The Tenant's Guide to the Spore-Spires of Oul

worldbuilding

DEPARTMENT OF URBAN BIOLOGY: RESIDENTIAL ORIENTATION Welcome to Oul. Whether you are here for trade, exile, or a misguided sense of adventure, the following guidelines are mandatory. Failure to adhere to maintenance protocols results in the immediate forfeiture of your security deposit and, in several cases, the loss of your lower extremities. FLOOR MAINTENANCE AND ENZYMATIC LEAKAGE The Spire is a living organism; consequently, it occasionally attempts to digest its inhabitants. If you notice a translucent, viscous film forming on your floorboards, these are gastric enzymes. Do not step in them with bare skin. Use the provided alkaline scrub to neutralize the area immediately. Should the floor begin to sizzle or smoke upon contact with your footwear, the secretion has reached a critical pH. Clear the room and notify a maintenance drone. Leaving enzyme pools untreated creates a structural weakness that may lead to an unplanned descent into the root-mass. ACOUSTIC WARNINGS (SHRIEK-MOLD) Shriek-mold is a parasitic fungus that colonizes the structural capillaries of the Spire. It is an excellent indicator of impending collapse. If you hear a high-pitched, metallic whistling emanating from your walls, the mold is reacting to a stress fracture in the fungal stem. Do not attempt to scrape the mold away. This only irritates the colony and accelerates the noise. If the whistling becomes a sustained scream, you have approximately six minutes to vacate the unit before the wall liquefies. RESPIRATORY HYGIENE Air filtration is not optional. Spores are ubiquitous in Oul. If you observe pale, filamentous growths emerging from your tear ducts or under your fingernails, your filtration mask has failed. Increase your dosage of anti-fungal tinctures immediately. We cannot stress enough that ignoring these early signs leads to a state of symbiotic consciousness. While some residents find this transcendental, the City Council views it as a breach of the residential lease, as 'merged' tenants generally stop paying rent. SPIRE ETIQUETTE AND STIMULI The Spires possess a glacial sentience. They are generally indifferent to your presence, provided you do not disrupt their dormancy. Avoid using heavy percussion or high-frequency machinery during the lunar ebb. If the walls of your unit begin to pulse with a deep violet luminescence, the Spire is experiencing a systemic spasm. Do not panic. Sit still, breathe slowly, and wait for the vibration to cease. Movement during a spasm can be misinterpreted by the Spire as a parasitic infection, which may prompt a localized immune response in the form of caustic spore-clouds.