Neihernspried

The Neihernspried or more commonly known as Neihern (Hadiadidomis hunteri) claims to be an ancient fungus with an unknown origin. It is mainly found in Eldham, and more specifically the UBC. It claims that the colonization of Eldham lead to a decrease in the concentration of fungi on the surface, and an increase in concentration in underground caves. Truthfully, the Neihernspried is no older than Eldham, only being created due to Z'Teruend merging with magic inflicted upon him by a stranger witch. The reason behind these lies are so it sounds more appealing to people, and those who claim that they have seen it earlier than its true existence are only mistaking it for other being.

Propagation
The Neihernspried grows by expanding its hyphae over the area around it. The smaller fruiting bodies inside the infected area can release spores, which are used to cover things that are harder to reach normally. If someone were to get too many of these spores inside their body, they will get infected. 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 sapient, but neither it nor its minions feel pain.

Infection Stages & Symptoms
There are four stages, Infuergon, Blod'nd, Crivon Blod'nd and Peure. The Blod'nspersch word for uninfected is Ochr'n.

There are a lot of variables in effect regarding which of these symptoms will appear, sometimes all of them, sometimes none of them, sometimes completely different ones.

Infuergon
Blod'nspersch for incubation, it is the first stage for a Neihern infectant. It is rare that symptoms appear, but if they do it is prominent that flulike symptoms are in effect, like coughing, sneezing and fever. This stage can last a couple of hours or a couple of months, and the host might not even know that they have Neihern at this point. If the host were to get cured at this point, they wouldn't even feel it.

Blod'nd
Blod'nd translates to reddened, this is where actual symptoms start to show. Things like nausea, paranoia, a red iris and bloodlust. Most of the time a host will start liking the Neihern more than previously. Neihern has the chance to heal most wounds at this stage. If the Neihern were to get cured at this point the host would recover fairly well, slight pain might be caused.

Crivon Blod'nd
Crivon Blod'nd roughly translates to greater reddened, at this point Neihern is prominent in the body. Organs which can be improved have at this point been replaced by Neihern. Nearly fatal wounds are usually healed at this stage, however wounds that are fatal to the average person can not be healed. It is still curable at this stage, and the host can if they want to return to their old uninfected life. However, upon curing process, the Neihern will fight the body tooth and nail, causing as much damage as possible as it dies.

Peure
Translates to pure. The host is dead. The Neihern has taken full control over the body, there is no longer any resistance to it. Neihern can't reach this point on its own, and it requires that the host deliberately give its consciousness to it. A Peure one has complete control over their own Neihern, and Neihern patches related to them if they have one. Almost all infectants seek to reach this point, and those who do are treated with respect. If someone were to reach this point they can no longer be cured, the only option to leave Neihern is death.

Taiton
This stage can not be completed by Neihernspried progression in the body. Often mixed up with Peure, the sole difference is that Neihern chose them to be the designated leader of a set Neihern hotspot. Taiton's have a renowned ability to control massive amounts of Neihern in their hotspot area, making them almost untouchable to the average mortal. A Taiton usually is not a humanoid, however some branches pick more humanoids than others.

Variants
Due to the fungus's rapid mutation, the infection has several branches, however some mutations were caused by accident, not evolution. These branches can affect both people and the environment. The branches have been observed to not enter conflict with one another.

Anornimales (A)
Anorminales is the main branch of the Neihernspried. It is quite hard to remove due to its shy nature, and it can escape from threats easily. It is almost extinct, only existing in the deep caves of the Ashtrokan jungle.

Baratecytus (B)
The B branch tends to create more mushrooms in land infected by Neihernspried. It thrives in sunlight so it is most commonly found on the surface. Although it produces more spores, there does not seem to be a greater risk of infection as most of them are carried away by the wind. It also tends to spread slower. It no longer exists in its pure form, and has merged together with the other 3 main branches to form the Agorii branch. However, while reported to be extinct, many reports have indicated that not all of the branch merged with Agorii. Infectants show a increased sign of sadistic behavior during prolonged infection.

Carthastorphe (C)
It is characterized by a highly infectious flower-like core. It spreads very rapidly and it can change the outer appearance of its hosts. Infectants of this branch show higher aggression than others according to most. C has manifested as various different sub-branches after a discovery by Ashren which lead to the creation of C0. See more on this here. Reports again show that it seems to be extinct, however sparse reports of its existence has kept Anti-Neihern movements on edge to this day.

Agorii (Ag)
The Agorii branch is a merge from all the original branches, leaning more into C, then A, and took the least from B. It was created directly from Z'Teruend once he fled from Adamentem. The Agorii islands have an advanced defense, where it can spread underwater, has a strong resistance against other infections, and can kill parts of its infection if it gets threatened.

Wondervi (W)
This branch was completely an accident made by Artemis Varen. After bringing the Agorii variant to the land of Wonderia, the Neihernspried there became linked to Artemis, who is considered a Goddess (called an Alice) in the realm. While not too different from the Agorri branch, the most common difference is its dormancy in infection rates. Unless the person is looking to become Blod'nd, most of the time, they will not be infected. This branch also seems more affectionate, picking favorite infectants. And in one very few cases, it will make them Taitons. This Neihern is considered sentient, due to how it thinks and reacts to its environment and its ability to pick favorites. This branch is observed to feed on solar energy, not nutrients like other variants.

Additional Information
The Neihernspried can do anything that its infectant can. It is capable of manipulating the thoughts of its host, erasing thoughts that will cause the host to make decisions detrimental to the fungus's survival (such as finding a doctor or self-isolating), and creating thoughts that causes the host to make the fungus spread (like spending more time in public spaces). Its diet consists of many sources of nutrients: Neihernspried that has infected a piece of land can feed off the minerals in the rock and soil, while it that has infected people can feed off of the infectant's normal diet. It will continue to spread to get more food. The Neihernspried can be very manipulative and can mess with the emotions and thoughts of its infectants, however mental fortitude can counter this.

Agora
The biggest infected zone, created by Z'Teruend. It is the usual place most people think of when they think of Neihern.

Isle Varen
The biggest infection zone for the Wondervi variant, Isle Varen is home to the capital of the UBC and is considered the most approachable out of the territories.

Crimson Isles
The most traveled on infection zone in Eldham, the Crimson Isles are used to house the Crivon Blod Inc., a Blod'nd owned business.