Chakra Orchid: Scarlet Bloom Concept Test

scaRlet Bloom (invadeR) Attacks on neighboring settlements are sometimes made by bands of warrior flowers, but most often, the chakra orchid sends creatures infected by red blooms. These are the most insidious tools of the chakra orchid because the blossom happens only after death. Until then, the infested creature retains most of its memories and intelligence, though it is driven increasingly insane by the infection. Many villages in the East have fallen to chakra orchids because one of their members, thought lost in the forest or eaten by monsters, returns to them, memory blank of her exploits but insatiably thirsty and devoid of common sense. Eventually, such victims turn violent, attacking their friends and families. Finally, the victims begin to foam at the mouth and gibber. Their bodies bulge in odd places as they go into seizure and, eventually, die. When this happens, the body must be burned within an hour, or red flowers will 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 spores actually seek the breath of the living and, most often, find sleeping people and plant themselves within the throat. There, they burrow into the neck and root themselves in the spine. Victims of these seeds wake the following morning with a cough, and as the day proceeds, they develop a fever, a sore throat and, eventually, severe pain throughout the body as the seeds root in the spine. Within several hours, the victims are bedridden and incapacitated, delirious and in the most agonizing pain. They turn silent a few hours later, and their fever vanishes. Eventually, they arise, with tiny buds at the base of the neck. Most commonly, these are the blue buds of a cobalt bloom worker. Rarely will the blooms climb up the neck to form the argent wreath of the emissary. Attributes: As infected creature Virtues: As infected creature Abilities: As infected creature Base Initiative: As infected creature Attack: As infected creature Dodge Pool: As infected creature Soak: As infected creature Willpower: As infected creature Health Levels: As infected creature Essence: 1 Other Notes: Scarlet blooms do not augment an infested creature’s Traits at all. The creature has an inexplicable urge to get to the nearest settlement, however, and is often driven by this desire for many miles, well past her fatigue point. For dramatic purposes, scarlet blooms should not succumb to fatigue until they are at a place where they will be discovered.