All You Need To Know About Mushrooms #1

Before we delve into the awesomeness of mushrooms, let me first enlighten you about the history of mushrooms. A long long time ago, the Haunted Woods had a small little shop called the Apothecary. The shopkeeper was a rather scary looking... mushroom. A variety of shrooms were sold in the shop, ranging from powerful ones to evil ones, and some being just food. Unfortunately, this shop was closed on Day 20th of the Month of Running, Y4, never to see the light again. Perhaps this was part of the plan of the evil Meepits to dominat-- *dragged off* Ouch, watch it! Anyway *coughs*, some of these shrooms can still be found in various places in Neopia, such as the Shop Wizard or the Trading Post; but be warned: They are extremely pricey and will certainly burn a hole in your wallet!

Without further ado, I present you some of the most interesting ancient shrooms! They can be separated into two categories: ones that do things to your pet, and ones that are just food. The special effect shrooms are the three Healthshrooms (Blue, Green and Yellow), Green Toadstool, Level Up Shroom, Mega Power Plusshroom, Strength Shroom and Super Fast Shroom. These shrooms will greatly interest the BDers as they are always on the lookout for ways to make their pets faster and stronger. Some examples of shrooms that are just food are the Bloatershroom, Blood Mushroom, Flakyshroom, Floatyshroom, Ugly Mushroom and Spindly Mushrooms. The prices of these mushrooms range from 70K to 100K...probably not your idea of a cheap meal.

Although we can no longer purchase mushrooms from the Apothecary, there is another way to obtain them: complete Jhudora's quests. It seems that the Dark Faerie has a secret obsession with mushrooms *snickers*, because she awards four types of mushrooms in total to her questers. I mean, where does she gets her supply of mushrooms? Perhaps Jhudora likes gardening in her free time, we might never know! So, here are the four mushrooms she awards:

1. Gnome Shroom

This particular shroom is awarded upon completing Level 14 of Jhudora's Quests. It looks reasonably *innocent* for a prize from Jhudora, with its adorable gnome-hat-shaped cap and dark purple spots. According to its description, 'This shroom is said to be magical and at the right time of day turn into a gnome for a little bit, but no one has proved it true yet.' And I doubt it'll ever be proven. You can eat it safely... I suppose.

2. Purple Spotted Shroom

This shroom is awarded upon completing Level 26 of Jhudora's Quests. Despite its rather sinister and dangerous look, it is a very valuable shroom for training your pets. This shroom will either heal your pet by 3 hit points or gives your pet 1 hit point or 1 strength point. It can also be found in users' shops or in the Trading Post for approximately 58K . And once again, no, the luminous spots on the shroom do NOT mean that it's poisonous!

Lesson learned: Never judge a mushroom by its looks.

3. Toxic Shroom

The Toxic Shroom is awarded upon completing Level 32 of Jhudora's Quests. Despite its name and appearance, the Toxic Shroom has been proven to be a safe and edible shroom. Upon tasting it, I find that it has a rather odd taste: the green part of the shroom tastes like spinach while the purple stalk has a distinct similarity to the taste of an eggplant. This makes the Toxic Shroom very nutritious, as it contains both the nutrients of spinach and eggplants. Its striking green-purple colour is also a foolproof way to make your dish look more enticing. However, if you want to purchase it, it can only be found in the Trading Post with a very hefty price tag. Few users will want to part with their Toxic Shroom, when it has so many uses!

4. Dark Shroom

Lastly, the Dark Shroom. The Dark Shroom is awarded upon completing Level 35 of Jhudora's Quests. It may sound 'dark', but it's actually a harmless little shroom under its evil look. Even though it is not poisonous, it has a rubbery taste that makes your insides churn. In other words, it does not taste good. Dark Shrooms can be found popping up all around Jhudora's Bluff. However, I strongly discourage you from picking some for yourself! Rumour has it that Jhudora has placed a hex that causes your fingernails to fall off if you pick them without permission. Eh, just kidding. *chuckles* I do not know what will happen, but if you really want a Dark Shroom, do it the safe way: complete the quest, or get one from the Trading Post.

So there you go, the mushrooms you can get from Jhudora's Quests. For those mushroom lovers out there, gear up your courage and face the Dark Faerie; you might just find yourself enjoying the divine taste of a rare mushroom (or displaying it in your gallery, whatever you want to do with an adorable mushroom).

For the next volume, I will introduce the top ten food in Neopia that contain mushrooms to you. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more of the awesomeness of mushrooms!

This article is brought to you by Reporter Oldfish of the Neopian Times.