Noble Mold

Family: Funguars Crystal: Dark Weak to: Light Notorious Monster

Noble Mold

Zone	Level	Drops	Steal	Spawns	Notes
Sanctuary of Zi'Tah	50	Rain Hat (???%)		1	A, L ~4,400 HP ??? MP
A = Aggressive; NA = Non-Aggresive; L = Links; S = Detects by Sight; H = Detects by Sound; HP = Detects Low HP; M = Detects Magic; Sc = Follows by Scent; T(S) = True-sight; T(H) = True-hearing JA = Detects job abilities; WS = Detects weaponskills; Z(D) = Asleep in Daytime; Z(N) = Asleep at Nighttime; A(R) = Aggressive to Reive participants

Spawns at the south end of (E-9).

Notes

• Noble Mold spawns/morphs from one of the Myxomycetes at the south end of (E-9).

• The two Myxomycetes in the area are the "placeholders" for Noble Mold, but do not kill them: one will morph into Noble Mold (the Myxomycete will despawn and Noble Mold will spawn in its place).
• Only spawns during rain (single water element). Will not despawn if the weather changes, even if left alone.
• Contrary to some early theories, Noble Mold can spawn any day of the week.
• Rainy weather in this area occurs mostly from the 4th Vana'diel month through the 6th month. Most recorded spawns of Noble Mold have occurred in months 5 and 6.
• Calculating from Vana'Diel time to Earth time, the best time (the 'rainy season' in the Vana'Diel year) for Noble Mold to spawn is typically between the Thursday after a new Vana'Diel year starts and the Sunday after. Keep in mind that this is an estimation and will not be perfect due to the Vana'Diel year not coinciding with the conquest tally time.
• The Weather Checker NPCs in Jeuno and Mhaura will specifically predict "Rain" during this period, usually all three days.
• Once this period of almost-daily rain begins, expect a 18-25 hour timer for Noble Mold. Killing the "placeholders" will reset this, just as killing the NM would.
• It is possible that you can expect a 2-3 day window within a 2-week period for Noble Mold to spawn. It can spawn more than once during this period.

• Casts a number of water-based spells (Aquaveil, Water II, Waterga II, Enwater, and Poison II).

Historical Background

Noble Rot (also called Botrytis Bunch Rot, Pourriture noble, Edelfäule) is the common name of the mold Botrytis cinerea. It is a gray fungus which is known for its infections of grapes, which in some circumstances can produce a more flavorful wine... or destroy much of a season's crop. The right conditions for it to appear tend to be rare and it is a very valued fungus in viticulture. It produces 2 different infections: the gray rot (occurs in continual humid or wet conditions, causes afflicted grape bunches to decay) and the noble rot (occurs when wet conditions are followed by dry conditions, causes afflicted grapes to develop a very distinct sweet taste). The noble rot requires specific conditions in a specific sequence to form: a short period of humidity or rain mid to late in the growing season when grapes are more ripe followed by sustained cool, dry weather with daytime temperatures ~60°F. The change in taste occurs because the fungus siphons water from the grapes, resulting in a higher percentage of solids inside the grape, producing a more concentrated taste inside the grapes. This works primarily for the white grape varieties (Sauternes, Tröckenbeerenauslese, Tokaji, Semillion, Sauvignon, Amarone, Ausbruch, Cotnari, Riesling, Furmint). The mold inhibits fermentation inside the grapes by producing yeasticides. The afflicted grapes must undergo additional fermentation in vats spanning months and processing the grapes into wine is more labored and involved with the afflicted grapes due to the low amount of juices inside them. The end result is exquisite wine, but only a small quantity of it and which needed extensive processing to produce (thus it tends to be expensive). Wine resulting from the noble mold infection is said to "have an aroma of honeysuckle and a bitter finish on the palate". It is the lengthy fermentation which produces the exceptional fragrance of the wine. It can also infect strawberries, but has no resulting improvements in flavor. Infected strawberries must be destroyed.

The unusual spawn conditions of Noble Mold were probably inspired by the Noble Rot's rare sequence of weather conditions required to produce the desired infection of grapes.