Rot Spirit
Rot Spirits are eerie, semi-ethereal beings born from the slow alchemy of decay. Neither fully elemental nor truly undead, they exist in a liminal space between spirit and fungus, formed when organic matter rots in places steeped in deep, primal mycelial energy. Often mistaken for ghosts or corrupted fey, Rot Spirits are a distinct class of being: manifestations of entropy, memory, and metamorphosis.
Variants
- Wisp-Rots: Tiny, flickering beings often mistaken for swamp lights; carry dying thoughts.
- Corpsebinders: Larger, more malevolent spirits that animate the dead or defend sacred ground.
- Mycelial Heralds: Rare, towering Rot Spirits that act as envoys of the Fungal Gods; their arrival signifies a great death or rebirth is near.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Rot Spirits take varied and unsettling forms—vague silhouettes stitched together from dead bark, slick bones, tangled roots, fungal veils, and the lingering essence of whatever they arose from. Some crawl like broken animals. Others drift like tattered robes. Their faces are often half-formed or missing, their eyes glowing with dim bioluminescent rotlight.
They emit sounds reminiscent of wet creaking wood, distant groaning trees, or the bubbling sigh of fermentation. Many are shrouded in sporeclouds or mold, and leave trails of decay in their wake.
Behaviour
Rot Spirits are neither wholly hostile nor benevolent—they are caretakers of natural decay, ensuring that the cycle of death is not disrupted. They are drawn to wounded forests, unburied dead, or forgotten ruins, where rot can bloom undisturbed.
They:
- Tend to Rot Altars and Fungal Mounds, consuming offerings left by the faithful.
- Whisper fragments of memory and regret from whatever organisms birthed them.
- Are known to possess or inhabit corpses or rotting constructs in defense of sacred places.
- May guide Withered Elves or Rot-Speakers through visions or sudden fungal growths.
- Can become wrathful and dangerous if decay is prevented, or if desecration occurs.
Civilization and Culture
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
To the Withered Elves, Rot Spirits are divine custodians, akin to saints or ancestors, revered but feared. It is believed that all who decompose properly may become one, their memories and essence fused into the fungal network and later reborn in some small spectral form.
Children are taught to “leave nothing untouched by rot,” so that the Rot Spirits remain fed and at peace.
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