Cloudstringing Process

Due to unknown forces, the skew of life and death on this world is not subject to the usual limitations and procedures of the material plane. Rather, souls and bodies are torn apart and scattered across the world, left to find its way in a world unfamiliar and terrifying. This separation is caused by a process known as Cloudstringing that occurs whenever a sentient humanoid creature passes away regardless of the reason; as long as the body is intact (not significantly dismembered nor gibbed) and not burnt beyond recognition, anywhere from four to seven days after the corpse begins to rot the Cloudstringing event will occur.

Step 1:

In a several mile radius of the corpse, dark clouds will black out the sun and leave the landscape untouched by its warm glow. Temperatures drop drastically and plants suffocate and starve, leading to the land itself dying beneath the cloud's shadow. Hours after this manifestation, black water droplets will intermittently (for a maximum duration of ten minutes with six hours between each rainfall) rain from these clouds for two days to two weeks and rapidly age and deteriorate any organic material it comes in contact with; wood, grass, human skin, lizard scale, as examples of materials subject to this effect. This has the physical appearance of rot on the surface of impact. Plant life destroyed in this manner are overgrown within a few weeks.
This is the equivalent of 1d6 necrotic damage per round, as well as the reduction of a character's maximum health for an extended duration; it will remain lowered until the victim is targeted by a Lesser Restoration or Remove Curse spell. After that, they still cannot regain those lost hit points unless subject to magical healing. This effect does not occur if the target is a construct (e.g. Warforged, Druidic Titan), undead, celestial, fey, or fiend.
If an individual is affected by an effect that weakens or nullifies the effect of a disease, such as a Paladin's Divine Health feature or similar racial/class-based immunity to disease, the individual will still be harmed by the rain however their maximum health is not lowered as a result of the rain.
Contact with clothes and armor that repel water (e.g. leather and metal armor, raincoats, umbrellas) can protect against the effects of the rain and prevent contact with skin. However, if one's clothes absorbs water or otherwise would not deflect water, it will offer limited protection against the rain.

Step 2:

Dark strands of cloud rip down from the sky in string-like formations, flowing downwards and only ceasing when it makes contact with the cadaver's center of mass; this process takes about six minutes and penetrates solid matter to occur. The ground around the body has the color leeched from it and a sickly, thick black ichor forms around it. Individuals who come into contact with this ichor (regardless of their armor or clothing layers between the ichor and their flesh) will have their life leeched from them and suffer 1d6 necrotic damage per round and suffer a reduction of health as described above.) This effect does not occur if the target is a construct (e.g. Warforged, Druidic Titan), undead, celestial, fey, or fiend. From this pool of black blood, limbs stretch up and desperately try to clench onto anyone who may try to stop the cloudstringing from occurring (regardless, there is no known way to interrupt a cloudstringing event mid-occurrence.). This effectively causes the subject to take 1d6 necrotic damage and have to make a contested DC 16 Athletics/Acrobatics check or be grappled. If given no resistance, the limbs will drag their victim into the pool and they are lost, incapable of resurrection or return by any means short of the use of a Wish spell. This black pool remains even after the cloudstringing event concludes; it evaporates with the conclusion of the event but leaves behind a gray patch, the area being devoid and incapable of hosting any plant or microbial life for years following.
Rarely, previously cloudstrung bodies may manifest nearby ongoing cloudstringing events, serving as guardians for the departing corpse, attacking living creatures who try to interfere with the process. These bodies lack any unique features of their previous forms and appear as sickly thin, pitch black creatures levitating a foot off the ground. A long, thin black strand connects their backs to the clouds above. If confronted in combat, these creatures use the Shadow statblock. Their alignment is unaligned.

Step 3:

The body will be magically lifted upwards along the length of the cloud, defying gravity and any resistance, phasing through solid and liquid matter as if it wasn't there. The body is lost to the cloud above and any rain ceases. The clouds disperse after a few days.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural