The Infection

The Veremis Cerebri Parasite was created by a necromancer who wished to create an army
with fresher bodies. However, the Parasite grew out of control and infected its creator, turning
him into a Nest.
On infection, the host is subjected to a fast-acting virus that has around 1-2 days incubation
time, during which the parasite uses the body’s redirection of resources to settle into its new
host.
The parasite latches onto the brain stem and controls the body, leaving the host still able to see,
hear, taste and feel, but be unable to control their actions, as the parasite drives them to kill and
infect others. The parasite feeds a proboscis through the throat of the host so when they bite a
victim, they inject the wound with the parasite's eggs. Scratches are a bit more difficult, but as
time goes on the parasite will store eggs under the nails of the hosts, sometimes pushing the
nails off of the fingers as time progresses. Typically, by looking at an infecteds nails you can tell
how long ago they were infected. Eggs start to show up under the nails after around a month of
infection as silver pustules.

The incubation time takes about a week, but can be sooner depending on where they were
bitten. For instance, someone bitten on the neck or near the spine will turn quicker than
someone bitten on the arm or hand. During the incubation time the host will begin to exhibit grey
and clammy skin, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, silver pustules across the arms, under the
nails and on the chest and head, increased aggression, aversion to fire and lower body
temperature. This is due to the parasite slowly taking the nutrients out of the body, and knowing
that it is vulnerable to fire means that it will avoid it and typically high temperatures as well to
ensure its survival. If the host body dies, the Parasite will just continue to pilot the corpse until
it’s killed itself.

The only way to rid yourself of the parasite is through burning it off of your brain stem, though
this is a difficult and dangerous procedure as it could leave you paralyzed if done incorrectly.
However, if you are bitten on an arm, leg, or other body part, amputation is enough to stop the
egg reaching your spine, so long as it is done within 2-4 hours. Alternatively, some people had
found that sitting in a sauna can at least slow it down until it can be pinpointed and removed.
However, due to how saunas are set up, this can be difficult for most people to do, so the best
option is to attempt to amputate or cut the egg out.

The Parasite can mutate the body, causing one of the following:
- Trackers
- Trackers are fast moving, intelligent creatures. The host would typically have had
to have been quite fit for the parasite to cause this mutation. They excel at
tracking down healthy survivors, though appear to be blind. They do not take
interest in survivors that have high body temperatures (like people with infernal or
draconic heritage, or people with a high fever) or survivors with colder body
temperatures (like giants, people with giant or draconic heritage, or people who
may be having chills due to other illnesses) but they will hunt down anyone they
 deem to be a suitable host. They can only tell this by smell and sound, so
covering yourself in rotting viscera is an effective deterrent. If they do find a
healthy survivor, they will scream to attract other infected before also attacking
themselves.
- Spiders
- Huge, nasty creatures, spiders got their name from the ribs of the victim being
pulled up through their back and repurposed into claws that can dig into stone to
keep the spider on walls or ceilings. They tend to spit corrosive acids or sticky
bile at survivors that can attract other infected by the smell or slow their
movements. Typically, spiders do not get into melee if they can avoid it, but if
confronted they wield a pair of scythe-like appendages that used to be their
hands and forearms.
- Howlers
- Despite their names, howlers don’t howl all that often, unless they are about to
charge. Huge, hefty brutes of muscle and toughened bone, howlers got their
name from their distinct battle cry before they attack a survivor. They are
surprisingly fast and mostly have the goal of pummelling someone to a bloody
pulp, due to the rage that blinds them. If left alone without anything to brutalise
(including other infected) howlers will resort to self-desecration.
- Sprinters
- These infected have huge sacks of explosive material on their backs, and will
sprint at survivors before detonating. They are relentless in their chase and will
scale walls to reach their target. Luckily, due to their kamikazee nature, they tend
not to be all that common.
- Strikers
- Like Trackers, Strikers are intelligent and very fast, with the scythe like
appendages of the spiders and endurance of the Howlers, Strikers are the top
dog of the infected food chain,and can command Shamblers - the common
infected - to attack in groups or follow them. They make a distinct bone cracking
noise as they scale walls, so it’s best to keep your wits about you and never hunt
one alone.
- Nests
- Bodies that have been spent will congregate into huge piles of biomass called
Nests. These are commonly found beneath Fortresses and only exist to create
more parasites. Burning them is a very effective way of purging them.
- Fortresses
- Bodies that haven’t quite been spent, but are close to being spent, will often pile
on top of nests that have reached critical mass and solidify, creating a calcified
mass that protects the more vulnerable, squishy mass of the Nest beneath. The
oldest Fortresses have decades of calcified matter, and many have toxic gases
from the bodies built up within their layers - explosives are very effective.
- Wailers
- Children that have been infected will become wailers, with no exception. Wailers
have subtypes.
 - Mines
- Much like the Sprinters, Mines have explosive masses on their
backs, but aren’t as fast. They will cry, mimicking a healthy child,
and lure in unsuspecting survivors, or they will crawl up to them.
Once close enough, they will explode in fiery viscera.
- Sneaks
- Sneaks tend to congregate in packs, often school buildings or
abandoned houses. They are the only docile type of infected, as
they can be ‘trained’ to collect items for survivors and have been
known to help lure hordes away from survivors at times. As long
as you don’t provoke them, they will usually leave you alone and
keep their distance. Sneaks are typically younger children, around
the ages of 4-9.
- Wailer
- The most common type of Wailer will just cry to lure survivors to
them, then attack. It isn’t uncommon for them to be in packs, so be
wary if you hear the crying of a child. It’s likely a Wailer trap.
- Beasts
- Beasts are infected animals, though exclusively mammals, that have the
parasite. They do not seem to mutate further than this, but they also do
not respond to pain stimulus or traditional deterrents.
- The Haunted
- Infected mages that are still in control of their magic, or people with magic
in their blood that they can still control. They are highly dangerous and
have caused multiple breaches to Outpost defences. The best course of
action when dealing with one leading a horde is to take it out as swiftly as
possible.

