Lermaamu

\sco{Tarsacjemûnasa} is a an ailment which slowly turns an infected human into a variety of animals. The ailment is spread by an insect called \sco{lerlamâmu} \cf{I do not make it remain} (a reference to how it's sting causes a change in form). The insect has a green exoskeleton and a long wriggly tail with a little barb on the end. The lerlamâmu feeds on the blood of a variety of creatures and after it finished its meal it pierces the skin with its barb and injects a liquid into the victim. It is this liquid that causes the mutation. Which animal the person will mutate into depends on which animal the insect fed on previously, if it fed on a deer before injecting you then you will become a deer, if it fed on a wolf then you will become a wolf. There is not asking \emph{why} the bug mutates animals like it does as the bug itself has no wish nor will to transform one species into another. Rather all it wants is a meal. The lerlamâmu can only feed twice in its adult life. The first creature that it preys upon suffers no ill effect. After the bug feeds it finds a safe sport and digests it meal using a special enzyme. However once the blood has been digested the bug has difficulty getting rid of the waste due to its rather frail anatomy which doesn't provide enough pressure to excrete the blood out. To get around this the bug finds a new victim and and sucks on its blood. The pressure of the new blood forces the old blood out and through the thin tail, but due to how thin the tail is the pressure of the new blood is not enough. Rather it must pierce something with the barb on it's tail to allow the old blood to flow out. So when the big is feeding the closest pierce-able object is the creature being fed on, so while the leralamâmu feast on new blood it excretes the blood of the first animal into the victim's bloodstream along with the used up enzyme. It is this mixture that trigger the mutation. So there is no reason as to why the bug mutates as the mutation is a harsh side effect of the bug finding an odd way to shit. The insect itself is fairly uncommon and hibernates for most of the year due the cold climate so such cases are quite uncommon.

The transformation itself is arduous and slow. The transformation varies from a few months to a year. Picture this; an infected man midway through transformation with one antler protruding from his head, his left eye that of a deer and his right still human yet. Many of his teeth are missing as his human teeth are falling out to be replaced with those of a deer. His fingers on his left hand are black, soon to fall off along with most of the flesh on his hand as a hoof begins to slowly protrude itself. His transformation burdens his mind also and sends him into the occasional fit of dread and panic over his unavoidable doom. eventually his body will be fully that of a deer yet the human mind survives..for now at least, those that manage to survive eventually took on the mind of the animal, however retaining the memories of his human life. Thankfully the Sumric cultures don't shun such people, the infected are cared for during their transformation and are even considered sacred..being in a state between two worlds is seen as being sacred. Once the transformation is complete the infected may leave and seek to live as whatever creature he became or perhaps stay with his human family..it really depends on which animal he became, if he became a dog or wolf he will typically remain as the Sumric people live with domestic dogs. If he becomes a deer he may remain for safety as the Sumric people regularly hunt deer so to prevent being hunted it is safer to remain with his family for protection. If he becomes a \sco{ciarâmamau}..a great bison the size of an elephant then he would have to leave as such creatures can be clumsy and dangerous. It is custom to decorate a fully transformed victim with distinctive patterns so that other people can tell them apart from the average animal (especially true if the victim is a prey species, it is frowned upon to hunt a deer with these designs as it is seen as cannibalism).



Although there is one way to bring the person back..by harvesting a lerlamâmu insect you can make it feed off another human and then get it to feed on the victim. They will become human again..although they won't always have the same appearance they had before being infected and second transformations are messier and sometimes less thorough, a once-again-human may still retain deer eyes or a tail. Restoration is much more effective if administered soon after transformation (or if administered soon after infection may prevent it altogether). If administered years after the transformation may kill the victim or if they survive, may leave them retarded, crippled, mute and with a shortened lifespan (not to mention they will have the mind of said animal now, it will take time to bring their human mind back)   The other downside to this is that the bug has to bite another human first, so this human will then be infected..a solution is that lerlamâmu nests can be raided and if the hatchlings are raised in a controlled environment it can be made sure that they feed of nothing else but human blood. So to cure a victim someone can make a domestic lerlamâmu feed off them first without worry of being infected themselves. This is a difficult process as the nests are underground and digging through the permafrost to get to them is hard (lerlamâmu have large broad claws to dig through the soil) plus being underground they are hard to find, add to the fact that the species itself has a low population density makes domesticating them hard enough.

In large towns and cities however some people specialise in breeding the bugs for use of a cure. A breeder will raise a brood on his own human blood so that by the time they reach maturity their liquid will turn their next victim human. Once they are mature he milks them in a similar way a snake is milked. The breeder lets the insect feed on him but will place a small jar (with a cover of animal skin that has been scraped thin and treated with rapeseed oil) under the barbed tail. The jar catches the liquid which can then be collected into little vials and sold. Usually Shaman doctors will buy these vials to treat patients (in Sumric society the local shaman also functions as a doctor). Once the bug has been milked several times it will be useless as the lerlamâmu only feed several times, each time on a different species when in the wild, in a lifetime before its mating season. So once a bug has been milked it will either be kept for breeding, sold to another breeder or killed. Only a few are kept for breeding as domestic broods are kept at the smallest possible size..to prevent a brood getting to big and escaping into the towns..(well not after that happened in one unfortunate town and caused nearly the whole population to became a variety of animals. it is said that some of the inhabitants never left the town..you may still see a great stag wandering the deserted streets with an eagle, formally his wife, perched on his antlers).

Thankfully though since the lerlamâmu bug is fairly uncommon such infections are rare.

A little more frightening is that the disease works both ways..infected animals can become human. Yes, although at first they would appear naked and without language. They only survive if found by other humans before they freeze to death naked in the sub-tundra climate. In time they may pick up language though only at a basic level.

The disease can be purposely used to mutate someone as a form of punishment, or conversely some individuals may choose to be infected if they are on their deathbed if their weaker bodies survive the transformation they may live the rest of their lives free and among the nature they hold sacred.