The Witherwild Corruption

This corruption, empowered by the endless spring, is spreading throughout Fanewick. Some believe the overgrowth began in the forest, while others claim it sprang from the bogs. But no matter its origins, this flourishing malignancy induces horrific changes and massive growth on anything it touches, transforming them into Withered beings. Plants spring to life with a desire to consume all around them. Animals grow to immense proportions, with onerous dispositions to match their exaggerated teeth, tusks, and claws. Even harmless creatures that were once hunted for food have become dangerous and formidable adversaries.

When a person is corrupted by the Witherwild, either from a purposeful attack or accidental harm (see the upcoming “Corruption from the Witherwild” section), they are transformed. They become a nightmarish hybrid—their body warped and intertwined with plant or beast. The Witherwild slowly replaces the personality of its victims with the same drive to consume exhibited by the rest of the corrupted Fanewick. Though the Withered may retain a semblance of who they are for a time, they eventually face the final loss of their personhood. Some Wicklings believe the Withered are gifted this power by Nikta’s wrath to drive the forces of Haven from Fanewick and return the Shepherd’s Reaping Eye.

Not Death: The Loss That Defines the Land

Nikta did not become a simple god of life. She lost death—along with her Reaping Eye. That trauma defines her divinity and the world. She is now a god of Not Death: of terrible injury and malformed healing, defined by absence rather than what remains. In Fanewick, death has ceased to hold its weight; everything is Too Alive.

Manifestations

• Once‑fatal injuries persist. Bodies cling to life beyond their limits. Bones set crooked and sprout excess flesh and appendages.
• Meat wriggles even after the soul departs; hides regrow over empty frames that try to live as singular creatures.
• Cancerous growth blooms on bodies and trees; cells go wild. Some animals are so overgrown with jackalope disease (Shope papilloma virus) they’re unrecognizable.
• Boars grow twisting tusks that pierce their own skulls; deer collapse beneath antlers that never shed.
• Plants overgrow and leech soil bare, then steal from neighbors and passerby. Predatory flora rapidly evolve: flowers smell of sweet meats and pies; leaves murmur like distant voices to lure travelers; mimicry and ambush are common.

These expressions of Not Death pervert cycles. Without reaping, there is no rest—only accumulation and hunger.