Psykofungi Sickness

A parasitic mushroom that uses its host to spread as much of its spores as possible.

Transmission & Vectors

The only way to obtain the infection is to inhale the airborne spores. From person to person, it’s not infectious until the shrooms bloom and release their spores.

Symptoms

The mushrooms sap away the energy from the host so it can grow, causing major lethargy and weakness. In some cases it can even drink the blood from its host, causing paleness.
In later stages of the sickness bumps emerge from the mushrooms trying to escape out of the skin. It becomes very painful to move as the fungi merges with the nervous system, connecting the person to the hive mind.
In the final stage, the host becomes immobile, and sores, as well as massive open wounds appear when the mushrooms melt away the flesh with acid from its caps. It’s usually 90% fatal, even if the host doesn’t immediately die from the first round of mushrooms. If left unbothered, it’ll keep using the host to propagate itself.

Treatment

Melting the mushrooms with purified boiling water is the most common method, but only in the beginning stages and must either be consumed or poured into other orifices like cuts.
Potions can be made to cure it in later stages, though it requires multiple, and long intense rounds of treatment, and requires someone with magical abilities to create said potions. The mushrooms are very resilient, and will grow back if just an inch of it is left.

Affected Groups

It has the potential to affect every group, though younger, and healthier groups have an easier time resisting it and succumbing to the hive mind.
Someone born from a person affected with the sickness will struggle with it for life regardless of if there’s any spores in their system. Many of said offspring often struggle with the desire to join the hive mind, and will be chronically lethargic.

Prevention

Talisman are an effective magical method to prevent them, as long as they’re blessed directly by Merthicz. Through regular means, masks are effective as long as there’s no opening for the spore to squeeze through.

History

The first recorded case was in Maefyzer after the world kingdom had been established. The mushrooms covered up many odd and ancient looking ruins despite no one having set foot there before.

Cultural Reception

Victims of the sickness are feared, but not outright ostracised in the earlier stages. It has caused a lot of animosity towards demons, as many pin the blame on the denizens of Hell for it, even though it can’t even survive in Hell because of the heat.

Type

Parasitic

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Rare