Plague Rat

Undead are not an uncommon phenomena in some parts of the world, and just as with other corpses, they sometimes serve as a food source for other small creatures. Diseases can be easily spread by the bite of insects that have previously fed on the flesh of an undead zombie, but what of other creatures which feast on carrion? In these cases, the curse of necromantic magic itself can be transferred through the consumption of undead flesh, resulting in terrifying swarms of skittering undeath filled with waste and disease.   Foul Origins For some beasts, the shambling undead present an easy source of food, as few zombies care to defend their rotted flesh from the pricking bite of vermin. In small quantities, an animal the consumes the flesh of an undead is unlikely to suffer many negative effects, as it varies little from their standard diet. But in some lands, where the curse of the undead is a plague which raises dozens of bodies from freshly-dug graves each night, undead flesh can become a staple of a beast’s diet. When this occurs, the creature risks becoming influenced by the same necromantic energy animating the undead, turning mere vermin into other unholy terrors.   Spreading Sickness Beasts turned by the constant consumption of undead flesh are afflicted with a terror all their own. The instinct to bite at prey is turned on larger and still-living creatures, and the undead flesh that hangs in such a creature’s mouth can spread sickness to those it attacks. The sickness is only moderately difficult for a body to fight off, but is magical in nature, leading it to kill quickly. The magic of the disease is also necromantic in origin, and any who die from its effects are animated shortly after as more undead, offering yet more food for vermin to feast on. A group of plague beasts are not hard to kill, but being bitten several times in a short span seems to reduce the chances of a victim’s body being able to naturally fight off the disease, and plague beasts only ever travel in swarming packs.   Rotted Offering Few undead are ever the result of natural causes, and most are created by twisted minds seeking ghoulish servants. These necromancers have little regard for the lives of others, seeking only to further their own goals by any means. Tales tell of such dark minds finding benefit in the existence of plague beasts, and purposely attempting to feed undead flesh to groups of vermin in order to create further undead creatures that they might control, sending them into villages to weaken the populace before approaching with an army of their own undead.