Author: Alder
The Creature:
A proto-Decheeran which has budded without sufficient roots in a grove.
The Tale:
Many non-Decheeran are familiar with the Tal, but very few are even aware of, let alone intimately familiar with, the horror this force allows the Decheerans to combat. There is a reason Decheerans cannot be forcibly ejected from a grove--to bud without a sufficient emotional connection to other Decheerans dooms the resulting proto-Decheeran to succumb to an emptiness that consumes its mind and warps it into a ghostly white and parasitic aberration known widely as a Sapropheratu.
Barkless, fleshy, and foliage devoid, its squelching tendrils stretch and squirm along the ground as it writhes through the darkness in search of a host to tap and drain for resources. Once a host is found, this loathsome monstrosity creeps into the crowning branches and attaches, then uses the leeched nutrients to mimic the foliage or epiphytes present on the Decheeran. The name is largely a misnomer as, despite its fungiform appearance, an unrooted Sapropheratu lacks the ability to consume dead or decaying matter and can only sustain itself on the mind of a living Decheeran. Unfortunately for the unwitting victim, this causes increasingly unusual and erratic behavior, ultimately leading to total and irrevocable damage in the form of a disease known as Mind Rot.
After the first few days to a week the symptoms start with small, seemingly innocent activities like enjoying more shade than usual or being easily fatigued. As time goes on and the sickness progresses, the Decheeran becomes irritable, forgetful, and complains of an insatiable thirst. Within a month the host of this vile creature will become insufferably confrontational, leading some members of its grove to sever their connections in order to escape the torment. Eventually the victim too will willingly sunder its bond to what remains of its grove, striking out on its lonesome to bud in the darkness before fertilizing the next proto-Sapropheratu with its own withered remains.