Have edible clays been mentioned yet?

Also, consider the possibilities of divergent evolution. There could be "flowering" fungi that produce nectar to attract vermin for pollenization (and, by extension, strange honey and underdark bees to eat). There could be new varieties of amphibious creatures that developed at underground intertidal zones or something (so there could be a connection with oceanic ecosystems). There could even be things that hibernate a few thousand years at a time that you could find and harvest... "thousand year cicadas" or something like that.

Thinking big there, since completely different evolution could give you more or less anything you could imagine. Talking D&D underdark, you could maybe also try to imagine smaller or ancestral versions of regular D&D monsters, using these for spots in the ecology. You might have some 'parallel evolution' giving creatures that look a lot like surface creatures.
 
On pollination, I would hazard a guess that part of the evolution of flower shape is to match the shape of the pollinators, so a fungus that has nectar might be somewhat flower-shaped.  Sticking closer to real-world, bats would probably be the most likely 'pollinator' (I believe there are real-world flowers that are bat-pollinated) and its easy to imagine some sort of vase-shaped fungus that a bat goes into for 'nectar', before flying off dusted in spores, and perhaps collapsing with new fungus growing out of it.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;628890Thinking big there, since completely different evolution could give you more or less anything you could imagine. Talking D&D underdark, you could maybe also try to imagine smaller or ancestral versions of regular D&D monsters, using these for spots in the ecology. You might have some 'parallel evolution' giving creatures that look a lot like surface creatures.

I was specifically going for the potential weirdness. Like finding "thousand year cicadas" the size of Rhode Island and mining the carcass, using the chitinous bits for tools and shelter and such.
 

QuoteOn pollination, I would hazard a guess that part of the evolution of flower shape is to match the shape of the pollinators, so a fungus that has nectar might be somewhat flower-shaped.  Sticking closer to real-world, bats would probably be the most likely 'pollinator' (I believe there are real-world flowers that are bat-pollinated) and its easy to imagine some sort of vase-shaped fungus that a bat goes into for 'nectar', before flying off dusted in spores, and perhaps collapsing with new fungus growing out of it.

Pollinators might not have to be flyers either. Something could put up hundreds of spore-covered filaments and let its offspring hitch a ride on passing rats. Lots of room for variation.

Quote from: beejazz;628898I was specifically going for the potential weirdness. Like finding "thousand year cicadas" the size of Rhode Island and mining the carcass, using the chitinous bits for tools and shelter and such.

Cool ideas. Something like that is already a monster in 3.0. Never thought of 'mining' one though.
 

 
(Devastation Beetle, Epic Level Handbook)
 

QuotePollinators might not have to be flyers either. Something could put up hundreds of spore-covered filaments and let its offspring hitch a ride on passing rats. Lots of room for variation.

That's cool too...you could have ceiling dwelling fungi that just drop spores on PCs too, either harmless (but funny with paranoid PCs), or with nasty effects to give the baby fungi some nice compost to grow in. Sorry I'm wandering a bit from culinary stuff to general ecology..
 
 
PS is there such a thing as 'edible clay' that has actual nutritional value? Or is that a fantasy idea?

As far as I know, there are clays that are edible, but I never heard of them having any substantial nutritional value.

RPGPundit

According to the wiki article on geophagy, certain animal species can get certain nutrients out of clay (sodium and calcium are listed). I've also heard certain birds use the clay to neutralize toxins in fruits, nuts, and plants that they eat.

So the nutritional value may be a bit of a stretch, barring some special clay specific to your setting, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to see it used to aid the digestion of other things.

That brings up a whole other area; creatures that could subsist on minerals.

RPGPundit

That would cycle back to the extreme bacteria ecologies which are part of the link I offered in the beginning. Real life already provides a rich source of crazy to riff off of here.

Quote from: Opaopajr;629720That would cycle back to the extreme bacteria ecologies which are part of the link I offered in the beginning. Real life already provides a rich source of crazy to riff off of here.

Indeed it does; consider the Scottish, for example!

RPGPundit