Gilded Corpses

Gilded Corpses are a species of fungi that infest dead bodies and turn them into organic hard drives for their still living peers.

by Lord Bung

Basic Information

Anatomy

Being a infectious fungus, the Gilded Corpse effectively takes on the outline of whatever creature it infests, beginning gestation shortly after the host's death. Once dead, the body can be see to slowly sprout various fruiting bodies both above and beneath the skin or fur, with the largest one forming at the head, giving the Gilded Corpse it's namesake crown and gilding. Other parts of the body may sprout glowing spore sacs which resemble pearls or jewels, while shelf-shaped fruiting bodies may extend from the extremities, taking on the shape of bracelets or other finery.
When "awake," Gilded Corpses will also actively spread their spores from "smoke stacks" growing from their torso region, using the host's lungs to expel clouds of infectious spores from both these stacks and the mouth.

Genetics and Reproduction

Gilded Corpses begin as spores, lodging themselves in the host's mucus membranes and causing flu-like symptoms up until the host either fights off the infection or they encyst themselves in the host's nasal passage. From then on, the host is essentially carrying dormant spores that will remain in a state of suspended animation up until the host dies. On death, the spores will begin to infest the soft tissues of the mouth and cranium, taking control of the dead host's motor functions and brain tissue within a full day. At that point, the fungus has nearly transformed the host into Gilded Corpse, though it will take another week long incubation period before the host's tissues have been desiccated, preserved, and converted into fungal mass. Then, it will be able to "rise" as a Gilded Corpse.

Growth Rate & Stages

Once the host has been fully infested, growth will begin to manifest in the various "gilding" and fruiting bodies that emerge from the host's tissues, provided that the corpse continues to either A) break down it's own tissues or B) finds external sources of nutrition to root itself in and consume. The success of a Gilded Corpse in finding external sustenance will effectively determine how long lived it will be. Some may last for only a week or two, barely long enough to spread it's spores before rotting into mush. Others that are well fed can last for many generations, with some of the most well preserved Gilded Corpses kept in the ancestral crypts of certain Human tribes having been around for nearly three centuries.
Gilded Corpses can also exchange nutrients, as well as communicate with one another, via fusing together heir fungal mass. This is usually done either by physically pressing themselves together, or growing "cables" or fungal mass to bridge the gap between corpses. This is often done by those who cultivate Gilded Corpses, allowing them to form long distance networks on which information can flow.

Ecology and Habitats

The natural habitat of the Gilded Corpse is fairly standard for a fungus, preferring any location that is at least slightly moist and dark. They thrive in the jungles of Ush-Daghou and the great cities Humanity has built in the trunks of their World Trees. Effectively, in the wild, the Gilded Corpse's unique ability and life cycle is thought to be used as a method of attracting more potential host carriers for the fungus. Able to mimic the dead host's voice and mannerisms, they could draw in both intelligent and non-intelligent species, only later evolving the complex abilities they display today as a form of complex symbiosis.
This complex symbiosis is what makes them such a staple of modern life on Felth. Anyone infected, when they die, will add their memory to the collective network of Gilded Corpses kept within the city. This goes back to ancient times, where tribes would visit specially constructed burial caves to consult the knowledge of their ancestors. In the modern day, great "server farms" of Gilded Corpses are kept in underground chambers or warehouses, where they can store and sort hundreds of years worth of data and transfer it from location to location, forming what is essentially a organic internet. All in exchange for the protection of their species and the cultivation their fully mobile partners can provide.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Gilded Corpses, once fully converted, should be kept in dry, cool, and dark environments. They should be fed a steady diet of loamy decayed matter, both plant and animal, once a month, either by pushing it down the host's throat, or by packing it around the Corpse's feet.

Biological Cycle

Subspecies
The Gilded Corpse can be split into three specie subcategories: Ancestors, Walkers, and Interfacers.
Ancestors are the most common species, being both the longest lived and least mobile. Taken care of, they can last for hundreds of years and operate at maximum capacity nearly throughout. Their skin tends to be a brownish-yellow, with parts of their body preserved with a waxy, lacquer-like substance. They produce the most stunning shelves and fruiting bodies as well, provided enough nutrition.
Walkers are a less common, but more virulent strain. Considerably shorter lived, but much more mobile, Walkers skip over the preservation portion of the growth cycle and get right to the body hijacking, lifting themselves from the soil as mushroom-headed zombies that walk the lands to spread their spores as far and wide as they can. Without the preservation of their tissues, the host body tends to break down very quickly, leaving nothing but the brain fully intact once they decay. What this does make them handy for is mobile data transferal, as they are much hardier when being moved from location to location, with some specie being able to network with the Ancestor species to be able to transfer their stored information before their bodies break down and collapse.
Last but more interesting is the Interfacer species, which is a marvel of parasitic symbiosis, being, at their most basic level, the combination of the Gilded Corpse Fungus and a still living host. Sprouting the tell tale fruiting bodies from their skin, and with organic "connective fibers" growing from the various parts of their body, Interfacers can directly connect to and communicate with the other species of Gilded Corpse, effectively allowing them to rewrite parts of their own memory with new data, acting as direct conduits and mouthpeices for the knowledge the Corpses hold.
Interfacers have existed in the wild as flukes of nature since the Gilded Corpse graced the face of Felth, being born from immuno-compromised mothers carrying Corpse cysts in their bodies. Others simply couldn't fight off the infection, but were not so weak to die to it. It is only in modern day that becoming a Interfacer has become a choice, as the spores can be taken alongside immuno-suppressant drugs to allow the fungus to take hold and morph the host's physiology.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Gilded Corpses have direct access to the neural fibers of its dead host, which means that any sensory organs that have not decayed are at it's disposal. That being said, due to the rapid decay of certain body parts, such as the eyes and nasal cavities, Gilded Corpses tend to be blind, and will eventually lose all sensory and motor functions as they age.
What they do have that is unique among the species is access to the hosts memories, being able to replicate and relay any information the host learned over its life cycle. They can even learn and store more memories, effectively acting as organic hard drives, though they are unable to replicate any of the hosts personality other than whatever can be parsed from the memories they have access to.
Their near computational level of data parsing also gives then the uncanny ability to predict the future, up until a certain point. It is not a 100% accurate prediction, and Gilded Corpses can be as often wrong as they are right, but when it comes to sifting through mountains of memory data, they can form stunningly accurate conclusions to complex problems.
This ability is only increased when multiple corpses are "networked" together, being able to grow fibers of fungal mycelium or even fuse together, transferring and exchanging memory data. Colonies of Gilded Corpses can effectively form small are networks that allow the storage and rapid exchange of information, so long as they can connect physically.

Origin/Ancestry

Believed to have originated from the various species of southern Pilot Fungus which share similar morphology to the Gilded Corpse species

Conservation Status

Gilded Corpses fill a important niche in memory / data storage and transferal, and are very common in nearly all Felthian communities, particularly within Human, Gurund, and Sirysian tribes.