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Description
The vermincarnate, or putrescent scourge, results when the corpse of a murderous soul is devoured from within by a necrophagic alien parasite. Hailing from a dead world beyond the stars, this putrescent scourge has found a new home in the dark corners of the world; infesting, reanimating and consuming its hosts.
Unable to move far by itself, the vermincarnate relies upon a host cadaver for ambulation. It is easily mistaken for undead at a distance, but is just an animated husk and as such is immune to turning.
Ecology & Tactics
While in the pupal stage, the vermincarnate covers its host corpse in an air-tight film of noxious slime. As it develops, it remains in hiding, gradually overtaking the entire muscular and nervous systems of its deceased host. Only when it fully matures and emerges from its mucus sac is it capable of animating its host cadaver. A vermincarnate has a limited lifespan, as it derives its food primarily from the host. The parasite can remain hidden within the host, revealing itself only when threatened. In its final stage, the vermincarnate appears as a mass of writhing alien worms in the approximate shape of the now devoured host.
While it cannot infest the living yet, a vermincarnate has only one goal once it has successfully animated a host; the procurement of the next one. It attacks with single-minded savagery; lacerating opponents with claws and tendrils, using biotoxins to free up an adversary's body for its own purposes. It is driven by one primal urge: survival. If it does not find a host soon after consuming its current one, it will die.
Notes
This monster was inspired by any of a number of horrific parasites in fiction and film, but is also a homage to death metal cover art. The monster's name sounds so much like a band name that I made a logo for it.
