Sleepycap

Sleepycaps are a species of fungus, native to the planet Fungaia.

As living mushrooms, sleepycaps are capable of releasing clouds of spores, inducing a sense of drowsiness in those who inhale them and incapacitating would-be predators. Despite this, they spend almost all of their time fast asleep, relying on their feelers to maintain alertness over their surroundings, and they are not aggressive by nature. They simply dislike being woken up, and that is why they are most often found in quiet, peaceful places away from settlements, where they can enjoy their sleep undisturbed.

Biology and appearance

Sleepycaps are small, soft-bodied fungal creatures which can often be found dozing in the meadows and woodlands of Fungaia. As their name suggests, all they really do is sleep. They sleep continuously until disturbed, and they are quick to get back to it just as soon as they have warded off the individual responsible for waking them. They can be found in a variety of pastel colours which blend effortlessly with their surroundings. This is a problem for kuparkukes looking for shortcuts home, for accidentally disturbing a sleepycap is likely to see you sleeping too for the next several hours.

Each sleepycap bears the appearance of wearing a distinctive, puffy hat, though this is in fact a part of its body. This appendage carries a bubble-like bulb at the tip which is responsible for releasing the sleepycap’s spores and putting those who awaken them to sleep. Their heads are relatively very large compared to their bodies. Unlike most fungus, sleepycaps do also have tiny hands and feet, though they use them little, what with spending most of their time nestled in the earth, fast asleep.

Hanging from the sides of their heads are two large feelers, resembling pigtails, that help them remain alert to their surroundings even when they are sleeping. Their cheeks are marked with distinctive swirl patterns, and they have rather prominent, protruding mouths.

Strengths

The primary means of defence for sleepycaps are their spores, which they release whenever they are awakened and feel threatened. These spores, when inhaled, rapidly induce an overwhelming sensation of drowsiness, typically putting the unfortunate victim into a deep sleep which can last up to several hours. Though they are slow due to their squat bodies and tiny feet, sleepycaps take the opportunity to wobble away whilst the threat is incapacitated. There is currently no known tonic offering protection from these spores.

In addition to their spores, sleepycaps also benefit from their small size, sluggish nature and natural blending with their surroundings – all of which make them rather more inconspicuous to predators.

Weaknesses

With no bones, and very little else going for them in terms of natural defences besides their spores, sleepycaps are vulnerable to a range of predators, including kuparkukes and catties. Their soft bodies make them easy targets, especially for spear-wielding hunters.

They are also not a social species, preferring to keep to themselves, which makes them easy to pick off for any predator or forager who has their wits about them.

Role in Star Heretic

Sleepycaps appear in Star Heretic as an early-game enemy. They do not physically harm Kinoko, though they will release their spores and attempt to put him to sleep if he stumbles carelessly upon their patch, awakening them. The trick to defeating them is to either sneak up close before attacking them, or to fire starsprite abilities at them from a safe distance.

Kinoko can avoid waking them up by walking gently past them, or alternatively by calling on his yellow starsprites to cast a spell upon him to make him weightless, and thus not make a sound as he hurries by.

Like all creatures in Star Heretic, they can be scanned to add their details to the codex.