Species and Resistance/Immunity

The sentient/sapient races in this world are:

- Humans
- Humans have made up the majority of the population for a very long time,
however their numbers have thinned a bit since the outbreak started as they are
fairly vulnerable to parasitic infections. Despite this, you’re still more likely to run
into a Human than any other species besides Elves.
- Elves
- Overall, Elves tend to be as vulnerable as humans to the parasite, however some
of their subtypes are resistant or even immune. These subtypes are:
- Mountain Elves
 - Naturally freezing to the touch, Mountain Elves have body
temperatures far too cold for the parasite to exist in, and typically
live in frigid climates.
- Cris/Aspect Elves
- Due to their high concentration of magic in their bodies, Cris are
able to fend off the parasite, especially Moon or Sun aspects, as
naturally their body temperatures are much hotter or colder than
normal once their aspect awakens.
- Wood Elves
- These Elves have a naturally higher resistance to Parasites due to
living so close to nature for so long. However, older Wood Elves
are still at risk of infection.
- Dwarves
- Dwarves have magma in their blood, and so the Parasite finds it very
difficult to take a hold of their bodies. When they die, dwarves turn to
stone, meaning that even if the Parasite can get control over a Dwarf, the
second they expire, the Parasite is encased in stone and dies with them.
However, Dwarves are not very common above ground, so it’s rare one is
attacked unless they’re venturing outside for trade.
- Dragonkin
- Most dragonkin are immune due to their elemental affinities, but they
aren’t very common and tend to keep away from other people anyway.
- Giants/Giantkin
- Giants are resistant to the parasite, but if they are infected they typically
mutate into Howlers. Half Giants have no resistance, and are just as
vulnerable as a normal person. However, all Giantkin have tough skin that
is hard to bite through with human teeth, so the most common form of
infection is through contamination, as a lot of them tend to let themselves
fall into a false sense of security.
- Infernal blood
- Anyone with infernal blood will tend to have higher body temperatures,
but this does not mean full immunity. Typically only true demons and
Cambion are fully immune, but even that can vary as not all Cambion
retain the unnaturally high body temperature.
- Beastfolk
- Tribal by nature, they tend to keep away from other communities, only
sending a few members for trade. They are still vulnerable to infection,
but due to their limited contact it can be pretty uncommon unless they
stumble across a horde.
- Centaur
- Noble folk that follow the rivers, Centaur are resistant to the Parasite due
to not being from this plane originally. Some subspecies of centaur (like
Kirintaur) are utterly immune and are typically the ones found being sent
to trade and converse with other survivors.
 - Lycanthropes
- An ancient race of humanoids that can shapeshift into large wolf men.
They’re immune to the parasite due to a high immunity to parasites and
viruses and the malleability of their bodies necessary to shift cleanly
between two forms.
- Brownies
- Smaller than humans, these elusive folk are often mistaken for fey, but
are really just reclusive. They have no resistance to the infection and are
now mostly seen only once one has been infected or a group has had to
run away from their original encampment.

