Infected

Infected are creatures invested with the substance of the Bathybius, which gradually alters them until in the end they come to be made entirely of similar substance themselves, being transformed into deeplings. They are differentiated from imps in that the latter are split directly off the Bathybius or one of its scions, rather than beginning life as some other creature. Infected usually retain the same shape as they had before their transformation, though they take on the clearness and huelessness common to all deeplings. Sometimes, however, apparently at the whim of the Bathybius, they take on a different shape, transfiguring as they transmute.

Infection process

To begin the process of turning a creature into an infected, all that is necessary is to introduce a portion of the Bathybius's substance into the creature in question. The amount of substance necessary varies depending on a number of factors—the health of the creature; the temperature; some subtleties about the creature's anatomy—but as a rough rule of thumb usually comes out to roughly one liter per two hundred kilograms of the creature's mass. Usually, the introduction is made through the mouth, but any orifice will do, including an open wound. Seldom is the "infection" performed by the Bathybius directly; that would, after all, involve the infected-to-be to venture deep under the ocean to where the Deepmind dwells. Rather, it's generally imps or existing infected that carry it out, either by bringing a small quantity of the Bathybius's substance with them or, much more often, by using part of a deep ooze or even a part of their own bodies—which, after all, are made of the same stuff.

Once the substance is introduced into the subject, the transformation generally takes about three weeks to go to completion. This seems to be largely independent of the creature's size or most other obvious variables. There is some variation, but it is apparently random, and not generally by more than fifteen percent in either direction. The only known factor that does significantly alter the transformation time is introducing a larger amount of the Bathybius's substance than necessary; the greater the mass of ooze used, the smaller the transformation time, to a minimum of about a week when the amount of substance is about octuple the minimum. As the transformation proceeds, the subject's color gradually fades, and they get more and more transparent. Their bones, shells, or other hard parts gradually soften, as to a lesser degree does their flesh and other solid components, as their internal liquids solidify and their internal cavities begin to fill with the watery slime that will eventually make up their entire bodies. If the Bathybius has not chosen to have them retain their original forms, their shapes gradually alter at the same time as these other changes take place. Finally, at the culmination of the process, they are of uniform consistency, composed entirely of the same sort of enchanted and adulterated water as the Bathybius itself, and they have fully become deeplings. An infected that has reached this state is said to be "mature". (This is regardless of its actual [[age]; an infected child will, if the process is allowed to run its course, become a mature deepling, in this sense, even though it was and in some ways still is an immature human.

Many people live in fear of being turned into infected against their will, but in fact this almost never happens. For the most part, the infected undergo the process voluntarily; they willingly ingest the requisite substance because they want to serve the Bathybius, or at least because they want to become watery beings like the deeplings—or because they are offered something in return. Some infected, after finishing whatever task the Bathybius initially has in mind for them, then go down to the watery abysses to unite with the Deepmind, but others stay around indefinitely, acting as agents for the Bathybius or pursuing projects of their own. There have been a handful of instances in which deeplings have hunted people down and force-fed them bits of their substance to begin the process of infection, but so few that they are almost insignificant. In fact, the possibility has been floated that perhaps the Bathybius cannot infect the unwilling, and that even the few apparent involuntary infections have not been what they seemed—that the "victims" had consented to their infections but they or the Bathybius had seen some benefit in pretending otherwise and putting on a show of resistance. This, however, has not been proven, and few are comfortable trusting that it is the case.

Reversal

Once an infected's transformation is complete, it is irreversible—barring of course general metagenotic magics that could transform any creature into another—and even those may not function. The infected has effectively become a piece of the Bathybius, albeit one with an awareness and agency of its own. Before the infected reaches maturity, however, there are a number of magical means by which it can be halted, though they may be difficult to come by. Perhaps the simplest way is using a spell, disinfection, specifically created for this purpose—but because this spell is so narrow in application, very few people know it, and it may not be easy to find someone who does. There is also a potion, deepbane, that has a similar effect, and the god Ebenbe has granted a few of his followers this ability.

Stopping the ongoing transformation, however, does not necessarily reverse it. There are some ways of achieving this as well, but they are if anything even less readily parable than the means of interrupting it. Because of this, even on those rare occasions when a creature's transformation to an infected is forestalled from fruition, rather than being restored to their former state they are usually left permanently in whatever intermediate condition they were in. Such half-transformed would-be infected are sometimes called "soggers". Soggers are usually short-lived; their semisolid consistencies and poorly-defined anatomies were only supposed to be temporary transitional states, and are not well suited for long-term survival. Some, however, do find magical means to extend their existences. There have been a handful that seemed to owe their status to other circumstances than halted infections, but that does seem to be the most usual cause—although soggers are very rare in any case, so perhaps little about them deserves the label of "usual".

