Necora

Necora is a supernatural virus that can be transmitted biologically or magically to any living entity, or otherwise organic matter. It was created originally created by Maxwell, and later redesigned by Finnick into a weapon of mass destruction. Maxwell created the first strain of the virus by reverse engineering the Aspect of Death. Necora requires an 'anchor' to be controlled, the anchor being the sole person who can create outbreaks of infection and spread the pathogen manually. All infected matter is somewhat telepathically link to its anchor, and if the anchor were to be killed the virus would spread rapidly and out of control, possibly causing an extinction level event. Finnick is the current anchor. It is vaguely implied that Necora itself is somehow sentient.

Usage
Penned by Maxwell, with the help of Dalton Wood's research, Necora's exists as a pathogen, present in both air and liquid. This pathogen acts as a conduit for the magical element of the practice - one cannot function without the other. Similarly, the spread of either the physical infection or the magical effects cannot be countered unless both are accounted for simultaneously; hence why Necora lacks many of the vices most magical practices are vulnerable to and is otherwise impossible to resist, even for species otherwise immune to such afflictions.

Though Finnick is capable of spreading Necora by himself, he does not have to be present for an outbreak to occur. Infection can be direct (where he is personally involved) or indirect (where it occurs naturally).

Symptoms
Necora's scale of infection is extremely varied.

Necora has a wildly different effect on life and matter depending on the state of what it touches. Living beings, mortal or otherwise, usually find their mind deteriorates first. Necora worms its way into ones head and interferes with their perception, their memories and their sensations, often encouraging the victim to employ extremely self-destructive habits; while the effects of Necora's mental manipulation are eventually fatal, it essentially causes the infected to torture themselves. In rare cases, the victim's mind can become so damaged they lose all sense of culture and become feral.

Necora also has a distinctive effect on organic matter, particularly flesh, blood and bone. Such material can be mutated, twisted and reformed into new shapes and creatures, which are not strictly 'sentient' but are still somehow animated, furthering the theory that Necora itself is somehow sentient (since Finnick has no control over these beasts). It's common for such creatures to wander aimlessly around areas of infection, aggressively attacking any uninfected that they come near. Necora based creatures have, on rare occasions, been shown to possess a horde mentality that can be controlled (such as during the Battle of Aeygpt, where a huge horde of entities seemingly acted upon Finnick's will).

Bestiary
A list of the encountered beasts that were created from Necora outbreaks. Despite their description and appearance, the creatures are not technically undead:

Infected
Individuals that have succumbed to prolonged exposure to the Necora pathogen and are beyond the point of no-return. Whilst these people are still technically 'alive, infected individuals bare no semblance to their former selves, their minds destroyed. Some may be highly aggressive and dangerous, others may be pensive and shy. All infected share a feral habit of spreading their infection, most commonly by ‘spitting’ (where they bite their tongues and spit blood). It is the final stage of Necora infection that awaits all, before death.

Ghoul
Much the same as more common zombies, these are corpses that are violently reanimated into roughly humanoid beasts (though, in many cases, they don't resemble anything close to their original forms). Left to their own devices, they will simply pursue the desire to feed upon living flesh. They can, however, be controlled by a Necora user such as Finnick if he is present. Only severe head wounds will fatally stop a ghoul.

Ogre
An Ogre, in the presence of Necora, is a living abomination of mutated flesh. They are often the result of three or four individuals being fused together into one via grotesque mutation. Whilst they do bare some semblance of thought, it seems highly primitive. Left to their own devices they will wander around aimlessly until they encounter an uninfected person, whom they almost always attack. Ogre’s are noted for the fact that they are extremely infectious, and will continually fuel any location they enter with the Necora pathogen. Ogres must be put to flame as quickly as possible.

Reaper
Reapers are huge, monstrous creatures several hundred feet high. They are constructed from large masses of organic matter, usually hulking piles of corpses, and seem the most dangerous form of Necora-based entity encountered so far simply because of their vast size. They have been encountered with or without wings.

Banger
First discovered by Mylo during the Battle of Brightstone Cove, then later by Florian and Rennata in Gehenna, Bangers are particularly unique entities that seem to only appear when they are purposefully created. A Banger is person that is deliberately infected by a special strain of Necora - once infected, the person gains an uncontrollable desire to consume flesh, it becoming the sole focus of their thoughts. They will eat until they grow engorged, eventually mutating and growing into a mass so large they're incapable of moving. Often fusing themselves to the wall, the newly created Banger will then go into a state of hibernation until it is disturbed. Once awoken, it will immediately explode. Being very quiet seems the only way to avoid setting a Banger off...