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The Unliving Plague – The Host

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Lore

Units

Corpse Crabs

As the hunt continued on the surface and through the tunnels beneath, the innumerable remains of the fallen and the prey of the hunt festered in the depths of the Scarr. The void storm that had sliced deep into the planets surface had come and gone but in its wake something had entered the world. The mass of corpses, concealed by the darkness of the depths shuddered and pulsated, stretched and receded as the remains convulsed, split open and began to act once more. Each cell, instead of decaying now took on a new existence, each severed limb and lifeless corpse becoming a battleground as these cells fought, absorbed and grew at a unbelievable pace. No longer was death an end, it was the start of something new. The Host, an alien, inexplainable affliction that seemed to spring from death itself had taken a foothold on the unsuspecting planet. Above the turmoil all inhabitants began to see the effects. Immune systems now fought against the re-animated cells of their own bodies. Recent burials and battlegrounds began to sprawl with activity and even wounds that would once succumb to infection instead began to twist and fill with these creatures. Within a single decade the Confederation re-enforced daily Host infection and cleansing to combat this new threat that could, if unchecked, even erupt from dead skin cells on soldiers faces. The corpse fields of the Asylum Cities were now factories for Host monstrosities that joined the unending fight and where there was once stillness in the wake of a battle there was now unbridled chaos as these creatures sprang into existence. Due to their nature, or in-nature, the Host come in an almost unlimited variety of shapes and sizes, each one shaped by the cells, conflict and environment they emerge from. Host are categorized in many ways but most commonly how they move, how big they are and how “perfect” they are. Imperfect host tend to be messy, ill formed or grotesque growths that seem to have no clear or defined blueprint. Some move with great speed and others trudge slowly. Host can behave unpredictably, sometimes becoming almost placid and animal like as their surroundings are altered by growths that eclipse all traces of what was before becoming landscaped made entirely of Host creatures that resemble plant, animal and other types of life. These Host Masses litter Sythopia. Now and again however, the Host swarm and move with a single purpose. Together they can scrape the land clean and kill anything in their path adding to their mass.

Mawgoyle

The ground rippled and split as a dense cloud of winged monstrosities burst into the sky. Nearby Underan watched as the swarm rose quickly before descending into the hunting parties below. The Underan were no stranger to close quarters combat, even excelled at it, but even as these creatures were cleaved in two they continued their assaults. One by one the mighty warriors were overcome and slain alongside their steeds. The creatures did not stop to devour or dispose of the bodies, instead they continued outwards towards the massive camps. Morbus’niln, an Underan chief observed the mass approaching and whispered across the torn landscape to her counterparts of the other clans. With an almighty roar, the shamans of the Underan, scattered throughout the tunnels and camps nearby called upon their magic, and the diamond sands leapt up spinning with such ferocity that any creature that dared enter the whirling vortex was stripped apart by the shards. The magic would not hold long and Morbus’niln called for all those nearby to seek shelter below in the tunnels and caverns. Little did she know of what awaited them below. Mawgoyles are malformed flying creatures that like the other Imperfect Host come in many shapes and sizes. Using their speed and ability to fly as an advantage they can quickly traverse the battlefield, unhindered by rugged terrain. Mawgoyles have also been known to spew Host bile which is not to be confused with a bodily fluid but is a concoction of Host cells and smaller creatures that accumulate within the forms of other Host. These creatures can bite, sting and burrow into flesh causing more damage and more cells to activate. The look on the face of a soldier who has a creature pull itself from an open wound only to slay them is not something you can ever forget.

Megalysk

The massive bulk pulled itself from the darkness, its features illuminated only by a thin stream of light from a crack in the cave roof. It seemed to ignore the hunters as it dragged its massive limbs, armored in bone like structures that clung to its flesh, through the dust towards the chasm. Morbus’niln recognized the head that made up the giants back from her hunts but the fire was gone from its lifeless eyes as its form pulsed and moved as if it were still breathing. The creature crouched over the chasm, lighting up the void with luminescent orbs that lined a structure that could have been its face. Its gullet quivered and expanded as it lurched forward sending a ball of slimy sputum hurtling down. Morbus’niln watched the sack fall, only a short distance, before it hit something. There, in the dark piled high onto the rocks, were the corpses of Drakkaran, Dirmir, Confederation and all manner of other creatures that had been recently slain. As the sack of phlegm settled it burst and all manner of tiny creatures swarmed into the mound, the infected corpses twitching and jerking as the organisms already within reacted to the intrusion. Slowly as flesh seemed to melt and the pile liquefied a skin formed over corpses. Within the boil the creatures fought and assimilated each other, gaining limbs, claws, teeth and tools for survival. Eventually this boil would tear, the creatures inside free from the conflict within, free to seek conflict outside in the open air where more prey waited. Megalysks are creatures that have managed to thrive amidst the chaos of the Host Mass, becoming large and deadly. Like many other large Host they can ferry other Host creatures within them, sending them hurtling forth to infect other living prey. Megalysks size also allows it to create ultra sonic shock-waves from its maw, bursting organs and fracturing armor. Up close its weight becomes its deadliest weapon as it pulverizes its targets into the ground with its massive for-limbs.

Mawscreamer

The Host are everywhere. If something grows, lives and dies it will experience the infestation of Host cells throughout its life. Like other entities from the Host, Mawscreamers emerge from the bunched-up remains of battlefields. Forming slowly as the dominant Host cell takes command, pulling all others towards it as it fashions its form, the Mawscreamer erupts in a furious scream of Ultrasonic violence. Pulling its grotesque form across the warzone its extra jaws, no longer mage for biting, funnel soundwaves as an explosive Force outwards. If the sounds don’t shatter the target, the Host cells within react to the command, spinning and shaking to tear their vessel apart.

Like their variants, the Mawgoyles, the Mawscreamer is a fast, contorted creature, able to move around ruins with ease and deliver death where needed. Suited more for range, it stands back delivering booming shots into its targets that explode in a mist of blood, gore and Host cells ready to begin construction of their form.

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