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Hug Mush
An extremely rare, giant, immobile, and stout mushroom that grows 2-4 prehensile mycelium tentacles from its front, and possesses large, beady eyes. The mushroom's tentacles will gyrate and reach toward nearby sapients and players that don't have any weapons drawn. They are effectively harmless, but will attempt to hug others using the tentacles when there are no hostiles nearby; never forcefully, though(not that they'd be strong enough to be forceful in the first place). They cannot produce their own life energy, but are able to absorb and disperse surrounding life energy. A hug mush would most likely grow in forest clearings rich in life energy, and would visibly deteriorate over time if the surrounding area becomes deficient in life energy and they begin exhausting theirs. A hug mush can also ward various other fungal infestations and can slightly enhance soil quality. Oddly, it doesn't seem to have any predators, and might even be cultivated by giant ants on occasion(perhaps a more docile type of ant?).
Around a healthy hug mush, some smaller mushrooms will appear over time. They can be collected and used for food, or placed elsewhere to grow into another hug mush. Hug mushes might like players harvesting the smaller mushrooms and may mimic friendly actions like hand waves. Perhaps they would even directly offer smaller mushrooms to players that are starving, showing what can be interpreted as disappointment when their offer is refused.
The process of deterioration would have several significant effects on hug mushes. A hug mush that is in good health would be able to replenish some of a player's life energy with a hug, while a deteriorated one would be more likely to leech small amounts of life energy from players and restore some of their health, though never enough to cause physical effects. Same for plants and perhaps some animals that are presented to it(so you may be able to restore dying potted plants, pets and such with a healthy hug mush, to an extent). They would have vibrant coloration, with smooth, tannish stalks and vibrant caps of various colors and patterns. As they deteriorate, however, their textures would gradually be replaced with prunish textures and dull coloration, with their eyes becoming visibly dulled with cataracts and subsequently having a lower range where they offer hugs and food. Their ability to grow mushrooms drops off quickly(with the quality of the mushrooms it does grow significantly dropping). Their ability to ward off other fungi becomes severely inhibited when their life energy nears ~20% capacity, though they will always have a small area where other fungi can't spread into until they die. They will visibly slump as they deteriorate, and their tentacles will also move slower and droop more, with their cap fraying and curling up. Even in a deteriorated state, they would still offer food and such when they have it, though the animation would show them physically struggling to do so, maybe even dropping offerings it makes on accident, same for action mimicry.
They would serve a variety of purposes, but their high life energy needs mean that they can't be placed just anywhere, or otherwise require a great deal of maintenance to keep alive and 'happy'. They would be a reprieve of sorts from the dangers of the magic forests far from civilization, though they would be equally content in a town or city given enough life energy supplementation. In their native areas, they would be useful for gauging the health of the surrounding areas given their particular sensitivity. That said, perhaps their most important role would be making peoples' day a bit better.
I was conflicted about whether to put it in the plants or mob section, but this seemed the most appropriate given its more passive nature to place it here.
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