Taxonomy

The etorical taxonomy of infected is controverted. A narrow majority of etorists who have a position on the matter place classify infected as a type of galdor, a creature created by transformation, but others see their origin as irrelevant and place them in the same species as imps, reasoning that since deeplings exist that do not originate from transformation, then those that do don't merit their own taxon, any more than a mouse transformed into a horse would be assigned to a novel taxon rather than just be considered a specimen of Equus caballus that happened to formerly be something different. Proponents of the aeaean classification of infected often argue that while mature infected may not differ in any important ways from imps, immature infected are clearly distinct from both deeplings and their original species, and so demonstrate that they belong in a taxon of their own; advocates of deepling monotaxicity counter that the fact that the transformation to deepling may be slower than many other transformations is not a sufficient qualitative distinction to warrant placing the resultant creature in its own taxon, and that while it may be easier to halt this transformation before completion than is typical for similar transformations, the fact that it can be so interrupted is not unique to this process, and likewise is not sufficient to justify a new taxon for the end product. (A few scholars have proposed as a compromise that immature imps be placed in a taxon of their own—distinct from Diallacta, the general taxon for creatures formed from incomplete transformations—, but that mature imps be classified the same as deeplings. This, however, is generally considered a spiritless solution that satisfies almost nobody.)

Even among those etorists who do agree that infected are galdors there is considerable disagreement as to their classification within that universe. Some include all infected in a single species, Iluides butho; others place them in a higher taxon (most commonly called Iluuioe), which they subdivide into narrower taxa based on extent of transfigurement, method of introduction of the Bathybius's substance, and/or other criteria. Some etorists, especially but not exclusively among those who consider infected monospecific, consider them to comprise a comitant taxon, its adjunct being the infected's original species. Others disagree, and still others—mostly among those who do not place all infected in a single species—consider infected to pertain to a comitant taxon if and only if they mostly retain their original form—though this of course raises questions as to exactly how much their form can change before they cease to qualify.

Notable individuals

It's possible that many infected lurk disguised and undiscovered in human communities, or united with the Bathybius before their fates became known and were simply numbered among unexplained disapparances. But some infected are well known, even if they make up only a fraction of the total, and some of the most notable are listed below.

The Boy

The Boy—he goes by no other name—is an infected notable not for his power, but primarily for his pluripresence, as the Bathybius has granted him the power to split off copies of himself, and he uses this power extensively. He also has the ability to turn copies of himself into inanimate telesmata apparently invested with powers by the Bathybius.

Darinii

Darinii began as ten separate individuals, the leaders of a cult in Jahanna that worshipped the Bathybius as a god. As both a show of devotion and a way of gaining power, these votaries elected to become infected—and to do so together, merging into a single being. Now Darinii appears as a great watery sphere with the faces and limbs of its former bodies.

Ghost Island

Probably the largest known infected, Ghost Island started life as a ganulia, and, like most infected, still retains its former shape. Like most ganulias, Ghost Island spends almost all its time at the ocean's surface, and its extensive back has become home to a thriving community comprising both human and other creatures of flesh and deeplings.

Count Iilelal

While most infected are—or were—humans or other organisms of flesh and blood native to Charos, the process can function on at least some otherplanar beings—a fact of which Count Iilelal is evidence. Iilelal is a powerful mare, a demon of a strain rarely seen on Dadauar but more active on other rews; his reasons for submitting to infection by the Bathybius are unclear, but the transformation has not decreased his already considerable power.

Queen Xer

The previous monarch of the Avelachian onirarchy of T'in, Queen Xer, for reasons that remain a mystery, submitted to the Deepmind and allowed herself to become infected. The people of T'in, including other onirarchs, were not comfortable with having a deepling sovereign, and Xer was forced to abdicate—but her current location and activities are unknown, assuming she still lives.

The Respruant

Despite being an infected, the Respruant hates the Bathybius and everything associated with it, and makes her living as a mercenary who hires herself out to fight against it, an activity in which she claims considerable experience. She is strait-mouthed about her past and the reason for her antipathy, though there is certainly no end of speculation about the matter.

Vhatharighana

One of the most powerful dream mages outside the onirarchies, Vhatharighana surprised the world by choosing to become an infected. It is generally assumed that they made a deal with the Bathybius to be granted even more special powers than they already had, but they have never revealed the details. In any case, today Vhatharighana recludes themself in a hidden tower somewhere in northern Burcady, though they may grant boons to those who find their tower and impress them.