Zombies

A Zombie is humanoid that has been infected by the ‘morteximius-virus’, otherwise known as the ‘zombie super virus’. It DOES NOT turn animals into zombies they just die horribly from the virus. Most member-characters are, for the most part, humanoid and so most are susceptible to the 'undead transformation'.

Unless otherwise stated no one is immune to morteximius-virus. If bitten, or a substantial amount of blood-to-blood or blood-to-saliva contact is made a person will contract the virus. They then have a 12 hour window to obtain an anti-viral which will reverse the effects of the virus. This is not an by any means a quick cure. The virus takes a serious toll on the body and most people are completely incapacitated by the anti-viral whether they have been infected or not.

UNDEAD TRANSFORMATION

If a Humanoid being does not receive anti-viral treatment within 12 hours after infection they develop an incredibly hot fever and die within an hour to half of an hour. An hour or two later the body descends into undeath and rises a zombie.

THE MORTEXIMIUS-VIRUS

Of the three super-viruses this one is strangest. This is because it effects the ‘dead’. How it works is beyond the scientific community but when the Nevus first appeared and it like the other two were temporarily air-born, it resurrected cemeteries by seeping into the ground with the rain. How did it actually get into the coffins? This still isn’t known and is a constant source of worry for people like Doctor Atticus Gale who has studied the creatures since the beginning.

Months after the initial ‘event’ the zombie-virus seemed to be restricted to the host bodies, but every so often, through the years Doctor Gale and his colleagues have documented the random risings of cemeteries. Spores are a mutually accepted idea but there is yet absolutely no proof to support this theory. Only the 'dead' are effected and much of the community is beginning to lean toward the idea that the Nevus itself is generating these spontaneous events.

So far these ‘dead-risings’ are in-frequent but this is not to say that we shouldn’t believe that a repeat of the first ‘zombie apocalypse’ couldn’t happen.

The Vampire Virus (nocturnaeximius-virus), Lycanthrope Virus (lycaneximius-virus) and Zombie Virus (morteximius-virus) cannot be modified by science or magic. This is because they are a corner stone of our setting and any alterations to them would cause drastic changes to our world. Your characters are, however, welcome to experiment away so long as those attempts end in failure. It is already suspected that the super-viruses are a combination of biology and magic, so many experiments are simply trying to prove that theory.

THE ZOMBIE BRAIN (Killing a zombie)

‘Hit ‘em in the head and they’re dead.’ This statement is not completely accurate. While their brain keeps them going, they actually only require the stem to maintain their state of semi-conscious existence. Often, the amount of trauma caused by a blow hard enough to break through the skull causes enough damage to the stem to drop them, but this is not always the case. There have been several cases of zombies having half their head blown a part and they’ve kept on going. The most effective strikes will blow out the back of the head or decapitate them.

Particularly interesting to scientists is the fact that the zombie brain mimics that of a living person who has had a ‘near-death-experience’. It is nothing but a series of mis-fires that having nothing at all to do with any of the higher functions such as locomotion and sensory input.

According to Doctor one of the prominent specialists in the ‘super-viruses’ and author of ‘Undeath - An in-depth study on zombies’, zombies have absolutely no intelligence. They operate purely by instinct and what he refers to as ‘residual memory’. Residual Memory is the information left over in the brain. It allows a zombie to recognize stairs or even a door. Based on necessity these creatures may even eventually figure out how to turn a door knob but they will never perform any constructive tasks nor will performing a task build up any experiences they can draw from. Gale stresses that “Zombies are dead.” He also goes to say that ‘residual memory’ can also kick in when the zombie is not being distracted by the consumption of life. When there’s no food around, zombies go idle. They’ll go dormant sitting or laying down and one’s hard pressed to tell them from the regular dead. They may also start performing some kind of mundane task left over in their memory. Doctor Gale went on to describe some of the tasks he’d been able to record. Zombies picking up brooms and dragging them across a floor, he documented one holding a gas pump and if filling a car.

** Any corpse without the remnants of a brain stem will not re-animate.

** Once a zombie has been destroyed it will never rise up again.

** Zombies are sterile and incapable of procreation!

HERDING

Zombies instinctively herd. It is their basic nature to gather and move in groups. It has been theorized that this because moving in numbers increases their chances of cornering and overwhelming prey. It’s also instinctive for them to pursue Humanoid forms because they might be dinner. When it turns out that what looked like dinner is dead and moves, instinct simply dictates that they move along with the group and seek out more moving, humanoid shapes.

