Cannibal Sickness
Cannibalism is taboo in most of Scarterra for a good reason. Cannibalism leads to creeping spiritual, physical, and mental corruption.
Cannibal sickness is called anthropophagia by some sages, but almost no common people use this clunky term. Most just call it "cannibal sickness" and call the people afflicted by it by their local name.
People afflicted by cannibal sickness are known by different names in different places. In the northern lands of West Colassia the barbarians call those afflicted with cannibal sickness called wendigo. Further south West Colassian humans call them ogres. In Penarchia, the humans call these people oni.
"Skopen" is the generic Elven word for "cannibal mutant" but if a non-elf uses the word, they are referring to elf cannibals specifically. Likewise, jormanger is the Dwarven term for "cannibal mutant" but also refers specifically to dwarf cannibals. Human cannibal mutants are called simply "ogres" but the term "ogre" can be a generic term for cannibals in many human circles.
For simplicity, I am going to call all of those afflicted with anthropophagia, "ogres" from here on forward.
Most ogres have enough control over their dark cravings that they will try to restrain themselves from eating more mortal flesh than they can realistically get away with.
A few ogres, especially the most radically deformed individuals, operate as lone monsters in the wilderness or quiet dungeons. Most ogres that are capable of pretending to be normal people will try to find an occupation on the fringes of normal society so they can have access to their prey, but they don't want to be so close that they can no longer hide their dark secret.
Ogres can usually recognize their own kind instinctively and they often form small cooperative units with other ogres. When ogres band together in ad hoc family units, the more normal or attractive looking family members are often the face or lure for the rest of the group.
young Dhorgolun by Eron12 with Heroforge
Most elves call those afflicted, the skotadpein or skopen for short. Loosely translates to "those afflicted with dark hunger." Most dwarves call them jormangers.
In East Colassia the Mereshnari call them Dabrijal, or "hyena men" because they are believed to be the spiritual kin of dabeshi. Among the rest of the Confederacy, some of the humans have adopted the term Dabrijal, and some use skopen or ogre.
Ogres always crave mortal flesh, but they can do eat normal food in addition to mortal flesh. Ogres are not generally picky eaters but in most cases an ogres prefer the taste of their own. Ogres of human stock will prefer to eat human flesh and jormanger dwarves generally prefer to eat dwarf flesh, and orc wendigo generally prefer to eat orc flesh. When given a choice, ogres of all stripes generally prefer the taste of the young and healthy over the old and infirm.
by Eron12 with Hero Forge
Transmission & Vectors
Once a mortal tastes mortal flesh, they risk becoming addicted to it. Once addicted, they become begin to change physically mentally and spiritually gradually developing more powers and mutations as the years go by and the eat more meals of "long pig." Not every cannibal picks up cannibal sickness and sages are not sure of why this is. Obviously experimentation on this is both difficult and amoral.
Afflicted cannibals are usually not sterile. They will pass their cannibal sickness to their offspring. Second and third generation mutants are usually physically stronger than first generation mutants, but more also more hideous of visage and more mentally unstable. Most fourth generation mutants miscarry or die in infancy.
This leads some cannibal families to actively recruits fresh breeding stock while others are not as legacy minded and just accept the end of their line with grace.
Symptoms
Collme the ollum by Eron12 with Hero Forge
Whether you call them ogres, wendigo, oni or something else, those afflicted with cannibal sickness physically change over time.
Most grow larger and uglier. Heads, feet, and hands are often disproportionately larger. Nearly all of them gain increased strength and resilience.
Beyond this, secondary traits vary. They might pick up animal-like physical traits or grow adaptations to survive environmental hazards where ever they live. Those in cold areas are likely to grow fur and those in rocky areas are likely to gain feet mutations that let them cling to difficult surfaces. Some gain claws or fangs as natural weapons. Some merely gain vestigial claws that mark them as being tainted but don't form effective weapons.
generic wendigo by Eron12 with Hero Forge
Treatment
Purification magic can temporarily suppress an afflicted person's unholy appetite but to cure cannibal sickness an afflicted needs to have genuine remorse, be subjected to Purification ●●●●●, and then go on a lengthy and dangerous quest while resisting the urge to eat mortal flesh the whole time. According to the stories, ogres have been cured of their conditions minutes or seconds before their deaths after dying in a poetic and noble sacrifice.
