Warrior's Plight & The Blood Curse
Warrior's Plight is a type of mushroom that sprouts in the gardens of blood healers
The blood healers don't actually sow the mushrooms themselves, however when they do pop up they nurture and tend to them
Most experienced healers understand that Warrior's Plight is dangerous, should only be grown in small, very easily seen patches, and should be uprooted from any other place in the garden
This mushroom isn't prone to growing anywhere else and will only appear in a blood healer's garden
In order to survive Warrior's Plight must absorb a mixture of water and blood, and often the healers feed them with animal blood
This causes it to be very valuable on the battlefield, where a powder made of the mushroom is sprinkles onto bandages that are then wrapped around the wound of a warrior in order to stop the bleeding
However the process to create this powder is very meticulous and if not done properly the powder could instead cause the wounded to bleed more
The Blood Curse is a disease caused by the mushroom spores from Warrior's Plight
It was given this name because people didn't properly understand it and thought it was a curse from the gods
It's a very zombie esque disease
Outbreaks are very rare because most blood healers understand how to deal with these mushrooms or they are apprentices to healers who know how
However occasionally a new blood healer won't be taken under a master and will accidentally cause an outbreak
The new blood healers don't properly search their gardens for Warrior's Plight (because they don't know to) and their garden ends up overpopulated
*Warning for descriptions of sickness and death
The blood healer becomes infected as the surplus amount of spores filter into their lungs and infiltrate their blood streams
In the span of an hour the natural properties of Warrior's Plight will begin to take full effect and will block the blood, eventually trying to push it out of the body as the mushrooms begin to grow
The first three hours are the first stage of the disease, and after the fist hour the infected person will begin to frequently nosebleed and cough up blood
The second stage starts directly after this. During the first 30 minutes the infected person's body will begin to feel heavy, and after that 30 minute period the person will no longer be able to move for the next hour
The third stage is the last stage in which it is possible to cure the sickness
The infected person still retains consciousness during this stage, however no longer has any control over their body
At this point Warrior's Plight has reached the brain and will take control, searching for more hosts
During this stage blood will begin to continuously leak from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, the infected person will begin to move again, and their body will search for the next target. Once this target is found the body will attack, seeking to infect that being as well
This stage last for around 45 minutes as the being's consciousness slowly fades
Once the body enters the fourth stage it can no longer be cured
The body will stumble around looking for more victims for an undetermined amount of time
When the body finally loses the entirety of its blood the body will collapse dead on the ground
However the corpse can still effect other beings if consumed or if the blood gets in a wound, and as such all bodies of infected should be burned
This is inspired by a dream I had. It was terrifying.
