Mushree Residence

Mushrees are mutated alien mushrooms up to 30 meters tall. Their stalks are at least 2 meters thick, and their caps are around 10 meters in diameter. They grow to full size in under a year. If they are cut down, dried, and treated with a simple coating, they can be used as a light but long-lasting building material. Strat traditionally lived in homes made from giant fungi on their home world of Kivanc, and they continued that tradition on each world they colonized that had giant fungus. They were living in fungi before the apocalypse, and they quickly built new ones after it.

Purpose / Function

Mushree residences are mostly built to be lived in. They are also used as shops and workshops, and large elaborate versions are used as clan meeting halls.

Design

Typical mushree residences are constructed from a single mushree. When the mushree is harvested, it is cut and carefully lowered to the ground to avoid damaging the cap. It is cut into smaller sections and dried over several weeks in an enormous leather tent. When it is dry, it is cut into the pieces that will form the house: the cap is removed from the stalk, and the stalk is cut into two meter long logs, then cut in half vertically. Finally it is treated with a substance to seal it against the weather and increase its rigidity. The segments of stalk are arranged (standing) in an almost-complete circle with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the mushree cap with the flat sides facing in. Long metal poles are inserted through the stalk sections and at least a meter into the ground below with a half meter of pole protruding from the tops of the segments. The cap is then lifted onto the stalk circle, and pinned with the poles. If metal poles are unavailable, Strat typically use large bones to pin the house together. Some Strat cut windows into the walls and reseal the cut sections. The final step is to fill the gaps between all the pieces. Originally, mud or clay were used, but modern Strat prefer advanced caulk if they can get it.

Entries

The gap in the circle of stalk segments serves as the doorway, with doors made from various materials.

Architecture

Mushree structures of any kind are undeniably Strat style. Some Strat paint their residences with scenes of hunts, depictions of their profession's tools, prey (either realistic or stylized), or with geometric patterns. Others leave them natural, or stain them in solid colors. Covering the building with leather is also popular. Decorations vary based on the professions of the Strat who own the house. For example, a bladesmith may have blades stuck in the mushree cap to demonstrate her skills and/or for the aesthetics, and a warrior may have trophies like helmets or skulls taken from enemies set into the walls.

History

Strat were living in houses made of very similar mushrooms and built with the same techniques as modern mushree residences since before the beginning of their recorded history.

Alternative Names

Fungus hut

Type

House