[Accepted] Vuckingk liberalz movingk to toothpazte inztead ov good old Zkye'mok

[whitewolftamer]

Lore Impact (Small/Medium/Large): Small. 

Species: Vaurca

Short Description: Expands on Skye'mok and brewing of it

How will this be reflected on-station?: Skye'mok mead and recipes  (Maybe)

Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: Gives Vaurca more paths to being alcoholic, instead of "Hrrrrng. Toothpazte."

Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team? Yes.

Long Description: 

While largely abandoned in favor of toothpaste based drinks, there still resides a small, but comfortable industry of Skye'mok brewing since Vaurcae have arrived to the spur. 

     Skye'mok itself is a bioluminescent fungus which produces flourine. Unlike K'ois, a colonial basidiomycete, Skye'mok is a megafungal rhizopal zygomycete. Growing large bulbs at the end of branching stalks. While very little research has been done on the long term effects of consuming Skye'mok within non-vaurca, it is non-toxic within the short-term.
     The spores of a Skye'mok fungal growth are stored within the bioluminescent bulbs which grow at the end of each stalk. On Sedantis Skye'mok formed a symbiotic relationship with V'krexi. V'krexi would actively seek out Skye'mok, both for nourishment, and for the intoxicating effects. After digestion, the spores would "pass through" the V'krexi and end up on the cave floor, allowing them to take root within the droppings of the V'krexi and grow again. 
     In an agricultural setting, Skye'mok bulbs are harvested from the plant, and ground into a paste, which is then spread onto rock walls, or in hydroponics, placed at the bottom of the basin to allow the fungus to secure itself to the bottom of the tank. 

     Skye'mok, when used for brewing, is prepared similarly to how it would be for agricultural purposes. The bulbs are ground into a fine paste, however, rather then spreading the paste to be grown, the paste is mixed with water. Once there, it is left to grow more colonies within the water container, once a thin mycorrhizal network has grown on the insides of the container, it is scraped off of the sides, and the mixture is heavily mixed. Depending on how many times this cycle is repeated the Skye'mok mead will be stronger or weaker. On average, one cycle of growth takes six days. 
     This mixture is then emulsified and then filtered to provide a clear drink, without any "pulp". Some breweries carefully boil away water in their Skye'mok mead so that the flourine and other flavors further concentrate within the remaining mead.
     Skye'mok Mead is typically stored within clear bottles to show off the bioluminescent nature of Skye'mok. When Skye'mok mead is agitated or shaken, it glows a bright pale teal. When left to rest, it settles into a blueish, off-white color.

In game it could probably be grown in hydroponics without fear of intense contamination, similarly to chanterelles.
Spritewise it would probably just use the "Alien" plant sprites.

For drinks. Plain "Skye'mok Mead" might be all that reaches the horizon, given that Getmore and other Idris subsidiaries likely focus on toothpaste based drinks for vaurcae.
 

skyemok_mead.dmi

Edited August 14, 2023 by Desven

[Desven]

This suggestion is accepted with some modifications. We will continue to discuss in DMs how to implement the new sprites and how to expand the wiki lore.