Zombie setting where the undead are drawn towards unhygienic scents, so survivors constantly bathe to avoid being eaten.
Zombies are docile when adorned with flowers.
Settlements overgrown with herbs and flora.
Barely any banditry; everyone is focused on farming and gathering.
Different human factions and towns named after flowers like Lilies, Orchids, Roses, etc.
Instead of immediately killing an infected survivor, theyāre given special funeral rites - the zombie is covered with flowers to keep them calm, andĀ allowed to walk out from the settlement to join the hordes.
#this makes me curiously sadĀ #the idea of flowers covering the undeadĀ #that symbol of human love is what makes them docile
me to zombies:
Thank you all for the responses!!!! I got a few more notes to share from folks asking me about this setting :D
Itās incredibly risky to attack zombies. The scent of the attackerās aggressive intent coupled with spilled pungent rotten blood drives other zombies into a frenzy.
Zombies given funeral rites grow flowers within their bodies, eventually bursting from their chest and head area. These zombies are naturally gentle and their presence tames other zombies in the vicinity. Due to their helpfulness, itāsĀ taboo to harm ābloomingā undead:
Sweaty summers are the worst and everyone hopes they have enough dried flowers to last the winter.Ā
Itās a colourful apocalypse! An overabundance of flowers in the world leads to plenty of dyes and busy little honey bees!! Scented candles are a thriving export.
Survivors who help spread flowers, look afterĀ ābloomingā undead, cull the hordes, and herd zombies away from safe areas are affectionately called Florists.
Regular weapons such as guns and knives are still used but everyone prefers perfumed water guns, spray bottles, and incense.
Zombies are so overwhelmed by the pleasant scent of rain that entire hordes cease movement until itās gone.
Combining one idea with another I had recently:
A young woman nicknamed The Reaper lives semi-isolated on a small farm.
The Farm - a small house, a storage shed, and a barn with a long drive-in. Each spring, thousands if not millions of wildflower seeds are planted around the farm along with seasonal/regional flowers. The drive-in is protected by an arch hung with a flower curtain
The woman has a patch of personal flowers to harvest for drying. She knows just how much she needs for the winter and summer, and thus sells/trades the excess with little fuss.
Most of the flowers are dried or turned into soaps and perfumes, and she often provides free soaps/perfumes to those in need
The woman herself wears a dark cloak lined with drying/dried flowers to keep herself safe.
She carries a scythe used both for harvesting flowers and killing zombies that are not stopped by the flowers. This is how she earned her nickname. Her appearance - dark hair and eyes on darkly tanned skin - also played a part
Most people think sheās going to be mean or scary when they only hear her nickname, but sheās incredibly kind and even a little shy/anxious.
(image ID: A crude layout of the farm described above. A large white circle in the center with a small line of āpathā leading out. Surrounding the circle is a vibrant pink background labelled āWildflower fieldā. Inside the circle are several boxes, each labeled. One box is āBarnā, one is āHouseā, and one is āStorageā. Another polygon is labeled āMini flower patch.ā At the small opening of the circle, there is a curved line labeled āDried flower curtainā. End ID.)
and mushrooms can be used on the zombies immune to the flowers. The people with bad sense of smell get mushrooms and flowers growing in and off of them, incapacitating the ones that canāt be calmed will immediately enter a network where nutrients can be shared with other plants.
just horns of zombies being pacified in a large flower field, zombies with wild and cultivated flowers alike and zombies with edible mushrooms the hostile zombies most mushrooms but they all have some.
