Chakra Orchid Concept Test

CHAKRA ORCHID This animate and deadly plant comes from the deepest forests of the Far East. Chakra orchids are parasitic plants that require living creatures to gestate to an adult state. As the plants grow in their victims’ fl esh, they infi ltrate a victim’s brain and take control of his body. Any reptile, mammal or human can become a host for the chakra orchids’ insidious seeds. Only birds and water creatures are immune, and so, chakra orchids attempt to slay or drive off such creatures. Some savants speculate that the fi ve types of chakra orchid are fi ve life stages of the plant. Each type bears fl owers of a different color, but each color is merely a specialized variety of a diverse species. The best thing one can say about chakra orchids is that they attack shadowlands: The sickly mortals who dwell in shadowlands make easy prey for the deadly fl owers, and the fl owers infest zombies as easily as they do mortals. Shadowland territory covered by the rul- ing golden blossoms returns to Creation. The chakra orchids have reclaimed several villages and a few small shadowlands for Creation, though no humans were left to appreciate the change. CHAKRA ORCHID SEED INFESTATION Two types of chakra orchid, the scarlet bloom and auric blossom, can infest victims with their seeds. This infestation is treated as a disease (see Exalted, p. 350). Virulence: 6 Diffi culty to Treat: 5 Morbidity: 7 Treated Morbidity: 5 Symptoms: Victims of these seeds start with a cough, and as the day proceeds, they develop a fever, sore throat, and eventually severe pain throughout the body as the seed roots in the spine. Within several hours, victims are bedridden and incapacitated, delirious and most often screaming incessantly. They turn silent a few hours later, their fever vanishes, and they become drones possessed by one of the various chakra orchid types. The victim seems recovered… but actually, he has died, and the fi rst buds of the orchid’s fl owers emerge from the back of the neck. Duration: Infestation manifests almost immediately, and it only takes a day before the victim succumbs to the chakra orchid. A fl ower always blooms within 24 hours unless treated. Vector: Seeds can be ingested accidentally or on pur- pose. Auric blossoms (see below) produce a number of different seeds that can be carried by victims, the wind or deluded cultists. The seeds produced by the scarlet bloom are always tiny and airborne. Treatment: There is no known mundane cure for chakra orchid infestation, only treatments that may aid the patient’s struggle against it. However, Charms, sorcery and mortal alchemy can all provide cures. No matter how lucid a victim may seem, however, nothing can be done to save her once a fl ower blossoms on the back of her neck—except to kill her body so she can rest in peace. The ghosts of people who were still walking around have exposed some orchid infestations. COBALT BLOOM (WORKER) Worker drones produce blue fl owers at the base of their victim’s neck. These infested creatures possess only rudimentary intelligence and cannot communicate. They often spend their time clearing undergrowth or chopping down trees near the central bloom. Victims become stronger than in life, but move slowly. Other signs of the infestation include enlarged extremities and a greenish tinge to the sufferer’s veins. Cobalt blooms only live a month or two before the victim finally succumbs to the infection, and then, other blooms gather the corpse and take it to the central stem, where golden fl ow- ers soon sprout from the body. Cobalt blooms principally infect humans, though any large animal can fall victim. Use the write-ups of Farmers/Towns- folk/Citizens/Slaves (see Exalted pp. 278-279), but add 2 to both Strength and Stamina, and reduce Dexter- ity, Intelligence and Wits all to 1. Cobalt blooms are extras when they fi ght at all. They prefer to attack by mobbing single targets. ALABASTER BLOOM (WARRIOR) Warriors sprout white fl ow- ers. These parasites possess sufficient cunning to follow orders, attack in groups and use tactics. Some infected creatures utter discernable battle cries. Victims of the warrior blooms are agile and covered in a natural bark-like armor. They grow wooden claws and fangs. Alabaster blooms can live up to a year before the body succumbs to infestation. See page 150 for stats. ARGENT BLOSSOM (EMISSARY) Silver flowers crown the green, half-plant heads of emissaries, and their extremities resemble plant stems. These rare flowers only in- fect intelligent prey. Their intel- ligence, however, comes solely from the plant within the infested creature: Emissaries retain no memories of their previous lives. Unlike the cobalt and alabaster blooms, creatures infected with the argent blossom do not have their Physical Attributes modifi ed. All argent blossoms replace the creatures’ Attributes with their own. Emissary blossoms negotiate with human settle- ments near orchid habitations. They offer boons to humans who help the chakra orchids, but the chakra orchids keep these promises only until they feel strong enough to mount an attack against the settlement. Nevertheless, the argent emissaries are so insidious that they sometimes organize small cults of orchid worship- pers. Cultists give their lives willingly to infestation and fanatically protect the central stems. Argent blossoms do not seem to succumb to the same life cycle as the other chakra orchid infections, though they do die from violence or misfortune. See page 150 for stats. Other Notes: Argent blossoms always fl ee when confronted with violence. They emit a high-pitched wail that calls all alabaster or cobalt blooms within half a mile to come to their defense. SCARLET BLOOM (INVADER) The white blossom warriors usually defend the central blos- som while red-fl owering invaders attack nearby human settle- ments. The infestation follows a slightly different course than usual. Infested creatures retain most of their memories and in- telligence, though the infection drives them increasingly insane. Many villages in the East fall to chakra orchids after a single villager returns, feverish, raving and with no memory of her infection. Eventually such victims turn violent, attacking their friends and families, until they begin to foam at the mouth and gibber. Their bodies bulge in odd places as they have seizures and soon die. After death, the body must be burned within an hour, or red fl owers erupt violently from the corpse, bud, bloom and go to seed within the span of a night. Once the seed pods form, they explode, sending tiny spores into the air. These seeds seek the breath of the living, planting themselves within the throat of the orchids’ new victims. Most commonly, victims become cobalt bloom workers or alabaster warriors. Rarely will the budding plant climb up the neck to form the argent wreath of the emissary. Other Notes: Scarlet blooms do not augment the infested creature’s traits. The infested (but not yet dead) 148 creature has an inexplicable urge to get to the nearest settlement, however, and often is driven by this compul- sion for many miles, well past its fatigue point. AURIC BLOSSOM (CENTRAL STEM) The vines that produce the fi st-sized, golden-hued auric blossoms grow to cover most of the ground around the initial infestation site and climb up any available structures. Auric blossoms feed on the corpses brought to it by cobalt blooms. The auric blooms have a shared intelligence that grows as the whole plant grows. They communicate their wishes telepathically to all other types of blooms and blossoms. Other chakra orchids can also share their knowledge with the central stem when they are within 20 yards of it. Auric blossoms may produce seeds at will, generating the spores necessary to infest a victim with whatever subservient fl ower type that the central stem chooses. Cultists are given a fruit to eat that will infest them more easily and less painfully than unwilling hosts, who have seeds forcibly implanted down their throats. See page 150 for stats. Other Notes: The stats on page 150 are for an aver- age specimen about the size of a small village. For larger central stems, double the number of -0 health levels. Auric blossoms make up to fi ve attacks in a fl urry without splitting their dice pools. Auric blossoms al- ways summon aid from all blooms nearby. This usually means 20-30 cobalt blooms and 15-25 alabaster blooms. Ordinary humans and Exalts may notice the telepathic summons if their players succeed at (Perception + Awareness) rolls, diffi culty 5. If an auric blossom reduces a character in a clinch to incapacitation, it uses its seed infestation attack on that character. If the plant itself is incapacitated, it must still have its entire root system dug up and destroyed, or it will grow back in a week. Auric blossoms heal three health levels per day.