The Compampus is an eight-legged creature that resembles an octopus. Its habitat is the Great Meadow of Gumalia. It feeds mainly on a fungus called Compampa, an elusive fungus that is very difficult to locate. It is very rare, odorless, and grows underground.
We don’t know exactly how the Compampus manages to find the Compampa fungus. The prevailing hypothesis among the Tarians is that the Compampus is not an enemy of the fungus but a friend.
The fungus has two types of spores. Location spores and reproductive spores. The location spores provide information about the location of the fungus. They are launched into the air and fly with the wind until they stick to the skin (or bark) of the Compampus. From the information contained in the spores, the Compampus deduces the location of the fungus and heads there.
When it reaches the place where the fungus is located, the Compampus eats the fruiting body that comes out of the ground. The reproductive spores that are concentrated in the fruit now pass through the Compampus’ digestive system. Enzymes and acids will break down the shell from which the Compampus feeds and put the spores through a process of maturation. Once they leave the digestive system, they will fall to the ground where they will multiply into mycelium, thus creating a new fungus.
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