Zombie Rot

Zombie rot was a necromantic contagion believed to have originated on ancient battlefields where the dead were left unburied. Unlike spore-borne diseases such as the Saprophytic Plague, zombie rot spread through biological transmissions such as blood and bite. Any Beast, Mortalborn, or other creature wounded by an infected creature risked contracting the disease; even minor scratches could transmit the affliction, as the corruption lingered in tainted flesh. Hardier individuals occasionally resisted infection, but most who were bitten developed symptoms within a day.

Initially, zombie rot caused fever, chills, and persistent pain around the wound. The flesh darkened and grew cold, and the injury resisted natural healing. Victims reported an unnatural hunger and increasing sensitivity to bright light, and their sleep became restless and disturbed. As the illness progressed, the pulse slowed and the skin turned pale. The infected area spread in darkened veins beneath the skin, accompanied by a noticeable odor of decay. 

If the host died while infected, whether from the disease or other causes, the body reanimated within minutes to hours. The risen creature functioned as a shambling Undead driven by a compulsion to seek out and consume the living. Memory and personality were almost entirely absent, though some individuals displayed faint habitual behaviors. The undead were drawn to sound, warmth, and motion, and often gathered into wandering groups. Their bites and claws carried the same contagion, allowing the infection to spread through direct violence.

Zombie rot did not affect food, drink, air, or soil. Transmission required direct bodily injury and exposure to infected blood or saliva. Magical remedies capable of curing disease could halt the infection if administered before death, but similarly, improper uses of Alchemy could create zombie rot itself. After reanimation, only the destruction of the undead body, commonly through fire, decapitation, or sanctified rituals, could permanently end the threat.