Scorched Plague

The Scorched Plague is a devastating mutagenic infection that ravaged Appalachia between 2085 and 2102, wiping out nearly all human life in the region save for those sheltered within Vault 76. By 2103, through the efforts of the Vault Dweller of Vault 76, the plague's inoculation had been distributed to nearly all Appalachians, including settlers and raiders, halting the spread of the disease.

Background
The origins of the Scorched Plague begins with the Scorchbeast; originally, what was once a typical bat was grotesquely mutated via the machinations of the Appalachian Enclave's biochemical experiments around 2083, deep below the Cranberry Bog. While containment of these creatures was far from successful, it wouldn't be until 2086 that the megalomaniac aspirations of then-Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Eckhart unleashed the Scorchbeasts entirely on an unsuspecting Appalachia.

In the early stages of these experiments, the bats appeared to have an uncanny ability to attract other animals, but the biochemical experiments were considered a failure. It wasn't until the bats were accidentally exposed to both biochemical agents and radiation that the Scorched Plague came to be. From a naturally-secreted particulate falling from their wings, the Scorchbeasts spread this infection wherever they reached.

Regardless if it were a human, animal, or mutant, the Scorched Plague is able to infect nearly every living thing it touches, with few exceptions. The plague starts with a series of intense physical changes in its victims. At first, the victim's skin will darken, and smell of ash. Eventually, intense burning lesions begin to form all over the infected body, which would appear to be smoldering. After some time, the victim's skin will split open, exposing their reddish-pink flesh and the strange presence of green ultracite crystals that break up from beneath their skin. At this point, the infection has fully taken hold of its victim, transforming it into a member of the Scorched.

Coupled with these physical changes is the degradation of the victim's mental faculties, moreso if they are human. Most importantly, however, is their assimilation into the Scorchbeast's hive mind. As a Scorched, the victim is completely enthralled to the will of the hive mind, hostile to everything that isn't already infected. In the case of Scorched humans, the assimilation into the hive mind is not completely absolute, as infected humans may demonstrate some awareness as to what state they're in. Physically, however, they have little to no ability to go against the greater whims.

Every Scorched is a vector for greater infection, a purpose with which they are compelled to fulfill until they totally succumb to the disease within them and are left as nothing more a petrified, ashen husk.

Scorched humans make up the breadth of the Scorched Plague's victims. Most human Scorched are able to effectively utilize weaponry, including firearms. Fighting carriers of the Scorched Plague in and of itself was extremely dangerous, as transmission is a great risk, coupled with the then-lack of any form of inoculation. Specialized groups within the factions of Appalachia, such as the Responder's elite Fire Breathers, were specifically organized as a means to combat Scorched threats, and a variety of tactics to be used when combating the Scorched became part of the Responder's training regimen. One thing was clear: do not let them get close.

Initial scorchbeast sightings were often dismissed as rumors or hallucinations, but soon the various factions of Appalachia would be forced to assess the severity of the unstoppable Plague. Many scrambled to develop means with which to combat the spread of the disease, developing a variety of countermeasures in an effort to destroy, contain, or even cure the plague. Tragically, divisions and hostility would set in; some dismissed the severity of the plague, others simply underestimated the threat and were too late to make a difference, or squabbling politics and mutual distrust between organizations would lead to the downfall of every major playing in the region.

In the end, despite the organized research capabilities of the Responders, militarist might of the Brotherhood of Steel, survivalist pragmatism of the Free States, and reckless brutality of the Raiders, each of these once-powerful factions would be snuffed out and destroyed, one by one, until all of Appalachia fell silent. Some were fortunate enough to flee the region before every human in Appalachia was either dead or Scorched by the year 2102 - that is, excluding the Vault Dwellers of Vault 76.

The Responders at Morgantown Airport would first receive word of the Scorched threat from the Brotherhood of Steel, and were able to rapidly develop an assortment of countermeasure against the plague. The formation of the Fire Breathers, along with the discovery of depleted ultracite munitions, allowed the Responders to maintain a degree of control over the plague. Most important of the Responder's research efforts under Dr. Claire Hudson was the early stages of a vaccination against the plague; tragically, circumstances halted the inoculation project just short of a successful vaccine.

The Free States, a tight-knit coalition of anarchist survivalists operating within The Mire, suffered the loss of Harper's Ferry to the Scorchbeasts in the earliest stages of the Plague in 2086, though the environment of The Mire and decentralized nature of the Free States allowed them some reprieve as they developed anti-Scorched technology such as the Scorched Detection System and the Scorchbeast Lures. These technologies first enabled the Free States to track the presence of Scorchbeasts, and then effectively neutralize them.

By Spring of 2097, all of the major factions in Appalachia were destroyed, and the presence of any human life in the area soon followed with it.

