Infestation

The strange and otherworldly marrow swarm does **infests** and takes over various hosts to add to their growing hive. **Infestation** is dangerous as once fully consumed by the marrow, the host is lost and becomes a part of the swarm. The **Infested** condition is homebrewed specifically for *WovenRealm* to represent the growing infection of a character by marrow spores. As a condition, infestation is not only difficult to remove, but it involves taking damage, making it dangerous to attempt to treat. Infestation appears innocuous at first, but as it builds, the character gains different penalties.

It is marked with a bright green biohazard symbol.

## Overview

The otherworldly marrow that Queen Skyheart has unleashed upon the realm are a parasitic creature that infects the flesh of other living things to add to a living mass and hivemind. Each infested creature is added to the Marrow’s larger genepool, allowing the hivemind to produce various morphs based upon the previous creatures consumed by the ravenous organism. Although upon first glance, the marrow spores may appear to be harmless and their barbs cause naught but pin pricks, but perhaps it is marrow spores that are the most insidious danger of the hive. Should they successfully infest a host, the spore takes over their body as they mutate them to fit the purposes of the marrow.

Whereas Season 1 introduced Radiation, and Season 3 saw the first use of Terror, Season 4 introduces Infestation as a new, cumulative condition.

## Game Mechanics

### The Infestation Mechanic

Infestation is the measurement of a characters build up of infective marrow spores and provides a way to capture the slow takeover of their body and mental faculties. Unlike radioactivity or terror, as infestation builds and at various stages of the marrow development in the blood of the character, it may cause the character to receive benefits due to the marrow finding the host to be viable and worth preserving. Infest damage is tracked separately from your standard HP. Infest damage does not affect a character’s HP or other stats. Instead, infestation festers and waits, and if left untreated, may build. A character becomes completely infested when they have taken 10 + CON/WIS/CHA (mod) infest damage becoming a part of the marrow swarm.

Currently, the only known enemies that can cause Infestation damage are the marrow.

### Creeping Infestation

Infestation does not begin building any negative effects until 3 points have been built. If you complete a long rest without seeking treatment for infestation, your Infest counter increases by +1.

As infestation builds, the effects initially will prove almost detrimental to a character, but over time, benefits become added.

* **3 Infest:** You are left constantly Dazed and Fatigued (-4 to all skill checks) by the building infestation that leaves you feeling unpleasant.
* **5 Infest:** You are left Weakened and Fatigued by the building infestation.
* **8 Infest:** You are no longer Weakened, Dazed, or Fatigued. A thick carapace begins growing across your skin, giving you +4 to your AC and PD.
* **10 Infest:** The marrow infestation is nearly complete. You are left Confused.
* **10 + CON/WIS/CHA Infest:** The marrow infestation is complete. You lose all sense of free will as the spores completely over run your body, converting you into a part of their eldritch swarm.

### Spreading Infection

If a character with a growing infestation goes down, a number of marrow spores equal to the number of their Infest counter is spawned near the infested character.

### Curing Infestation

Infestation is a tricky condition to overcome due to its source being literally not of this world. There have some methods that have been shown to work, and your deep dive into Dr. Viktor Belmont’s biomancer notes also provides some much-needed information on combating Marrow Infestation. Most important to note is that if left untreated, unlike Radiation and Terror that slowly disappear over time, Infestation remains and spreads through the character. If you complete a long rest while infested, you gain +1 point of infestation. If you have lost an Infestation counter before resting, infestation does not build.

#### Methods

##### Immediate Curative Magic

The immediate use of healing magic (must be a spell or magic-like ability) is a proven method of curing infestation, but the emphasis is on the *immediate* treatment. If a character takes infest damage, a healing spell can remove the infestation provided that it is cast before the infecting enemy’s next turn. (If the infected enemy dies before this, keep their turn in the order to mark the healing requirement.) If a healing spell is not cast before this, the infestation counter cannot be healed by regular curative magic.

##### Necromantic Therapy

Large amounts of negative damage can be effectively used to remove marrow spores from an infected host, though it should be noted this process is extremely dangerous, not to mention painful. If a character takes negative damage equal to the Infestation Counter x Level, they may remove 1 infestation counter. Resting after this removes an additional infestation counter. Extreme caution is advised with this method as it can potentially injure or kill the host.

##### Pyromancy Treatment

Similar to Necromantic Therapy, large amounts of fire damage can also be effective in removing marrow spores. Similar to its macabre counterpart, using pyromancy to remove marrow spores is a dangerous task that requires precision. If a character takes fire damage equal to the Infestation Counter x Level, they may remove 1 infestation counter. Resting after this removes an additional infestation counter. Extreme caution is advised with this method as it can potentially injure or kill the host.

##### Biomancer Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Belmont’s notes provide information for the synthesis of an antidote to the infectious agent present in marrow tissues. Similar to biomancer mutations, this serum is made with a mixture of gold and violet aether; two substances that are very difficult to obtain. Along with the issue of gathering the materials, there is also the weight of the medical horrors inflicted by biomancy. Worth noting is that theoretically speaking, this serum could potentially reverse a 100% marrow infestation.