mind. At this stage, someone on mushrooms can still walk around, talk and do basic activities.

About an hour or so into the experience, hallucinations will start to become more intense. Concentration and coordination is hindered and the person will start to drift away from reality a bit. To an outsider, the person will be wobbly and their speech will be slurred. People will also become more emotional at this stage.

After 2 hours the hallucinations will be so intense that the user will struggle to differentiate them from reality. At this stage, the chance of having a bad trip and having disturbing visions is increased. The person at this point will be completely detached from reality and delusional. Speech will be incomprehensible and coordination will be dramatically handicapped, often leaving them unable to walk properly. At this point, the user might also start to feel physically ill. Psychotic breakdowns and panic attacks are also common at this stage.

After about 3 or 4 hours the high will start to die down and return to normal, however users will still be disoriented and feel incredibly sick to their stomach. At this point it's common for people to vomit, which usually will improve their condition. Users will usually be lethargic at this point.

Over all it takes 5-6 hours for the effects of Mindshroom to completely wear off.

Addiction
Mindshrooms are a highly addictive substance, increased exposure to the more intense effects of mindshrooms can be damaging to both the body and mind. Mindshroom addicts frequently experience paranoia, poor judgement and can develop ptsd or panic disorders.

Signs of withdrawal include depression, anxiety, headaches, lethargy, restlessness or nausea.

A Journal on the Effects of Mindshroom "Below is a recounting of an experience my colleague --the wood elf herbalist, Belodan-- and I had not that long ago. To preface, this all started when I had visited Belodan. It had been some time since we had seen each other, and he offered to make us some mindshroom tea so we could have a nice relaxing time. As he was preparing to make some, he had the idea of us both eating the left over mushroom, to 'see what would happen'. I was hesitant at first, but somehow Belodan managed to convince me. We both thought that since the mushrooms had been boiled, that they had lost their potency, but heavens, were we mistaken. About 30 minutes in we both could feel what was about to happen, so I decided, I might as well log what happened.""7:15pm: Belodan and I take the mindshrooms. They didnt have much taste, aside from the taste mint soaked in from making the tea. We each only had half a cap, which in retrospect was probably a good thing."

"7:35pm: The mushrooms are starting to take effect. It's not so bad at this point. Belodan and I are in a pretty good mood, and are laughing at each others stupid jokes. I don't know why but just a moment ago we both were laughing hysterically over a joke about Birigon to the point we were in tears. As for me, in general colors just seem to be brighter and everything sounds louder. I'm having a good time."

"8:03pm: I've been staring at the wood wall for 5 minutes now. It looks like the wood grain is flowing like a river. It's weird. I can hear the sound of my own heartbeat, and I feel a bit dizzy. Belodan has been trying to read a book, I think. He hasn't actually turned the page at all, he's just kind of staring at it."

"8:13pm: I feel this awful anxiety welling up inside of me. It's like I want to cry, but I really don't know why. Belodan has given up on his book."

"8:45pm: My arms and legs are feeling really numb and tingly. I have to close my eyes every once and a while, because when I look up from my journal, I see the words I wrote floating around in front of me. This room is the wrong hue. Everything is oddly pink. I keep thinking Belodan is calling for me, but when I look outside he's just quietly looking at the sky.""

From this point on, I had to rewrite most of my entries, as they were either unreadable, or I was too out of it to write anything so I had to work from memory.

""9:10pm: My stomach hurts, my head hurts. This was a bad idea. I keep thinking there's someone looking at me, tapping my shoulders, whispering something to me. Every time I open my eyes, the room is spinning and warping around. I think Belodan is talking to the cooker.

"9:23pm:  I feel like I'm losing my mind.  I can't concentrate on anything, I haven't moved from this chair for a half an hour. I tried to stand up but my legs don't feel like they exist anymore. I don't know where Belodan is."

"9:33pm:  Where are my legs??? ""

At this point I didn't write anything for a while. I remember I had gotten to a point where the whole room looked like it was underwater. I closed my eyes for a little bit and I had a very strange vision of a geometric landscape. It felt like my soul had ascended to another plane of existence. I wandered around for hours, and passed by weird, otherworldly neon creatures. One of them whispered to me in a masculine voice but I don't remember what it said. I remember it felt like forbidden knowledge. I can't put into words the feeling of disassociation I had.

""11:57pm: I think my head is starting to clear up a bit. I vomited earlier, so my stomach feels a lot better. Belodan is was trying to tell me about this vision he had about a fish with the head of a man. I don't remember the details, I was having a hard time paying attention. We are both really tired."

"12:20am: I can barely keep my eyes open anymore. We are going to go to bed now.""

Belodan and I woke up the next morning with a bit of a hang over, but overall normal. Sort of. I feel like I lost a part of myself last night, or like a locked door in my mind was suddenly opened. I don't think I will be trying this again."