Arboria

The Midas Tree is a woody-stemmed large bush, often mistaken for a tree because of its prominent wooden features, although leaves and flowers grow all along its brown-gray trunk. The leaves are broad and round, much like an Aspen or Silver-Dollar Gum, but with a sickly pale-green color.
To reproduce, the Midas Tree produces fluff-like flowers much like dandelions to be carried away in the wind. But the Midas Tree does not produce seeds like other flowering plants, but a substance carried in a small pod at the base of the pappus that, when in contact with living flesh, transforms the recipient into a Midas Tree.
If one were to cut away the thick leaves of a Midas Tree, the victim's form would be easily discernible. Most victims will woodenize within days from a single infectionary point, but multiple points will increase the rate. The process from first contamination to leaf growth is called Arboria.
Studies show that leaf growth does not indicate the complete consumption of the victim, but only an overtaking of the form. When a mature Midas Tree is deprived of water or other nutrients from the environment, it metabolizes the partial flesh contained within, colloquially called "vampirism," until external resources can be obtained. Depending on the size of their rooting organism, Midas Trees can survive years (rodent-sized creatures) to decades (humans) to centuries (horse or bear-sized creatures) of drought and nutrient deficiency.
There is no known cure for Arboria, nor is it clear how or why this disease developed, but there are practices that can slow the effects. Due to the vampirism of the Midas Tree, exposure to external nutrients and water can slow the spread of the woodening. Mud baths, swimming, and other forms of nutrient immersion are recommended and may buy a human a day or two.
When the cause of Arboria was first traced to the Midas Tree, kingdoms far and wide put bounties on the cutting of these bushes. Five hundred gold for each root system of a Midas Tree, which sent thousands into the forests in search of wealth. Many of the first expeditioners did not return, and their forms can be found scattered near ancient Midas Trees. The second wave prepared better, with protection and tools, but still few were truly successful, due to their own exposure or accidental contamination of friends and family.
As a result of the hunt for Midas Trees, populations were greatly reduced and many still struggle to recover from the great strain it placed on the labor markets.
People eventually discovered that fire was the best means to dispose of the bushes, and although it often results in the horrifying sight and smell of burning flesh, especially for younger bushes, it does reduce the bush to a stump that, with care, can be removed from the ground. Groves of Midas Trees can be found scattered across the lands, most discovered and in the process of being removed, but doing such stirs up a lot of the pappus and often results in an increase in Arboria cases immediately after. Great care must be taken for large groves and most of the work is often done in winter, when flowering is less abundant.
Still, on any windy day, people are warned to stay inside with their shutters drawn tight for fear of what may be swept into town.

Type

Magical