The Sporavenous are a species of "cognizant zombies" created through the infection of a biological host by the Sporavas fungus. They are colloquially referred to as Sporas. The "Ravenous" broadly refers to all "zombies" created by Blight.

Most Sporas exist in a quarantined area consisting of a Sanctuary and a limited area of "hunting grounds;" this region is called Somorva. They are immortal, not aging and regenerating from most injuries, so long as they somewhat regularly consume raw flesh of any creature. Manufactured "meat" developed in united society can sustain them, but they tend to feel weak or ill in the long term.

A small number of Sporavenous live in united society with magitechnological implants that significantly reduce the infectivity of their body fluids and spores, in addition to suppressing their compulsions to attack uninfected individuals. However, they still need to eat raw and fairly fresh meat frequently to reduce the risk of triggering their feral state. In an emergency, the implant can also sedate them and teleport them to a facility where they can be calmed down. 

History

• 1481: Blight offered a spore to a human in Zarovnia, a voivodeship devastated by famine, raids, and social collapse.

• 1482: an investigator survived and informed the voivode, who did not believe them and sent military forces that only ended up being converted.

• 1483: The voivode ordered construction of barriers around infected territories. The Sporas focused on building their own society while the humans continued to struggle. 

• 1486: A Sporas in fruiting phase approached a guard at the barrier and conversed, leading to the guard opening the gate to allow others the option of turning rather than struggling as humans. 

• 1489: Zarovnia effectively ceased to exist. 

• 1497: Somorva was made into a Sanctuary and infections became much rarer. 

• 2016: Somorva was registered with united society and denizens began development of New Somorva (see Locations). 

The Spore

In 1481, the voivodeship of Zarovnia—a frontier territory in Eastern Europe ruled by a military governor called a voivode—was already struggling against multiple crises. Harsh winters had led to consecutive crop failures, while constant raids from neighboring territories and tribute demands from larger powers had drained the region's resources. In the fertile Somorva Valley, once Zarovnia's breadbasket, desperate people had begun turning on each other over dwindling food supplies.

It was in this context of desperation that Blight encountered a dying soul in Somorva—someone on the verge of death, whether from starvation, violence, or being lynched by neighbors who suspected them of hoarding grain. Moved by a complex mixture of mercy and their evolving philosophy of creating "family" through transformation, Blight offered their gift: a single, potent spore that would change everything.

Within minutes of infection, the outbreak began. The newly transformed Sporavenous immediately sought flesh, and in the cramped, malnourished village, transmission was rapid and devastating. But where the living had been fractured by desperation and mistrust, the transformed found harmony. No longer competing for scarce resources, no longer driven by individual survival, the Sporavenous of Somorva achieved the peace that had eluded them in life.

When government investigators arrived to check on the suspiciously quiet valley, they found the entire population transformed but oddly peaceful. The investigators themselves were quickly overwhelmed and converted, adding to the growing Sporavenous community.

Within a year, one of the investigators sent was able to return, reporting about the horrifying creatures that attacked their co-investigator, who quickly became one of the creatures as well. The voivode of Zarovnia, not quite believing the investigator's account, suspecting foreign attack or peasant uprising, still decided to respond with military force. However, that force was faced with the truth of the situation very quickly—more than that, conventional tactics proved useless against enemies who felt no pain, regenerated from injuries, and whose very presence in the air—through monthly fruiting cycles releasing spores—could turn soldiers within days.

As more military forces were sent and converted, the infected zone began to expand beyond Somorva Valley. Military maps in the voivode's stronghold accumulated black marks—areas now considered completely inaccessible due to sudden turnings among patrol units.

The airborne nature of the spores, combined with the Sporavenous' monthly fruiting cycles (which weren't synchronized, meaning spores were constantly being released somewhere), created a growing atmospheric concentration across the region. This led to spontaneous infections among the population, even in areas not directly contacted by the transformed.

Paranoia gripped Zarovnia. The government attempted screening measures, but lacking understanding of the true infection mechanism, these proved ineffective. Citizens began their own "witch hunts," lynching anyone who showed signs of illness or unusual behavior. People with conditions like epilepsy fled to the Sporavenous zones, preferring transformation to death at the hands of their own neighbors.

The original crises that had weakened Zarovnia—famine, raids, tribute demands—were compounded by the resources spent fighting an unwinnable war and the social breakdown caused by fear and suspicion.

The Wall and the Choice

By 1483, pragmatism won over pride. Rather than continuing to lose troops and resources, the voivode ordered the construction of barriers around the infected territories. The Sporavenous zones were walled off, with armed border guards maintaining a quarantine perimeter.

For a time, an uneasy peace existed. The Sporavenous, no longer actively spreading beyond their territory, focused on building their own society. The remaining human territories of Zarovnia struggled on, though weakened by everything they had lost.

The turning point came in 1486, during one of the Sporavenous' fruiting phases, when their aggressive urges naturally diminished. A transformed individual approached the border wall and began speaking with a guard. Asked about conditions outside, the guard confessed the terrible state of the remaining human territories—ongoing famine, constant fear, social collapse. When the guard asked what life was like among the Sporavenous, the response was simple: peaceful, in their own way.

"Would you take more people?" the guard asked.

"Always," came the reply.

Word spread among the border guards, and from them to others throughout Zarovnia's dying territories. When that first guard eventually succumbed to spore exposure and turned, they opened the gates they had once guarded and led others to the choice that now awaited: die slowly in the decaying human territories, or join the Sporavenous community within.

Many chose transformation. Many others died clinging to their humanity. But the gate remained open, and the choice remained available.

Somorva, Home of Sporas

The human voivodeship of Zarovnia effectively ceased to exist by 1489. Somorva, initially a quarantine zone, was soon made into a Sanctuary during the Age of Secrecy. The Sporavenous community that emerged carried within it the memory of people who had walked through that open gate by choice, seeking not just survival, but the peace and harmony that had been impossible in their human lives.

After Somorva was made into a Sanctuary in 1497, infections became much rarer. However, the Sporavenous still needed to eat fresh meat, which could not be prepared within the Sanctuary. They cultivated an area of hunting grounds around the Sanctuary, where wildlife thrived and could tolerate semi-frequent hunts by the Sporavenous. Generally, infection would occur if an individual wandered into the hunting grounds while a Sporavenous was hunting, or if they lingered in the area too long and accumulated enough exposure to the spores. 

Throughout the years, there would be occasional outbreaks outside Somorva, though those were quickly handled and the new Sporavenous would be sent to Somorva. When the Age of Reunion came, Somorva was eager to connect with society with the new (to them) internet technology, many of them curating online presences in various ways. Some of the Sporavenous were happy with the local community of Somorva, and some dove into the world wide web, connecting with others in ways not possible before.