The Strangler

The Strangler is a parasitic disease that has infected a forest in Zeah, now known as the Stranglewood.

History

Creation

The Strangler was accidentally created by the Old Ones in their attempts to learn soul transference to avoid extinction. According to the stone tablets left behind in what appears to be various research centres across Zeah, the Old Ones referred to a plant integral to the transference ritual as "death poison". Their experiments appeared to have horrifically backfired as the plant grew out of control and instead created "dark death", destroying something named "Zema-Tal". Based on the architecture in the region, and the masses of tendrils in the area, the plague likely originated in the Stranglewood.

The plague quickly overwhelmed all life in the area, "strangling" it to death with its own biomass. Very little life survived in the woods, namely flora which had developed resistance to the Strangler plague such as Argian bushes and Korbal herbs.

Third Age

At some point after the fall of the Zarosian Empire, the vampyre executioner Vardorvis was tasked with hunting down Yonrith Lovakengj for being an enemy of Zaros, though some suspected it was rather out of damaged pride. Yonrith's men fled westward to Zeah, which Vardorvis correctly anticipated, arriving at the Stranglewood to set up camp there. Vardorvis' venators were sent to look for the dwarves, while some of his other subordinates set up camp. One of his men took interest in the strange plants in the woods, which were actually the Strangler itself. Their curiosity with the plant resulted in Vardorvis being infected with the plague, though he believed it to be a parasite on the plant. While he did not initially care about the infection, he did become concerned when he was informed that it was lethal. Nonetheless, he decided to press on with his task of hunting the dwarves, but they were discovered by their targets who attacked the camp prematurely. In the ensuing battle, Vardorvis himself was killed by the dwarves, and his head was chopped clean off; in spite of his being a vampyre, this was achieved without the use of a Silver weapon. Following the battle, the survivors retreated, but not before one of them spotted what he thought to be Vardorvis' body moving by itself. The author of the Tatty pages scattered throughout the Stranglewood believed it to be nonsense, unaware of the plague's true capabilities, as he thought it only to be lethal, but not able to reanimate the dead.

Present Day

The Stranglewood was relatively known to the people of Great Kourend, mostly the dwarves of Lovakengj who celebrated the Burning Man, which represented a great evil to the south-west now known as the Stranglewood. A few people went into the forest for reasons unknown, but were infected and reanimated, adding to the plague's numbers. Some among these were Shayzien guards.

During Year 169 of the Fifth Age, an adventurer who discovered and opened the Ancient Vault in the Kharidian Desert was directed to search for Vardorvis as his medallion was needed to open the seal therein. At the ruins of Senntisten, they came upon a golem which informed them that he had gone to the far west, correctly deducing he had travelled to Zeah. In Lovakengj, the adventurer learned of Vardorvis' role in the origin story of the Burning Man, which told of a "great evil" originating in the Stranglewood. When they arrived there, they found a large horde of Strangled and Kasonde, who had also discovered the truth about the Old Ones' attempts at soul transference - the plague itself was the direct result of their experiments with it. They managed to fight through the Strangler hordes and drank an improved serum which prevented the plague from infecting them, though this did not stop the Strangled from trying to attack, and they were also forced to put down Kasonde after he tried to return to Great Kourend despite his infection by the Strangler.

Apart from a large horde of infected humans, the Strangler plague also possesses a boar, lynx, and bear.

Powers and abilities

The Strangler plague appears to put the infected into a state of life and death, with various stages of decay exhibited in all those it infects - some hosts even have their heads missing. The plague appears to have a hive mind of its own, as the tendrils scattered across the forest serve as an extension of sorts which alerts the infected to investigate the surrounding area when a tendril is disturbed. As a result of the Old Ones' initial goal to become immortal, the plague is capable of reanimating the dead, as Vardorvis' body simply returned back to undeath after being killed by the adventurer. It can weaken and/or override natural immunities, as the infected Vardorvis was slain by non-silver, non-blisterwood weaponry. However, it does not appear to be potent enough to infect Mahjarrat, as evidenced by Sliske not contracting it whilst disguised as Kasonde.

The hosts appear to lack self-preservation and seek to infect non-infected via bites, scratches and spores rather than weapons if the host has them. Despite this, the plague does make use of Vardorvis' axes, though indirectly as Vardorvis still directly attacks the player with the infection.

Trivia

• The Strangler's origins could be very similar to that of Croesus in RuneScape 3; both are novel life forms resulting from experimentation gone awry, capable of infecting other living beings.