The World

The world The Wastes is set in has both magic and technology, though with the advancement of
technology people have become more reliant on it, meaning that only a few people actually
know ‘old’ magic. Modern magic is mostly spells to help with household chores, water purifying
enchantments, and other useful day-to-day sorts of spells. Some people have developed magic
to be used alongside technology, leading to the creation of magical biomechanics that better
connect to the person's nervous system and can even sometimes simulate senses, though
these are harder to make and are more expensive.

Because of this, The Oasis at first relied on what technology they could salvage, but once it
became harder and harder to maintain, they started using magic more, collecting old books on it
where they could and trading with other survivors to learn healing spells and spells that could
help them to construct walls.

The Oasis had been built up over the course of decades, and the walls had been raised out of
the ground itself over time. At first, it was just what is now the cemetery and quarantine zone,
but had slowly expanded out to contain the agricultural, residential, trade and entertainment
districts. They built two walls around the cemetery and quarantine zone to help keep any
potential diseases and infections contained, and the walls have guards on constant surveillance,
keeping an eye on everyone inside. The gap between the walls is big enough to prevent
someone from jumping between them, and there are spikes with fire runes carved onto them, to
incinerate anything that falls down there instantly. The ashes are syphoned away and disposed
of by burying them after a couple of days.

If someone proves to be infected, the Cleanup crew will come in and dispatch them, burning the
body and crushing the head and neck for good measure. Anyone with a bite mark or scratch
mark, regardless of source, will be shuffled off into quarantine and watched carefully. After a
period of 2 weeks they will be given limited access to the rest of the Oasis (so long as they
agree to wearing gloves and a bit, to prevent them from biting if they turn), until after 4 weeks
they will be allowed to integrate into the Oasis completely.
The Oasis has its own water and energy sources, and over time has slowly been able to bring
back commodities such as running water and flushing toilets, thanks to the mages and
engineers of The Oasis creating an aqueduct system, as well as a filtration system. They rely
mostly on solar power, with parts from old solar panels being salvaged and repaired where
possible, but also rely on wind and hydroelectrics to keep things running, just in case the solar
panels are no longer viable.

The entrances to the Oasis are enchanted to blend in with the walls until opened, and instantly
shut if a highly infected individual attempts to enter, encasing them within the gateway to be
dealt with. This was set up after multiple raid attempts were made against the Oasis, and the
people decided that enough was enough.

Originally, the Oasis was an old military training ground, with bunkers that were long filled in and
empty buildings, as well as well fortified walls that have since been repurposed for the sake of
the cemetery and quarantine. This has proven to be very effective protection, as so far there
have been no breaches.

The Oasis trades willingly with other survivors and outposts, but has gained a reputation for
having no tolerance for thieves or anyone that breaks their rules. It is run by a pair of twins, who
have a reputation for being brutal, but fair and quite kind otherwise. They are both Cris, meaning
that should the Oasis be threatened, one or both of them would be on the front lines, using the
full extent of their Aspects to defend what they spent so long trying to build.
Their reputations precede them, so even when they are travelling and aren't present at The
Oasis, no-one dares to raid it. It is the safest place to be, because no matter what might attack,
they have a well trained, specially selected group of guards who protect the Oasis and preserve
the life of the people around them.