The Rot

The Rot is a disease which is spreading throughout Daegyn. Those who contract the Rot are typically called "Rots". The scientific term for The Rot is Putridam Carnem.

The Rot is a disease which produces symptoms very similar to Gangrene. The victim experiences the death of body tissue (hence the term "The Rot"), which travels throughout the victims body, causing death in any time between days and weeks. Usually, the cause of death is due to infection, although sometimes The Rot can begin close to the brain or the heart and cause death quickly. After death, The Rot continues to spread until the victim's body is entirely eaten away, leaving a sort of mummified corpse, although the corpse is sometimes left with only an arm or leg being consumed before the infection stops spreading.

There is no definitive cause of The Rot, nor is it known how it spreads. Some physicians suggest that it is airborne, or caused from touch. However, some experiments have pointed to this potentially being false, after leaving a series of volunteers in one person rooms for several weeks, two patients developed The Rot, even though they had had no contact with other humans for several weeks. This experiment led some to believe that The Rot may still be transmitted through touch or through the air, but it takes several weeks to set in. Because of the mystery surrounding the Rot, anyone who contracts the disease is exiled. In Marrowleven, victims are exiled either into Yharnam, or into the Soutlands.

While many instances of The Rot are fatal, some are not. Some citizens of Daegyn have contracted the Rot for only days, weeks, or months, without dying. This means that the dead flesh needs to be surgically removed, lest infection set in. Usually, this results in the loss of an arm or leg. The current theory is that such individuals have a much stronger immune system than the average citizen.

If The Rot proves to be non-lethal, but spreads to the brain, the infection can create a person usually referred to as Rots. Rots are individuals who have been almost entirely consumed by the Rot, but are still alive. This causes the victim to behave similar to an animal, and will often become violent. Rots who have progressed to this stage are extremely dangerous and unpredictable, and are incapable of rational thought. A great deal of such creatures inhabit Yharnam.

There is no known cure or remedy for the Rot, and there is no known way of slowing its progression.