The Shadow Flower

The Shadow Flowers are pitch black flowers that grow only at the peak of the Rucsui Mountiains. They are flowers that require no light to grow and act more like a fungus than a flower despite its appearance. It grows out of decaying plants or animals and consumes the nutrients well before any other fungal or mold can reach the object. Shadow Flowers will strip all nutrients of an animal or plant until it is completely gone or just the bones are left.
On animals, the flowers will wrap around the bones. For humans, flowers will cover the body to create a lovely image of a flower patch but would be horrifying to anyone who saw what was underneath.

These flowers grow in dense clusters due to their greed to grow larger so they fight over nutrients. Shadow Flowers will grow larger and larger and never split or propagate. They can grow as large as a human's head. 

To spread, once the flower dies, it will spread seeds with the wind. These seeds will be fertilized by still living plants as they pass before landing and beginning to grow. 

Despite no human from the known kingdom ever surviving long enough to reach the peak of the mountain, Shadow Flowers are known by people are sometimes seen after a strong wind coming from the mountain. The petals are seen as a bad omen and people believe that if your skin is touched by a petal you will bring death to your town. This death comes in many forms depending on the area the person lives in. Atemdo believes the petals represent the death of a citizen. To them, the flower has the least amount of stigma but it is still feared since it means the next death of the city will be soon and be painful.

Glatkori believe that the person touched by the petal will bring death to someone personally. They believe the petals carry the will of the Shuch and anyone touched by it will become mad and seek to kill people to please the Forsaken god. To ensure no one will be killed, those touched will be killed on the spot with no trial or question. No citizen who kills someone touched by the petal will be held accountable or be questioned.
All areas have rules when the petals appear, but the wind from the mountain is not common and a person will only live long enough to experience the wind once or twice in their lives.