Should I be expecting one of your clones or yourself at the feast this evening?" I asked him as I looked over at the Mycelium Keep.
"I would like to think so, obviously a clone, my true personage makes such feasts awkward" He stated.
Looking at the crowd slowly entering the inner ring and the small entourage at the Keep gates.
"I have a quick question just to sate my curiosity, what are us guys using for currency?" I asked Lord Alvest who seemed not to be surprised at the question.
"Truffles, sir, they are relatively hard to find near impossible to grow on mass scale and their shavings are delicacy as well as for the more practical use, for Treant magic which is how they began their use as a currency" Lord Alvest answered he seemed to now the general reason, and the fact that they were somewhat scarce and had intrinsic value made them hold as a currency.
"We have truffles back on earth although they are more of an expensive culinary item than a currency" I stated. Standing up as looked like it was time for me to be making it to the feast.
Looking at the carved emotionless face of the Lithoni Lord I asked him another question.
"Do you wish to come with me to the feast, or do you already have a time to appear?"
"Oh, my clone is already their Milord" he answered with a very slight amusement in his tone.
"Oh, alright and last question, is my outfit fine, no suits or tux's needed right?" I asked somewhat worried that their was a zany regional dress I was supposed to wear.
"No, not to my knowledge, we Fungal Folk are rather simplistic when it comes to the rules of proper dress at least compared to the Cave Folk" he stated. Nodding I waved I jumped high into the air and diving into the earth below. Like it was water I splashed in. Propelling through the earth I made sure to dodge any underground infrastructure.
Appearing in a back unused room, it dawned on me what I just did was a massive security breach, wasn't it? Eh, I would bring it up later. Walking out of the to hallway, I took a few turns appearing in the door flanking the entrance to the Councilor Chamber.
I heard movement echoing throughout the hall, peaking my head out I saw that several silk puppets and fungi were assembling a feast. A fungal feast seemed to mainly comprise of decomposing root vegetables and moss. Some was served in soup form and intermittently along the table their where giant bowls of salads.
Walking into the main hall, I walked across and into an empty council chamber. Turning around, I saw Anastasia chilling on her web behind my throne.
'Anastasia, what's happening?" I asked her looking for some guidance.
'Oh, yeah I was supposed to fill you in, wasn't I, sorry just a little bit busy commanding all of the puppets' she said yawning.
'alright well a debrief on what I am expected to do would be nice' I stated, waiting patiently, or not so patiently. I knew that it took no direct mental attention to control her puppets, with each one holding a liminal amount of intelligence. I didn't know how her ability worked but it did.
'Oh, okay alright, Boss here's how the feast is supposed to go, there's going to be introduction and greeting by the prominent members of the community, your job is just to acknowledge them and look pretty, next there's the actual eating part, and don't worry, they human food prepared for you, and then each of the three fungi species will demonstrate their value and skills' she explained telepathically, sending images also intermittently to give a better idea of the procession.
'Okay and what does the last part entail?' I asked her questioningly.
'oh, well the Treants will demonstrate either knowledge or magic like one of your human show and tells, the Brownie craftsman will have a competition of sorts to see who makes the best gift, and yes you have to pick a single winner, finally at the very end the Lithoni will send their strongest warriors to demonstrate her martial prowess in one on one combat' she explained, each kinda showed what each species held in high esteem, Treants Knowledge, Brownies Craftsmanship, and Lithoni there strength.
These fungi seemed to posses a lot more in common with each other interest wise then we humans did. Two twins who were biologically the same person could have two completely different interests and tastes.
'Alright, anything else?' I asked, to which I received a shake of her head before she fell asleep, something was off, but I would have to address it later. Sitting on my throne, I sunk slightly into the obscured cushioning. Watching the servers and puppets move around in a whirlwind of motion. A small table was brought before me so that when it was time to eat I could eat at my throne. The separation between me and the rest gave me premonition of awkwardness for me at least. One of the many 'empowering' leadership videos they made us watch in school to which most of us fell asleep to talked about how leadership wasn't about insuring our comfort but those around us.
At the time it seemed like a waste of time, and honestly it was for the path I had been going down at the time. For the path I walking down now it made sense, I wanted to be a leader who guided my people to prosperity and safety. In order to due that sometimes I would have to get a little uncomfortable to do so, and honestly not a huge center of attention or party animal person.
My thoughts and musings were interrupted by the opening of the main hall doors. First in the line walking between the long twin tables laden with a burden of food was Lord Armeant. Following him was a much smaller but still towering Lord Alvest, and following behind him was Lord Urisk struggling to stay in step with his much taller and longer stepped colleagues.
First, Lord Armeant bowed at the first step of the Dais.
