Shattercaps

A delicate shroom

Local folk tales give another name to Shattercaps; on cloudless nights, the lost Prince Etrean wanders the beaches looking for himself among the stars, gently weeping. His tears leave trails of dark spots in the sand, and in the morning, you'll find tiny beautiful mushrooms in neat little rows emerging from those dark spots left the night before -- Prince Etrean's Tears

— The story of the lost prince

Shattercaps are a small yet fast growing mushroom that appears in neat rows among the white sand beaches of the continent Russin. They progress through different stages of growth rapidly over the course of one to three days, starting as what appears to be small piles of sand, before eventually reaching peak growth and turning into a small glass figurine, at which point the mushroom is ready to release its spores -- by shattering.

Seaside Teardrops

New growth Shattercaps seem to appear almost overnight, forming in their earliest stages as a line of small dark spots in the sand that to most would look merely like wet sand, if it weren't for the uniform spacing of the dots.

Connect the Dots

Beneath the sand is the network of mycelium that connects and dictates the growth of the mushrooms from these dark spots in the sand.
When an adult Shattercap "shatters" and the spores are explosively spread across the sand, each spore begins to send down tendrils, reaching for one another. These tendrils will always align with the geomagnetic fields around the planet, reaching North towards their nearest neighbour, with which it will intertwine and grow stronger. This process forms the trademark "trail of tears" that the resulting mushrooms are always found within.

When the mycelium network below no longer finds another spore to the north of itself to connect with, it stops searching and begins the fruiting stage. The signal starts at the northern most spore, where the mushroom begins to grow as the signal propagates down the line.
The result is a small line of mushrooms showcasing the gradual transformation from tiny pile of wet sand, all the way up to an adult glass mushroom.
Once the final stage of growth has been reached, the mycelium will send up another tendril to the surface, forming the delicate tail that connects to the main body of mushroom and serves as the trigger for shattering and spreading spores.

Properties

Type

Mushroom

Alternate Names

Prince Etrean's Tears, Glasshrooms

Edible?

No. In early growth stages, before turning to glass, the shrooms are said to taste of mushy gritty salt, and leave a bitter aftertaste. Once fully turned to glass, the mushroom becomes inedible.

Eugh. It's like eating crunchy yet squishy fat soaked in brine.

— First hand account

Average Height

4-6 inches

Average Cap Width

1 inch

Growth period, from spore to shroom

1-3 days

The head of this mushroom is in fact quite resilient, in terms of glass. It's the tail and stalk you need to mind -- break that, and the resulting chain reaction will shoot up to the cap and shatter it in the blink of an eye.

— Mushroom Fan

Shatter and Spread

Through the "explosion" it undergoes, a fully mature Shattercap mushroom can spread millions of spores across a circular area roughly 3 meters wide. Less than 0.1% of these spores will survive long enough to form a network of mycelium.
The spores need a proper environment to have any chance of success. There must be ample moisture and salt content to allow for growth, and the growth must occur within a silica rich location, making beaches the ideal spot for Shattercaps to grow and flourish.

Ready to burst

The shattering of the mushroom can be triggered through one of two ways. If the stalk of the mushroom should break, from external forces such as wind, waves, or animals, the head of the mushroom would shatter.
The main method of shattering comes from the small glass tail that is grown at the peak of maturity, however. It is the smallest and most delicate portion of a fully grown Shattercap; a slight breeze or shifting of sand might be enough to snap the tail, in turn causing the entire mushroom to shatter and spread.

No, your cut from a Shattercap shard will not grow shrooms.

— Mycologist

The force of one fully "glass" Shattercap is most often enough of a force to set off it's neighbouring shroom as well; if the full trail of mushrooms is fully grown, this often results in a chain reaction of every single mushroom in a row bursting and spreading their spores.

Goin beach combing? I'd bring thick pants and good boots if I were you. It's peak Shattercap season, 'n you're more than likely going to set a few off just by walkin near em. Wouldn't want you to go gettin spore shards stabbed all into your legs.

— Russinian Forager

Culture and Tourism

The delicate nature and beautiful transparent glass-like quality the mushrooms take on as they mature have made them into something of a cultural icon over the many years humans have inhabited the continent of Russin. They're often tied to things of gentle and delicate beauty, something that may be lost with a careless touch. Other times, Shattercaps stir up images of loss and sorrow, representing the fleeting nature of life itself.

Harvesting

With extraordinary care and timing, a near, or sometimes fully, mature Shattercap can be carefully extracted from the sand in which it grew. This is usually easiest done on hot days, when the tide is low and the sand is loose and dry.
These freshly dug shrooms are kept as heirlooms and trinkets, given to friends and lovers, or in some cases, used to prank the unaware by placing the hair-trigger mushrooms directly in the path of travel of unsuspecting victims.

Replicas

Hang on, how do I know if any of these are even real?

— A wary tourist

Because of their fragility, not only are Shattercaps incredibly difficult to harvest, but they're arguably even harder to packaged, transport, and sell.
This has led to many instances of talented glassblowers creating replicas, recreations, or simulacra of Shattercap mushrooms. These imitations are often easy to tell apart; lacking the colouration and imperfections found within the real glass shrooms. Some are sold just like that; imitations for a far cheaper price compared to the originals.
More talented yet more shady artisans will often put significant effort in to making their replicas look exactly the same as a natural Shattercap. The same shape, colours, and imperfections will all be present, and thus fetch as high of a price as the natural trinkets -- without the risk of shattering.

Popular Mythology

Due to their fascinating transformation from apparent formless "wet sand" into something fragile and beautiful, Shattercaps have become the focal point of many myths and folk tales. Some tell of historical events that likely happened, while other stories merely feature the mushrooms as part of the message or warning in the tale.

Glass Beach

Long ago, Russin was once hit with a rhythmic period of hot days and rainy weather, causing a massive bloom of Shattercap mushrooms. Stories say that this resulted in one large beach entirely covered, as far as the eye could see.
They say that when the first mushroom shattered, it started a chain reaction that sent so much glass upwards that the very air was said to sparkle.
The beach where this happened has since been named Glass Beach, home to a fine crystalline sand, said to be the remnants of thousands of Shattercaps exploding at once.

Ideal Conditions

While salt, silica, and moisture are the three main factors that need to be present in order for a Shattercap to grow, the mushrooms are found only in a few specific beaches across Cathedris. Their main habitat is upon the continent of Russin, spread out across many of its beaches, yet with a higher concentration in Northern Russin, near the capital, the The Coastal City-state of Russin.

Many mycologists think that the Shattercaps prefer Russinian beaches as habitat because of the specific weather patterns and consistent temperature shifts the continent undergoes. Other places in Cathedris often have similar conditions, but differ in one quality, and thus are just not quite right for the delicate mushrooms.
However, most Russinians, and all worshipers of Sharenskus, think that the Shattercaps only grow on Russinian sand because of their proximity to Sharenskus himself. Popular mythology states that long ago, the original creator of this elegant species of mushrooms was the god of oceans, trying his hand at creating something beautiful on the very edges of his domain.

It's so he could find his way home, so that he'd always know when he got back to Russin! The pretty glass mushrooms would reflect the setting sun and flash light into the darkening sky, serving as a beacon for Sharenskus.

— A Young Russinian

Read Next