Bifrons

Bifrons, the self-proclaimed Sage-Lord of Fungi, is a quest-exclusive NPC that appears in the Collective of Plenty's Tribal Chronicles, Mushroom Realm Mystery.

Profile

Bifrons is an ancient fungus god. Though he passes himself off as considerate and merciful, he is self-centered and arrogant. He claims to be the progenitor of fungi. Xamaran is an offshoot of Bifrons, but because of its location in The Chasm, it no longer has a mental connection to him and views him with disdain, stating that despite his might, he lacked wisdom.

During the Archon War, when people were starving, Bifrons offered his "clones" as a way to provide sustenance for the people, who would be granted powers in return for eating them, and called himself the Sage-Lord. He developed a following in Sumeru, likely through controlling their minds through the mushrooms they ate. He claimed that the most pious of his worshipers were given twenty mushrooms a day. Because the amount of clones he had was linked to his power, eventually there were too many followers for him to provide mushrooms with, and his power began to diminish at an alarming rate. Since no mention of a mushroom empire exists in Sumeru's history, it is likely that Bifrons only had a small cult following.

Seeing that his existence was under threat, Bifrons managed to retain control over one human, Chatraka, and ordered him to bring him to a hot place so that he could reproduce and restore his strength. Chatraka complied and brought Bifrons to Natlan, near the Great Volcano of Tollan. As he prepared to plant him, an eruption occurred, burying the two.

The Sumeru Akademiya, mainly through the Amurta darshan, became well aware of the role Bifrons had in Sumeru's ecological history. After Bifrons fled Sumeru, the Amurta scholars became unable to track his true form and so could only keep tabs on him by monitoring what remained of his clones.

Over 2000 years later, at some point after Varesa's parents planted their orchard, red and green berryshrooms began growing on their property. They discovered that they imparted a fruity taste and could be prepared in just about any method, so they began to offer them to other people in the Collective of Plenty. A scholar from Sumeru visited the tribe later on and warned them that any green mushrooms they find should be eaten immediately, without giving any context. The tribe did not question him further and complied with the scholar's request.

When the Traveler and Paimon arrive at the tribe after the Abyss war was over, they met Varesa, who showed them her family orchard. Paimon saw the mushrooms and asked about their presence, and Varesa used some during an eating competition. Upon learning from Atolli why they ate the green mushrooms, the Traveler wondered why they did so and with Varesa's help, discovered Bifrons after eating some. Bifrons was only interested in the Traveler, but seeing how the three were acquainted, allowed Varesa and Paimon to be affected. Claiming that he only wanted the most pious of worshipers, Bifrons told them that they had to find clues on how to be more devoted in order to meet him in person. The group eventually deduced that in order to meet him, they would need to cook the green mushrooms at an exceedingly high temperature.

After preparing some mushrooms at the desired heat, the three met with Bifrons in his realm. While he tried to pass himself off as a benevolent god, the three quickly called him out on his claim and realized that he was hiding something from them. Bifrons led them in a chase, but Varesa managed to grab some spores from him before he fled. The memory revealed how Bifrons (and by extension, the rest of the fungi) came to Natlan, and they later confronted him at the heart of the domain. Bifrons hid in a statue while sending clones at them, but the three managed to destroy them and force him out. He revealed that by putting the green mushrooms on high heat, they would emit a cloud of his spores that would grow many green mushrooms, increasing his power so he could take revenge on Sumeru and win the Archon War. However, he had confused the war mentioned by the Collective of Plenty (which was the Abyss war), but was unaware of the passage of time (which Paimon summed up as having quite literally been living under a rock) and thought the Archon War was still ongoing. Though informed that the Archon War was long over, he believed that to be a lie. The Traveler eventually realized that Bifrons did not have enough power to control anyone, and was limited to contacting the three of them only because their varying biologies had consumed enough berryshrooms for them to hear him. Sick of his taunts and bluster, the three left to return to reality, needing to stop the mushrooms from propagating.

As the green mushrooms reproduced rapidly, the Collective of Plenty began a huge feast with the mushrooms, diminishing what power that he had gained, much to his anger, telling them to stop it. A Tatankasaur Whelp then appeared while he was trying to scold the eaters and proceeded to bite Bifrons.

With the incident resolved, the Traveler and Varesa headed to the Stadium of the Sacred Flame to look for someone from Sumeru through the Adventurers' Guild. Katheryne found Tighnari after contacting the Speaker's Chamber, and upon being briefed of the incident, he promised to send scholars to monitor the situation and assured that as long as the green mushrooms were kept in check, Bifrons would not pose a threat to anyone. Tighnari also informs them that Bifrons was the progenitor of Xamaran, the giant sentient mushroom in the depths of the Chasm beneath Liyue. Fortunately, Xamaran was never a green mushroom, so it poses no threat. If the Traveler and Paimon visit Xamaran after finishing the Quest, it can be asked about Bifrons and says it is no longer of its concern, labeling him as its “foolish father” and is glad to hear of his follies since fleeing to Natlan.

Appearance

Bifrons is much larger compared to other fungi. His stalk is a mix of light green towards the bottom, turning light purple towards the top. He has green eyes and dark marks near them. His gills are bright white, and his cap is green, with yellow markings and green spikes on it.

Quests and Events

Story Quests

Tribal Chronicles

• Mushroom Realm Mystery
  • Act III: Field Fungal Traces
    • Sage Supreme
    • Smokeless War
    • The Meaning of Courage

Trivia

Etymology

• In The Lesser Key of Solomon, Bifrons is a demon earl who teaches arts and sciences such as astrology, geometry, botany, and mineralogy.

Other Languages

Change History

References