Corpseplant

In the northern reaches of Attasaraï, a strange disease can be caught from a single sting of a particular plant.

One sting is all it takes.

Barkskin is not the most dangerous of diseases to a person, even a child or the elderly. Its true danger lies in what happens after the death of its host.

While its host remains in the world of the living, barkskin may make life difficult, but by no means impossible. Limbs become numb to sensations, including pain, and difficult to move. Skin becomes thicker, and deep grooves are formed resembling that of tree bark—hence the name.

Though one's life may be shortened by the illness, the host most often passes away from other causes, whether that be other illness, a wound or old age. Once they are dead, however, the deceased must be burned before it takes root.

Should the family fail to burn their dead until nothing remains, the infected corpse will begin to grow into a twisted and prickled tree, more akin to a wide shrub than a tall pine or graceful birch. From the very beginning the bark will be ugly, sickly, with spots of black and grayish white covering the otherwise dark bark here and there.

The corpse becomes the heart of this new creation, if that is what it can be called. Arms and legs become leafless branches, and the heart begins to pump black, tar-like liquid throughout the body. Sometimes it oozes through the bark, and the air begins to smell like rotten flesh and dry blood. The stench of death attracts flies, who drink from the tree's black nectar, mistaking it for nourishment.

But nothing can live off the plant sprouting from the dead, except for the thing itself. Long, thin branches form at the base of the plant—stretching outward from all parts of the body—and reach out toward any living being, seeking sustenance. These prickled tendrils will wrap themselves around nearby vegetation, and no matter how old and thick-barked a tree might be, eventually its suffocating hold will pierce through the cracks and tap into the sweetness within.

Slowly, but surely, the corpseplant will devour the life out of its surroundings, and grow ever larger as a result. It does not need sunlight to live, and fire will burn it and eventually destroy it. However, the longer it has a chance to grow and spread, the more difficult the task will be, and the more a chance the destroyer will become infected in turn.

Because one sting is all it takes.