"I Lord Armeant of the Fungal Treants Humbly greet my Liege, Monarch of the Fungal Folk Kien Noble" he stated before I nodded at him and he stop up and sat down at a smaller but more lavish chair at one of the tables no doubt their was a hidden seating chart. Next up the seven foot tall clone of Lord Alvest stepped up the dais bowed and he greeted me.
"I Lord Alvest of the Lithoni Humbly greet my Liege, Monarch of the Fungal Folk Kien Noble" he stated before he waited for my head nod before departing sitting in chair adjacent to Lord Armeant although his chair was substantially bigger to fit his size. Thirdly Lord Urisk walked up to dais, bowed his head and spoke a similar greeting to that of his peers. He also sat adjacent to Lord Armeant showing unity of the Fungi.
The next 30 minutes was a blur of fungal faces, some completely alien and some more human and each of their names were unique. It was aspect of their culture I had begun to realize rather quickly which also explained their need for only one name.
The next part of the feast commenced. First I was served, a nice stew with rabbit chunks and fresh vegetables and a few unrecognizable spices to add a nice flavor. Alongside a nice juicy plate of rabbit kabobs. After I had taken the first bite, the rest of the attendees followed suit.
It was intriguing to watch, fungi seemed to mimic human eating habits to a point. It also differed between fungi to fungi, some like the lords acted as almost perfect imitations of human, though it was a bit awkward for Lord Alvest. Whereas some, simply didn't care, simply absorbing the food by manipulating their bodies, covering them completely.
There were some different conversations I was able to ear hustle. Primarily it was base level conservations, hobbies, jobs, and other things. Their seemed to be a lot of similarities between humans of earth and these fungi. However the differences were also just as obvious.
Then as the dining rapped up the tables were soon pushed away. Now I would get to see someone me Treant magic in action beyond what I seen in my brief glimpse of the outer ring.
The first to appear was a tall wispy Treant who pulled out a flute that looked like a it came from a palm tree, really where were they getting the wood from?
Then the music started, the soft tones of the flute began to fill the main hall. Then their was small flash of energy from where the Treant's fingers or finger-like appendages touched the flute. Then a very thin energy permeated through the sound ways, non violent in nature nor intent I left it pass through me. The magic seemed to let me hear and feel the music on a different level. A foreign sensation passed through my senses, I was a mushroom a small one lost in a field of them hugging to a cave wall like paint on a canvas.
I could feel my brethren through phantom limbs foreign to my existence, I feel the same way memories appeared when you reminisce but they were those around. Eventually the bushel of Mushrooms around me grew more and more connected the world around us clearer until eventually we rised as one, as a Fungal Treant.... Then the music stopped and I snapped out of it.
It would have been a scary experience had I not been able to snap out of it at any moment. It was a truly magical skill. The next performances weren't as mentally stimulating as the first but each one held their unique aspect, skills practiced and honed for decades. Clapping after a performance I realized was not a thing that the fungi did. The musician looked almost mortified for a best until he realized it was positive reaction.
Soon afterwards the Fungi followed suit, I smiled at them, and next was going to be hardest part of the night. The social anxiety from having to pick one winner as the best craftsman.
Three Brownie craftsman appeared, luckily Lord Urisk didn't participate as that would bring a political aspect into it. Looking at each of their beaming faces each of them held an item the shapes obscured by the same sized box.
The first one to approach was a small fungi even for a Brownie yet his face beamed as he unveiled a pile of fabric from under the box. Holding out his hand he bowed to Lord Alvest.
"I Humbly ask of you Lord Alvest that You use your prodigious height to present my gift to his Majesty" he asked politely Lord Alvest nodded and stood up from his chair gave a quick bow towards me and then picked up the pool of fabric by the designated end.
It was long blue tapestry, weaved into the design was me, battling against the Ophiocord, it was a beautiful piece and surprisingly accurate. It started with the battle against the Mole, then bear and the hare, and then the secondary Host. It was then that it came to me that Anastasia must have helped as she could see my memories.
The final illustration was me pointing dramatically as a tsunami of rocks sailed over the head of the Ophiocord.
Now I wasn't one to be super prideful or arrogant, or at least I thought so. However I appreciated this piece simply because of the effort and dedication taken to weave it and to do without a insane amount of embellishments.
"Thank you for this lovely gift, may I have your name?" I asked him a genuine smile on my face, I new I couldn't form a basis of show it but asking someone of their name hopefully wasn't perceived as that.
"Thank you for gracious praise Milord, my name is Uxenis your Majesty" He replied bowing, Lord Alvest carefully refolded the tapestry and placed it upon the box it had been concealed in.