Lord Parmes (also heard as Tarmis, Petarmis and Tharsis) is the lord of an underground fungal forest, whose authority rests on transferable objects.
| Type | Character |
| Spanish entry | Lord Parmes |
Description
He declares: “this is my forest, my mushrooms, my kingdom”, a “kingdom where animal and vegetable fuse in wisdom”. The lordship of the fungi is a real office of the world. He presents himself as a man of forty to fifty, wrinkled, with dark circles and “somewhat light-blue” eyes. He was reading a book when the company arrived. He has a wand, a ring, and a “big, important” amulet with a face that “looks like an atomic mushroom”, a stylized fungal motif or a tree figure. An invisible servant “or something similar” brings him things.
His giant-sized throne of raspe rojo (probably red jasper), about 3 by 3 m, stands on a platform of “old and cracked” white marble 7–8 m above the cavern floor, beside a mausoleum he points out.
Authority by object
He ruled the fungal cavern through a collar. The amulet of the true Lord Tharsis is “an object of power capable of controlling or subduing the fungi”: whoever wears it commands the region’s fungi. An impostor named Trocadero put it on and calls himself Lord Tharsis: “That guy who calls himself Lord Tharsis is a fucking lunatic. He put on an amulet of the true Lord Tharsis. He isn’t him.”
Trade
He keeps “brown packs”, probably plants or seeds, like those found in a chest of unclear origin, and offers “good trips. And other things”, drawn from the fungi.
The fall
“That lord fell after some explosions, many say; many point to the Seekers.” The cause is disputed. How he still sits the throne, and whether the fall came before or after the throne scenes, is not established.
Open questions
- If Trocadero usurped the amulet, is the man who says “I am Lord Petarmis” the rightful lord or the impostor?
- Whether the collar is the amulet; the mausoleum’s occupant; the packs’ contents and the book’s title are unknown.
- A Lord Carcalus, masked lord of the tavern and antiguo rayador incesante (meaning unclear), is grouped with the same family of names; nothing identifies him with the fungus lord.