When eaten, it first takes hold within the stomach. The infested creature no longer has to eat, and indeed, cannot eat. Any food eaten after the first couple of days is quickly vomited out.
This is one of the few ways to detect an infested being in its early stages, short of cutting open their belly and searching for the mold within.
The infested sometimes know themselves as the Mold Vessels.
Within a 2d4 days, the mold has subtly lined every orifice and crept beneath the tongue. It stays hidden in this way for a further 4d6 days, and during this period the mold is transmissible via mouth-to-mouth contact, sexual congress, or by otherwise disgorging or digging out some mold and making another creature eat it.
After this, the mold can be contained no longer, and spreads out over the Vessel's skin. This is the penultimate stage, and such a creature is revered and protected by its peers.
Finally, it takes another 3d6 days for the whole body to be completely covered, eyes and all. A featureless soft furry blob in the shape of a man. Green-grey and lurid yellow. Black mold rimed with white. Silent on soft pads, quiet voice clogged with deep rich loam.
These are the Filled Men.
The Mold Vessels will obey any order and do any deed so long as it seems likely to end in the infestation of another being. They naturally congregate into cults beneath the most wilful of their number, for the infestation has no real effect on the mind of the infested creature save for a bone-deep, intense, whole-body rush of pleasure whenever they are involved in spreading the mold.
This feeling is shockingly addictive.
Awesome. Creepy. Great name. I'll probably use them. thanks.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks!
DeleteGrim Matango!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matango
Double plus good! Except how can I be "revered by its peers" if the fungus has "no real effect on the mind"?
I figured that they'd sort of naturally start acting like a cult.
DeleteLike they feel great pleasure when they spread the mold to a new host, so to share the buzz they get their whole gang together and get everyone's mold into the new guy at once then sit around moaning in pleasure like sexually depraved buddhist monks.
I'll add something about the mold being an addictive narcotic in and of itself, so the older ones are revered because you can pick their mold-scabs and eat them. Plus they go all violent and unstoppable if they don't get their pleasure-fix so looking after them is for the best.
When they get to the final stage they can't even think any more so they either keep them in the corner for scab-picking or lead them out of town and let them wander off in the general direction of civilisation so other people can feel as good as they do.
They're just trying to be nice, see?
Matango seems pretty awesome, I'm totally tracking this shit down!
Great idea! I will definitely use this.
ReplyDeleteI have to know - what is up with that deer in the picture?