Products of the Bridgehand

Most of the varied forms of growth found in the Bridgehand are both edible and nutritious, and those that aren’t find all kinds of uses.

Edible

Brightslime

Brightslime grows on the sides of the bridgestones ahead of the boundary of the Bridgehand, and is harvested by workers using a long-handled scraping tool. It is directly edible and quite nutritionally complete. Although the texture is unpleasant, the flavour is tolerable, but very mild. It has been described as “like mashed bananas, but far away”. It grows very quickly, easily as fast as it can be harvested, and is never in short supply.

Capmeat

The flesh of the heads of the large mushrooms. It is a firm, pliable consistency and has a rich savoury flavour. It is dense in protein. The caps are very large, up to about 2 meters in diameter, feeding many dozens of people each. The meat is usually sliced into slabs or cubes, fried with salt and spices, and served in a thick sauce.

Bobfruit

Large, spherical growths found along the length of the Bridgehand’s tendrils. About the size of a large orange, they are directly edible, sweet, and well enjoyed by most citizens. Grows slowly compared to some of the other parts of the Bridgehand (so still pretty fast) and has strong flavour similar to strawberry milk. Commonly eaten raw or prepared into a dessert.

Lowfruit

Amorphously shaped growths found on the crawling vines near the bottom of the main forest. Dense and flavourless, they can’t be eaten raw, but are prepared by dicing into small chunks and boiling until soft. Still relatively flavourless, they can be enhanced by adding salt and spices to the boiling water, and serve as a good vehicle for sauce or gravy.

Bunches

Small, bioluminescent spherical fruit about the size of plums, which grow in clusters resembling grapes. Confusingly, the term ‘bunches’ refers both to single fruits and whole cluster. Bunches apparently don’t cause any ill effects when eaten, but taste awful. They are harvested in small numbers for niche alchemical purposes, but don’t have many other uses.

Seer’s Slime

Clear slime found on the black stalagmite growths in the Underneath. It is one of the few parts of the Bridgehand which is not edible by humans. It will irritate the skin if touched, and burns with a capsaicin-like sensation when eaten. Don’t get it in your eyes.

Seeing Tea

A hallucinogenic mix prepared from the Seer’s slime found in the Underneath below the Bridgehand. It is used by members of the Cult of the Hand to induce visions in which they attempt to communicate with the Bridgehand.

Consumed raw, Seer’s slime will make you very ill, but it can be alchemically prepared into a psychedelic tincture. The preparation concentrates the slime by a large factor, and mitigates most of the ill effects of the raw slime, but is still very unpleasant to taste, and is an off-putting opaque yellow-brown colour due to the alchemical treatment.

Non-Edible

Mycowood

A lightweight, sturdy material harvested from the stems of the larger mushrooms. Similar to balsa wood, but much stronger, suitable for constructing buildings, and is the most widely used building material for new buildings or additions to pre-split structures. Stems are dried for several weeks before being milled and squared into timber. Unlike wood, there is no visible grain, instead having a mottled, blotchy pattern similar to perlin noise.

Mycoglass

A very strong, mostly transparent material similar to acrylic or pyrex, made by alchemically processing brightslime. It can be formed into panes, beakers, and other items while still soft after processing. Once it hardens, it is very resistant to shattering and heat, and will not return to a malleable state. Widely used by mixers. Unsuitable for storing or mixing strong acids.

Hash

Longer fibres from tendrils formed into a rigid panel. The fibres are stripped from harvested tendrils after removing edible bobfruits, then dried, woven together, and pressed with heavy stones. The sheet of hash is fairly fragile, and is suitable for decorative screens, as a canvas for artwork, and for temporary structures, but not proper construction. Cheap to make and popular with children building forts.

Parchment

A thick but durable form of writing paper made from pressed hyphae. Comes out a slightly pink or purple colour. Lasts several decades before the fibres begin to decay; decaying parchment turns to dust slowly at the edges and crumbles inwards. This process is slow enough to rescue whatever information by scribing it to a new parchment. Higher quality parchment can be made with a higher density and alchemically treated to give a whiter colour and prolong it’s stable lifespan for much longer, up to 200 years.

Ink

A simple, waterfast black ink made from brightslime and candle black.