Murk Blood

Despite the name, the substance known as Murk Blood is not actually blood. It is a strange black substance associated with the return of an ancient evil known as the Murk to the world of Colarn. Living creatures that come in contact with the blood find themselves quickly overwhelmed by its effects. A creature's experience with it depends on the constitution and the willpower of the creature. A small animal such a rabbit or a squirrel would quickly begin to seize and die within minutes. Something larger such as a dog or a deer would would die within a few days and become very aggressive until they passed. A larger and stronger creature such as a bear or an ogre could last several weeks in a constant rage until the Murk Blood destroyed them by rotting them from the inside out. Murk Blood appears at and near sites where Murk pathways are set to appear to facilitate the Murk's return. It is the malevolence of the Murk in liquid form. If an intelligent creature such as a human, elf or halfling come in contact, it is likely to have the same effect as it would a larger creature in which they would get aggressive and try to attack anything they came across until they died. The difference is that with a supreme effort of willpower, more intelligent creatures can resist the worst of the adverse effects, though this occurs with various degrees of success. They could stop the adverse physical effect, but still have their minds be directly controlled by the Murk. If they are not outright controlled, a person could say stop the fatal effects and instead become stronger and become potent spell casters. Most who have this outcome have horrible nightmares about dark creatures reaching for them or have hallucinations about these creatures while awake. They also hear strange arcane secrets being whispered to them both while asleep and while awake. There are some who come in contact with Murk Blood that gain full control over enhanced abilities. They embrace the darkness and revel is the dark lore they are made privy to. These few are the ones that the Murk believe can be useful to them and so their strength and magical power is enhanced far beyond that of a normal spellcaster. Because the Murk Blood is a direct link to the Murk, it is possible to save someone afflicted by it. If the source of the Murk Blood can be found and cleansed with divine energy, then one afflicted by it can be cured.  There is a story of a tribe of Minotaur that became afflicted through a natural spring that they had used for drinking water. About half of the tribe, eyes black and dripping with black fluid, attacked their Centaur allies and terrorized the countryside. A Justicar of Horan, god of Justice and his companions tracked the source of the affliction to this spring and with a surge of divine energy was able to successfully cleanse the spring. When this happened, the afflicted Minotaur were cured.

Type

Parasitic