Living Mantle (Oracle)

=The Living Mantle (Oracle)=

Overview
The Living Mantle, deemed the Oracle by many peoples from beneath the bedrock strata, is a vast subterranean organism with many biological characteristics akin to fungi and mammalian lifeforms of the surface. The sheer size and nature of the Mantle confounds many who glimpse the surfacing of its many shroomlike tendrils. Many accounts compare the size of the organism to that of a small country while others indicate that the organism extends across the entire continent of Syltör or even the world, its purpose indecipherable to mortal comprehension. What is known is that the Oracle demonstrates unique symbiotic relationships with many residents of the Underdark, both humanoid and animal. From ancient Wivamovian orated accounts, the Mantle has provided both refuge and solace from the desolate underground environment of the Underdark. Its spores have seeded many ecotopian oases which have sustained and shaped Wivamovians for millennia. The underground oases also harbor many modified forms of life adapted for niches created by the unique dynamics of the Underdark. Mycelia and subterranean lichen form the basis of these ecosystems, allowing plant life and other forms fungi to take root in the ecosystem harbored by the Oracle. Many fauna resembling cliff rabbits from the surface instead graze on fungal and lichen colonies that grow from mycelia soils. Vast mycelium networks of meter-thick hyphae link the ecosystems together, enabling transport of biological energy between different caves and communities.