In 2102, Vault 76 would finally open after 25 years. The residents of the Vault re-entered an Appalachia that has been devoid of all human life for years. Following the trail of their estranged Overseer, the Dwellers would discover what became of the region's factions, and eventually were able to finish what the divided groups had started. Finalizing the vaccine and inoculating themselves against the Plague, the residents' efforts would culminate in utilizing the region's ICBM silos to launch a nuclear strike against Fissure Site Prime and subsequently destroying the Scorchbeast Queen. Ironically, the Appalachian Enclave - rather, what remained of it - would be instrumental in the destruction of the Scorchbeast threat, as navigating the automated promotion systems from within the Whitespring Bunker are what enabled the Vault Dwellers to access the region's nuclear payloads in the first place.

A year later, in 2103, the Vault 76 overseer and the Dwellers began to manufacture vaccination for the Plague after Settlers, Raiders, and other groups began to return to the region. Later in the year, word of this inoculation would spread beyond Appalachia via caravans.

Biology
A scorched is created when a human, or other creature, comes in contact with a scorchbeast, as the mutated fungus-like plague called the Scorched Plague that it carries mutates those infected. The skin goes through a rapid change from a charred black to blood red lesions as if they have been flayed alive. Complete loss of hair and cataracts of the eyes also occurs and green ultracite crystals begin to protrude randomly from the skin. As well as affecting the appearance, those infected also succumb to complete degeneration of mental faculties. The infection of the Scorched Plague essentially creates a hive mind that connects all scorched to the scorchbeast queen. The Queen can then command these scorched at will. The only instincts left for those infected are violent aggression towards everything but other scorched.

The Plague has some inexplicable connection to the hyper-radioactive ore known as ultracite; the characteristic green crystals that penetrate from the flesh of the Scorched are ultracite crystals.

Wandering, Statue, Petrification
When not acting violently or being directly controlled, a scorched will enter its wandering state. This state is simply that, the scorched wanders mindlessly around any given area unless either ordered directly by the queen, it finds a non-scorched, or until it enters its statue state. The statue state is the beginning of the end for an infected scorched as the scorched will stay in their statue position they are stuck in until they petrify from the inside out leaving only a radioactive, petrified corpse. The petrified corpse is the delicate remains of any scorched who has stayed in their statue state for too long. The corpse itself is ash like with prominent veins of green ultracite visibly cover the petrified corpses, along with the remaining protrusions of ultracite crystals. The petrification process also destroys the clothing and weapons they had, but occasionally some possessions may survive the petrification.

This means that all scorched have a set lifespan until they inevitably succumb to their disease. The petrification process can take longer depending on the activity around any given area, as any disruption to a scorched while going through petrification will awaken the scorched and revert them back to their wandering state. Even in death though, a scorched's petrified corpse is a strong source of radiation to any unwise enough to disturb it.

While the wandering state is universal among infected scorched, the statue and petrification process for the scorched is entirely unique to the human species as no other infected species leaves behind a petrified corpse. It is unknown why the statue and the petrification process only affects humans.

Characteristics
The Scorched Plague is a highly contagious mutagenic pathogen that infected almost all of West Virginia's human population that survived the Great War, turning them into the Scorched; beings similar to feral ghouls that retain enough presence of mind to wield weapons and wear armor to assault any uninfected humans unfortunate enough to cross their path. Creatures infected with the Plague will not be hostile towards other infected creatures, regardless of species or race.

The Plague is also responsible for mutating the local pygmy bat population into scorchbeasts; giant bat creatures who, having overpopulated the underground caverns they lived in, spread the Plague to the surface. It seems to have become symbiotic with the scorchbeasts because these beasts retain their individuality while other infected creatures become part of a hive mind, connecting them to the beasts and giving the beasts the ability to control other infected beings to some extent.

The Plague also infected other species of local wildlife. A few species such as mole rats, wolves and feral ghouls are noted to have a particularly strong resistance to, if not complete immunity from, the plague.

At least in humans, the Scorched Plague continues to grow inside of the infected, causing ultracite growths to cut through their skin, eventually overtaking the host and killing them. This internal lacing with ultracite also makes plague victims vulnerable to ammunition made from depleted ultracite, due to the negative reaction that occurs when normal and depleted ultracite are brought together. This weakness was leveraged by the Responders' Fire Breathers division, who laced munitions with depleted ultracite crystals, and the Brotherhood of Steel who created laser weaponry with ultracite crystal focus arrays, dealing extra damage against infected creatures.

These ultracite growths also allow for easy tracking of infected creatures, as ultracite gives off a distinctive radiation signature. In addition, scorchbeasts have been observed guarding ultracite deposits and consuming raw ultracite ore, suggesting that consuming ultracite strengthens them somehow.

Immunities
While the Responders, Free States, and Brotherhood were all independently developing an inoculation/cure for the Scorched Plague, there are some creatures with a natural resistance to the disease:

Behind the scenes
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The Scorched Plague appears to be inspired by a real-world fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which causes white-nose syndrome in bats - an infection that eats away at their skin tissue during hibernation. This relatively new disease has decimated populations of Little Brown bat (from which Scorchbeasts are descended) and has moved them onto the endangered species list. It has a 100% infection rate and a >90% mortality rate. Most bats in North America are estimated to be extinct in the wild by 2026. end

Appearances
The Scorched Plague appears only in Fallout 76.