The Long Death

This is a punishment Scourge or Escari have enforced on humans.

The Escari tie down their victim and bore a Scourge parasite into the ear. The victim is then released to be among their fellow slaves. Within a day or two, the person gradually loses themselves. The victim experiences increasingly unstable bursts of emotion, until at last after a long physical fit, the light fades from their eyes. The soul has gone. Then the body stands and, with its eyes lifeless, it continues to walk among the living, becoming more and more decayed over time. The skin eventually splits as protrusions of bone force their way out, and a new Scourger is born.