Xenograft, Necromantic

"Life is cheap. Life is short. Life is precious. Even in the Last City of Maussengart, safety is not a guarantee. Famines are too frequent and the Blood Taxes are sometimes too cruel. The city is a refuge from the roaming hordes of dead but they are also a place of great desperation. Triage beds are full of sick, dying and too frequently the dead. More often than not when the wretches cannot find respite with the apothecaries, they instead will turn to the priests of the temple. The priests of that dark place there, are no healers. For one to heal they must return to a state better than the one they arrived in. At the Temple of The Tyrant, they offer the cure to a singular ill which plagues the mortal soul. The pains of being alive." -Excerpt from An Adept's Guide to Medicine, by late Master Dahlia

Xenografts are a solution to terrible reality of dismemberment among the denizens of Maussengart. With danger lurking just outside the walls of the Pilgrim's Quarter, and disease ready to explode from within the possibility of a citizen keeping all of their limbs remains slim. When amputation must be performed, a substandard prosthesis made of wood, bronze or iron is made to replicate some of the function of the limb. Metallurgically, useful prosthesis cannot be created without great time and sacrifice dedicated to it's creation. Quality prosthetics are a luxury of the Priesthood or Nobility, who can exert their influences to acquire the material and artisans to create them out of flexible and lightweight materials.
Xenografts are the isolated and severed analogous body parts of undead, which are joined to the patient with necromantic magicks and simple alchemical processes. The joined limb provides very little sensation and provides very little motor control, although there is a wide range of function available, variable with the species of undead the provided graft comes from. With a master's hand and a particularly fine specimen, a patient may even experience enhanced function of their extremity, notably the arms of ghouls appear to be a strong and viable option for a patient looking to replace a sword arm.
Conversely, part of the curse that animates the xenograft inevitably has to bind to the patient. With it comes all of the associated Hunger and Pathos of the species. In some instances, the will of the xenograft's former owner may overwhelm the patient and arrest control over the limb. The Erosi humors of the patient inevitably dwindle as a result of the xenograft, reducing the patient's lifespan, however their quality of life often improves.

Morphology

Below is a list of the commonly known xenografts that have been used in Maussengart.

Zombie

An easy choice considering zombies are mindless servitors of their betters. Has easy to meet needs to meet to sate the curse's pathos and hunger. However extended use can result in the patient unbalancing their humours and becoming horrifically ill from all sorts of foul diseases. Grants the user enhanced strength and endurance when performing manual labor. The entire limb develops an odor that is difficult to mask.

Ghoul

Excellent for use in martial applications. The patient develops an unnatural hunger for undead flesh and becomes prones to fits of rage. Both of these things can be utilized effectively in the proper environment. Claws on hands and feet are unsuited to tasks that require extended fine manipulation but can be used as weapons in their own right. Smells terrible, but is easily masked with bandages infused with incense.

Gravebound

By far the easiest to maintain as clay and soil can be integrated into it. Limb is heavier overall, and will not approach the level of strength the recipient's former appendage had. The host tends to never experience any disorder associated with hunger, however their psyche is affected significantly by the Pathos of the xenograft's origin. Recipients often say that the force within the xenograft is not entirely malignant, but communicates empathically with the host providing subtle insights and guidance throughout the day. Gravebound xenografts spasm intermittently, and despite this fact, are a good candidate for organ replacements.

Ghost

A bizarre new xenograft, sewn to the host using a rare thread made from Truesilver, these limbs provide a surprising dexterity to the host and supernatural benefits. Limbs taken from a ghost have the ability to touch and interact with spectral creatures, making this graft very valuable to adventurers. The host becomes unnaturally cold all of the time due to the effects of the Ghost's hunger, worst yet is the highly developed Pathos of the creature linked to the patient's psyche. Cursed with an afterlife resplendent of unfulfilled wishes and regret, the host will often find itself drawn to unfamiliar locations and objects that the ghost may recognize. These limbs are the easiest to hide from prying eyes from others, they can simply be tucked into your body.

Inventor(s)

This permutation was first perfected by Illjarrod of the Skullthanes, a noble whose house worshipped The Dark Lord well before the Age of Dusk began. A celebrant in the art of mutilation, he severed his own arm in a bout of dark whimsy. When the green flame flickered, he found his arm reanimated by The Embrace. In a fit of tyrannical madness he etched a curse onto his body and bound it to his body much to the disgust of local wretches. Shortly after sharing the curse's secret with the public he was lynched by a mob of wretches and was incinerated in magical light.

Access & Availability

The secret to mastering this technique is a secret of the Order of Sabazious. The Tyrant offers his blessing upon the faithful who serve and respect him, though this blessing is performed by the highest members of the priesthood. Not many desire this boon as it proves a great danger to the host. The cost, is often a contract of services rendered to the church for a stint of time. Under such time the host is guaranteed free maintenance and training on the use of the new limb. Often, the Order pads their numbers with several of these indentured folk who come to enjoy life working for the Order and the indulgences available under their roof.
In the Order itself, the highest ranking priests sometimes find themselves keen to modify their bodies with the limbs of the damned simply for joy and power. The worst offender of note is Odonna Crestfallen, the Hierophantides of the The Grand Temple whose is said to have eight xenografts tailored by the finest necromancers of the Order.

Complexity

To be able to create a proper graft requires great skill in the art of curses. One might be tempted to simply sew the necrotic tissue directly back onto the host but this course of action is a novice mistake. A living creature, an Erosi, would surely die if the curse were applied directly to them with the limb attached. Instead a truncation of the curse must be uttered to animate the limb with a weakened ego of it's own and then a curse must be bound to bind the host and undead together. The more sophistication and nuance the necromancer can imbue the curse, the more functional the limb and the better the prognosis for the host.