Imperium Carnis

**Imperium Carnis** (Latin for: ***Dominion of the Flesh***), commonly referred to as **The Host of Influence** (or simply **The Host**), is the 6th member of the Carnis family, and the 5th product of the Crawl. The Host is found in certain parts of North America in scarce numbers. It is the 3rd hostile creature of the Carnis family.

## Host of Influence

A Host of Influence as depicted in the Living Meat Research Documentary.

## Physical description

### Physical characteristics

The Host of Influence is a semi humanoid looking organism, having the the structure of a head, a torso and arms. Other than this it shares no other characteristics with humans. The Host has no legs, instead the lower half of it’s body is comprised by a mass of fibrous tissue and tendrils that burrow into the ground, keeping it in place.

The Host is covered in muscular tissue, fibers, tendons and veins and has, on some part of the body, large meaty plates in order to protect any large exposed areas, but still allowing movement. The Host has no facial features in the head, it being completely smooth instead, and a crooked neck with a slit on the front that it uses for feeding.

The Host has a mound of pores in the back, from where hollow, hair-like structures extend outwards. These are barrels that can release spores that have been produced inside of The Host's body.

### Attack process

The Host releases a cloud of spores into the air, which is then carried by the wind for long distances. If an organism inhales the spores they find a way to its brain, infecting them. There's no instant change after inhaling the spores, but after just a few hours the infected organism’s behaviour and thought process will start changing.

The first symptoms that appear are restlessness, sluggish movement, numbness of joints and an overall lack of coordination, after some time more serious symptoms, such as dizziness, migraines, impaired speech and trembles start appearing. After around 6 hours of being infected, the organism will stop all activities and walk directly towards the direction of The Host whose spores it inhaled. After the infected reaches The Host it will proceed to kneel down in front of it and expose its vital organs, to which The Host will react by gutting the infected, then consuming it.

If an infected organism is treated or fails to reach The Host within a the 36-hour time window, the effects of the infection will wear off and the organism will return to its normal state.

### Behaviour

The Host spends most of its time rooted to the ground in whichever location it has chosen, but if a Host isn't getting enough prey, or decides that it doesn't like its current location, it will unroot itself and move to a new location.

### Trivia

* It is important to note that The Host's name is derived from a host that invites people for an event and not a host for an infection. The people who inhale spores do fall under the latter category.
* The spores of the Imperium Carnis are suspected to be the main ingredient of the Flavor Enhancer, with individuals consuming the product showing similar effects to people infected with the spores of the Imperium Carnis.
* Due to its isolated nature, photos of the Imperium Carnis are incredibly rare.