Neihernspried

The Neihernspried or Netherspread (Hadiadidomis hunteri) is an ancient fungus with an unknown origin. It is mainly found in Eldham, and more specific the AWE. The colonization of Eldham lead to it having to withdraw from the surface, and hide in caves where it is safe.

Propagation
The Neihernspried grows by expanding its hyphae over the area around it. The smaller fruiting bodies inside the infected area can release spores. The spores are used to cover things that are harder to reach with the infection. If someone were to get too many of these spores inside their body, they will turn infected (more on that soon). There are multiple branches of the infection, each one behaving differently, and with new ones being found every once in a while. The Neihernspried is sentient, but neither it nor its minions feel pain.

Infection Stages
The Neihernspried can infect people through different means. Most commonly it infects people through the spores that it releases. Although it can infect others if it is consumed, or less commonly, impaled by a weapon made from the infection.

The infected goes through multiple stages during the infection, and the symptoms may vary greatly depending on species and the branch of the infection. Most of the time the host gets infected without experiencing any symptoms. In the first stage, common symptoms may be, coughing, fever, nausea and lack of taste. The symptoms do not need to happen and a lot of victims get infected without feeling any difference. In this stage the fungus is not dominant enough to manipulate the host.

In the second stage the host may experience the same symptoms, with addition of vomiting, lack of smelling and stomachache, All of the symptoms from the first stage are most of the time more enhanced. During this stage the fungus has started to take control over the brain and is starting to censor some thoughts that may harm the infection.

The third stage starts of when the fungus has replaced all of the organs inside of your body. The infection can not be stopped from now on. It has infected the majority of the body, and the soul if the victim has one. The fungus has full control of the body. Most of the thoughts are somewhat manipulated by the fungus. The victim will always lie about feeling any sort of pain earlier caused by the fungus in the infection to make people think that there are no downsides.

The fourth stage is practically the same as Stage 3. Stage 4 is achieved if the victim gets trusted by the Neihernspried. Stage 4 can only be reached by those who truly want it, to those who think that the Neihernspried is the true form for them. These people got the ability to spread the Neihernspried on their own.

Variants
Due to the rapid mutation that the fungus has, the infection has branches. These branches can effect both people and the enviroment. The branches have no conflicts between them, as they all share the same goal, survival.

Anornimales (A): Anorminales is the main branch of the Neihernspried. It is quite hard to remove due to its shy nature. This branch is the easiest to escape. Other than that there is nothing crazy about it. It is weak to flowers.

Baratecytus (B): The B branch tends to create more mushrooms in the Neihernspried land. It thrives in sunlight so it is most of the time found on the surface. With more mushrooms come more spores, although they do not infect as easily seeing as the wind tend to drag the spores away from it. For some reason they spread the least. It is weak to the cold and large amounts of water.

Carthastorphe (C): C is most likely one of the more dangerous branches. It is one of the few branches which actually has a core. The core looks like a flower and is extremely infectious if you were to get close to it. C is the branch which takes the most land. It is a branch which will change the victim on the outside as well. The eyes of those infected with C turn reddish and those infected may be more aggressive than the other branches. C does not care about where it is. It will survive in any biome, at any temperature. It does not like to be set on fire though.

Behavior
The Neihernspried can do anything that its host could've done, it only changes the victims thinking. It can live off of pretty much anything, the infected areas the Neihernspried controls are mainly eating minerals in the area, while infected victims just eat what they would generally eat. When minerals run low in the area, the Neihernspried releases spores to take a bigger area, in hopes to find more food. The Neihernspried can easily mess with peoples feelings. It is very manipulative, no matter the amount of spores in the host. The Neihernspried is also extremely smart. It knows very well when to lie and when to tell the truth. It thinks that it owns the entirety of the world and is willing to do all that it can to reach the point where it can retake its former glory.