Darkling

Darklings were a race of fungoid people native to Yuggoth. Around 23,000 BC, the Darklings fought a war with the Tzun and were driven back to 61 Cygni. The Tzun were left weakened by the Darkling genetic weaponry. (PROSE: First Frontier)

Behind the scenes

• The fungi from Yuggoth are an alien race of the Cthulhu mythos which were introduced in H. P. Lovecraft's Fungi from Yuggoth. The short story The Monster Factory in the charity anthology Shelf Life indicated that the Darklings are specifically the variation of fungus-creature seen The Whisperer in Darkness. The Taking of Planet 5 referenced another of Lovecraft's fungus creatures, the Mi-go of the Himalayas who resemble yeti, with a line that the Museum of Things That Don't Exist has "nine types of Yeti, including the robotic and fungi varieties".
• The Darklings' name, connection to 61 Cygni, and use of genetic weaponry are references to the Blake's 7 episode Killer, where 61 Cygni is in the "Darkling Zone" and is occupied by an isolated alien civilisation that infects human explorers with a virus designed to kill anyone who's been to deep space. The name "Darkling" also alludes to the light-devoid nature of Yuggoth in Cthulhu mythos stories.