Ren woke up to a mushroom humming jazz on his pillow.
This was not the weirdest thing that had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours.
But it was definitely Top 3.
"Keeri?" he called.
No answer.
He turned to the humming mushroom.
"Am I hallucinating?"
The mushroom shrugged. "Depends. Are you listening?"
Cindale had many odd places—floating markets, time-folded bathhouses, a lake that gossiped—but the Murmurroots were something else.
They were an underground thicket of semi-sentient fungi that grew beneath Taleshore. Some said the mushrooms remembered stories long forgotten. Others claimed they just made great soup.
Ren, naturally, ended up there because of two things:
A library whisper told him "seek the fungus of many faces."
He tripped into a root hole while chasing a glittering squirrel.
Keeri found him dangling upside down in a bioluminescent cavern.
"You good?" she asked.
"I'm being judged by a talking mushroom."
The mushroom nodded solemnly. "He is not yet ready."
Turns out, the Murmurroots were home to an ancient spore network that linked thought, memory, and minor telepathy. And now that Ren had "sparked" his Improviser's Bond and gained Echo Instinct, the mushrooms were very interested.
One of the larger mushrooms (nicknamed Sir Puffington) addressed the gathering.
"Friends of the Fungus! This young traveler bears the Echo! The threads are shifting!"
A dozen other mushrooms wiggled in agreement.
Ren blinked. "Wait, are you holding a cult meeting?"
"We prefer the term 'spiritual improv community,'" said Sir Puffington.
As Ren sat among the spores, the Echo Instinct stirred again.
He touched a glowing cap and—
FLASH
He saw himself standing before a strange door carved from stone and sound. A voice whispered: "Not this way… not yet." Behind him, mushrooms sang. Ahead, something waited.
FLASH
Ren gasped and pulled his hand away.
"What was that?" he asked.
Sir Puffington leaned closer. "You saw a Door."
Keeri knelt beside him. "Doors in Cindale don't always lead to places—they lead to moments."
"Was that a possible future?"
"Maybe. Or a memory someone forgot to live."
Later, one mushroom named Clomp followed Ren home and declared him "the chosen veggie-brother." He refused to leave.
Thus, Ren accidentally started the Mushroom Cult—a weekly gathering of friendly fungus who shared dreams, stew recipes, and prophetic dance.
To be clear, Ren had no idea he started a cult.
Which made it worse.
But he did feel something new unlock inside him:
[Trait Updated!]
Echo Instinct (Level 2):
You may occasionally "hear" truths from unlikely sources. Fungi. Paintings. Gossiping lakes. Use with caution (and snacks).