THE NATURE OF THE UNDEAD

Believe it or not zombies are indeed undead. Well, you better believe it. Up until the final months of 2010 most were under the impression that zombies were a biological aberration that might even be plant based but then it was discovered that these creatures had no vital signs what-so-ever. There was absolutely no form of biological processes occurring within their decrepit bodies whatsoever, well, with the exception of their brain.

‘How could this be?’ The only answer was that some unknown force was keeping them ‘alive’ or more appropriately, in a state of ‘undeath’. It was pretty obvious what the unknown force was as well. That cursed word that was basically making scientists throw in the towel and hand the world over to adolescent idiots endowed with the power to defy the physical laws — the ‘I can do anything’ element of magic. It was not only this, but also the fact that undead zombies carry a virus made most scientists question everything they know about biology. It simply doesn’t make any sense and is one of the main questions that biologists and virologists continue to struggle with.

The undead are perpetually in a state of decomposition and above all they crave life. Zombies hunger for it every moment of their existence and studies have revealed an incredible amount of activity in the zombie-brain (what parts they mainly use) when they are consuming flesh, especially that of Humanoids. In fact zombies will not go out of their way to pursue any organism that is not Human-like. They will scavenge on fresh carrion, but have little interest in non-humanoid flesh and blood. It is this sustenance that rejuvenates the undead creature, makes them more robust and less brittle, a more effective hunter to transport and transfer the virus to another host.

No matter how much a zombie eats it’s never gonna get faster. Zombies simply don’t have exceptional motor coordination, nor do they mend broken bones. They’re slow and sluggish, but not feeling pain makes them stronger than one might imagine.

“How long can a zombie go without food?”

Indefinitely. Even though zombies are continually decomposing their bodies amazingly enough remain capable of movement even when they are reduced to a flesh covered skeleton. Even in this state, however, they are near as formidable as a newly turned zombie. The bottom line. They don't die and if they receive nourishment their body actually rejuvenates to a point. Back in 2012 in was believed that after a couple of years they'd just die out but this has not been the case. Zombie hordes from 2010 still exist today and may exist until the end of time.

“Will eliminating their ability to eat render them docile?”

HELL NO! Do you think this is some kind of graphic novel or something? Even without the use of it’s mouth the Zombie will still have the instinct to eat. They’ll tear things apart with their hands, bash their prey with their skulls and continue to shove blood and guts into their ‘mouth area’. Even if it’s completely sealed off the Zombie will still try and eat.

“What happens to zombies if they encounter freezing temperatures?”

In colder climates, like Canada, Zombies freeze during the winter months and are perfectly preserved until the thaw. A zombie can remain active at 25ºF (-4ºC), colder than that and the creature goes dormant. (The ideal temperature of a freezer is 0ºF or -18ºC).

WHERE DOES IT ALL GO?

A zombie with a hole in it’s gut can slurp down a pile of human entrails as fast as a starving man devouring a plate of pasta. The fantastic thing it that the flesh doesn’t leak out their gut, well not all of it. Some will seep out but some of it, well, will somehow be digested or rather, absorbed. Nobody has an actual answer for this, although there are some coloful theories which are not worth mentioning. Basically a zombie is an "undead eating machine”.

SENSES

Zombies have an exceptional sense of smell. They can scent Humanoid flesh within a fifty foot radius and detect blood at one hundred feet. Their hearing is on par with a Human’s though lacking the same range and clarity. Vision as well is limited. The see monochromatically and are mainly attuned to movement. A person remaining stationary in a forest will be passed by if their scent is not picked up.

THE ZOMBIE STATE

Just how many zombies are there in the world? It's extremely difficult to perform a precise count but scientists and magus alike theorize there are still over a couple hundred thousand lurking here and there.

In what was North America the threat has been greatly contained, but the Eastern American Alliance, Federation of Western States, and Southern Coalition are all still very wary of the zombie menace. Pockets of hordes occasionally rise up and re-populate so they are a constant threat.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE RP.

Zombies are merely a constant 'antagonist' in this world but they're managed. They are not a threat in the main cities such as New York, so you do not need to ever come across a zombie in our game if you do not want to - this is not a zombie apocalypse RP. Incidents, however, do happen from time to time. The Zombie Virus is still a threat and despite the existence of a vaccine, some people just end up succumbing to it for one reason or another.