Bonehunger

Curtain massive ancient bones, unearthed during the Rending, still retain a dark necromantic imprint. These bones carry a lingering effect created by ancient magic, known as marrowcraft. When a living creature touches one of these bones, the magic of the marrowcraft switches to the unfortunate creature. Then tries to reconstruct the being the bone once belonged to, using the skin, flesh, even the internal organs of the doomed creature. If the original being were bigger, the transforming creature would try to find other sources it can assimilate.

In the initial phase, the affected creature experiences tingling or numbness after touching the bone, while the skin becomes discolored and tight where it has contacted the bone. Unbeknownst to the victim, the runes of the marrowcraft are now on their bones.

In the intermediate phase, the skin and flesh begin to crawl or stretch, aligning with the shape of the being the bone belonged to.

During the advanced phase, even the bones begin to change, break, and new bones are formed, and the victim will take on the bone structure of the original being, while completely losing autonomy over their body.

In the final phase of the transformation, although the victim’s body is not dead, its consciousness is gone, and depending on the strength of the marrowcraft used, it might be replaced by the original creature’s mind.

The only way to avoid the condition is not to touch any bones that were used in marrowcraft. It requires direct touch with the skin, so even a thin cloth is enough to avoid the effects.

If someone isn’t careful enough, that person is gone, because currently, there is no known way to heal the condition. The whole process to morph into the original creature takes a couple of days, and with a strong enough magic to counter the effects, the transformation can be stopped. However, the transformation is only stopped; the effects remain unchanged.