VOL. 2. - INFECTION

Budlings are very versatile creatures, their spores can embed into almost anything, and infect almost any creature. (They do have standards, though- only intelligent creatures will do. No wild animals are ever found being bothered by budlings.)

Most commonly, the spores will find their way into the ground, where the bud will sprout and continue to grow, but they can also be transmitted from a succubud’s infectious patches, which is why stockings are so important to our culture.

Very rarely, spores will find their way into an object, and grow out of it

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A budling can infect a host in 2 different ways - either the parasite grew up in the wild, and left to find a host, or the spores infected a host and it grew from their body. 

A wild budling will burrow into its victims head, intertwining its tendrils with the nervous system to take full control of the body. New heads will then gradually grow, the most common pattern being 2 on the head and one on the tailbone, though this can vary. Infectious patches will appear on the legs almost immediately after infection. If left untreated, the legs will worsen and deform into roots, followed soon after by the arms and hands. The budling then buries these roots back into the ground, and feasts away at the host’s deteriorating body. The host is kept alive and sentient throughout all of this, until they’re drained of all their nutrients and cannot go on any longer. The budling will eat up their remains, constantly releasing spores, until it comes to the end of its life cycle.

Needless to say, many lives were lost in the years after the impact, and the world was in shambles. No one knew what to do, and it seemed like we would be facing mass extinction, until the monitors started appearing, left by someone (or something?) unknown. (See Vol. 3 - Monitors)