Prevention
The best way to not get cannibal sickness is to not engage in cannibalism. Not every human or demi-human who partakes of mortal flesh becomes an ogre or other mutant, but it is nearly guaranteed if they engage in cannibalism over and over.
Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and orcs seem very vulnerable to cannibal sickness. Other humanoids, seem to be able to partake of mortal flesh with fewer long-term consequences or at the least different long-term consequences. Why this is is unknown.
Dragons seem completely immune to physical mutation from eating mortal flesh though some dragons claim that dragons that dragons that regularly partake of the flesh of mortals develop mental issues.
Hypothetically, if a second or third generation mutant baby is removed from his or her parents before they are old enough to eat meat and raised among non-cannibalistic people, they will grow up as normal person, not an ogre. Though they will probably be a large ugly normal person and this may lead to them being accused of being a cannibal.
History
There are no records of cannibal sickness in the the First Age. Dragons are immune to cannibal sickness but that doesn't mean other races didn't have this affliction. If lesser races turned into cannibal monsters, the dragons did not bother to write down accounts of this, at least no written records that survived the First Unmaking and Second Unmaking.
In the the Second Age , cannibalism among elves was rare, but it was well documented. The term skopen is an ancient one.
During the Second Unmaking saw a lot of death. Almost as many mortals died of starvation as those that died at the hands of Void Demons. Many turned to cannibalism to survive. Not every cannibal collaborated with the demons and not every demon collaborator became a cannibal, but a disproportionately high number of Infernalists during the Second Unmaking also happened to be cannibals. This correlational link between cannibals and infernalists continued into modern times.
It wasn't just elven skopen that were a problem in yesteryear. During the Red Era, winters were harsher and farming techniques were less advanced. Food shortages sometimes led to acts of cannibalism and this led to surges of the human ogre population. In the current Feudal Era, starvation is less common so cannibalism is less common so ogres are less common, at least less common than they used to be.
In the immediate aftermath of the Second Unmaking, the surviving elf groups had to purge their own ranks from skopen in their midst. There were small tribes of elves that survived the Second Unmaking but did not survive into the feudal having been driven to extinction during Scarterra's Red Era. According to legend, some of these rogue elf tribes were made up of skopen but that could be historical revisionism as historians want to retroactively justify their ancestors' acts of genocide.
savage skopen by Eron12 with Hero Forge
Cultural Reception
Most cultures in Scarterra have laws against cannibalism and will execute any ogres they find. At least on paper.
Some afflicted with cannibal sickness become lone monsters as it were. Others form clans or bands of their own kind. Most stick to the fringes of their original society. Far enough away from the hustle and bustle that their odd appearances and lifestyles are not noticed but close enough that they can still clandestinely prey on their former race.
Most civilized feudal princes and barbarian tribal leaders are stauncly opposed to cannibalism and will exile or kill any cannibals in their midst, especially if they have full cannibal sickness, but some leaders will hypocritically turn a blind eye to cannibals in their midst if it suits their short term interests.
Who turns into what
Human cannibals gradually turn into ogres and generally gain muscle mass and endurance while gradually becoming monstrously ugly. Elf and satyr cannibals gradually turn into skopen and generally gain speed, sensory acuity, and agility while gradually becoming increasingly insane. Gnome cannibals gradually turn into ollums and generally gain strength, stealth ability, sensory acuity, and gain a mix of physical deformities and mental instability. Dwarf canninbals gradually turn into jormangers and generally gain endurance, sensory acuity and gain a mix of physical deformities and emotional detachment. Tengku cannibals gradually turn into vultures and generally gain supernatural healing powers and increased strength while gaining a sickly appearance and growing mental instability. Goblin cannibals gradually grow in size, strength and arrogance, becoming bugbears. Orc cannibals gradually turn into wendigo, gaining resilience and ice powers but gradually losing themselves entirely to animal instincts. Dragons who like eating mortal flesh develop Man Eater's Madness which is so subtle, some dragon's deny it's existance. The most feared cannibals of all the skin changer witches which are mages who use ritualized cannibalism to enhance their magical and physical might.
Type
Supernatural
Children
Origin
Mutated
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired & Congenital
Rarity
Rare
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